 With six minutes of full titles rescue wars the U.S. Coast Guard America's forgotten heroes It's kind of counterintuitive for me as an investigative reporter to actually find a part of government that worked and One that I like the way they mix adrenaline and altruism. So I'll just read Beginning of chapter one for five minutes It's Friday, August 26 2005 The crew of the fishing boat Mary Lynn pitched enrolled in raging 40-foot seas 85 miles west of Key West With the controls gone and their vessel threatening to break up they activated an E-Purve an emergency position Indicating radio beacon buoy and hope someone would hear its signal. They tried to launch her life raft But the storm winds capsized it and dragged it away. All they could do now is hang on pray for help Coast Guard air station Clearwater 210 miles away. Their signal was received in HH 60 J Hawke helicopter launched and 40 knot winds around 10 p.m Soon the big chopper was flying along the leading edge of the storm blinded by heavy rain clouds and darkness It's crew unable to see the ocean rising and falling below them Would take three hours of manhandling the aircraft through buffeting winds and ballistic rain before they finally arrived on scene a big 4-inch and see went 30 hercules from Clearwater was already circling overhead Unfortunately, the rough track had depleted the helicopter's fuel supply leaving them only 15 minutes on scene Below they could see the Mary Lynn being tossed around in the rolling seas the crew as the crew clung to the stern Rather than trying to rush things and risk someone being swept away They decided to head to Key West to refuel battling 75 mile per hour headwinds the trip which should have taken 45 minutes took two hours They landed at 3 a.m. Refueled and were back over the Mary Lynn at daybreak if anything the storm had worsened in their absence Pilot Craig Micello told rescue swimmer Kenyan Bolton that he was not to come off the rescue hook for any reason Smith the boat crew would have to get in the water to meet him The first twice wasn't pretty flight mechanic and hoist operator Robert Kane noted dryly First they swung Bolton into the stern of the fishing bolt and then as he came free dangling like bait on the line He was hit head-on by a monster wave Silly managed to get in the water and swim to crew member need a miller He got a quick straw pond or surround her But then cable jerk them dropping the straps free rings and jamming his hook open He replaced the rings and made sure he had a tight grip on her Then got them lifted back of where the helicopter determined that his cable hook though damaged was still operable He went back down for a second hoist this time a lifeline from the foundering boat to the second crew member in the water Got entangled with the hoist cable. This was even less pretty Where the boat to sink at this point it could drag the survivor the rescue swimmer even the helicopter down with it Well Bolton and the fishermen remaining on the Mary Lynn worked to free the line a shark two or three feet long swam through Bolton's legs I was surprised it was that close to the surface made me think twice about what was out of sight. He later reported With the lines cleared he was able to make the second hoist the third hoist went without a hitch or much of a functioning hook The entire rescue took about 30 minutes rather than fight the winds to Key West They headed toward Clearwater with Cyclonic tailwinds They made around 200 knots and ground speed ridiculous for a helicopter Grand Copilot Dave Shepherd Who like the rest of the crew was rotting in adrenaline high The storm which had already battered Florida leaving six dead would continue to pick up strengths as across the unusually warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico The survivors of the Mary Lynn Mark Gerlick and Eda Miller and Charlie White would be the first three over with 33,000 people to be rescued by the US Coast Guard in the coming days as Hurricane Katrina continued on toward the Mississippi Gulf Coast New Orleans and the history books and Anyway, if you want to hear more about it. I'm on C-SPAN book TV tomorrow at 7 p.m. And it's just from a Diane Reem show I did talking about the coasties who as I say it's unusual to find a part of government that works and Even more unusual. I've just been going around to different Presidential Ocean Task Force that are meeting in different parts of the country and to now have feds who would not only know what they're talking about but listen to the public it's a whole adjustment and You know as I say, I think I'd like to see a Department of the Ocean made up free the Coast Guard from Department of Homeland Security Noah from Commerce and Anyway, one of as I said in the introduction My environmental project raw savage was rescued by my book project the Coast Guard the first time we sent her off to We're across the Pacific She's now two-thirds of the way and she's part of a lit quake this week because along with being an environmental project She's now also a fellow author. So I hope you'll go listen to her as well. Thank you