Cape & Islands News

Memorial Service for Bernie C. Webber, Coast Guard airlist fisherman 170 off Cape

Member of the historic "Gold Honor Crew" to be honored in Wellfleet
Coast Guard airlifts fisherman from 170 miles southeast of Cape Cod

A Memorial Service for the Coast Guard’s most decorated enlisted man, Senior Chief Petty Officer Bernard C. Webber will be held at the United Methodist Church in Wellfleet on May 9th, 2009.  The date was chosen by Chief Webber’s widow, Miriam (Pentinen) Webber since it would have been her late husband’s 81st birthday. Mrs. Webber requested that her late husband be interred with full military honors.

Boatswain's Mate First Class Bernard Webber in 1952. Official USCG photo from USCG.mil

Chief Webber received the Coast Guard’s highest award—the prestigious Gold Lifesaving Medal—after he and his three man crew of volunteers rescued 32 shipwrecked sailors from the T2 Tanker SS Pendleton split in half in a freak storm February 18th, 1952.

Chief Webber, then a 24-year-old Bos’n Mate First Class, took the Motor Lifeboat CG36500 into a raging Northeast Storm, gale force winds, towering waves and blizzard conditions to effect the rescue acclaimed as “The Greatest Small Boat Rescue in Coast Guard History”.    

Bos’n Webber, his volunteer crew—23-year-old Seaman Erwin E. Maske, 22-year-old Seaman Richard P. Livesey and 21-year-old Engineman Second Class Andrew J. Fitzgerald—were all awarded Gold Life Saving Medals by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Mr. Fitzgerald is the sole survivor of the “Gold Medal” crew.

In addition to the Coast Guard’s highest honor, Chief Webber received the American legion Medal of Valor and Coast Guardsman of the year in 1952 from then Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, Admiral Merlin O’Neil.

It was one of many honors bestowed on Mr. Webber who rarely spoke of the dramatic rescue. Noted for his humility, he always tried to avoid the limelight.

The memorial service on May 9th will be held in the United Methodist Church in Wellfleet. A portion of Chief Webber’s ashes will be interred in the family plot at Pleasant Hill Cemetery where Miriam Webber’s parents are interred. 

The rest will be taken out to sea for a private family service and scattered over the waters he knew and loved so well.

The Rev. Mr. Dan Davidson of Yarmouth, Chaplain and Founding Director of the Coast Guard Heritage Museum at the Trayser in Barnstable, will officiate at the memorial service.  Mr. Davidson, who left the Coast Guard as a Chief Petty Officer, served with Chief Webber at Chatham Station.

Arrangements for the memorial service were made by the Cape Cod Chapter of the Chief Petty Officers Association (CPOA), Chaplain Davidson and Webber family friend Bob Ledoux of Chatham. The service begins at 11:00 A.M.

In keeping with the family’s wishes, Chief Webber’s two grand-daughters will participate—Leah Hamilton will sing a solo and Hilary Hamilton will read scripture.

Dave Neal of Barnstable County Sheriff Jim Cummings’ department will eulogize Chief Webber and will read a letter of tribute sent by Neal’s father-in-law CWO4 Bos’n George Rongner (USCG Ret) who met Bernie while serving on Cape Cod.

Several Coast Guard Senior officials will be among dignitaries to speak “Words of Remembrance” to Chief Webber. Also participating will be Bos’n Mate Master Chief Jack Downey (USCG Ret) who served as Officer in Charge (OIC) at Chatham Station.

After the Memorial Service in the church, ushers Jason Holm (BMC) and Brent Beebe (BM1) will follow former Coast Guard Pipe Band member Bob Terlisner (USCG Aux) of North Kingstown, RI, leading the procession to Pleasant Hill Cemetery.

The family has requested that in lieu of flowers, friends may make donations to the Coast Guard Heritage Museum and/or the CG36500 Restoration Committee.  Both are non profit organizations and contributions are tax deductible.  Both institutions enjoyed the full support of Chief Webber.     Courtesy of Coast Guard Heritage Museum.
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Coast Guard medically evacuated injured fisherman from the Araho

Click the image to go to the Coast Guard video.

Coast Guard crews medically evacuated an injured fisherman from a Rockland, Maine-based fishing boat about 170 miles southeast of Cape Cod.

At 5:22 p.m. Tuesday, Coast Guard Sector Northern New England received a radio call from the fishing vessel Araho requesting help for a crewmember who had suffered a hand injury and needed medical attention.

The Coast Guard Cutter Dependable, on patrol about 70 miles away, was diverted to rendevous with the Araho.

The Dependable met the crew of the 106-foot fishing boat around 8 p.m.

The fisherman was taken aboard Dependable, where the cutter's medical crew administered first aid.

On scene, visibility was less than two miles with winds gusting around 15 miles per hour and seas around four feet.

The fishing vessel Araho is the O'Hara Boat Co. owner's name spelled backward.

Around midnight, a Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Cape Cod hoisted the patient from the 210-foot Dependable, of Cape May, N.J., and transported the patient to Massachusetts General Hospital for further treatment.

"Once the fisherman was aboard the cutter, the corpsman determined the patient was stable" said Capt. Byron Johnson, a Candian Armed Forces Exchange pilot at the air station. "As the cutter headed toward shore, we waited until the weather was safe to transfer the patient."