There was no doubt in the minds of Coxswain Bernie Webber, Richard Livesey, Ervin Maske and Andy Fitzgerald that they were about to undertake a death mission on February 18, 1952. But the four young and brave Coast Guardsmen were able to rescue thirty-two sailors off the Pendleton, a 503’ merchant marine vessel that snapped in two in a hurricane off Cape Cod, despite waves measuring the height of three-story buildings. The rescue mission is heralded today in Coast Guard corridors as one of the greatest feats in maritime seamanship in service history since 1790. Bernie and his crew were later awarded the rare and prestigious Coast Guard Gold Lifesaving Medal. Why and how was this mission accomplished? This book, co-authored with Historian Theresa J. Mitchell, is the only one that carries interviews with all four of the Gold Medal Crew as well as Charlie Bridges, a sailor rescued from the Pendleton.

A foreword by former Commandant Admiral Thad Allen (Ret.) and an essay by Master Chief John E. “Jack” Downey (Ret.), a veteran of thousands of modern-day small boat rescues, round out the special third edition of this contemporary classic of maritime history.