We all remember when we were children at our first fireworks display. We all loved to watch the pretty colors and feel the vibration of the booms as they exploded on the fourth of July. This is especially true for this Auxiliarist, as I am fortunate to call this day my birthday. My name is Jim Wenzler I am the Flotilla Staff Officer for Public Affairs, and I want to tell you a story. This is a common place story, because many of the men and women I work with do this everyday and sometimes don’t realize how important their kindness in service is.

Rhythm and Booms is a City of Madison, Wisconsin fireworks tradition. It takes place on the Saturday closest to the Fourth of July. Rhythm and Booms is the largest fireworks display timed to music in the Midwest. The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary takes an active role in ensuring the public’s enjoyment every year by providing safety patrols. On June 30, 2007 there were three Operational Facilities performing this duty. One facility was from Flotilla 9-1 and two from Flotilla 9-10, both from the Madison, Wisconsin area. The afternoon patrol, as many Auxiliarists know from experience, starts out routine.

Approximately 500 boats were in Warner Bay on Lake Mendota as well as 200,000 people on land in the adjacent Warner Park. On board Flotilla 9-10's facility were John Linder, VFC as Coxswain, and Auxiliarists Bob Story and Ed Burns as Crew. All three have over thirty years of combined seasoned patrol experience.

This particular patrol started with a call to tow a 24 foot Cuddy Cabin to the nearest boat launch as their engine had seized. It really is no fun to have played the radio and enjoyed swimming just to find your motor won’t start. Auxiliarists Ed Burns and Bob Story enjoyed talking with the Cuddy’s passengers as they towed them to shore explaining the Auxiliary, duties and benefits.

As the fireworks display was ending and the darkness of night seeped in through the waning shots of disappearing fireworks, this experienced team of Auxiliarists was again called to action. This time by being flagged down by a group of people on a 25 foot sailboat. With Bob Story at the helm, this well trained Auxiliary crew approached the sailboat and was informed of a potential medical emergency.

A recently adopted two year old child appeared to be experiencing a high fever and convulsions. As John Linder, VFC recalls, “I remember how frantic and worried the new parents were when waving us down that their little child was having problems and it seemed as though no one was around to help.” Auxiliarist Burns, who is also an EMT, was making observations of the child’s condition and symptoms and relaying the information to Auxiliarist Story. Auxiliarist Story immediately contacted the Dane County Sheriffs Department on the emergency radio band and relayed the medical information. It was decided the best thing to do was to quickly transport the child and parents aboard the Auxiliary facility to the Warner Park launch ramp to rendezvous with the Village of Maple Bluff EMTs.

“It was amazing to us that this little child’s first Fourth of July celebration in the United States after being adopted introduced him to the best the Auxiliary has to offer,” Bob Story recalls. “The Auxiliarists in Flotilla 9-10 are active and constantly on patrol in the lakes around Madison, Wisconsin working the core duty of the Auxiliary-Semper Paratus –‘Always Ready’.”

Transport of the sick child and parents took only six minutes. The EMT team concluded it was necessary to transport the child from the boat launch to a local hospital. The Auxiliary patrol returned to the sailboat and informed the remaining occupants the status of the sick child and the location of the hospital where further care was being done.

As the evening wore on and fell into early morning, Flotilla 9-10 received another call from the Dane County Sheriff’s Department to tow a stranded pontoon boat. They located the boat within 10 minutes and towed it to the nearest launch site without incident.

I have always enjoyed helping others and being actively involved with my fellow volunteer members of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. I am proud to be a member of Flotilla 9-10 which has provided me with outstanding fellow volunteers who perform their duty as America’s Volunteer Lifesavers with distinction, every patrol-every time. I am writing you this story to express my thanks to all those Auxiliarists who never receive thanks for a job well done and continue to return to our lakes and rivers again and again for the one reason we all keep returning, for the satisfaction that comes from helping another who is in need.

To learn more about your local Coast Guard Auxiliary, please visit our USCG Auxiliary Services page.

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"The Coast Guard... In Madison!?!"
By Bob Story, Flotilla 10

A familiar refrain from boaters on the Madison Chain..."What in the world is the COAST GUARD doing in Madison?"

Well, Mr. and Mrs. Boater, the Coast Guard isn't really IN Madison, but it may appear so each time the local Coast Guard Auxiliary takes to the water. In fact, even though Station Milwaukee is the nearest Coast Guard facility to Madison, about 70 volunteer members in Madison and surrounding communities make up Division 9 of the U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, and conduct their business on Madison area and southern Wisconsin lakes and waterways.

"What business IS THAT?", you may ask. Well, in order to assist the Coast Guard with its recreational boater safety mission, Auxiliarists around the country carry out many safety-focused duties. In the Division surrounding Madison, for example, qualified volunteer Auxiliarists conduct boater safety classes for the public, perform vessel safety checks at the boat-owners' invitation, and take part in on-the-water safety patrols. The Auxiliary also assists local law enforcement and public safety agencies in search and rescue operations, water traffic management when large events take place, and transporting EMS and other personnel from place to place during an emergency.

Ed Moffat, Past Division Captain of Division 9 also reminds us that even though Coast Guard AUXILIARY boats are seen on the Madison Chain during all major events and busy weekends, "once or twice a year a boater may actually see a COAST GUARD vessel plying the waters of Lake Mendota or Monona". Coast Guard crews from Milwaukee occasionally come to Madison to take part in Auxiliary training exercises. "When those bright orange rigid hull inflatables make an appearance", Moffat says, "it really gets a boater's attention."

So if you're on the local waters, and you see some uniformed men and women in a vessel flying the Coast Guard Auxiliary patrol ensign, with a "PATROL" banner on the side of the boat, it will be the volunteers of the Coast Guard Auxiliary. They're out there to help you in times of trouble.

Nationally, there are over 27,000 men and women volunteer members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary. Each year, on average, the Coast Guard Auxiliary is credited with:

* Saving over 400 lives
* Assisting over 10,000 boaters in distress
* Flying 10,000 hours of air patrols
* Educating over 500,000 students in boater safety classes
* Operating over 2600 radio stations
* Performing over 100,000 vessel safety checks
* Training over 50,000 hours in member skills
* Providing over 2,000,000 hours a year for operations and missions on a voluntary basis for the safety of the American public.

To learn more about your local Coast Guard Auxiliary, please visit our USCG Auxiliary Services page.