[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 143 (Tuesday, October 6, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2452]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             RECOGNIZING THE PEA ISLAND LIFE-SAVING STATION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. G.K. BUTTERFIELD

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 6, 2009

  Mr. BUTTERFIELD. Madam Speaker, I rise to remind my colleagues about 
the rich history of Pea Island, North Carolina.
  On January 24, 1880, Captain Richard Etheridge became the first 
African-American to command a United States Life-Saving Service station 
after being appointed as keeper of the Pea Island Life-Saving Station. 
At the time, Captain Etheridge was one of only eight African Americans 
in the entire Life-Saving Service. Because of his skill and expertise, 
he was promoted from the lowest rank at the neighboring Bodie Island 
station to take over the incompetently run station at Pea Island.
  In order to avoid repeating the previous failures at the Pea Island 
station, Captain Etheridge developed and implemented rigorous 
lifesaving drills. Under his leadership and direction, the station 
earned a reputation as the best on the east coast. Captain Etheridge 
became renowned as one of the most able, prepared, innovative, 
courageous and resourceful lifesavers in the Service.
  On October 11, 1896, Captain Etheridge and his alert Life-Saving 
Service crew at Pea Island station were put to the test when the E.S. 
Newman ran aground nearby during a hurricane. Despite the raging storm 
and enormous waves, the surfmen succeeded in swimming to the ship and 
heaving a line aboard. Starting with the ship captain's three-year-old 
son, all nine people aboard the schooner were rescued one by one.
  On February 29, 1992, the Coast Guard Cutter Pea Island was 
commissioned at Norfolk, Virginia, in memory of the African American 
crews at Pea Island, including Captain Etheridge and his lifesavers. 
And in 1996, Coast Guard Rear Admiral Stephen W. Rochon successfully 
spearheaded the effort to award the Gold Lifesaving Medal in 
recognition of the daring 1896 rescue.
  Captain Etheridge served at Pea Island for twenty years. In January 
1900, he fell ill and died at the station. Pea Island continued to be 
manned by all-black crews through the Second World War. The station was 
decommissioned in 1947, and, in 1949, turned over to the U.S. 
Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service to be used in 
connection with the Pea Island Migratory Waterfowl Refuge.
  Today, Pea Island provides nesting habitat for loggerhead sea 
turtles, piping plover and other shorebirds. Despite its small size, 
the refuge receives over 2.5 million visitors annually.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing and 
applauding the brave efforts of the life-saving crews on Pea Island.

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