[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 1042-1043]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           HONORING THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE U.S. COAST GUARD

  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent we now proceed to S. Res. 433.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 433) honoring the brave men and women 
     of the U.S. Coast Guard whose tireless work, dedication, and 
     selfless service to the United States have led to more than 1 
     million lives saved over the course of its long and storied 
     217-year history.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I have come to the floor to speak to the 
Senate about the heroic actions of PO Willard Milam, a U.S. Coast Guard 
rescue swimmer who serves our Nation in Kodiak, AK.
  I hope many Senators have seen the film ``The Guardian.'' Really, I 
do believe it was Willard Milam who inspired the preparation of that 
movie, and I want to tell the Senate about his actions.
  Shortly after midnight on February 10, 2007, the U.S. Coast Guard 
Rescue Coordination Center in Juneau, AK, received an emergency beacon 
from a fishing vessel. The vessel was the Illusion. 
  Like so many of our brave Coast Guard men and women, Petty Officer 
Milam and his crew of four launched in a Coast Guard rescue helicopter 
to investigate the source of the distress signal they had received, 
undaunted by a howling 50-mile-an-hour wind and heavy rain and near 
zero visibility.
  When the aircrew arrived on the scene, they realized that the crew of 
the fishing vessel had abandoned their ship and climbed into a life 
raft, which was being tossed, at that time, in the treacherous Bering 
Sea. Petty Officer Milam readied himself to be hoisted down into the 
40-degree temperature seas below.
  As soon as Petty Officer Milam entered the water, he swam to the life 
raft and found four survivors. They were hypothermic and in shock and 
unprotected from the elements. They did not have any survival equipment 
on. One by one, Petty Officer Milam pulled the survivors out of the 
life raft and took them and swam with them over to a rescue basket that 
had been lowered through the darkness from the helicopter that was 
hovering above them.
  After loading the first two survivors into the rescue basket, Petty 
Officer Milam could begin to feel the frigid water flowing into his own 
suit. He told me it had, unfortunately, hung up on the edge of the life 
raft and partially unzipped and that water was filling into his 
survival suit. But he had to fight the debilitating effects of the cold 
and struggle against exhaustion in order to continue to swim the third 
survivor from the life raft to the rescue basket.
  While the third survivor was being lifted toward the spotlights of 
the rescue helicopter, Petty Officer Milam--his legs now numb with 
cold--realized that the life raft, with one survivor still onboard, had 
drifted too far for him to reach under its current condition. So he 
signaled for an emergency pickup, and he was hoisted back into the 
helicopter.
  Once inside the helicopter, he became aware of the fact that the crew 
had only enough fuel to remain on the scene for 15 minutes more. But 
Petty Officer Milam courageously asked to be lowered back into the sea, 
now over the top of this survivor, to try and save that last remaining 
survivor.
  Upon entering the water, Petty Officer Milam pulled the last 
survivor, who was now very combative because of the fear of the 
circumstances--he was nearly drowning--he was forced to drag this 
person from the life raft through the storm back into this rescue 
basket.
  With the last survivor in the rescue helicopter, Petty Officer Milam 
drifted into a stage of unconsciousness as the aircrew lowered the 
rescue basket directly back to him. He was still in the water. 
Miraculously, Petty Officer Milam was able to climb inside that basket 
and was hoisted to safety.

[[Page 1043]]

  He told me personally that the next time he awoke he was in the 
clinic at Dutch Harbor, AK, wrapped in blankets and surrounded by heat 
lamps. As a matter of fact, he told me he was in bed for a period of 
hours, and they told him his boat was leaving, so he just got himself 
up and went back to the dock and went onboard the boat. This man is one 
of the most courageous men I have ever met in my life.
  When we consider the Coast Guard as the guardian of our last 
frontier, I am proud to tell the Senate that fellow Alaskans recognize 
him as a man who has dedicated his life to public service. Petty 
Officer Milam's heroic actions personify the selfless public service 
representative of U.S. Coast Guard men and women who are stationed 
around the globe and represent us so well.
  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, 
the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the 
table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 433) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 433

       Whereas, since 1867 the United States Coast Guard has been 
     a vital piece of Alaskan history, providing lifesaving 
     medical treatment to native villages along its coasts, 
     protecting its fisheries resources, and courageously rescuing 
     those who face peril on the seas;
       Whereas, in 2007 the men and women of the United States 
     Coast Guard stationed in Alaska valiantly responded to 696 
     calls for assistance and saved the lives of 463 mariners in 
     distress;
       Whereas, the actions of Petty Officer Willard L. Milam 
     personify the proud history of courage and public service of 
     the United States Coast Guard on the 10th of February, 2007, 
     when, on a pitch-black winter morning, Petty Officer Milam 
     launched aboard a Coast Guard HH-65 helicopter in near-zero 
     visibility to locate the source of a distress signal 
     approximately 50 miles southwest in Makushin Bay, Alaska;
       Whereas, Petty Officer Milam bravely deployed into storm 
     tossed, 40-degree seas and swam to a life raft to find four 
     survivors hypothermic and soaked in unprotected clothing;
       Whereas, Petty Officer Milam heroically overcame exhaustion 
     and hypothermia to pull each survivor from a life raft and 
     assist them through the raging seas, placing them into a 
     rescue basket to be hoisted into the rescue helicopter;
       Whereas, Petty Officer Milam's courageous rescue off the 
     coast of Alaska has earned him the 2007 Coast Guard 
     Foundation Award for Heroism and the 2007 Captain Frank 
     Erickson Aviation Rescue Award;
       Whereas, through extraordinary teamwork, airmanship, and 
     courage, the crew of the Coast Guard rescue helicopter saved 
     four lives from the treacherous Bearing Sea: Now, therefore, 
     be it
     Resolved, That the Senate--
         (1) honors the heroic accomplishments of Petty Officer 
     Willard Milam, who represented the finest traditions of the 
     United States Coast Guard during the dramatic rescue of four 
     survivors from the treacherous Bering Sea; and
         (2) honors the United States Coast Guard, America's 
     lifesavers and guardians of the sea, for its unflinching 
     determination and proud 217-year history of maritime search 
     and rescue resulting in over 1 million lives saved; and
         (3) recognizes the tireless work, dedication, and 
     commitment of Coast Guard men and women, many of them 
     stationed in Alaska, far away from family and friends, who 
     commit themselves every day to executing this noble mission 
     hundreds of miles from our shores with honor, respect, and 
     devotion to duty.

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