[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 777-778]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO GIL CARMICHAEL

 Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, this weekend, Disney Pictures will 
release ``The Finest Hours,'' a cinematic retelling of a 1952 Coast 
Guard rescue mission off the New England coast. I am pleased to use its 
release as an opportunity to commend Mr. Gil Carmichael of Meridian, 
MS, an important participant in this mission, for his bravery during 
that storm and for a lifetime of service to the State of Mississippi 
and the Nation. Mr. Carmichael, an ensign in the U.S. Coast Guard at 
the time, was awarded the

[[Page 778]]

Silver Life-Saving Medal for his heroic actions during that rescue 
mission.
  A 1952 Coast Guard news release described the rescue:

                For Release at 10:30 a.m., May 14, 1952

       Twenty-one Coast Guardsmen were decorated today by Edward 
     H. Foley, Under Secretary of the Treasury, and Vice Admiral 
     Merlin O'Neill, Coast Guard Commandant, for the rescue of 70 
     men in a heavy storm at sea Feb. 18-19.
       The rescued men were crew members of the tankers SS FORT 
     MERCER and SS PENDLETON which broke in two in 70-knot winds 
     and 60-foot seas off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass.
       The group ceremony was held in the Treasury before members 
     of Congress and high ranking Coast Guard officers. Members of 
     Congress from the homes of each man decorated, and members of 
     committees which handle Coast Guard legislation, also were 
     invited.
       Also present were William B. St. John of the National Bulk 
     Carriers, Inc., owner of the PENDELTON, and C.A. Thomas, W.G. 
     Johnson and P.J. Clausen of the Trinidad Corp., owner of the 
     FORT MERCER.
       Admiral O'Neill described the Cape Cod rescue operations as 
     unique in Coast Guard history. With each tanker broken in two 
     forty miles apart, four hulks with survivors aboard were left 
     adrift in the mountainous seas.
       He said all types of rescue equipment were used including 
     large Coast Guard cutters, an airplane, an ocean-going tug, 
     motor lifeboats, radar, rubber liferafts, scramble nets, 
     lifelines and exposure suits.
       "But most of all,'' said Admiral O'Neill, ``the situation 
     called for raw courage and skill of the highest order--backed 
     by Coast Guard teamwork.''
       Five of the men received the Treasury's Gold Life-saving 
     Medal for ``extreme and heroic daring.'' Four others received 
     the Treasury's Silver Life-saving Medal for ``heroic 
     action.'' Fifteen were cited for ``courage, initiative and 
     unswerving devotion to duty'' and authorized to wear the 
     Coast Guard Commendation ribbon. Those decorated were:

                        Gold Life-Saving Medal:

       Andrew J. Fitzgerald, Engineman 2nd class; Ervin E. Maske, 
     Seaman; Bernard C. Webber, Boatswain's Mate 1st class; 
     Richard P. Livesey, Seaman; Ensign William R. Kiely, Jr.

                       Silver Life-Saving Medal:

       Paul R. Black, Engineman 2nd class; Ensign Gilbert E. 
     Carmichael; Edward A. Mason, Jr., Apprentice Seaman; Webster 
     G. Terwilliger, Seaman

                    Coast Guard Commendation Ribbon:

       Antonio F. Ballerini, Boatswain's Mate 3rd class 
     provisional; Donald H. Bangs, Boatswain's Mate Chief; Richard 
     J. Ciccone, Seaman; John J. Courtney, Boatswain's Mate 3rd 
     class; John F. Dunn, Engineman 1st class; Philip M. Griebel, 
     Radioman 1st class; Emory H. Haynes, Engineman 1st class; 
     Roland W. Hoffert, Gunner's Mate 3rd class; Eugene W. 
     Korpusik, Seaman Apprentice; Ralph L. Ormsby, Boatswain's 
     Mate Chief; Dennis J. Perry, Seaman; Donald E. Pitts, Seaman; 
     Alfred J. Roy, Boatswain's Mate 1st class; Herman M. 
     Rubinsky, Seaman Apprentice; LCDR John N. Joseph

  A nor'easter is a remarkable event in any era. The 1952 winter storm 
spawned hurricane-force winds and waves as tall as most of the office 
buildings at the time. The brave members of our Coast Guard raced into 
this dangerous situation to locate two large tankers that had broken in 
two and to rescue 70 men facing nearly certain death.
  When asked about the rescue, a selfless Mr. Carmichael, who was in 
charge of a rescue boat that rescued two men from the bow of the SS 
Fort Mercer that day, said, ``I learned early in life how I would 
behave in crisis. I knew when we put the boat over we could be killed 
but all of us were just thinking about trying to save lives rather than 
of our own safety.''
  Gil Carmichael took the remarkable experience he gained in the Coast 
Guard and continued on the path of public service, later for statewide 
office in Mississippi in the 1960s, as a candidate for the U.S. Senate 
in 1972, twice for Governor in 1975 and 1979, and once for Lieutenant 
Governor in 1983. He also served as a delegate from Mississippi to the 
Republican National Convention. In 1973, he was appointed to the 
National Highway Safety Advisory Committee and became chairman of the 
advisory committee until 1976. From 1976 to 1979, he was a Federal 
commissioner for the National Transportation Policy Study Commission. 
He became Administrator of the U.S. Department of Transportation's 
Federal Railroad Administration in 1989 and served until 1993. He later 
served as chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council.
  It is a pleasure to acknowledge Mr. Carmichael whose selfless 
personal qualities reflect a great deal of credit on my State and this 
Nation.

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