Coast Guard Celebrates Birthday

The U.S. Coast Guard will be celebrating its 213th birthday on Monday, Aug. 4., Coast Guard Day. On the same day in 1790, Congress authorized the building of the first "ten cutters" establishing the Revenue Cutter Service. It was then that the history of the Coast Guard began. Today the Coast Guard has grown to more than 35,000 active-duty personnel and 8,000 reservists. Over 2,000 Coast Guard members serve the needs of the public in the Ninth District. The boundaries of the Ninth Coast Guard District encompass the Great Lakes states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. In an average year on the Great Lakes, the Coast Guard handles 7,500 search and rescue cases, ice-breaking cutters clear the way for over $62 million worth of commercial cargo and more than 3,300 buoys, navigational lights and fixed aids are maintained.