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To celebrate the United States Coast Guard’s birthday and as part of the Navy Memorial’s “Author on Deck book lectures, Author Kalee Thompson will present Deadliest Sea: The Untold Story Behind the Greatest Rescue in Coast Guard History. Showcasing the rescuers and the rescued from the tragic sinking of the fishing trawler, Alaska Ranger, in the Bering Sea and tells the story of the fateful events that Easter morning in 2008. Following the presentation, Kalee Thompson will be available for a Q&A and book signing.

COST: Free and open to the public

Deadliest Sea: The Untold Story Behind the Greatest Rescue in Coast Guard History focuses on the battle between nature and man with the Coast Guard having one mission: save as many men as possible. It also highlights how men and women confront catastrophe when lives are at stake.

In the early morning hours of March 23, 2008 the fishing trawler, Alaska Ranger, began sinking in the frigid waters of the Bering Sea. Mayday calls were sent out to the Coast Guard as men scrambled to inflate life rafts and prepare for the arrival of rescuers. The trawler continued to sink and the forty-seven crew members were soon in the freezing, encapsulating waters. Many knew they would freeze or drown to death.

Two Coast Guard helicopter rescue teams were dispatched to the sinking Alaska Ranger. What was believed to be a routine rescue turned into one of the greatest rescue missions in Coast Guard history. As rescuers were lowered from the helicopters they battled snow squalls, swells and gale-force winds. One by one the crewmen of the Alaska Ranger were saved; in fact, more than twenty had reached safety before dawn, more than any other cold-water Coast Guard rescue in history.

Kalee Thompson, the veteran journalist, has told the story from both the rescued and rescuers during that Easter morning on the Bering Sea. Her story also pays tribute to the heroism of those who risk their lives for others.