TWO COAST GUARD MEMBERS PERISH IN DIVE OPERATION

U.S. Coast Guard Thirteenth District ^ | August 18, 2006 | Pacific Area Public Affairs Office

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

TWO COAST GUARD MEMBERS PERISH IN DIVE OPERATION

COAST GUARD ISLAND, ALAMEDA, Calif. -

Two Coast Guard divers assigned to the Seattle-based Coast Guard Cutter Healy died Thursday afternoon during a routine dive operation in the Arctic Ocean approximately 500 miles north of Barrow, Alaska.

Deceased are Lt. Jessica Hill, 30, of St. Augustine, Fla., and Petty Officer 2nd Class Steven Duque, 26, of Miami.

The victim's next of kin have been notified and additional support services are being provided to each family, as well as Healy crewmembers.

"I felt a deep sense of loss when I received the initial report on this situation," said Vice Adm. Charles D. Wurster, Commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area, adding, "I offer my prayers to the families and friends of Lieutenant Hill and Petty Officer Duque in their time of grieving."

Healy was engaged in a science mission when the accident occurred.  The dive was intended to be a cold-water familiarization dive near the bow of the ship, a routine activity when the ship is operating in Arctic ice.  During this type of dive, the ship sits idle and hazardous pumps and propellers are disengaged.

The cause of this dive accident is under investigation.

"The Coast Guard will conduct a thorough investigation to determine the cause of this accident," Wurster said.

The 420-foot Healy is one of three polar ice breakers operated by the Coast Guard.  Healy is primarily used for Arctic science operations under sponsorship of the U.S. National Science Foundation.

 More information about Healy can be found by visiting http://www.uscg.mil/pacarea/healy/.

[PGalt]

Condolences to families and friends of Jessica Hill and Steven Duque.

[ExpatGator]

MY GAWD!! Did someone not tagout the bow thruster???

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Lt. Jessica Hill

Petty Officer 2nd Class Steven Duque

[mirkwood]

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"MY GAWD!! Did someone not tagout the bow thruster???"

The cause of this dive accident is under investigation.

[Eaker]

Prayers for the families.

[patton]

Sad. What happened?

[Soaring Feather]

RIP


Lt. Jessica Hill

Petty Officer 2nd Class Steven Duque

[investigateworld]

Prayers up.

(My brother was in 'Lima 47' way back in the day...)

[TASMANIANRED]

Prayers for them and their families.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"Sad. What happened?"

The cause of this dive accident is under investigation.

[fanfan]

Prayers for their families.

[puppypusher]

My Sympathy's to the Families and the U.S. Coast Guard over the loss of those brave people.

[GrandEagle]

Prayers for their families.

Many times we forget how dangerious training is at times.

[jazusamo]

Two of America's finest.

Lt. Jessica Hill

Petty Officer 2nd Class Steven Duque

May God Bless them and their families.

[Mrs.Nooseman]

Condolences to the families of these to brave Coastguard members.

God bless them.

[Gucho]

Prayers for families and friends of Lt. Jessica Hill and Petty Officer 2nd Class Steven Duque.

[dr_lew]

... a routine dive operation in the Arctic Ocean ...

There's a contradiction in terms.

Did you see the item about the guy in Florida that died tagging sea turtles? The first news said he was attacked by the sea turtle, but more complete reports said he went down, and never came up. Later they found his body with no marks of trauma. The surmise was that he succumbed to "Shallow Water Blackout", a physiological condition, almost always fatal, brought on by surfacing from a prolonged free dive.

So make the contradiction, "... a routine dive operation ..."

[ccmay]

Lt. Jessica Hill is on the left. R.I.P.

God bless these brave Coasties and their families.

-ccm

[bboop]

Oh, that is beautiful -- the flags at half-mast. Thanks for posting that. Very sad.

[Bat_Chemist]

My son is entering his 3rd year at the CGA...I hope he goes to flight school.

God's peace to their families.

[DieHard the Hunter]

Prayers going up. My God, what a tragedy! My condolences to the families of these brave sailors.

*DieHard*

[alfa6]

Sad Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[Judith Anne]

Thanks for that beautiful photo.

Prayers for the repose of their souls, and the consolation of family and friends.

[Citizen Tom Paine]

If they were diving under the sea ice, it is always dangerous. The sea water temperatures were probably around 32 degrees F.

[CremeSaver]

Far too often our Coast Guard is overlooked when mentioning our military. Their jobs can be just as dangerous and are just as important as any other branch of the service. This is very sad. Prayers for all.

[Texas Termite]

May they rest in peace.

Our prayers for their family and friends.

"TT", Beth & Nana

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

What is the United States Coast Guard?

The U.S. Coast Guard is one of five branches of the US Armed Forces, and falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The Coast Guard is the country's oldest continuous seagoing service with responsibilities including Search and Rescue (SAR), Maritime Law Enforcement (MLE), Aids to Navigation (ATON), Icebreaking, Environmental Protection, Port Security and Military Readiness.
In order to accomplish these missions the Coast Guard's 38,000 active-duty men and women,
8,000 Reservists, and 35,000 Auxiliarists serve in a variety of job fields ranging from
operation specialists and small-boat operators and maintenance specialists to electronic technicians and aviation mechanics.
The Coast Guard, during an average day, will:

Conduct 109 Search and Rescue Cases

Save 10 lives Assist 192 people in distress

Protect $2,791,841 in property

Launch 396 small boat missions

Launch 164 aircraft missions, logging 324 hours

Board 144 vessels

Seize 169 pounds of marijuana and 306 pounds of cocaine worth $9,589,000

Intercept 14 illegal migrants

Board 100 large vessels for port safety checks

Respond to 20 oil or hazardous chemical spills totaling 2,800 gallons

Service 135 aids to navigation

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Thank you Termite

[groanup]

prayers sent

[HitmanLV]

This sounds a bit like the new Kevin Costner movie.

[Covenantor]

Prayers for their families. And God bless them for their service.







(The other day I watched the trailer for "The Guardian", a film about the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers. First movie I can recall about the USCG)

http://theguardian.movies.go.com/

[RDTF]

Oh no. My heart breaks

[Liberty Valance]

Bump for our finest. Prayers going out to the families of these fine service men and women.

[2111USMC]

Prayers up.

Tonk, did you know either of them personally?

[SandRat]

[2111USMC]

I just noticed on your home page that you belong to the 13th District.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"Tonk, did you know either of them personally?"

No, but we shared a common bond.

[CremeSaver]

Wow, I thought I knew just how good they are, but I never dreamed to what extent. God bless the men and women of The U.S. Coast Guard.

And thanks, Tonk, for sharing this information.

[RDTF]

ping

[Wingrider]

So sad. May they RIP.

When I was stationed at St. Pete Air Station in the 60s we lost an aircraft. Six good men died just doing their job. The aircraft was an HU 16E Grumman Albatross. This was the night before I would have stood duty on the same aircraft.

We always joked or bragged to each other that the Coast Guard flew when other aircraft were grounded. Back then I was young and never really gave a thought to how dangerous our missions were. Today I get chills just remembering some of what we did.

Today the Coast Guard mission is much more dangerous than it was then with the greatly expanded duties.

God bless the Coast Guard and all who serve to help keep us safe on a daily basis both in war and peace time.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"God bless the Coast Guard and all who serve to help keep us safe on a daily basis both in war and peace time."

AMEN

[mickey blue eyes]

this isn/t the first one that has happened in artic waters some have been attacked by killer whales who have mistaken divers for seals

[jwalsh07]

Prayers from a fellow diver and vet. God bless those they leave behind.

[StarCMC]

 

The Mansions of the Lord
Click the picture for music

To fallen soldiers let us sing
Where no rockets fly nor bullets wing
Our broken brothers let us bring
To the Mansions of the Lord

No more bleeding, no more fight
No prayers pleading through the night
Just divine embrace, eternal light
To the Mansions of the Lord.

Where no mothers cry and no children weep
We will stand and guard though the angels sleep
Through the ages safely keep
The Mansions of the Lord.

 

[New Perspective]

Thanks for posting that. It is nice to see someone else is paying attention to what we do. I was in fro 84-88 and did all that was mentioned, except for the ice breaking, THANK GOD. They are brave and sacrafice much.

Peace be with them.

[mickey blue eyes]

I went in CG in the early 60/s the only thing we had to worry about was brecking ice and aids to navigation occationly someone would fall over side it was usully easy safe duty

[Redleg Duke]

The unofficial motto of the USCG, "You have to go out, you don't have to come in!"

RIP, Warriors!

[jwalsh07]

Army here. Diving in the Arctic is anything but safe no matter how well trianed you are. No margin for error. Thanks for serving.