Cutter Icarus took thirty-three German prisoners in 1942, the first captured in combat by any United States force during the war. Douglas Munro received the Medal of Honor after giving his life while evacuating Marines at Guadalcanal. At Utah Beach, the Coast Guard-manned USS Bayfield served as a command-and-control vessel while cutters operated a rescue flotilla off the landings. Brown-water operations, landing support, rescue work, and inshore patrols drew on skills that were easy to overlook beside major fleet units.
Chapter · 52:53-55:53
Coast Guard wartime service from U-boats to Normandy
World War II shows the Coast Guard moving from coastal security into submarine warfare, amphibious command, and rescue work.