Carol Salinsky of West Cape May, stands at the ready waiting for the convoy of new U.S. Coast Guard members to leave the base in Cape May.
Paul Will, of North Cape May, salutes the buses as they pass by. View more photos from the send-off at PressofAC.com.
On March 26 2021, at the crossroads of Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh avenues, outside of the Coast Guard base in Cape May, members of the Cape May County Coastguard Foundation waved goodbye to the Echo and Foxtrot graduates as they left by police escort. Paul Will of North Cape May salutes the passing buses.
On March 26 2021, at the crossroads of Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh avenues, outside of the Coast Guard base in Cape May, members of the Cape May County Coastguard Foundation waved goodbye to the Echo and Foxtrot graduates as they left by police escort. (l-r) Erma resident Debbie Christman and Marie Lomonaco of North Cape May.
On March 26 2021, at the crossroads of Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh avenues, outside of the Coast Guard base in Cape May, members of the Cape May County Coastguard Foundation waved goodbye to the Echo and Foxtrot graduates as they left by police escort. (l-r) Ginny Panish of North Cape May and Jean Zimmerman of Rio Grande.
On March 26 2021, at the crossroads of Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh avenues, outside of the Coast Guard base in Cape May, members of the Cape May County Coastguard Foundation waved goodbye to the Echo and Foxtrot graduates as they left by police escort. Event organizer, Mike Couch.
On March 26 2021, at the crossroads of Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh avenues, outside of the Coast Guard base in Cape May, members of the Cape May County Coastguard Foundation waved goodbye to the Echo and Foxtrot graduates as they left by police escort. Air Force veteran Paul Conlin, a resident of Galloway, came to show his support.
On March 26 2021, at the crossroads of Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh avenues, outside of the Coast Guard base in Cape May, members of the Cape May County Coastguard Foundation waved goodbye to the Echo and Foxtrot graduates as they left by police escort. (l-r) Steve and Barbara Fischer, West Cape residents, came directly from their 2nd vaccine shots to show their support to the sailors.
On March 26 2021, at the crossroads of Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh avenues, outside of the Coast Guard base in Cape May, members of the Cape May County Coastguard Foundation waved goodbye to the Echo and Foxtrot graduates as they left by police escort.
On March 26 2021, at the crossroads of Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh avenues, outside of the Coast Guard base in Cape May, members of the Cape May County Coastguard Foundation waved goodbye to the Echo and Foxtrot graduates as they left by police escort. Seasonal resident of North Wildwood Carol Dolan, holding a sign with a message from Patrick Keating's family , came to show her support.
On March 26 2021, at the crossroads of Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh avenues, outside of the Coast Guard base in Cape May, members of the Cape May County Coastguard Foundation waved goodbye to the Echo and Foxtrot graduates as they left by police escort. (l-r) Wildwood Crest resident Joe Orlando and North Wildwood resident (seasonally) Jack Dolan, wait for the convoy to pass.
CAPE MAY — It was a perfectly warm and sunny spring day Friday afternoon in Cape May as family, friends and members of the community stood along the road at the intersection of Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh avenues to send off 60-70 U.S. Coast Guard graduates from the Echo / Foxtrot 200 class to their first duty bases.
Shortly after noon, volunteers slowly started showing up to the designated corner wearing patriotic clothing and carrying boxes of specially made congratulatory signs and various sized American flags to wave at the passing Shoreline buses carrying the Coast Guard graduates.
At about 12:45 p.m., the group gathered in place to say goodbye and good luck as the buses started to roll out coming off of the base.
Hilda Orlando, 72, from the Diamond Beach section of Lower Township, is a Coast Guard parent who comes every Friday to send off graduates and show her support. Her son has been in the Coast Guard for more than 26 years and her husband was formerly in the U.S. Air Force.
“Their parents can’t be here, so we’re here just waving and giving them a warm sendoff,” Orlando said. “We’re calm and relaxed at the moment, but once those buses come around, we turn into lunatics. We’re kind of like cheerleaders with pom-poms.”
Usually, the Coast Guard graduations happen at the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May with over 40,000 family, friends, and outside visitors in attendance every year. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the graduations have been closed to the public since last April.
Now, family members and friends are only allowed a brief moment at the Philadelphia International Airport to say goodbye to the graduates that have been at the Cape May base for a total of eight weeks, before directly being sent to one of the many Coast Guard bases across the country, where they will start working their first duties.
According to Mike Couch, the executive director of the Cape May County Coast Guard Community Foundation, over 4,000 Coast Guard members graduated from the Cape May Coast Guard base every year before COVID-19, which averaged about 100 graduates a week. This year, that number has dwindled to 60-70 graduates each week because of fewer companies getting shipped to Cape May and smaller company sizes due to the pandemic.
“The signs we make for the graduates are ordered by parents for a small donation fee,” Couch said. “We’re standing in for the parents that couldn’t come out.”
Carol Dolan, 66, said she’s been coming every Friday since last year, after she read a news article about the weekly send-offs.
“We hold the signs because we love our military,” said Dolan, who is a resident of North Wildwood. “If we can bring a smile to everyone’s face, we’re happy.”
Dolan, along with the other people supporting the graduates, started cheering, hooting, clapping and waving American flags, as the police escorts and three Shoreline buses carrying the graduates made their way from the training center down to the corner where the supporters waited.
Graduates in the Shoreline buses smiled, cheered, and captured the brief moments of the enthusiastic crowd becoming “lunatics” on their phones, as the buses passed. In a matter of 30 seconds, the graduates were down Pittsburgh Avenue and off to the airport, were they would embark on their journeys as members of the Coast Guard.
The volunteers still shouted and supported the graduates that were already off in the distance. As soon as the bus was out of sight, the usual supporters that come every Friday for the send-off said “that’s it,” as they started packing up their things. Many exchanged, “see you next Friday” with each other.
Supporting the graduates, no matter what, is the main reason weekly supporters, like Paul Conlin, 72, of Haddon Heights, Camden County, come every Friday. He said, “rain, snow, sleet, or hail, we’re always here.”
“In my day, they didn’t ask us if we wanted to join the military, or even what branch we wanted to join,” said Conlin, a veteran of the Air Force. “There is nothing compelling them to do this. So I’m honored to be able to support them.”
Paul Will, 70, who is a member of the Cape May Coast Guard Auxiliary, said he comes out every week to send off the graduates. He said he is fond of servicemen and they hold a special place in his heart.
“If nobody was there to watch my son graduate, I would be upset. With all the craziness going on in the world and negative news, this event is an incredible service, so you walk away from here and you feel good,” said Will, who also has a son in the Air Force.
When asked if Will had any special words for the graduates, he said “God speed” and “Semper Paratus,” which is the U.S. Coast Guard’s motto that means “always ready.”
Anyone is welcome to join the weekly Coast Guard graduate send-offs every Friday, at 12:30 p.m., with the exception of this Friday, because of Good Friday.
For more information about the weekly send-offs, contact the Cape May County Coast Guard Community Foundation at coastguardcommunity.org, call 609-888-6120 or email info@coastguard community.org.
March 29, 2021 at 05:00PM
https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/u-s-coast-guard-graduates-get-a-cape-may-coastie-send-off/article_4ef5c70c-93fd-5727-8f0b-96e9dc89d39e.html
U.S. Coast Guard graduates get a Cape May 'coastie' send off - Press of Atlantic City
https://news.google.com/search?q=Send&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
No comments:
Post a Comment