The Long Blue Line (Winter 2021)

To Our Retiree Community:
In the spirit of the upcoming Black History and Women’s History Months which
overlap with this edition of the Long Blue Line, we are proud to highlight many
firsts, in which our Coast Guard integrated to better serve the Nation we all
hold dear.
In this edition of the Long Blue Line, we celebrate the pioneers who have gone
before because they helped to pave the way. As I reflect on the Service I joined almost
49 years ago this year, I have witnessed and experienced many positive changes. Today’s Coast
Guard is truly more inclusive as you will observe with any visit to Cape May, the Academy or just
about any unit.
Our future National Coast Guard Museum will become an exceptional venue to celebrate our
Service—accessing volunteers from all corners of our Nation to become one extraordinary
humanitarian force. The Museum will not have a gallery specifically dedicated to the diversity of
our workforce, because our Service’s stories of mission execution are the stories of Coast Guard
men and women from different backgrounds. Telling these stories of honor, respect, and devotion
to duty exhibited by shipmates down through the years, demands that all shipmates regardless of
race, gender, creed, sexual orientation or national origin be celebrated.
Speaking of firsts, this edition of the Long Blue Line represents our first anniversary of this publication.
Reflecting on this past year, the Museum Association is very proud to have become a critical information
link to our Retiree Community, and we appreciate this opportunity to share the journey in creating a
Museum which will honor all men and women who have served in the Coast Guard.
We also have some big news to share about the project! The campaign to build the Museum is more
than halfway to our goal of $150 million thanks to generous donors who contribute monthly through
our Plankowner Program, and to our many major donors. Supporters have continued to invest in the
project through a difficult 2020 and we believe that 2021 will be one of our best years yet!
Semper Paratus!
www.coastguardmuseum.org
Vincent W. Patton, Ed.D.,
MCPOCG, USCG (Ret.)
Board Member and Chief
of the Mess for the National
Coast Guard Museum
THE LONG BLUE LINE WINTER 2021
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