[OCT. 15, 2005] In a time when many people are wanting to do
more in their daily lives to serve their communities and their
country, the Coast Guard Auxiliary is a way for them to do just
that.
He is known as Tiger Two to Coast Guard radio watchstanders serving
Florida's coastline down to Key West. Mel Marx of Coast Guard
facility Flotilla 51, District 7, owns and flies a twin-engine
Cessna 310. In normal times, Marx could be found checking the
southeast coast for migrants and drug runners, or working on
search-and-rescue missions with the active-duty Coast Guard, flying
perhaps several hundred miles in a typical week. All that changed
with the arrival of Hurricane Katrina. In the week after Katrina
came ashore, Tiger Two flew 6,000 miles.
By Sept. 21, a force of
some 3,600 Coast Guard personnel had rescued or evacuated 33,544
people, and the work continues. The Coast Guard normally saves
around 5,500 lives a year.
Transportation within the hurricane zone became most important
early on. Medicines, vaccines and first-aid supplies had to be
distributed, and many responders had special requests. Also, trained
personnel of the many services responding to the disaster had to be
transported from Texas and Florida to various locations in the New
Orleans and Mobile areas. Tiger Two's sturdy, versatile Cessna could
take off and land on a stretch of road, if need be.
Marx, who lives in West Palm Beach, teamed up with another pilot,
Forest "Woody" Bahr, of Flotilla 69. Bahr, the assistant air
auxiliary coordinator in Miami, Fla., would serve as co-pilot.
"Don't know how soon we'll be back," Marx said as he kissed his wife
Harriet goodbye. He and Bahr then departed on their errand of mercy.
About four hours after leaving Opa Locka Coast Guard Air Station
in Florida, they arrived at Coast Guard Air Station Mobile in
Alabama. This air station became their home base for the rest of the
week. At this time, their 10-hour days began. Day after day, hour
after hour, sitting cramped in the airplane, the tedium of flying
ignored, the two men flew mission after mission. They found sleep to
be most welcome each night, even on an air mattress.
Transporting helicopter pilots to New Orleans for flight duty,
FEMA personnel to Gulfport, Miss., and medicine to Corpus Christi or
Alexandria were some of the missions Marx and Bahr carried out
within the 500-mile-radius area of responsibility. Mel Marx said,
"The volunteers we carried were necessary civilian workers and
medical personnel
-- all worker bees."
When asked about his experiences, Marx immediately responded, "It
was very gratifying be able to participate and contribute to help
salvage something from the horrors we witnessed firsthand that you
folks at home saw on television."
The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary is composed of uniformed,
nonmilitary volunteers who assist the Coast Guard in all of its
varied missions, except for military and direct law enforcement.
These men and women can be found on the nation's waterways, in the
air, in classrooms and on the dock, performing maritime domain
awareness patrols, safety patrols, vessel safety checks and public
education.
The auxiliary was founded in 1939 by an Act of Congress as the
U.S. Coast Guard Reserve and re-designated as the U.S. Coast Guard
Auxiliary in 1941. Its 31,000 members donate millions of hours
annually in support of Coast Guard missions.
