In January 1915, two Treasury Department agencies merged to form the United States Coast Guard. One of these agencies, the United States Life-Saving Service (USLSS) had been created in August 1848 for the purpose of rescuing people who were ship-wrecked on the coast of New Jersey. That federal organization, manned primarily by volunteers, was reorganized in 1870 to included paid surfmen who patrolled our coastline during stormy seasons. Eventually the scope of the USLSS included the nation's Atlantic, Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific, and Alaskan coats. For 44 years, the surfmen of the USLSS dutifully pounded their feet along mostly sandy pathways in all kinds of weather, occasionally discovering a vessel in distress and, then, acting to initiate the rescue operations that would demand their fullest participation. And, sometimes, even their sacrifice. These surfmen have been called "sandpounders." It was a title that they could wear proudly. This is the story of that organization as gleaned from the official Annual Reports of the USLSS and the correspondence files of the National Archives.

Excerpt from Annual Report of the United States Life-Saving Service: For the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1899 Third Lieutenant frank H. Newcomb, United States revenue-cutter Service, Patchogue, New York. Fourth District Lieutenant charles H. Mclellan, United States Revenue Cutter Service, Toms River, New Jersey. Fifth District Captain henry B. Rogers, United States revenue-cutter Serv ice, Onancock, Virginia. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.