On 11 February 1997, I arrived at the U.S. Coast Guard Station at Quillayute River, Washington. As a retired U.S. Coast Guardsman, I had permission to live on board to conduct some research. The station is commanded by Master Chief Boatswain's Mate George A. LaForge, a professional with 26 years of U.S. Coast Guard service. Boatswain's Mate First Class Jon Placido is second in command. Only 25 men and women make up the crew.

On my first evening, I sat on the mess deck, talking to Machinery Technician Third Class Matthew E. Schlimme, 24, of Whitewater, Missouri. As a civilian, Schlimme worked on a tugboat on the lower Mississippi River. Before reporting on board the Quillayute River station, he had served on a U.S. Coast Guard buoy tender on the upper Mississippi River. A favorite pastime when the tender hove to for the night was walking in the small towns along the river. I told a few stories about some small Iowa towns near the river and Schlimme hurried off, returning shortly with a road atlas to talk about some of the towns. Then I talked with the officer-of-the-deck, Boatswain's Mate Second Class David A. Bosley, 36, of Coronado, California. He had just received orders to his new duty station, the U.S. Coast Guard Patrol Boat, Point Hobart (WPB-82377), home ported in Oceanside, California. "These are my wife's orders," he said. Earlier, Bosley had requested the Quillayute River assignment and now his wife wanted to be stationed in Southern California. Those who love to hunt and fish are home at Quillayute River. Bosley is qualified as a coxswain of the 44-foot motor lifeboat, the mainstay of a small boat rescue station.