In remembrance of the crew of the WHITE ALDER

Photo Release
Date: December 07, 2010
Contact: District 8 Public Affairs
Posted by PA3 Casey J. Ranel

IN REMEMBRANCE OF THE CREW OF
THE COAST GUARD CUTTER WHITE ALDER

White Alder was stationed throughout her Coast Guard career, which spanned 1947 until 1968, at New Orleans, Louisiana.

The seventh day of December is a day of remembrance. It has and will forever be remembered as Pearl Harbor Day. However, the U.S. Coast Guard, especially in Southeast Louisiana, remembers more than the tragedy that besieged our country on that fateful day in 1941.

The Coast Guard Cutter White Alder (WLM/WAGL – 541) was commissioned in 1947 and was homeported in New Orleans. On Dec. 7, 1968, the cutter was returning home from an aids to navigation mission on the Mississippi River when it collided with the steam ship Helena, a 455-foot Taiwanese freighter, near White Castle, La. Almost immediately, the White Alder sank. There were 21 crewmembers assigned. One was on leave and three swam to safety. Two bodies were recovered and 15 crewmembers were entombed in the ship at the bottom of the Mississippi River.

Over the past 41 years, three memorials have been erected for the White Alder and its crew. On Dec. 7, 1969, the Coast Guard dedicated a buoy in honor of the cutter. In 2002, it was moved to Coast Guard Sector New Orleans. On Nov. 8, 1997, a flagpole was erected near the wreck site in White Castle, La., by the Boy Scouts.

The third memorial was opened to the public this week during the White Alder’s 41st anniversary memorial ceremony at the USS Kidd Veterans Memorial and Museum in Baton Rouge, La., Dec. 7, 2009. Capt. James Tunstall, chief of staff for the Eight District, presented a beautiful granite memorial amidst the plaza distinctly establishing it as “The Coast Guard Plaza.” The presentation was made possible with the combined efforts of Auxiliary Flotilla 4-10, MSU Baton Rouge and Maury Drummond, director of the USS Kidd Veterans Memorial and Museum.

Debbie Campisano points out a relative's name, Coast Guard Seaman Frank P. Campisano III, to her daughter, Leah Velasquez, on a new memorial, which was dedicated to the crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter White Alder Dec. 7, 2009. Campisano and 17 other crewmembers died December 7, 1968, when the White Alder collided with the Steam Ship Helena while transiting the Mississippi River and sank. USCG photos by PO3 Tom Atkeson.

Upon entering the plaza, you are greeted by a brass-plated Coast Guard seal laid into the brick deck. A towering 30-foot flagpole features “Old Glory” and the prisoners of war flag while the yardarms proudly display the Coast Guard ensign and the Coast Guard Auxiliary flag. A bench at the foot of the flagpole is engraved with, “Dedicated to the Men and Women of the United States Coast Guard.” A half-ton fouled anchor stands in the plaza, representing that trouble may sometimes lurk, but we must go on. Most magnificently, the White Alder Memorial stands strong as the focal point of the plaza. The memorial is granite and contains a sketch of the White Alder, its story, and a list of the crewmembers.

“This plaza will ensure that all current and former active duty, retired, reserve, auxiliary, and civilian men and women of the Coast Guard as well as friends and families of the Coast Guard Cutter White Alder crew on that tragic night have a permanent place to pay respect to the ones they loved and lost,” said Tunstall. “This plaza will be a place for all who enter to hold their head high and reflect upon both the tragedies and dedication that our fellow Guardians encounter on a daily basis.”

Original Article

IN REMEMBRANCE

USCGC WHITE ALDER CASUALTIES:

Seaman Apprentice Walter P. Abbott, III

Electrician's Mate, second class Michael R. Agnew

Seaman Frank P. Campisano, III

Fireman Maurice Cason

Quartermaster, second class John R. Cooper, Jr.

Seaman Richard W. Duncan

Seaman Apprentice Larry V. Fregia

Seaman Apprentice Ramon J. Gutierrez

Seaman Roger R. Jacks

Seaman Steven D. Lundquist

Yeoman, second class Joseph A. R. Morin

Commissaryman, second class Charles R. Morrison

Engineman, third class Walton E. O'Quinn, Jr.

Engineman, first class John B. Rollinson

Chief Engineman [ENCP] William J. Vitt

Boatswain's Mate, third class Guy T. Wood

Chief Warrant Officer [BOSN] Samuel C. Brown, Jr.