Customer Reviews

So Others May Live: Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers: Saving Lives, Defying Death

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When we first heard about this book, some of the guys in the shop were skeptical about how it would turn out. We have all read articles and stories about the work we do and wondered how the writers got it so wrong. Embellishments, mis-quotes, and cheesy bravado injected into stories about Coast Guard swimmers have often left us cold to the idea of a book about the job. But Laguardia-Kotite got it right.....way right.

Her book is meticulously researched, well-organized, and tells the story of Coast Guard rescues without overstepping the facts in exchange for reactions. She simply put to paper the heart of the program through stories of actual men and women engaged in the unique job of aviation rescue crewmembers. Also refreshing was the way she (better than anyone I have ever read) tells the story of the rescue swimmer as part of a team, giving all due credit to the pilots and flight mechanics that make rescue at sea possible.

Reviewed by Captain George Krietemeyer, USCG (Ret.),
President, U.S. Coast Guard Aviation Association


Commander LaGuardia more than earns her stripes with an extremely well researched and documented book describing the inside story of how and why the U.S. Coast Guard jumped into the rescue swimmer business. I strongly suggest keeping a towel nearby to wipe off the salt water after each rescue is described.
Her research starts in the early 70's with SARWET teams - early pilot programs testing concepts of improved rescue capability using specially trained crewmembers in helicopter operations. She names all the people who put their ideas forward and tested the concepts. Most of them are members of the Coast Guard Aviation Association.
The author then describes the full story behind congressional `guidance' accelerating efforts to get a full fledged Coast Guard rescue swimmer program underway. I happened to be the Commandant's Chief of Training at Coast Guard Headquarters at the time and played a small part in focusing attention on this effort.
Once the reader is introduced to a full understanding of the background, Martha expertly guides the reader through the next 20 years with exciting and well written examples of some of the hairiest rescues our crews have accomplished. Once again, she names the people and describes their heroic efforts on a case-by-case basis. Many of you will know these people!
This is a book which will delight history buffs and adventure seekers. Her writing style is action oriented. A MUST READ for military types and others "with a liking for the sea and its lore."

Cover JPEG attached separately

For source purposes:
Review from PTEROGRAM, journal of the Ancient Order of the Pterodactyl (Coast Guard Aviation Association),
Editor Captain Ray Copin, USCG (Ret.), (rjcopin@aol.com).

While I found the stories interesting, the author's style was lacking. The first two chapters dealt with why the Coast Guard has a rescue swimmer program and what led up to it. However, it gets a bit tedious at times. The author lists every person who ever had anything to do with the ups and downs of the program. Needless to say, the two chapters could have been combined into one smaller chapter. The minutia gets a bit heavy.

As for the stories, once again minutia gets in the way of the heart of the story. I don't think it's necessary to list the aircraft numbers in each story. Unless you are CG and have flown in or worked around these aircraft, it is not necessary for the story. I wold have preferred also that the author list crew positions more than once in each chapter. The constant referring to the crews by name without occasionally referring to them with crew position and name requires you at times to reread the beginning to keep up with who's who.

I applaud the heroism and dedication of the crews involved, however it seems their story gets lost in the author's quest to write a long book by filling it with unnecessary words. At times it was like the student who was told to write a 1,000 word essay and ends up with a 500 word essay and 500 words of filler.

SO OTHERS MAY LIVE: SAVINGS LIVES, DEFYING DEATH WITH THE COAST GUARD'S RESCUE SWIMMERS provides a history of the U.S. Coast Guard helicopter rescue swimmer, pairing this history with twelve stories which chronicle maritime rescues. Swimmers tell these stories of perilous rescue and while SO OTHERS MAY LIVE would also qualify to be featured in our 'True Adventure' section, it's featured here for additional value as a history of Coast Guard efforts overall.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Her description of the harrowing rescues on rooftops in New Orleans took my breath away. I've been in SAR situations where a person had to be forced to leave a sinking boat, and on law-enforcement sorties where the bad guys had guns, but, in each of those occasions, you knew exactly what to expect - things were straightforward. The deteriorating conditions in New Orleans after Katrina, gave the crew, especially the swimmers, such extraordinary unknowns. The need to adapt to such changing and challenging situations so quickly - and the sheer number of them! - was obviously devastating to both body and psyche. And, the fact that among Coast Guard personnel there were no deaths, no collisions, no serious injury, is just astounding. I'm not sure that this country really appreciates the length to which our little service went in those days following the hurricane.

Her book made it all so clear. I felt like I was hovering alongside the aircraft, totally immersed in the emotion of the moment; `didn't matter if it was over the water, or next to a cliff or in a cave. Her words took you there.

The book, and the story it tells, is nothing short of exceptional. They say you write best when you "write about what you know." Well, with the help of those amazing rescue swimmers, she obviously knew what she was writing about and took it to a level of intensity found in very few books.

Incredible! I am a frequent patron of Muddy Water's Coffeehouse in E. City, N.C. and I have no connection to the Coast Guard. I frequently run into these guys, mostly the kids in the swimmer training program, on Saturdays when they come in to get coffee and study their training material, or e-mail their wives and girlfriends. They are perennially polite and completely pumped up about the program. I have always had lots of interest in learning about what they do. Then came The Guardian. After seeing that, I had more respect for these swimmers than I have for any of the other "Special Forces." (I realize they are not classified as such, but perhaps they should be.) I bought the book to learn more and learn I did. It is unfathomable to me that these young men and women will take the risks they do to save others' lives, particularly when, in many of these cases, people made stupid mistakes to be out on the seas in the first place. I read the book thinking, Yeah, So Others May Live to make some more stupid mistakes another day.

As a writer myself, I thought the book was incredibly well-done. The characterization of these guys as capable, yet humble, rang so true. The story-driven chapters were gripping. I read far too late into the night too many nights in a row. Martha, you owe me some sleep. And, Swimmers, the rest of us owe you and your "teammates" nothing but the utmost respect.

A P.S. to Ms. LaGuardia-Kotite: Your epilogue on "rescuing the rescuers"
answered the burning question I had - what do these guys do with the horrors they have seen and they stress they have borne?

I picked up So Others May Live while browsing for an interesting summer read, and found it to be that and much more. Reading it, you'd think the stories told inside were fiction, but they're not; every tale is true. Before I read this book, I didn't know much about the Coast Guard and next to nothing about their rescue swimmers, but LaGuardia-Kotite skillfully weaves together the true tale of how and why the rescue program came into existence and how it has come to be the ultra-challenging training program that qualifies only the cream of the crop. The rescue stories inside So Others May Live is told from perspectives of both the rescuers and the rescued, and they cover events from the aftermath of Katrina to a perilous rescue at Niagra Falls. LaGuardian-Kotite does a wonderful job of illuminating the wonderful deeds of these heroes, who, without a second thought, would dive into dangerous waters and risk their own lives so that others may keep theirs.

I've read the entire book a few times to my son. He loves it. The writing style is arguably not the greatest, but the stories are wonderful and the author's pride, admiration, and sincerity shines through.

I think this could be turned into a wonderful book for boys ages 8-12. I do want to point out the risk of encouraging a career as a rescue swimmer. As a father I'd prefer something a bit less heroic.

This book does an excellent job of capturing the complete story of how USCG Helicopter Rescue Swimmers came into existence. Martha was meticulous in her research and deserves to be commended. A GREAT READ. BUY IT!!!

This book is the story of the Coast Guard rescue swimmers, and some of the absolutely incredible situations they faced and overcame in their determination to save lives. Chapter after chapter is one cliff-hanger after another, as these swimmers selflessly risked their own lives to save those of others they had never met.

Martha LaGuardia-Kotite has written a great book that I can highly recommend. I could hardly put it down.