‘We live our mission every day’
The Coast Guard and Astoria go way back
BY ERICK BENGEL | THE DAILY ASTORIAN
rowing up in Astoria during the
1970s and ‘80s, Eric Bruner, a
U.S. Coast Guard captain sta-
tioned in Portsmouth, Va., enjoyed
a panoramic view of the Coast
Guard’s presence on the North
Coast.
From his bayside home on Chi-
nook Street, Bruner routinely saw
Coast Guard helicopters taking off from Air Station As-
toria in Warrenton. While fishing, he would watch
Coast Guard cutters
cruising the Columbia
Astoria became
River.
an official Coast
The Coast Guard was
Guard city
also there in close-up:
Service members at-
May 1, 2010,
tended Astoria churches,
when the U.S.
enrolled their children in
Congress
Astoria schools, be-
friended Astoria families
approved the
— then, as now, imbuing designation.
the community with the
“Coast Guard ethos,” Bruner said.
“You always had those folks coming through and got
to know them,” he said. “They’ve always been a big
part of the positive nature of the town.”
A patriot since birth, Bruner initially considered join-
ing the U.S. Navy until two Coasties volunteering with
the high school’s football coaching staff steered him in a
G
different direction.
“I took their advice, got into
the Coast Guard Academy ...
and here I am,” he said. “I am
incredibly proud to be part of
this organization and to be
from Astoria ... Astoria made
me who I am, and the Coast
Guard is a big part of Astoria.”
Favorable waters
Astoria became an official
Coast Guard city May 1, 2010,
when the U.S. Congress ap-
proved the designation.
But the Coast Guard — a
division of the U.S. Depart-
ment of Homeland Security
that celebrated its 225th birth-
day Aug. 4 — has helped
shape the city since 1850, when USCG 29-foot Response Boat: From Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment cruises under the Astoria
the Revenue Cutter Service (the Bridge on the Columbia River this spring. The 29-footer is crewed by a minimum of three crew members
and can reach speeds of more than 50 mph. — PHOTO COURTESY OF PETTY OFFICER 1ST CLASS DAVID MOSLEY
proto-Coast Guard) placed the
first navigational buoys between
moored at the 17th Street Dock. The buoy tender Fir is
Astoria and the Columbia River Bar.
docked at Tongue Point, site of the Aids to Navigation
In 1856, the revenue cutter Joseph Lane was sta-
Team and Electronic Support Detachment.
tioned full time in Astoria, the first of many cutters to
call the city home port, including the Alert and Steadfast
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