William Carr honored at Coast Guard Academy for service in Vietnam

When someone thinks about the Vietnam War, it’s rare that you’d think about the Coast Guard. Former Lieutenant Junior Grade William Carr was 24-years-old when he made his mark on Coast Guard history, he was honored at the Coast Guard Academy on their “Wall of Galantry” recently for his service in that war on March 10, 1968 at the Naval Support Activity Detachment along the Cua Viet River. From the Associated Press;

“This is stupid. You are going to die,” Carr remembered thinking about that day he ran into the ammunition storage area amid the blazes looking for a missing Navy man, whom he would not find.

Carr was a 24-year-old lieutenant junior grade at the time, commanding the 82-foot patrol boat Point Arden and a crew of 10 other Coast Guardsmen. He led efforts to put out the fires, secure ammunition stockpiles and get medical assistance to the scene, where six to nine servicemen died and 98 others injured. He would be awarded the Bronze Star for his actions.

For 47 years, Carr, 72, never uttered a word about what happened that day — not even to his wife Judy, as he suffered what he believes was post-traumatic stress disorder. He finally started telling people about it in May, after officials at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, told him they were honoring him for his bravery and service.

Carr, a 1965 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy continued;

“Heroism is not something for which you train,” Carr told more than 900 cadets and others gathered for the ceremony, which also honored three other academy graduates. “Rather, what happens is we sometimes are confronted with extraordinary circumstances. We do our duty. And sometimes people recognize that as heroism.”

Admiral “Bull” Halsey said something similar; “There are no extraordinary men…just extraordinary circumstances that ordinary men are forced to deal with.”

Category: Coast Guard