Happy 222nd Birthday Coast Guard

August 4, 2012, is the 222nd birthday of the U.S. Coast Guard. It's a great time to take a second to learn the history of this branch of our military and appreciate everything the USCG does for us.


222 years ago, not long after our nation was founded, the seas were a treacherous place. Our fledgling country needed help keeping pirates from attacking merchants and smuggling goods into and out of the country. So in 1790, they created the Revenue Cutter Service. In 1915 the RCS merged with the U.S. Life Saving Service to become our Coast Guard.

While originally under control of the Department of Treasury, the Coast Guard has changed from that to the Department of Transportation to the Department of Homeland Security. In times of war, the U.S. Coast Guard can also function as a service to the U.S. Navy.

The Coast Guard has the missions of maritime safety, maritime security, and maritime stewardship. This comes into play as they keep our waters safe from piracy, rescue ships and people in distress, and maintain the security of our coastlines. So it's easy to see why the motto of the Coast Guard is Semper Paratus, which translates to "Always Ready."

We want to give a big THANK YOU to our U.S. Coast Guard members from all of us at the Healing Heroes Network. Hope you all have a fun and safe birthday!