Watch the Coast Guard help rescue 36 fishermen from a burning ship

Coasties (as the other branches of the military tend to label members of the U.S. Coast Guard) often come off as black sheep of the family of military veterans, which isn't fair. They are members of the military and serve in deployed locations in the Middle East and elsewhere, they just happen to be under the Department of Homeland Security, and not the Department of Defense. Coast Guard basic training is difficult as all get out, despite what other branches tend to believe. The day to day life of the USCG isn't a walk in the park either. And when all is said and done, having a primary mission of saving lives, especially those who could not save themselves, is a mission worthy of respect.

This day was no different. The 229-foot Glory Pacific No. 8 fishing boat was a Papua New Guinea-flagged ship which caught fire some 2,070 miles off the coast of Hawaii. The Coast Guard dispatched a C-130 Hercules to locate the ship based on its emergency beacon. The found the Glory Pacific engulfed in flames, unmanned and adrift. They coordinated the rescue of the ships 36 crewmembers with another civilian ship in the area, the Lomalo, out of the Marshall Islands, using smoke flares. Lomalo will take the rescued crew back to their home port.

It's all fun and games to make fun of the Coasties, and as you do, just hope you're never stranded adrift in the middle of 2,000 miles of ocean. That's a lot of crow (or seagull) to eat.