MEDIA ADVISORY: Coast Guard to hold memorial ceremony honoring aircrew of CG2123 in Corpus Christi, Texas

Media Advisory

U.S. Coast Guard 8th District Public Affairs Detachment Texas Contact: Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi Public Affairs Office Phone: (361) 438-0176 PA Detachment Texas online newsroom

Coast Guard to hold memorial ceremony honoring aircrew of CG2123 in Corpus Christi, Texas

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Coast Guard Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi is scheduled to hold a memorial ceremony to commemorate the sacrifice of an Air Station Corpus Christi HU-16 Albatross aircrew lost in the line of duty 46 years ago, Friday.

Who: Capt. Jason Smith, deputy commander of Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi, will be officiating the ceremony.

What: The Coast Guard is inviting media to attend the memorial ceremony.

Where: Sherrill Park
             299 Kinney St. 
             Corpus Christi, TX 78401

When: Friday, Sept. 20, 2019 at 8 a.m.

On Sept. 21, 1973, the crew of HU-16 Albatross CG2123 answered the call of duty and responded to a search and rescue case for a man reported overboard off the merchant vessel Berlin Ester, just to the east of the Port Aransas jetties.

As the crew began dropping hand-launched MK-45 parachute flares for the HH-52 helicopter aircrew searching behind them, a fire erupted in the cabin. The aircrew attempted to ditch the aircraft, but the intense smoke of the fire incapacitated them.

The crew of CG2123 were:

Lt. Cmdr. Francis W. Miller 
Lt. j.g. Jerald M. Mack 
Petty Officer 1st Class Harold D. Brown, Jr.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Benjamin R. Gaskins, Jr.
Petty Officer 2nd Class John F. Harrison
Petty Officer 2nd Class John P. Pledger

Media interested in attending are requested to arrive no later than 7:45 a.m. and should RSVP by Thursday at 4 p.m. by calling Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi Public Affairs at 361-438-0176.

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