MEDIA ADVISORY: Memorial service being held to honor Coast Guard cutter crew

 

News Release

U.S. Coast Guard 8th District Heartland Contact: 8th District Public Affairs Office: (504) 671-2020 After Hours: (618) 225-9008 Eighth District online newsroom

MEDIA ADVISORY: Memorial service being held to honor Coast Guard cutter crew

NEW ORLEANS — The Coast Guard is holding a memorial service in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Saturday to honor the crew of a Coast Guard cutter that sank 51 years ago, killing 17 Coast Guard members.

• Who: Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Baton Rouge
• What: Media is invited to attend the memorial service
• Where: The USS KIDD Veterans Museum, 350 S. River Road Baton Rouge, LA 70802
• When: 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, 2019

Coast Guard Cutter White Alder was homeported in New Orleans, Louisiana, from 1947 until 1968. The cutter's primary responsibility was to tend river aids-to-navigation, although it was also called upon to conduct other traditional Coast Guard duties. 

Fifty-one years ago, at 6:29 p.m. Dec. 7, 1968, the down-bound White Alder and the up-bound Motor Vessel Helena, a 455-foot Taiwanese freighter, collided in the Mississippi River at mile marker 195.3 near White Castle, Louisiana. The White Alder sank in 75 feet of water. Three of the 20 crewmembers were rescued, and the other 17 perished.

Media interested in attending must arrive no later than 12 p.m. and RSVP to Petty Officer Third Class Sydney Phoenix at (618) 225-9008. 

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