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Recently a memorial service was held at the Chatham, MA Coast Guard Station to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Monomoy disaster and to the honor the seven members of the Monomoy Life Saving Station and five members of the Coal Barge Wadena who lost their lives on that fateful day of March 17, 1902.
It was one of the worst tragedies in the history of the U.S. Life Saving Service, which was merged into the U.S. Coast Guard in 1915. The motto of the rescuers in those days was, “You have to go out, but you don’t have to come back”, and most did not. Only one surfman from the Life Saving Station survived, having been rescued by captain of another vessel that had been working nearby.
The memorial service was a joint project of the Cape Cod Maritime Research Association, the United States Coast Guard and the U.S. Life Saving Service Heritage Association.
This story appeared in the May 2002 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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