STORY BEHIND THE PLAQUE
Service Reflections of CAPT David Edling, U.S. Coast Guard (1969-1999)

I completed two tours of duty as a Naval Officer serving aboard the USS Duncan DD-874 and the USS Lipan ATF-85 before considering service in the U. S. Coast Guard. Both of those shipboard tours included deployments to Vietnam, the first in 1970 and the second in 1972. I liked the Navy. I had been designated a Distinguished Naval Graduate on commissioning from the NROTC program at Oregon State University, which meant a Regular USN commission. Both of my initial shipboard tours were excellent experiences because I served under very competent Commanding Officers, and my shipmates on both ships were guys used to form my abilities and competencies as a sea service officer.

Being married and with two children dictated my long-term career choices, however, so when I left active duty (but retaining a Reserve Commission), I knew service as a line officer aboard ships would not allow me the kind of family life my wife and I desired. While serving as a Naval Reserve Officer in San Diego, I attended and completed law school at California Western School of Law. It was then I had a choice to make: go back on active duty as a Navy JAG officer or seek something different. I chose the Coast Guard Law Specialist program and spent five years as an active-duty Coast Guard Attorney after acceptance and an inter-service transfer to the U. S. Coast Guard. My first assignment was as one of the Assistant District Legal Officers in the Fourteenth Coast Guard District, Honolulu, Hawaii. My second assignment was at the Marine Safety Office in Portland, Oregon. Serving as a Coast Guard Lawyer met all of my expectations…broad exposure to several areas of admiralty and marine law, law enforcement, international law, enforcement of laws and treaties, and military law (UCMJ). I continued my Coast Guard career as a Selected Reserve Officer, serving as Commanding Officer of several boat units and eventually as Reserve Group Commander in San Diego. My final two tours were in the Coast Guard’s defense role, where I was back serving with Navy personnel: Commanding Officer of Deployed Port Security Unit 301 (b) in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia, during Desert Storm, and Commanding Officer of the Joint Navy/Coast Guard Harbor Defense Command Unit (HDCU-110) home-ported in San Diego…the Navy-Coast Guard Team…both services part of my life. I retired after 30 years of service.

Sea service as an Unrestricted Line Officer with specialization as a Surface Warfare Officer gave me a good understanding of the challenges faced by those on the front line of our nation’s defense. Service as an Attorney for the Coast Guard gave me broad exposure to all areas of the service and allowed me to also work with and see the activities of many other Federal and State agencies. Serving for many years in the Selected Reserve allowed me to find assignments that brought both of my specialization areas together. I also qualified as a Port Security Warfare Officer because of the development of the Coast Guard’s role in Desert Storm. That specialization utilized both of my prior areas…surface warfare and law.

I only finally left the sea services due to retirement on completion of 30 years.

Of course, combat in any service leaves its mark. Combat for me in Vietnam was as a Naval Officer on a destroyer, firing Naval Gunfire Support (NGFS) missions and plane-guarding for Aircraft Carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin. I was the Officer of the Deck (Underway) for all special evolutions (General Quarters, Rearming at Sea, and Refueling at Sea) while serving aboard the USS Duncan DD-874. My second shipboard tour in Vietnam was as XO of the USS Lipan ATF-85. Lipan was a diving, salvage, and towing ship. We operated close to shore and in the Mekong River.

Did you encounter any situation during your military service when you believed there was a possibility you might not survive? If so, please describe what happened and what was the outcome.

Being caught in a typhoon in the Taiwan Strait in 1970 aboard USS Duncan DD-874 was the hairiest moment of my sea service career. For 30+ hours facing 100-knot winds and 30-foot seas in a ship built in 1945 was something I would not desire to experience again! But the ship held together, and we all enjoyed several days in Hong Kong.

I have great memories from many assignments, but my three years as CO of the “Colorado River Patrol” were some of the best. What is the Coast Guard doing in the desert of Arizona? The Colorado River (many forget) is a Federal navigable waterway with a history of interstate trade from the early days of America. The Coast Guard and other Federal agencies, therefore, have jurisdiction over this water. During the summer months, thousands of boaters descend on Lake Havasu and the surrounding areas. Our dedicated Reserve Unit of 70 boat-qualified men and women rescue boaters in trouble and enforce laws related to Federal statutes. Our work was in conjunction with local law enforcement agencies (Lake Havasu PD, Sheriffs Departments from both California and Arizona, etc.) and, on the busiest weekends, air support from Coast Air Station San Diego. In 1989, the “Colorado River Patrol” was selected as the ROA Most Outstanding CG Reserve Unit in the nation. It was a great honor for me as the CO to accept this prestigious award on behalf of the great men and women of CGRU Phoenix in Washington, DC, from the Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard’s 14th District Legal Office in Honolulu would service the legal needs of CG men and women throughout the Pacific. That meant the lawyers assigned to that office (I was there from 1976 through 1980) would rotate duty on logistic flights out of CG Air Station Barbers Point on C-130 aircraft, visiting many far-flung stations…Midway, Wake, Iwo Jima, Saipan, Guam, the then Trust Territory Islands of the Pacific, and many more. Meeting the Coast Guard men and women assigned to these remote stations and assisting them with their many and varied legal assistance requests was a privilege but also a heavy burden. From one three-week trip in the back of a C-130 making the rounds, I would be working several months on legal matters and corresponding with dozens of state and local agencies, courts, banks, families, CPAs, etc. I often think about those trips and all the remote places personnel of the Coast Guard are stationed.

What professional achievements are you most proud of from your military career?

I am most proud of having been able to serve as the Commanding Officer of so many units in the Coast Guard Reserve. The dedication of the men and women of the “Twice-A-Citizen” service (to use General Eisenhower’s phrase) moved me to always want to be a better leader. Men and women who worked hard all week at their primary careers and then turned around and gave up their weekends and summer vacation time are people I wanted to be around and serve. At Coast Guard Reserve Unit Phoenix (“The Colorado River Patrol”), for example, we were named the best Coast Guard Reserve Unit in the nation (recipients of the 1989 ROA Congressional Award)! These dedicated men and women were underway in hot Arizona summer weather conditions, confronting intoxicated and unruly boaters (many in no clothes!) on the Colorado River at Lake Havasu, AZ, and did their work professionally and safely. I never had one incident in my three-year tour of duty as their CO of unprofessional conduct. That is something to be proud of!

The Humanitarian Service Medal…the Coast Guard is the “humanitarian service!” But I also would say the first personal award I received which was the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for my combat duty on USS Duncan DD-874 during the Vietnam War. That war was very controversial and, in hindsight, a great tragedy. Nonetheless, the men and women who served our nation during that conflict did so with patriotism and honor. I am proud to call myself a “Vietnam Veteran.”

Rear Admiral Robert Sloncen, USCGR (RET)…my mentor as a reserve officer.

Captain Robert Turnage, USN (RET)…my first Commanding Officer, USS Duncan DD-874…saw my potential and allowed me to make mistakes and learn from them.

RADM Tim Riker, USCGR (RET), CAPT David Powell, USCGR (RET)…my Desert Storm training buddies and fellow Desert Storm warriors.

RADM Tim Riker and CAPT Dave Powell. We trained and then served together during Desert Storm…each of us in different ports but closely connected. The closeness we developed during pre-deployment training at Camp Blanding, FL, extended to our time in the Middle East, and we have stayed in touch through phone calls, visits, and emails.

Aboard USS Duncan DD-874 in 1970, being overflown by a Russian Bear Bomber in the Sea of Japan…the Combat Information Center (CIC) reported the approaching aircraft, and we all ran to the upper decks to see what this USSR plane looked like. The CIC called out the direction from which the aircraft was approaching…it was tense…but we were all looking 180 degrees the wrong way when the massive plane flew just a few hundred feet over us. And we thought we were ready for war!!! A lot of laughs and some red faces from the guys in CIC…

After my military service, I continued to practice in law-related positions but then attended seminary and served on the pastoral staff of a church in Southern California. After 8-years as a pastor, I turned to helping churches of every denomination, becoming one of the attorneys at Peacemaker Ministries, where I did hundreds of mediation and arbitration cases. I am now fully retired but continue in service to my local church.

I am a Life Member of MOAA and ROA. I was inducted into the Scabbard and Blade Military Honor Society at Oregon State University when a Navy Midshipman.

Military members desire to “serve.” Being a “duty-driven” person by nature, the military allowed me to find the direction for that duty and to serve the nation. Of course, the comradeship the military affords is something that I will always miss. I now live in a city that has many retired military personnel…mostly Army and Air Force, but even so, I enjoy close friendships with many fellow veterans from my sister-services. Go Navy Beat Army!

Do not be limited in your vision for the future by the job or position which you are presently serving. In other words, use each duty assignment as one getting you ready for the next thing which may be more to your liking than what you are presently doing. Your time is never wasted if you see each day as a new opportunity to learn and serve and get ready for the next set of challenges.

I am relatively new to Together We Served and never really thought much about writing down what I have set forth here. This exercise in itself brought back the memories. Thank you.