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A Brief History

The Lighthouse Service was established in 1789 to maintain navigation buoys and lights.
The Revenue Cutter Service was established in 1790 to enforce customs laws.
The Lifesaving Service was established in 1879 to man stations along the coast to respond to sinkings and groundings.
In 1915 the Revenue Cutter Service and the Lifesaving Service were merged to form the Coast Guard.
In 1939 the Coast Guard assumed the missions of the Lighthouse Service.
All RCS vessels and LHS vessels and lighthouses are “Coast Guard Models”

The Coast Guard manned several Navy ships in WWII including DEs, PFs, LSTs, AKAs, etc
Same with Army tugs and freighters
The Coast Guard pressed many civilian boats into emergency WWII Service
Coastguardsmen conducted infantry-style raids and pounded the beaches on horseback in WWII
Coasties wore combat fatigues in Vietnam and BDUs in Desert Storm
The Coast Guard acquired several classes of ships from the Navy including DDs, SCs, AVPs, ATFs, ATAs, etc.
The Coast Guard flew over 100 different aircraft types since 1916

There are 4 Navy ships named for Coast Guard heroes including a Fletcher Class DD

The Coast Guard sponsored NASCAR cars for several years in the late 90s and early 2000s