Honoring Maine Guardians with Sen. Collins

Guardians,

On Friday I traveled to Eastport and Southwest Harbor Maine with Senator Susan Collins to make units visits that were cancelled last spring due to poor weather. The delay offered the opportunity to combine the visit with an awards ceremony for the team at Southwest Harbor that responded after a rogue wave knocked a number of people into the water at the "Thunder Hole" at Acadia National Park on August 23, 2009. Of the seven that were swept into the water, four made it back to shore. Of the three remaining, two were rescued and lived. They were Peter Axilrod and Simone Pelletier, age 10. The third, Clio Axilrod, age 7, was recovered but could not be revived and tragically passed away. Quick thinking and a coordinated response from the Coast Guard, National Park Service, and the Marine Marine Patrol resulted in the rescue of Mr. Axilord and Simone Pelletier. While Mr. Axilrod could not attend the ceremony (he sent a letter that was read to those attending), Simone Pelletier did attend with her parents and older sister. It was a special day to have Simone there as we presented individual and team awards to the responders.

Individual awards went to BMC Ed Iversen, BMC Kevinn Smith, BM1 Thomas Sands, BM3 Stephen Hatch, MK3 Ryan Valdasz, and BM3 Josh McGowan.

We thank Captain Jim McPherson (Sector Northern New England) and the crews at Eastport and Southwest Harbor for their hospitality. We also thank Senator Susan Collins for taking time to visit our units and take part in the ceremony.


You can watch a video of the award ceremony and the dramatic rescue below.

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