The annual Tribute to the Coast Guard in our Nation’s Capital will be held on June 18 and bring together industry leaders, government officials, and U.S. Coast Guard members to recognize exceptional service and celebrate the missions and heroism of Coast Guard personnel nationwide.

The Coast Guard Foundation will highlight the multi-agency response to the March 26 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore after it was struck by the container ship Dali. Representatives of the Key Bridge Response Unified Command, including the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Maryland Department of the Environment, Maryland Transportation Authority, Maryland State Police, and Witt O’Brien’s will be recognized for their work to preserve lives, prevent additional damage to vital waterways, and reopen the port to marine traffic.

The Foundation will also recognize crews who rescued four divers 46 miles southeast of Cape Fear River, North Carolina, on August 14. The four men had been reported missing the day before from the pleasure craft Big Bill’s, approximately 63 miles east of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. After an extensive air-sea search, the men were spotted by the crew of a Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City HC-130J Hercules airplane, which dropped them a life raft. The crew of the USS Porter, which was operating in the vicinity, recovered them from the raft and a Coast Guard Station Oak Island motor lifeboat returned them to awaiting family and friends ashore.

The Commandant of the Coast Guard Admiral Linda Fagan and other Coast Guard personnel will attend the event, as will executive branch and congressional leaders. The evening will be emceed by renowned national TV journalists Kyra Phillips and John Roberts.

The event, which includes a reception and dinner, will be held at the National Building Museum, Tuesday, June 18, beginning at 6 p.m. The Foundation is grateful to dinner sponsors Cheniere Energy and Oracle, major sponsors Amazon Web Services, API, Austal USA, HII, Lockheed Martin, Metcor/LSI, and Peraton as well as all those supporting the event. Additional information is available here.  

Title image: A U.S. Coast Guard member observes the Francis Scott Key Bridge response in the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 6, 2024. Hundreds of engineering, construction and operations specialists support the unified command responding to the collapse of the bridge. (Photo by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Public Affairs Specialist Dylan Burnell)