Tribute to the Coast Guard's 8th District Awardee Announced
The Coast Guard Foundation will recognize the responders to Hurricane Harvey at this year’s Tribute to the Eighth Coast Guard District in New Orleans on Friday, March 2, 2018.
Hurricane Harvey was a Category 4 storm that hit Texas late August 2017. It caused $125 billion in damage and affected 13 million people from Texas through Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Harvey made landfall three times in six days. Two feet of rain fell in the first 24 hours. At its peak, one third of Houston was underwater with the flood forcing 39,000 people out of their homes and into shelters.
When hurricanes hit, the men and women of the United States Coast Guard drive the boats and man the cutters, fly the aircraft and protect the ports, carry relief and stand the watch, and above all, bring hope to where there is despair and a confidence in the response to the citizens they swore to protect.
The event now in its 25th year will feature an address by Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Paul F. Zukunft. RADM Paul Thomas, commander of the Eight Coast Guard District, will also be in attendance. The emcee for the event is Reggie Rivers, broadcaster, motivational speaker and former NFL running back who played six seasons with the Denver Broncos.
Since the event’s inception in 1994 we have raised over $9 million for the benefit of the men and women of the United States Coast Guard. The members of the Eighth District are often some of the first to be called when natural disasters strike. They go willingly and act with the utmost professionalism, even when many of their families are impacted by these same tragedies. We are humbled to recognize these brave individuals.
During this year’s Tribute, the Foundation will acknowledge the community’s 25-year steadfast support of this event honoring these Coast Guard heroes. With the help of the community, the Foundation provides scholarship and morale programs for local service members and their families, as well as those stationed across the country.
In addition, the Foundation’s disaster relief program has provided more than $1.6 million to Coast Guard members impacted by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Louisiana Floods in 2016, and most recently, the three hurricanes that struck Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico in 2017.