List of United States Coast Guard people explained

The following is a list of people who served in the United States Coast Guard and have gained notability through previous or subsequent endeavors, infamy, or successes:

Note: When adding a name to this list, please place the same in alphabetical order and provide a reliable verifiable source. Secondary sources such as fansites are not allowed. As a guide please see: sources. Additions that are not in alphabetical order and/or do not provide a primary reliable verifiable source will be removed.

A

• John C. Acton – retired rear admiral who serves as the Director of Operations Coordination for DHS.^[1] Acton formerly served as Director of the DHS Presidential Transition Team.^{[2] [3]}
• Derroll Adams – folk musician
• Nick Adams – actor (served 1952–1955)
• Eddie Albert – actor and activist
• Thad Allen – former commandant, incident commander for Deep Water Horizon oil spill and Hurricane Katrina disaster recovery operations.
• Gerald Arpino – choreographer

B

• Al Barlick – professional baseball umpire, National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee (served during World War II)
• Edward T. Barry – American professional hockey player
• Panayiota Bertzikis – executive director, Military Rape Crisis Center
• Tom Blake - Surfer and inventor
• Humphrey Bogart – actor (Bogart volunteered his yacht Santana (as well as himself) in 1944 for service with the Coast Guard Temporary Reserve)
• Corey Brandt – baseball executive and former baseball general manager (served 1996-2000) ^[4]
• Milton H. Bren – producer (Tars and Spars), writer, director
• Beau Bridges – actor (served from 1959 to 1967 in the Coast Guard Reserve)
• Jeff Bridges – actor (served from 1967 to 1975 in the Coast Guard Reserve)
• Lloyd Bridges – actor (he was a member of Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary and did a number of public service announcements for the Coast Guard)
• Frank Brimsek – professional hockey player, National Hockey Hall of Fame inductee (Served from 1943 to 1945)
• Aaron Brown – broadcast journalist, professor of journalism at Arizona State
• Danny Joe Brown – lead singer for the southern rock group Molly Hatchet
• Erroll M. Brown – the first Coast Guard African-American admiral
• Nathan Bruckenthal – the only Coast Guardsman killed in action in Iraq, and the first KIA since the Vietnam War
• Daniel C. Burbank – second Coast Guard astronaut, Captain, USCG

C

• Sid Caesar – comedian
• Richard R. Callahan – Coast Guard Medal recipient
• Gil Carmichael – Mississippi businessman, transportation specialist and politician
• Lou Carnesecca – college basketball coach
• Gower Champion – dancer, actor, director
• Howard Coble – congressman (North Carolina), retired Coast Guard Reserve captain
• Edwin Louis Cole – author, pastor
• Chris Cooper – actor
• Art Coulter – professional hockey player, National Hockey Hall of Fame inductee
• Warren Covington – musician and band leader (took over the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra)
• Richard Cromwell – actor
• Walter Cronkite – newscaster, member of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary and an honorary commodore

D

• Valentine Davies – Oscar-winning screenwriter and director (Miracle on 34th Street, The Glenn Miller Story)
• Jim Davis – actor
• William D. Delahunt – congressman (Massachusetts)
• Jack Dempsey – professional boxer
• Andre Douglas – NASA astronaut
• Vernon Duke – composer

E

• Buddy Ebsen – actor
• Blake Edwards – writer, director, producer
• Perry Ellis – fashion designer
• Edwin D. Eshleman – former U.S. Congressman, Pennsylvania

F

• William R. "Willie" Flores – Coast Guard Medal recipient, namesake of the Sentinel-class cutter USCGC William Flores
• Arthur Fiedler – conductor, Boston Pops Orchestra
• Anton Otto Fischer – artist
• Glenn Ford – actor
• Preston Foster – actor
• William A. Fraker – cinematographer
• Elizebeth Smith Friedman – cryptanalyst for the U.S. Treasury Department and the Coast Guard

G

• Neal Gay – professional Rodeo Hall of Fame inductee^[5]
• Charles Gibson – newscaster
• Leroy Gilbert – former officer in the United States Navy and Chaplain of the United States Coast Guard
• Arthur Godfrey – entertainer
• Gale Gordon – actor
• Sid Gordon, – 2-time All-Star Major League Baseball player
• Otto Graham – professional football player and coach
• Burton Gilliam – actor

H

• Alan Hale, Jr. – actor
• Alex Haley – writer
• Wynn Handman – actor, director
• William O. Harbach – producer
• David Hasselhoff - actor - was made an honorary Commodore for his work alongside the USCG Auxiliary in 1997.^[6]
• Michael A. Healy – first man of African American descent to command a U.S. Government vessel.
• Jim Hegan – professional baseball player and coach
• Robert Horton – actor
• Tab Hunter – actor

J

• Lew Jenkins – professional boxer and world lightweight champion
• Harvey E. Johnson, Jr. – retired Coast Guard Vice Admiral, Deputy Director of FEMA
• Victor Jory – actor

K

• Robert Kellard – actor
• Michael Kilian – author, writer (USCG auxiliarist)
• Jack Kramer – tennis professional

L

• Al Lamberti - Sheriff of Broward County
• Jacob Lawrence – artist
• Admiral James Loy - 21st Commandant, 2nd Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, 2nd United States Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security

M

• Guy Madison – actor
• John Mariucci – professional hockey player, National Hockey Hall of Fame inductee
• Monte Markham – actor, producer
• Victor Mature – actor (served in World War II)
• Bruce E. Melnick – NASA astronaut, first Coast Guard astronaut
• G. William Miller – businessman, Secretary of the Treasury
• Bubba Morton – baseball player
• Douglas Munro – the only Coast Guardsman to receive the Medal of Honor
• Frank Murkowski – governor of Alaska and former Alaska senator

N

• Vice Admiral Peter V. Neffenger - Vice Commandant of the USCG, 6th Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration
• Frank Newcomb – commodore, USCG and Congressional Gold Medal recipient
• Sam Nunn – former Georgia senator

O

• Edwin O'Connor – Pulitzer Prize-winning author
• Thomas F. O'Neil – executive
• Jess Oppenheimer – writer, director, producer of I Love Lucy television show

P

• Arnold Palmer – professional golfer
• Ed Parker – founder of American Kenpo Karate
• George S. Patton, Jr. – awarded the Silver Lifesaving Medal for saving three boys from drowning
• Vincent W. Patton III – first African American to become Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard
  • Vice Admiral David P. Pekoske - 26th Vice Comandant, and 7th Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration Claiborne Pell – former Rhode Island senator
• J.D. Power III – businessman (served from 1953 to 1957)
• Ronald C. Prei – Coast Guard Medal recipient^[7]

Q

• Richard Quine – actor

R

• Al Roker – television personality, Honorary Commodore, Coast Guard Auxiliary^[8]
• Cesar Romero – actor

S

• Walter Sande – actor
• Steve Shagan – Oscar-nominated screenwriter, film and television producer, and novelist
• Charles S. Shapiro – former U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela
• Joe Simon – comic book writer, artist, editor and publisher
• Carlton Skinner – first civilian governor of Guam
• Ron Sparks – Alabama politician
• Ted Steele – radio personality
• Dorothy C. Stratton – first director of the SPARS

T

• Gene Taylor – congressman (Mississippi)
• Emlen Tunnell – professional football player
• Ted Turner – businessman

V

• Rudy Vallée – entertainer, musician, singer ^[9]

W

• Tom Waits – actor, singer, songwriter
• Patrick Wayne – actor
• Bernard C. Webber – Gold Lifesaving Medal awardee, author
• Henry Wilcoxon – actor
• Don "The Dragon" Wilson – martial arts master, actor
• Sloan Wilson – writer
• Kai Winding – musician
• Lothar Wolff – producer, director

Notes and References

1. Web site: Department of Homeland Security Leadership structure. February 24, 2010.
2. Web site: Statement by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on the Department's Transition Efforts . November 6, 2008 . February 24, 2010 . Homeland Security . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100601190900/http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1226002818728.shtm . June 1, 2010 .
3. Matt Kohut, Harvard Kennedy School "A Steady Hand during a Time of Transition" December 2, 2008
4. Web site: Corey Brandt Named Stone Crabs General Manager. MiLB.com. Minor League Baseball. 12 October 2017. September 12, 2012.
5. Web site: Celebrities and Famous People . U.S. Coast Guard Notable People . U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office . 29 November 2022.
6. Web site: USCG Auxilary . Facebook.
7. Web site: Coastguardsman Remember Black Sunday. 3 May 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090503110400/http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/local/44086922.html. 24 June 2019. 2009-05-03.
8. Web site: Wilson. Rande. Al Roker – Honorary Commodore – United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. COAST GUARD Auxiliary Live. U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. 3 September 2014.
9. Book: Wise, Jr., James E. and Anne Collier Rehill. Stars in Blue: Movie Actors in America's Sea Services. 1997. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD. 293. 1-55750-937-9.