The United States Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau Drug Bust

The United States Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau Drug Bust

By: D. R. Winston

The Year was 1990, the Place was the United States Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau under the command of Captain Fred L Ames. Mark Fluet was a Fireman, Meaning to all you folks that do not know what that is, it is an engineer.

It was an Alaskan Patrol in the bearing sea. The summer of 1990 the ship was making its routine patrol and Mark Fluet was finally qualified as a boat crew engineer. Break was coming. The Captain sounded Boarding team A lay to the small boat. It was mark's first time as Boat engineer. Trust me he didn't look nervous, but when I asked him he was very nervous.

The Small boat detail and the boat lowering detail got to the right side of the boat, and within minutes Mark and the crew was lowered into the bearing sea. They headed for a large vessel just north of Adak.

The entire time Mark worried about the boat if he could handle the task. If he was up to it, just as it was approaching the time that he was in the boat for 25 minutes C-130 planes flew over head. They were taking it in tow. Approximately too much to name that was confiscated. Of course, the man that got the props for the entire operation, and rightfully so, was the Captain Fred L. Ames. Fred was still fair and as the crew returned to the ship he did muster everyone in the mess hall and told them they were all apart of this and they were the best crew ever.

Mark knew the truth though, there really is not any such a thing as the best crew or the best ship. On one hand you can have the best state of the art ship, with all the newest modern technology. That ship would have countless bugs to work out. On the other hand you could have a ship that was a hundred years old and shakes like a rattle, but the bugs are long gone.

The news to the Operations area in San Francisco, earned the crew an extended leave in Canada. I will not tell you what happened there, but let us just say, that Mark R Fluet, for the first time was so drunk that he could not even walk a straight line, even after him and Warthen were walking back to the Ship Warthen was not in much better condition because he prayed top the porcelain God for hours.

It was not much to tell you, but the truth was mark sat in that boat in case the engine died, and his main responsibility was the boat. He did it well and as a very wise man once said, “ Every person, regardless of their position, is an equally important member to the team to accomplish it's mission.”