Storis also awarded Arctic Service Medal

With all due respect to Commander Raiha and the crew of the cutter Alex Haley, I must correct the U.S. Coast Guard and their apparent lack of record keeping. I was a crew member on the cutter Storis (WMEC-38) from May 1996 to June 1999. We were awarded the Arctic Service Medal on the 21st of November 1996. Having “been there, done that” I understand the effort involved in an accomplishment of this nature.

The cutter Storis was also a medium endurance cutter home ported out of Kodiak, Alaska, from 1957 until de-commissioned (I believe) in 2007. During my time on board Storis, (and until de-commissioning) she was known as the “Queen of the Fleet” and had gold hull numbers designating it as the oldest Coast Guard  ship in Commission.

I have fond memories of my time in the Coast Guard and the ships I served on, and I am always happy to see another Sandpoint native doing well. By the way, I graduated from Sandpoint High School in 1979 and entered the Coast Guard in October of that year, retiring in April of August of 2001.

ANDREW ROBERTS

Cocolalla