Navy Federal Credit Union

Awards Received

  • Coast Guard Medal

    Service:

    United States Coast Guard

    Rank:

    Seaman

    Action Date:

    September 6, 1990

    U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office

    The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Coast Guard Medal to Seaman Michael C. Pesce, United States Coast Guard, for extraordinary heroism on the evening of 6 September 1990 when he rescued an injured woman trapped in the Edgewater breakwall at the entrance of Cleveland Harbor near Lake Erie. The woman was one of six persons thrown into the water when their sailboat ran aground and broke apart in a severe storm. Seaman Pesce was dispatched from Coast Guard Station Cleveland, Ohio to serve as rescue boat crewmember and to assist an officer of the Ohio Division of Watercraft in the rescue. Upon reaching the scene, and after learning of the woman’s peril on the opposite side of the breakwall, Seaman Pesce, without thought or regard for his own safety, volunteered to leave the rescue boat and be placed onto the breakwall to effect the rescue. Despite 50-knot winds and an 8- to 10-foot surf, and hampered by blinding wind-driven spray and rain, Seaman Pesce inched his way towards the woman in the eerie light of flares, searchlights, and lightning. Repeatedly battered by the heavy surf, and twice washed from the breakwall, Seaman Pesce worked doggedly to free the woman, whose legs had been wedged into a narrow crevice, which kept her pinned underwater most of the time. Undaunted when he lost his glasses and safety helmet, Seaman Pesce dove underwater in repeated attempts to free the trapped woman while the sailboat’s boom and rigging were being whipped dangerously back and forth over his head by the force of the waves. Finally, with the assistance of two other rescuers, Seaman Pesce was able to free the woman. Then with great difficulty, the three rescuers placed the injured woman into the rescue boat which rushed her to shore. Seaman Pesce remained behind, clinging precariously to the breakwater while awaiting the arrival of another rescue unit. Although the rescued woman did not survive the ordeal, Seaman Pesce demonstrated remarkable initiative, exceptional fortitude, and daring in spite of imminent personal danger in this rescue. His courage and devotion to duty are most heartily commended and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Coast Guard.