Guardians at Sea

Inside the daring, death‑defying exploits of U.S. Coast Guard aviators and rescue swimmers

Follow along with these firsthand accounts of American heroism as US Coast Guard men and women endure tests of survival and difficult choices to save others. Fast-paced, harrowing true stories of death-defying rescues, flying into extreme situations takes a team of talented and brave people. The best of the best, all jump in the helicopter, fly to the scene to face the dangers and unknown.[AP1.1]

This follow-up to Martha LaGuardia-Kotite’s award-winning book So Others May Live: Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers Saving Lives, Defying Death (Lyons Press) features some of the greatest twenty-first century stories involving elite U.S. Coast Guard aviation teams who willingly go into the worst weather and predicaments to risk their lives for strangers. Encountering unusual and unexpected twists, these heroes must figure out solutions in the precious seconds when their leadership is tested to the extreme and lives are at risk.

These intrepid people fight “So Others May Live” in all kinds of weather, above sinking fishing vessels, and through hurricanes, explosions, forest fires, and the 2025 Camp Mystic floods. Sometimes, the rescuers need to be rescued!

Readers will have a front row seat and an inside look into how rescue swimmers earn their coveted “fins” to join the 1,050 who have served since the program began in 1985. Eighty percent wash out of the school, and only the toughest graduate. Among them, seven women wear the fins insignia. Showcasing the grit and resilience required to remain calm while surrounded by perilous chaos, these heroes take us through the brutal advanced training, share heartfelt accounts of rescues, and relive traumatic narrow escapes.