Edgar Culbertson

Edgar A. Culbertson (October 13, 1935 – April 30, 1967) was a United States Coast Guard Boatswain's Mate First Class (BM1) who died while trying to rescue three teenage brothers during a fierce storm in Duluth, Minnesota.

Rescue
Meteorologists and Minnesota residents often refer to April 30, 1967, as "Black Sunday," describing the 1967 Iowa–Minnesota tornado outbreak and heavy wind and rain in Duluth. During the storm, waves on Lake Superior in Duluth were reportedly over 20 feet high with water temperature around 36 degrees. Gale-force winds gusted to 45 mph.

Around 7:45 p.m., a witness reported to the Duluth Police Department that three boys (Eric, Nathan and Arthur Halverson) were at the end of the pier when one was washed into the water by a large wave. The other two were stranded at the end of the pier by high winds and waves. The police department contacted the Coast Guard lifeboat station in Duluth for assistance.

Culbertson was a 31-year-old native of Ferndale, Michigan, a veteran of the Korean War and had served in the Coast Guard since 1952. He and two other Coast Guardsmen, Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Richard R. Callahan, 21, of Cicero, Illinois and Fireman Ronald C. Prei, 21, of St. Francis, Wisconsin, volunteered to attempt a rescue. After arriving at the pier, they tethered themselves together with a rope spaced 25 feet apart and began searching the pier with a lantern. They struggled to the end of the pier, but did not find the missing boys who had already been swept over the side.

As Culbertson, Callahan and Prei returned along the pier, another large wave crashed over the wall, knocking Culbertson over the side. His body was later found on the beach.

A permanent marker honoring Culbertson was placed on the pier by the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center near the spot where he perished. He is one of only two Coast Guardsmen to have died in the line of duty while serving in Minnesota on Lake Superior. EN3 Keith Brubaker fell overboard and perished on July 11, 1967, while serving the Coast Guard Station North Superior in Grand Marais, Minnesota.

A bronze plaque erected later in 1967 was removed in the early 1980s when the pier was widened and reinforced. Tom Mackay, then a captain for the Vista Fleet and president of the International Shipmasters Association (ISMA) Twin Ports Lodge #12, realized after the pier improvements were finished that the plaque had not been reinstalled. He rallied the ISMA for assistance and the plaque was found and reinstalled on the new pier.

Culbertson, Callahan and Prei were awarded the Coast Guard Medal, the highest peacetime medal awarded in recognition of heroism. At the time, it had only been awarded to 44 people.

Coast Guard Medal citation

Legacy

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial
Petty Officer Edgar Culbertson has been selected for inclusion on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC during National Police Week in May 2010. Culbertson will be the 17th member of the United States Coast Guard to receive this honor.

Namesake of a Coast Guard cutter

On December 12, 2017, the Coast Guard announced that it planned to name its 37th Sentinel class cutter the USCGC Edgar Culbertson.

References

External links

 
 
 The Officer Down Memorial Page
 Coast Guard Channel
 
 

1935 births
1967 deaths
United States Coast Guard non-commissioned officers
United States Coast Guard personnel of the Korean War
Recipients of the Coast Guard Medal
People from Ferndale, Michigan
Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Detroit)