Coast Guard, Coast Guard Auxiliary to hold remembrance ceremony for fallen shipmates

[The Patriot]

MIAMI — Coast Guard Air Station Miami is scheduled to host a memorial remembrance ceremony Jan. 25 at 10 a.m. at Miami Opa-Locka Executive Airport.

The annual ceremony honors those air crew members who lost their lives in the line of duty in the Miami area.

On Jan. 17, 1979, a Sikorsky HH-52A Seaguard was involved in a midair collision during their landing descent with a civilian helicopter in a takeoff climb. Both aircraft were cleared by the tower along parallel flight paths, but were not advised of each other. Coast Guard Lt. R.G. Ausness, Lt. R.C. Shearer Jr., Petty Officer 1st Class R.E. McClain and Petty Officer 3rd Class J.B. Case died in the collision.

On Feb. 1, 2001, Coast Guard Auxiliarists Casey Purvis and Robert Fuller were aboard a Piper PA-32 performing night intercept training with an Air Station Miami HU-25 Falcon jet crew. During the flight, the auxiliarists entered the clouds and subsequently crashed.

The ceremony, which is not open to the public, is scheduled to be held at Coast Guard Air Station Miami, at 14750 NW 44th Ct., Opa-Locka, FL 33054.

Members of the media are requested to RVSP with Coast Guard Auxiliary Public Affairs Officer Rabbi Isaac Rosenberg at Isaac.Rosenberg@uscg.mil, (305) 953-2346 or (954) 588-0914.






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