Tom Edwards, who is the public education officer for the Station Milford Haven Auxiliary, said that “it’s not easy to be on call 24 hours,” but that the Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary “have been here for 50 years serving the public.”

For example, former Flotilla 66 commander Ray Procopio was called out on a Sunday in June to help with a search and rescue because the station’s assets were already out on other calls. Two people on a small boat were stranded because their battery had died. Procopio had his boat in the water and was ready to go, so he picked up active duty personnel to pursue the mission.

Active Coast Guardsman BM2 Josh Nieves, who was at the ceremony first thing Friday morning, had been up until 3 a.m. providing search and rescue for a vessel that had run aground in Mobjack Bay between Brown’s Bay and the Severn River. He said they launched out of Put-In Creek at 9:30 p.m., got to the scene, and couldn’t get close...