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This image is copyrighted by the artist and all reproduction rights are held by the U. S. Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association. Reproduction or other use without the permission of both parties is strictly prohibited.
Theme Cuban Exodus
Period 1980
Artist Andy Whyte, Norwalk, Connecticut
Size (framed) 4’-0” wide x 4’-0” high
Champion George Krietemeyer, Ancient Order of the Pterodactyl
Sponsor Ancient Order of the Pterodactyl
Story On May 17th, 1980, Coast Guard pilot LCDR Paul Ibsen and his HH-52A 1455 helicopter crew, LT Bob Hallock and AD3 Ken Marks, were deployed aboard USCGC Courageous during the massive USCG effort to protect refugee vessels during the mass exodus from Mariel, Cuba to Key West, Florida. During the five months of this operation, 102 Coast Guard cutters and boats, 19 Navy ships and patrol boats, Navy and Marine Corps aircraft and 99 Coast Guard aircraft from 15 air stations participated in this massive relief effort. Ibsen flew solo that day with Marks as his crewman and a corpsman from Courageous on a mission to monitor dozens of overloaded boats transporting hundreds of (an eventual 125,000) Cuban refugees sailing up the Mariel to Key West trackline. In the late morning, Marks spotted the bow of a vessel sticking out of the water, with a large number of people in the water. She was the overloaded M/V Olo Yumi, which had swamped in the 6-8 foot seas produced by a sudden line of squalls. The helicopter crew observed survivors desperately hanging onto the boat and any other debris that could be found. Some, but not all, wore lifejackets. Ibsen determined to hoist as many survivors as the helicopter’s available power would allow, and Marks expertly manipulated the rescue basket to get them into the helicopter. When the eleventh arrived at the helicopter door, the hoist burned out. Ibsen headed back to Courageous as three additional helicopters arrived on scene. Courageous and Vigorous had sped to the scene and boats were lowered away to complete the rescue. Of 52 people on the Olo Yumi, 38 were saved, 10 perished, and 4 were lost.