COASTGUARD, heroes/past or present ETC--learning...

Bos’n Cluff then ordered, “Webber, pick yourself a crew. Ya-all got to take the 36500 out over the bar and assist that thar ship, ya-heah?” With great trepidation having seen the conditions offshore and knowing his likely fate, but understanding his duty, he replied, “Yes sir, Mr. Cluff, I’ll get ready.”7 It was time to choose his crew. Only three men were available, since “other crew members had made themselves scarce when they heard that CG-36500 was to be sent.” 8

All three quickly volunteered. BM1 Webber’s volunteers included the station’s junior engineer, Engineman Andrew Fitzgerald, Seaman Richard Livesey, and a crewman from the nearby Stonehorse Light Ship, Seaman Irving Maske, who had been waiting for transportation back to his lightship.

At about 5:30 p.m., as BM1 Webber and his crew readied their dory to row out to the CG-36500 MLB, local fisherman and neighbor, John Stello, yelled out over the din: “You guys better get lost before you get too far out.”9 Webber knew all too well what his friend was suggesting. Go out and probably die or get lost and live other days to talk about it. Webber asked Stello to call his wife Miriam, who had been alone and sick at home for two days, and let her know about the rescue attempt.

At 5:55 p.m., Webber and his last-minute-crew left the pier in their wooden 36-foot-long motorized lifeboat driven along by its single 90 horsepower gas engine.As coxswain Webber turned his lifeboat into the channel, he could see the station’s lights and hoped for a hasty recall. Hearing nothing, he radioed the station and received the curt response “Proceed as directed.”10

Thirty-two of the tanker's thirty-three stern survivors were rescued, only the ships cook, ordinary Seaman George C. Meyers perished. West Virginian George Meyers was no "ordinary" seaman. Weighing in at 350 pounds he was affectionately called "Tiny" by his freinds.
It was like a watery hell as red flares, dropped from circling aircraft, illuminated the scene. A rope "Jacobs" ladder was hung down the starboard side of the stern. The crew could climb down the ladder but would have to jump the last few feet, the next to bottom rung was missing. Meyers helped hand down half of his shipmates to the waiting Coast Guard lifeboat before the last three, including himself, were forced to jump. He got on the lifeboat but fell off as a wave caught the craft. Several men tried to pull Meyers aboard but were unsuccessful due to his excessive weight and the violent tossing of the boat. Soon thereafter another wave caught the lifeboat and crushed Meyers against the tanker's hull.

... that under Homeland Security their mission has changed considerably.