Brotherhood of the Fin: A Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer's Story

By Gerald R. Hoover

Book Overview

From an early age I craved adventure, that adrenaline rush. I found it when I joined the Coast Guard in 1986, near the beginning of the Helicopter Rescue Swimmer Program. I eagerly signed up for what... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1587367440
• ISBN13: 9781587367441
• Release Date: June 2007
• Publisher: Wheatmark
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

great read for both coasties and everyone else

This book was very interesting from cover to cover. I would recomend this book to anyone like me thinking of becoming an AST. If only more people would read this book, they might have more respect for the USCG, the United State's unsung heros.

An absorbing, straight-talk tale of real life adventure and heroically selfless dedication.

Former Coast Guard rescue swimmer Gerald R. Hoover presents his own biography in Brotherhood of the Fin: A Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer's Story. Harrowing life-and-death decisions and endurance-testing rescue missions formed a part of his life and his dedication to saving those in desperate need. In his long career, he racked up more deployments than any other rescue swimmer in the history of the program; his final mission was to serve as part of the search and rescue mission to aid those victimized by the national disaster that was Hurricane Katrina. An absorbing, straight-talk tale of real life adventure and heroically selfless dedication.

Excellent Read

What an excellent book. If you have ever wondered about the world of Coastguard Rescue Swimmers, this is a must-read.

Best book I ever read!

This book is so well written. I have read many that are not as well thought out and reviewed by the writer; but this writer obviously really went over every detail and made sure it read well. The organization of the book is also one of the best. It seems a kind of beginning rather than just a focus on one career and eventual retirement. This should continue as a series covering many other AST Swimmer stories as well as how the experiences may affect and lead to improvements towards future more successful Search and Rescue Missions. This book also shows how vital and important the AST Rescue Swimmer program is since it's recent inception in the Coast Guard (only the last ~22 years). Now, countless people have been saved who could not have helped themselves into the rescue basket for hoist - who have gone on and had continued successful lives after their rescue. This is important to everyone - especially if you should need rescue one day....

Brotherhood of the Fin highly recommended

Gerald Hoover's book is a outstanding work of non-fiction. As a retired Coast Guard rescue swimmer I'm very proud of the way he relives his career of rescues that were life and death struggles filled with heart-pounding action. ASM1 Hoover takes the reader on a journey into the depths of turbulent waters where a select few persons, who are the Brotherhood of the Fin, willingly enter to rescue those in peril. Furthermore, Hoover hits the nail on the head by emphasizing the team effort of the Coast Guard's highly trained professionals that are part of every rescue. I highly recommend this book and would make it a required read for any young man or woman who wants to pursue a career as a Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer. Darell Gelakoska ASMCM USCG (Ret)