PORT ANGELES — For Jerry Sampont the reunion of the 1966 crew of the Coast Guard cutter Point White on Saturday will be more than just seeing old friends.
The reunion will bring long overdue honors to eight men through ribbons and medals being distributed to the crew and public awareness of the role of the Coast Guard during the Vietnam War.
Sampont, 59, of Port Angeles and the other men will be honored by Rear. Adm. Jeffery Garrett, commander of the 13th Coast Guard District, during a private ceremony at the Coast Guard station on Ediz Hook at 11 a.m.
“Few people today realize or remember that the Coast Guard was in Vietnam or the large impact they had on the war,” he said.
Sampont said this week’s events are the first time in 37 years members of the 1966 crew have been together.
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The rest of this story appears in Thursday’s Peninsula Daily News.
