Coast Guard’s worst Columbia disaster started as routine rescue

Published: Aug. 27, 2020, 2 p.m.

Mammoth seas on the legendary Columbia River Bar, plus the untimely removal of a vital piece of life-saving gear by short-sighted military brass, cost the lives of five Coast Guardsmen that night. (Columbia River Bar, Clatsop County; 1961) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1201c-triumph-disaster-coast-guard-columbia-bar.html)