Cleve Chandler.

Henry 'Cleve' Chandler has his own variation on the Coast Guard Auxiliary's Marine Safety Department Trident Program logo of "Saving People from the Sea and The Sea From People" in that he is a part-time pastor and full-time Auxiliary lifesaver.

In recognition of his life saving actions, Cleve has been awarded the Association for Rescue at Sea (AFRAS) Silver Medal Award for heroic action in effecting a rescue at the risk to his own life.

Cleve is the first ever Silver Award Coast Guard Auxiliarist and was recognized for this achievement at his Baton Rouge, Louisiana Flotilla meeting on June 20, 2002. The Silver Award is given by AFRAS to members of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary who are involved in a rescue of life at sea and who demonstrate uniquely distinguishable heroic actions.

Saving people….

Chandler, 58, is a member of Flotilla 4-10, District 8CR. He is a soft-spoken pastor and ex-Marine. He said, "Joining the Auxiliary is closely tied to a Christian faith I found at a Baton Rouge YMCA when I was 28 years old." He continued, "An incident occurred in 1973, after I graduated from LSU and ended a six-year career with the Marines. I was lifting weights one day when a man who identified himself as 'a former actor with a troubled past' began talking to me about Christianity." The conversation led the men a half-hour later to a basketball court, where they prayed together. "That day gave me a new hunger for life," Cleve said.

Boat Crew Testing.

He entered the seminary and in 1984 became pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Stamps, Arkansas. When his father took ill in 1997, he returned with his family to his hometown, Baton Rouge. Cleve wanted to serve his community. "I wanted to understand people outside the church," he said. "This helps me connect with people, especially young people, interested in joining the Coast Guard."

In July of this year, Cleve made a three-week trip to Romania as part of an eight-member mission team for his church. "Although most of the mission team went to see the medical clinic supported and maintained by the church," said Cleve, "I stayed on site working with the other Romanians. I am blessed to have building and repair skills so I understood the process they were using and, despite language difficulties, was able to work beside the local workers. Time was also spent in a small village, about 100 kilometers away, building a playground for their children."

Destined to be by water and boats….

When asked about his boating interests, Cleve replied, "Having the name of 'Chandler', I knew I was destined to be by the water and on boats. As you know, a ship's chandler is in the business to supply and get the ship ready for its next voyage. They would stock the boat; repair the sails and spars, even clean up if so requested."

Change of Watch (L to R) Captain Joseph Castillo, USCG, CommandingOfficer of CG Group New Orleans; Cleve Chandler, and CWO Frank Kratochvil, USCG, Commanding Officer of CG Station New Orleans.

"I knew the word boats must be in my DNA somewhere," he said. "My dad added to this atmosphere. He invited me out to our back yard one day to see our first family boat, a 12-foot strip wooden roundabout. He uncovered it to show me the name 'Cleve' written across the bow in fancy lettering. I think I knew I was hooked," said Cleve.

"During the summers of my eighth and ninth grade, I worked on my father's tugboat, the McHenry. Mainly, my job was to scrape and paint, sweep and watch," Cleve said. "On rare occasions I got to hold the wheel during a "one-barge push."

"Now, while serving with Auxiliary members, I enjoy boating with a purpose. One of my interests is to one day have a classic wooden boat," Cleve said.

Cleve recently finished building a 16-foot pirogue, a shallow-draft boat used to maneuver through the Louisiana swamps. He also has a 26-foot center console named, WellCraft, which he uses for Auxiliary safety patrols, and a 36-foot trawler named, Tortuga. He refers to them both as, "a place of contemplation and sanctuary." When asked about the name of the latter, Cleve said, "It is the Spanish word for turtle. This 36-foot trawler is 'slow as a turtle' with a top speed of 7 knots. She was named by the previous owner and I kept the name as appropriate."

Saving people from the sea….

Cleve's first rescue occurred on July 12, 2000 at Lake Tangipahoa at Percy Quinn State Park. Mr. M.D. Smith, visiting from McComb, Mississippi, accidentally drove his van into the lake with his sister, Frances Simpson, sitting beside him.

Cleve was not on patrol, "I just happened to be chaperoning a group of seven children around the lake on a church camp outing. I observed Mr. Smith's van slide down an embankment and into the lake," he said. He raced his boat to the location, relinquished the helm, and quickly gave instructions to the other adults onboard.

Cleve Chandler enjoying the day.

Cleve dove into the water and saw an elderly couple sitting in the bobbing van, frozen in terror. Another person from Cleve's boat, a college student from the church group, also dove into the water. The student assisted Cleve in removing the driver from the van, putting a PFD on the rescued driver and helping him to the shore. As the driver was pulled out, the van suddenly sank, taking both Cleve and the passenger to the bottom of the lake. Cleve broke the surface for only a moment to get a breath of air and then quickly dove 15-20 feet to rescue the passenger still trapped inside the van.

Another rescue from the sea….

On Thursday, June 27, 2002, as reported in the Baton Rouge paper, The Advocate, Cleve rescued another boater. Cleve had just finished helping one of his neighbors tow his sailboat in for repairs on a stormy Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana. On the way into the launch site, Cleve noticed a fisherman in a small aluminum flat bottom boat equipped with only a trolling motor. It was anchored in a deep part of the channel. With the weather worsening, Cleve thought to himself, "that the fisherman ought to be getting ready to go in for the day."

Due to the severe weather conditions and after several unsuccessful attempts, Cleve managed to load the boat on its trailer. At about this time a hysterical man came running towards him on the boat ramp. Cleve asked the man to calm himself, and when the man did, he told Cleve, "an aluminum flat bottom boat just overturned in the lake."

Without hesitation, Cleve took the man aboard and returned his 26-foot powerboat to the water. They made a beeline, through a thunderstorm, back across the lake, toward the scene of the accident. On the way to the submerged boat, Cleve reported the incident to Coast Guard Station New Orleans.

Chandler, L R

Fifteen minutes later they located the bobbing stern of the capsized boat, about 500 yards offshore. A man was floating nearby, held afloat by a tackle box and two life jackets, one he was wearing and one in hand. "We were in the middle of a thunderstorm with the waves breaking over the bow and lifting us," said Cleve. "The risk was that if we got too close, the boat could have landed directly on top of him." Cleve's passenger, unaware of that threat, demanded they get as close to the man as they could. Instead, Cleve instructed, "toss the throw rope bag to the man." Instead, the passenger threw a stern line. Fortunately the person in the water was able to grab the line and hold on. Cleve seeing a lull in the waves was able to retrieve the victim into the boat.

Coast Guard Station New Orleans dispatched a 27' SAFE (Secured Around Flotation Equipped) utility boat to the scene. They radioed Cleve, requesting he stay at the rescue scene until they arrived. Cleve said, "I really felt a connection to the Coast Guard when I saw BMC Everett Driskill put his head out that door. He was someone I knew from station." While waiting for the Coast Guard, Cleve was able to retrieve items floating in the water and obtain information for the SAR report.

When Cleve returned to shore, he met a hero's welcome -- pats on the back from strangers and hugs from his daughters, Lydia and Sarah. "One man said I should make him breakfast in bed for a week," said Cleve's wife Valerie. "It was so special to be there to see him save somebody's life." The person in the water, Bruce Ohlmeyer, of New Orleans, was the third person Cleve has helped save since joining the Coast Guard Auxiliary.

While Cleve reflected on the incident on the drive home to Baton Rouge, he commented to his wife, "It really makes you appreciate boat crew qualified personnel aboard during an incident that we just went through." Ironically, on the water enroute to the rescue scene, Cleve received a cell phone call from a newspaper reporter wanting to interview him on the Silver Award. Cleve's nonplussed reply, "I'll get back to you later." 

Cleve Chandler at the helm.

First ever silver award recipient….

The Lake Tangipahoa rescue earned Cleve the Association for Rescue at Sea Silver Medal Award, which was created four years ago for members of the Auxiliary but had never bestowed. Joe Taylor, District 8CR Commodore, said, "The award was designed to honor a heroic rescue at sea but that no one had yet qualified. You have really got to do something out of the ordinary to get the award." He added, "Diving down and getting those people out of the van was really above and beyond."

In November, Cleve will travel to Washington, D.C., to receive the actual Silver Award medal from members of the Congressional Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Capitol Hill along with Petty Officer Christopher Damelio and AST1 Eric Forslund of the Coast Guard who will receive the AFRAS Gold Award.

The award reads, in part, "The skills, valor, and judgment of PO Damelio, PO Forslund, and Auxiliarist Chandler directly resulted in the saving of five lives, and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Coast Guard." All of the 2001 AFRAS winners and nominees demonstrated exceptional courage and have enhanced the Coast Guard's reputation as "The Lifesavers" and "The Guardians of the Sea." The AFRAS Gold and Silver Medal Award is an excellent opportunity to recognize the outstanding actions of our search and rescue personnel, and also is a humbling reminder of the dangers that our people routinely face so that others may live.

Commodore Taylor said, "All members of the Auxiliary train for rescues like those Chandler has made, but that few ever make them."

Cleve said, "All the attention is starting to embarrass me, it's hours and hours of boredom interrupted by moments of stark terror. We're out there more to prevent accidents than to respond to them." Cleve calls his rescues 'divine appointments' and 'providential'. "It has been my blessing to serve and be part of this great Flotilla as well."

Cleve recently earned his Coxswain qualification and credits his Coast Guard Auxiliary training in helping him with the successful outcomes of his rescues. He has stated, "I am very proud to be part of Team Coast Guard."

Cleve was also presented the Auxiliary Plaque of Merit at the 2001 Division 4 Change of Watch. This award is given to Auxiliarists in recognition of extreme skill in performing an assist or rescue that involves risk to the Auxiliarist's life. Be it divine providence or just being at the right place at the right time, Henry Cleve Chandler credits the training he has received through the Coast Guard Auxiliary as part of his calling to be a life saver and saver of lives.