RIP- U.S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III
- Thread starter C-Hawk
- Start date
This definitely brings home the realization to many that we have a war constantly ongoing on our coastlines. The news credits BMC Terrell Horne III with 38 lives saved in his CG career. What a tragedy to lose his life at the hands of those out to make a quick buck without regard for the lives of others.
Last night, during our Auxiliary Division Change of Watch we observed the CG Missing Man Table and Honor Ceremony, with a period of silence for BMC Terrell Horne III.
When I returned home, I googled the information about the incident and in reading more about the smuggling on the California coast via the pangas, I was appalled at the numbers of them that reach our shores. Not real certain that I would want to cruise in a boat down there. But then the shores of Washington State are not immune to similar activity.
Rick, my thoughts are not only with Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III's family but with you and your active duty shipmates. Thank you for all you do!
Last night, during our Auxiliary Division Change of Watch we observed the CG Missing Man Table and Honor Ceremony, with a period of silence for BMC Terrell Horne III.
When I returned home, I googled the information about the incident and in reading more about the smuggling on the California coast via the pangas, I was appalled at the numbers of them that reach our shores. Not real certain that I would want to cruise in a boat down there. But then the shores of Washington State are not immune to similar activity.
Rick, my thoughts are not only with Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III's family but with you and your active duty shipmates. Thank you for all you do!
The loss of Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III is felt by us in Alaska as well. Alaska maritime communities have close ties with the Coast Guard and their families. We are angered and saddened by this senseless loss and our hearts go out to his family. More can be said about the incident but out of respect for this fine man, I'll stop here.
We are all angered and appalled by the death of CPO Terrell. Our prayers are with his family. But nothing will bring back this father and husband!
Smuggling has long been a problem around the Channel Islands. We saw a heroin transfer in about 1981 from a large ocean going vessel to two small trailerable sailboats. The rangers on the Islands have long been armed because of the smuggling.
My solution is not PC--shoot first and ask questions later in this type of situation--but that is not what our rule of law allows.....
Smuggling has long been a problem around the Channel Islands. We saw a heroin transfer in about 1981 from a large ocean going vessel to two small trailerable sailboats. The rangers on the Islands have long been armed because of the smuggling.
My solution is not PC--shoot first and ask questions later in this type of situation--but that is not what our rule of law allows.....
Captains Cat
New member
RIP Chief. We all might want to watch This tonight Another way for USCG folks to lose their lives. In this case, they didn't. Thankfully!
SAN DIEGO -- A Coast Guardsman fired several gunshots from an inflatable boat before it was slammed by another vessel in a crash that caused the first American law enforcement fatality since the smuggling of drugs and immigrants by boat began spiking along the California coast several years ago.
A criminal complaint filed Monday against two Mexican nationals aboard the suspect vessel disclosed the gunshots and other measures taken by the crew to avoid getting hit early Sunday near the Channel Islands, about 180 miles (290 kilometers) northwest of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III, 34, died from head trauma after being struck by a propeller. The complaint doesn't say which boat hit him.
Horne was assigned to the Halibut, an 87-foot (26.5-meter) patrol cutter based in Marina del Rey that was dispatched after a Coast Guard C-130 plane spotted the 30-foot (9-meter) "panga" vessel without lights near Santa Cruz Island, the largest of the eight Channel Islands west of Los Angeles. The panga was suspected of involvement in a drug smuggling operation.
The cutter carries a 21-foot(6.4-meter)-long, rigid-hull inflatable boat that the Coast Guard routinely uses on missions that require more speed and agility than the cutter can deliver.
Using the inflatable boat, Horne and his team came within about 20 yards (meters) of the suspect vessel at 1:20 a.m. The Coast Guard boat flashed its blue lights and the crew ordered the suspects to stop in English and Spanish before the panga gunned its engine, knocking Horne and colleague Brandon Langdon into the water, the complaint states
Jonathan D'Arcy, one of four officers on the inflatable boat, fired several shots at the panga to avoid a collision, the complaint said. Crew member Michael Walker attempted to steer out of the way, but the panga struck the front and left side of the Coast Guard boat.
Langdon was treated for a knee injury. D'Arcy and Walker were unharmed.
Coast Guard crews followed the suspects by air and sea for nearly four hours until the vessel's engine died 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of the Mexican border.
An officer used pepper spray on suspects Jose Meija Leyva and Manuel Beltran Higuera, who were charged with killing a federal officer while the officer was on duty.
Meija Leyva identified himself as the captain and told authorities he was taking gasoline to lost friends, according to the complaint. Beltran Higuera told authorities he was offered $3,000 to deliver gasoline to another boat that was waiting for them, but they never found it.
The complaint makes no mention of drugs being found on the boat. Coast Guard investigator Joel Widell said in an affidavit that drug or immigrant smugglers may have been using the boat to supply fuel.
Attorneys for the men did not respond to phone messages seeking comment. A judge scheduled a preliminary hearing for Dec. 17.
Horne is the first law enforcement official to die off the California coast since a spike in illegal activity began several years ago. At least six people aboard suspected smuggling vessels have been killed since the 2010 fiscal year.
In growing numbers, smugglers are turning to the California coast to bring people and drugs to the United States from Mexico. The number of Border Patrol agents on land has doubled in the past eight years, and hundreds of miles (kilometers) of fences and other barriers have been erected, driving smugglers to the Pacific Ocean.
U.S. authorities spotted 210 suspected smuggling vessels along California shores during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, up 15 percent from 183 incidents the previous year and more than quadruple the 45 incidents in 2008.
Migrants pay thousands of dollars to launch from beaches and small fishing villages south of Tijuana, Mexico. They typically use the old, single-engine wooden fishing skiffs known as pangas.
In October, a Mexican woman told authorities she agreed to pay $12,000 to be smuggled by boat into the U.S. A criminal complaint says she was among 16 people - all but one a suspected illegal immigrant from Mexico - found in a 31-foot vessel that appeared to be taking in water in the Newport Beach harbor.
-- Associated Press writer Robert Jablon in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
A criminal complaint filed Monday against two Mexican nationals aboard the suspect vessel disclosed the gunshots and other measures taken by the crew to avoid getting hit early Sunday near the Channel Islands, about 180 miles (290 kilometers) northwest of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III, 34, died from head trauma after being struck by a propeller. The complaint doesn't say which boat hit him.
Horne was assigned to the Halibut, an 87-foot (26.5-meter) patrol cutter based in Marina del Rey that was dispatched after a Coast Guard C-130 plane spotted the 30-foot (9-meter) "panga" vessel without lights near Santa Cruz Island, the largest of the eight Channel Islands west of Los Angeles. The panga was suspected of involvement in a drug smuggling operation.
The cutter carries a 21-foot(6.4-meter)-long, rigid-hull inflatable boat that the Coast Guard routinely uses on missions that require more speed and agility than the cutter can deliver.
Using the inflatable boat, Horne and his team came within about 20 yards (meters) of the suspect vessel at 1:20 a.m. The Coast Guard boat flashed its blue lights and the crew ordered the suspects to stop in English and Spanish before the panga gunned its engine, knocking Horne and colleague Brandon Langdon into the water, the complaint states
Jonathan D'Arcy, one of four officers on the inflatable boat, fired several shots at the panga to avoid a collision, the complaint said. Crew member Michael Walker attempted to steer out of the way, but the panga struck the front and left side of the Coast Guard boat.
Langdon was treated for a knee injury. D'Arcy and Walker were unharmed.
Coast Guard crews followed the suspects by air and sea for nearly four hours until the vessel's engine died 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of the Mexican border.
An officer used pepper spray on suspects Jose Meija Leyva and Manuel Beltran Higuera, who were charged with killing a federal officer while the officer was on duty.
Meija Leyva identified himself as the captain and told authorities he was taking gasoline to lost friends, according to the complaint. Beltran Higuera told authorities he was offered $3,000 to deliver gasoline to another boat that was waiting for them, but they never found it.
The complaint makes no mention of drugs being found on the boat. Coast Guard investigator Joel Widell said in an affidavit that drug or immigrant smugglers may have been using the boat to supply fuel.
Attorneys for the men did not respond to phone messages seeking comment. A judge scheduled a preliminary hearing for Dec. 17.
Horne is the first law enforcement official to die off the California coast since a spike in illegal activity began several years ago. At least six people aboard suspected smuggling vessels have been killed since the 2010 fiscal year.
In growing numbers, smugglers are turning to the California coast to bring people and drugs to the United States from Mexico. The number of Border Patrol agents on land has doubled in the past eight years, and hundreds of miles (kilometers) of fences and other barriers have been erected, driving smugglers to the Pacific Ocean.
U.S. authorities spotted 210 suspected smuggling vessels along California shores during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, up 15 percent from 183 incidents the previous year and more than quadruple the 45 incidents in 2008.
Migrants pay thousands of dollars to launch from beaches and small fishing villages south of Tijuana, Mexico. They typically use the old, single-engine wooden fishing skiffs known as pangas.
In October, a Mexican woman told authorities she agreed to pay $12,000 to be smuggled by boat into the U.S. A criminal complaint says she was among 16 people - all but one a suspected illegal immigrant from Mexico - found in a 31-foot vessel that appeared to be taking in water in the Newport Beach harbor.
-- Associated Press writer Robert Jablon in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
More information comes out slowly. Another boat had already been arrested in that area several hours earlier that night. Several commercial fishing vessels had found floating bales of Marajuana that night, and taken them to the CG or Police dock at Channel Islands Harbor. There was suspicion that there were suspects who got ashore at Scorpian harbor. The entire Island of Santa Cruz was closed except for LEO on Dec 2--any campers were evacuated, and boats were not allowed within one mile of the Island. (From Soundings and the Log today)
Folks, a fellow career Coast Guardsman lost his life in the line of duty to protect the citizens of this country. He was a well trained professional. Please show some restraint and respect and not start questioning tactics or policy. This is neither the time nor the place for that. There will be an investigation and lesson will be learned. It is at times extremely dangerous. The bottom line is that there are people out there putting it all on the line every day and night and they ask nothing in return. Be thankful for that.
Alyssa Jean
New member
AMEN
Captains Cat
New member
Once more. RIP CHIEF... AND RIP DISCUSSION. :thup
Charlie
Charlie