[[2] He is considered the most famous enlisted person to serve in the US Coast Guard in history, saving over one-hundred lives over a 27-year-long career throughout the Pacific Northwest.[3]]After retiring from the Coast Guard in 1977, McAdams became an officer in the volunteer fire department in Newport, Oregon, the same community where he had commanded his motor lifeboats.[3]
Early life
McAdams was born in 1931 in Seattle, Washington, and was raised in the Ballard neighborhood.[4] McAdams graduated from Ballard High School in 1950.[4]
Career
McAdams entered the US Coast Guard on December 7, 1950 in Seattle, Washington during the Korean War.[3]
McAdams commanded the Coast Guard's 36-foot motor lifeboat, its 44-foot motor lifeboat, and its 52-foot motor lifeboat, and helped design the current 47-foot motor lifeboat.[3] McAdams rounded out his 27-year Coast Guard career by commanding the Coast Guard's Motor Lifeboat School at Cape Disappointment, Ilwaco, Washington, where he wrote its first training manual.{{Citation needed|date=June 2016}} In 1957, he was awarded a Gold Lifesaving Medal for a case in 1957 at Yaquina Bay, where he saved four persons in a capsized boat.[3] He retired from the U.S. Coast Guard on July 1, 1977.[3]
In 2008, while reporting on the 100th anniversary celebration of the founding of Canada's Bamfield Station, the Victoria Times Colonist characterized McAdams as a "legendary figure in the U.S. Coast Guard", who "stole the show at the historic symposium with his on-the-job tales."[ McAdams' life-saving efforts were so dramatic that he appeared as a guest on several television shows, and was profiled in Life and National Geographic.[3]]
Accolades
- Gold Lifesaving Medal (1957)
- Coast Guard Medal (1968)
- Legion of Merit
- Coast Guard Commendation Medal
- Meritorious Achievement Medal
References
1. ^"United States Public Records, 1970-2009," database, FamilySearch (16 May 2014), Thomas D Mc Adams, Residence, Newport, Oregon, United States; a third party aggregator of publicly available information.
2. ^{{cite web|url=http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/2012/07/the-champion-lifesaver-of-the-pacific-coast/|title=The champion lifesaver of the Pacific coast|author=Young, L.T. Stephanie|date=July 25, 2012|accessdate=December 29, 2016}}
3. ^1 2 3 4 5 6 {{cite web|url=https://www.uscg.mil/history/people/McAdamsThomasIndex.asp|work=United States Coast Guard|publisher=U.S. Department of Homeland Security|title=BMCM Thomas D. McAdams, USCG (Ret.)|accessdate=January 22, 2017}}
4. ^1 {{cite web|url=https://www.uscg.mil/history/weboralhistory/BMCM_T_McAdams_Oral_History.asp|work=United States Coast Guard|title=Interviewee: BMCM Tom McAdams, USCG (Ret.) |date=February 13, 2004|accessdate=January 22, 2017|publisher=U.S. Department of Homeland Security}}