Fire on the Beach: Recovering the Lost Story of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers
- List Price: $26.00
- Binding: Hardcover
- Publisher: Scribner Book Company
- Publish date: 07/01/2001
A former slave and Civil War veteran, Etheridge recruited and trained a crew of African Americans, forming the only all-black station in the organization. Among civilians, attitudes towards Etheridge and his men ranged from curiosity to outrage, but they were some of the most courageous surfmen in the service, leading many sea rescues. When a hurricane hit the coast in the late 1890s, Etheridge and his men managed to save the entire crew of the wrecked E. S. Newman. This incredible feat went unrecognized for a century until 1996 when the Coast Guard posthumously awarded the crew the Gold Life-Saving Medal.
Full of exploits and heroics, Fire on the Beach, like the movie Glory before it, depicts yet another example of the outstanding contributions of a remarkable group of African Americans to our country's history.
