Exercise Tiger: That Others May Be Honored

Photo By Chief Petty Officer David Micallef | Petty Officer 1st Class James Maida, the operations petty officer at Coast Guard Station Manasquan Inlet, renders a hand salute during the playing of the national anthem at a remembrance ceremony hosted at Coast Guard Station Barnegat Light in Barnegat Light, New Jersey. The annual ceremony pays tribute to the 749 sailors and soldiers who lost their lives April 28, 1944, during The Battle of Exercise Tiger, which began as a top secret naval operation designed to prepare troops for the June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion. Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class David Micallef  

BARNEGAT LIGHT, NJ, UNITED STATES

04.29.2016

Story by Petty Officer 3rd Class David Micallef 

U.S. Coast Guard District 5   

The crew of Coast Guard Station Barnegat Light hosted a remembrance ceremony and wreath laying on Long Beach Island Thursday to honor those who fought in The Battle of Exercise Tiger April 28, 1944.

The annual ceremony pays tribute to the 749 sailors and soldiers who lost their lives April 28, 1944, during The Battle of Exercise Tiger, which began as a top secret naval operation designed to prepare troops for the June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion.

Petty Officer 1st Class James Maida, the Operations Petty Officer at Coast Guard Station Manasquan Inlet, was honored with the first annual Nathan Bruckenthal award for his outstanding performance while stationed at Coast Guard Station Manasquan Inlet. The award is named after Petty Officer 3rd Class Nathan Bruckenthal, who was killed during a security mission April 24, 2004, when a suicide bomber initiated a waterborne assault near the Iraqi Khawr Al Amaya Oil Terminal.

Maida has also served the nation overseas, having deployed to Iraq three times. During one of these four-month deployments, Maida was involved in the apprehension of three suspected pirates and the arrest of a high-ranking Al Qaeda terrorist plotting to blow up the very terminals Nate Bruckenthal died defending. Coalition forces had been searching for this man for three weeks before Maida and his shipmates apprehended him.

“You annual recognition of this WWII battle is a fitting tribute to the brave Americans who lost their lives on that fateful April day in 1944,” said Adm. Paul F. Zukunft, Commandant of the Coast Guard. “Every day Coast Guard men and women here and around the world don the uniform of our nation and continue Exercise Tiger’s legacy of service to nation. I appreciate the United States Exercise Tiger Foundation’s collective recognition of veterans and military members who were overlooked.”

A very special thank you to Susan Haines and the Exercise Tiger Foundation for all that you do for our service members and country.

• Date Taken: 04.29.2016
• Date Posted: 01.27.2017 11:06
• Story ID: 221616
• Location: BARNEGAT LIGHT, NJ, US