The Coast Guard is naming its new fleet of fast response cutters after its “first 25 heroes”. One by one, the proud military branch is highlighting the incredible profiles of each Coast Guard member whose lasting memory is to be emblazoned on the state-of-the-art sea vessels.

Their most recent profile was Petty Officer 3rd Class Nathan Bruckenthal, who lost his life while heroically serving in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom more than ten years ago.

His story, via the Coast Guard:

Nathan Brandt Bruckenthal was born on July 17, 1979, in Stony Brook, New York. He graduated from Herndon High School in Ashburn, Virginia, and enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard on Jan. 5, 1999.

 

He was later assigned to Tactical Law Enforcement Detachment South, LEDET 403, at Coast Guard Air Station Miami, Florida, and deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

 

On April 24, 2004, while serving as part of Coast Guard Patrol Forces Southwest Asia aboard USS Firebolt, Petty Officer 3rd Class Bruckenthal, a damage controlman, and two U. S. Navy sailors were killed in the line of duty while conducting maritime intercept operations in the North Arabian Gulf.

 

Bruckenthal and six other coalition sailors attempted to board a small boat near the Iraqi Khawr Al Amaya Oil Terminal. As they boarded the boat, it exploded. Bruckenthal later died from the wounds he sustained in the explosion.

 

Bruckenthal was the first Coast Guard member killed in action since the Vietnam War.

 

For his actions Bruckenthal was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V”.