Storm Warriors (15 page)

There are many people who helped me with the process of recreating what life was like on Pea Island, Roanoke Island, and within the United States Life-Saving Service in 1896. Each individual was part of creating the whole picture, and I am extremely grateful for each person's input. First, I would like to thank David Wright and David Zoby, the men who spearheaded the research of uncovering the story of the Pea Island Life Savers. The oral-history taped interviews and written documents that they donated to the Outer Banks History Center got me started with my own research. They also acted as mentors as I wrote, answering many questions. David Wright carefully reviewed the manuscript.

Wynne Dough of the Outer Banks History Center in Manteo, North Carolina, himself a descendant of USLSS members, was an invaluable resource for information, along with Sarah Downing and the other research assistants at the center. I am also grateful to the research assistants at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., the National Archives in Washington D.C., the National Archives II in College Park, Maryland, and the Dare County Library in Manteo, North Carolina.

I would like to thank the many people whom I interviewed
and who guided me to information I needed: Lt. JG Tara Pettit of the Coast Guard; Outer Banks historian David Stick; Richard Darcey, Michael Halminski, and Robert Huggett of the Chicamacomico Historical Association; Ralph Shanks and James Claflin of the U.S. Life-Saving Service Heritage Association; Joe Mobley of the North Carolina Division of Archives and History; Gary Fulton of the National Archives in East Point, Georgia; Dorothy Meekins; Duke Meekins; Danny Couch; C. Barton Decker; Rudy Gray; Anthony Cohen; Mike Mangino; Lynn Murray; and Ron and Kathy Pettit.

Many thanks to my editor, Tracy Gates, who had the wisdom to tell me to go to the Outer Banks without my research materials, which resulted in a much better second draft. And many thanks to my family members, who gave editorial and emotional support: my daughter, Rachel; my father, Dad; and my husband, Jim.

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Text and illustrations copyright © 2001 by Elisa Carbone
Map copyright © 2001 by Peter Siu

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eISBN: 978-0-307-56026-1

November 2002

v3.0