Vessel that will be used to train Coast Guard rescuers in the Gulf of Mexico honors volunteer rescuer from the nation's far north.
Relatives of Alaskan rescuer Clifford Saavgaq Okpeaha and officers of UIC Government Services take a ride on a vessel named for Saavgaq. The Dauphin Island Bridge is seen at right.There’s a new name in Gulf of Mexico waters south of Dauphin Island, Alabama, and it’s a name that spent decades on rescue missions in the far icier seas off the North Slope of Alaska.
Relatives of Alaskan rescuer Clifford Saavgaq Okpeaha stand aboard a vessel dedicated to Saavgaq's legacy. The boat will be used to train U.S. Coast Guard search-and-rescue personnel.UIC President Pearl Brower said that names held a special value among the Iñupiat, who often name newborns after the recently deceased, in the belief that the attributes of the namesake can be transferred to the infant. “Naming is not taken lightly,” she said.
Among those present was Ida Okpeaha, sister to Clifford Saavgaq Okpeaha, recalled her brother, who died of cancer in 2019, as a patient, humble man who “didn’t know how to be mad at anybody.” Mike Hundley, senior vice president of UIC, likewise said the new mission of Saavgaq the boat mirrors the values of Saavgaq the man.
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