Coast Guard supports War of 1812 Bicentennial Commemoration events in Buffalo

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Coast Guard has begun participating in events celebrating the commemoration of the bicentennial of the War of 1812 at various venues in Buffalo and is scheduled to continue through Sunday.

The Coast Guard encourages members of the public to join in the celebration and engage with the Coast Guard participants of the events.

Buffalo is the sixth and final U.S. port in the Great Lakes region to host War of 1812 Bicentennial Commemoration events through August and September.

The commemoration in Buffalo will include Coast Guard cutter tours, performances by the Coast Guard Dixieland Band and Silent Drill Team, Historic Ship’s Company re-enactors, and search and rescue demonstrations — all designed to recognize the Coast Guard, America’s maritime first responder for more than 200 years.

All of the following events are free and open to the public.

The media and general public may visit and tour the Coast Guard Cutter Katmai Bay and engage with members of the command and crew. The Katmai Bay, a 140-foot ice-breaking tug homeported in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., is moored at the Buffalo Naval Park. The cutter is used primarily for domestic ice-breaking duties and is a state-of-the-art icebreaker because of its low-pressure air hull lubrication system that forces air and water between the hull and ice.

The Coast Guard’s Dixieland Jazz Band will join the War of 1812 Bicentennial celebration in Buffalo with several free, public concerts Friday through Sunday. The band performs classic jazz, blues and rags with a “New Orleans” flavor. The Coast Guard’s Dixieland Jazz Band was organized in 1970 and has entertained audiences around the world.

The award winning Coast Guard Silent Drill Team is a team composed of Coast Guard men and women who take pride in their reputations as one of the finest on-going drill team in the nation.  The drill team is composed of members who are selected from the Ceremonial Honor Guard, based in Alexandria, Va.  At a current strength of 75, the Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard – much like the service as a whole – is significantly smaller in size compared to its DoD counterparts. The members are chosen for their precision and perseverance, such as effort to stay on their feet while performing precision parade manual drill in all types of weather.

The Coast Guard’s Historic Ship’s Company, a group of re-enactors who wear historically accurate attire, will demonstrate the use of nautical instruments from the time period. The purpose of the educational group is to interpret the history of the Revenue Marine, forerunner of the Coast Guard, during the War of 1812. The programs and displays aim to illustrate the historic missions of the service and how they correspond to the missions of the modern day Coast Guard.

Saturday and Sunday the Coast Guard is scheduled to demonstrate search-and-rescue efforts used in emergency water rescue between an MH-65C Dolphin helicopter and a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium in Buffalo Harbor.

The updated schedule of Coast Guard events in the War of 1812 Bicentennial Commemoration celebrations in Buffalo are: