Otis was looking at his options for enlisting in the service
in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He states that the Coast Guard
was the first service branch office that he came to in his search so he decided
to join up. He was inducted almost immediately in Fort Worth Texas, that being
on December 13, 1941 at the age of 18.
He was soon assigned to the USCGC Tampa. At the beginning of
WWII, the Tampa, and cutters like her, was at the forefront of participating in
convoy duty over vast stretches of the icy North Atlantic. In wartime, the
Coast Guard became part of the U.S.Navy.
German U-boats roamed the high seas in wolf packs. They were
trying to evade ships like the Tampa and then maneuvering into a position to
get a clear shot and torpedo tankers and troop transports. These ships with men
and material were the lifeblood of England at the start of WWII.
Otis was discharged from the Coast Guard on February 25,
1947 with the rank of Seaman First Class. He had been awarded the Good Conduct
medal, and a qualified “Blue Nose.”
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