It was 1980 when Center Moriches resident Ed Denton decided to serve his country and join the U.S. Coast Guard. During four years of work on ships and helicopters, he saved lives and helped keep the nation safe.
First trained at Camp May, NJ, he shipped out on the Manitou, a 110-ton icebreaker. He was part of a team that kept shipping lanes open on the Hudson River and assisted law enforcement in drug interdiction. He then headed to aviation school in Elizabeth City, where he became an electronics technician, a requirement to serve as a hoist operator on rescue helicopters. Assigned to an H3 Sikorsky in Puerto Rico, Denton assisted in a number of land and sea rescues. Next for the 3rd Class Petty Officer was a stint in Los Angeles on an H52 helicopter, where he continued his service on numerous search and rescue missions.
Returning home to be with his ailing father, a Marine Corps vet who served during Vietnam, the Coast Guardsman took advantage of the water skills he learned in the Caribbean and the Pacific and opened a surf shop in Center Moriches. “The Coast Guard was regimented, it made you responsible, it made me a man,” Denton said of his experience.
He tells of an incident where his helicopter lost power during a training exercise and hit the ocean. “The blades made a whooshing sound as they cut through the water,” he said of the mishap. “We had an excellent pilot, and he was able to get the power back up and get us out of there. That’s where training and experience really come into play.”
Denton has been self-employed since leaving the service in 1984 and currently operates Pristine Clean Softwash at 631-495-2286. He’s married to his lovely wife, Rose, and has two children, Christian and Michael.