Happy Birthday to the Coast Guard.
Over the years, My respect has grown from "Puddle Jumpers" to first one someone calls when their boat loses power 10 miles offshore.
Coast Guard definitely interacts with the public a lot more than any other branch of the service.
In the Navy, we worked closely with the Coast Guard on several drug interdictions.
One time, Nearly 250 miles this side of the equator, a small Coast Guard ship, Maybe 125 ft long, had arrested a drug boat and crew, then didn't have the supplies, Fuel and manpower to make the trip all the way back to Puerto Rico.
They were towing the drug boat with two prisoners in handcuffs on the bow, under armed guard. Man, those guys were tired, worn out, dehydrated and in need of help!
We were probably the closest ship in the area off the coast of Nicaragua, got to those guys, refueled them, gave them some supplies , and shadowed them back to Puerto Rico.