DULUTH, Minn. (Northern News Now) - 50 years ago, on the big lake they call Gitche Gumee, Bob Kaldahl graduated from school and jumped right into the military.

“Initially, I was going to go into the Army, but then I saw an ad for the Coast Guard and said, eh, let’s do that instead,” said Kaldahl.

After finishing boot camp in California, he arrived for service in Duluth in October 1975.

“And lo and behold, November came around,” said Kaldahl.

He was assigned to the USCGC Woodrush and had just returned from a week-and-a-half on the lake when his crew began a period of R&R.

On the evening of the 10th, Kaldahl returned to the ship to find chaos.

“Probably around 8 p.m. or so, and the group office was really scurrying around and running messages back and forth,” said Kaldahl. “One of the

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