BRUCKENTHAL-NATHAN

FIRST  COAST  GUARDSMAN  KILLED  IN  ACTION 

SINCE  VIETNAM  WAR

Nathan Brandt Bruckenthal is the first Coast Guardsman to be killed in action since the Vietnam War.  Those who knew him believe that his heroism stemmed from a familial sense of service.  Nathan was born and grew up in Stony Brook, New York, where he was a member of the Navy Junior ROTC while attending Herndon (Virginia) High School.  After graduation he joined the Ridgefield, Connecticut, Volunteer Fire Department.  He moved back to Long Island and subsequently joined the Coast Guard on January 5, 1999.  His first duty station was on the Coast Guard Cutter Point Wells based in Montauk, New York.  During his service on that cutter he was awarded the USCG Pistol Marksman Ribbon, USCG Rifle Marksman Ribbon and he received a Unit Commendation Award.  Later he requested and received training as a damage control officer.  This led to his next assignment in Neah Bay, Washington.  Here he met his wife Pattie Rombo Bruckenthal.

The Neah Bay station was located on the Makah Native American Reservation. There, Nathan volunteered as a police officer, firefighter, emergency medical technician and assistant high school football coach on the reservation.  During his tenure in Washington he received the Coast Guard Sea Service Ribbon.  His decision to extend his enlistment was based on his desire to continue to serve his country in an even more challenging position.  He was accepted to the elite tactical law enforcement program and assigned to TACLET South, housed aboard Air Station Miami.  He was recognized as a leader and received numerous awards for drug extradition operations and alien interdiction in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific, earning the National Defense Service Medal, Coast Guard Merit Team Commendation and the Global War on Terrorism Medal with oak leaf.

Because of his unique skills and abilities he was chosen to be among the first Coast Guardsmen deployed to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in early 2003.  While there he received the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and a Combat Action Ribbon for action in and around the port of Um Qasar.  In March 2004 he volunteered for a second deployment to Iraq.  On April 24, 2004, only weeks after discovering that his wife was carrying his unborn child, Nathan was aboard a RHIB (rigid hull inflatable boat) training another USCG sailor and five Navy sailors on interdiction operations.  While operating near Khawr Al Amaya Oil Terminal and an offshore oil rig off the Iraq coast in the northern Arabian Gulf, they saw a suspicious dhaw approaching and instructed it to stop.  The dhaw did not heed their commands and the team intercepted the vessel.  As they drew close to the dhaw it violently exploded without warning killing Nathan and two of the Navy sailors, and injuring the other members of the team.  Al-Qaeda subsequently claimed responsibility for the suicide attack.

For this action, Nathan was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal, the Bronze Star Medal with Valor, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal with oak leaf, and his second Combat Action Ribbon.  Nathan has been remembered in many ways.  The barracks at Station Montauk, where he first served, have been renamed Bruckenthal Hall; TACLET South has permanently placed a plaque bearing his likeness at their facility; his brothers spearheaded a community service project while serving in their local junior fire department, and an Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom monument honoring those who served now stands in Northport and it too bears his likeness. His story has been published in Faces of Freedom (www.rebeccapepin.com.)  The US Naval Sea Cadet Corps in Crescent City, California, has honored Nathan by naming its division after him and in January 2009 the Surface Navy Association added Nathan’s name to their Hall of Fame.  On October 29, 2010, a new fitness center was dedicated to Nathan at the Base Support Unit at San Pedro, California, and a service dog has been named after him.  These are just a few of the testaments to Nathan Bruckenthal.  He has been laid to rest with many of America’s best at Arlington National Cemetery. 

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)