Local coast guardsman honored for service

Greenwood Lake - Robert Rabbitt III, son of Bobby Rabbitt and state Assemblywoman Annie Rabbitt, of Greenwood Lake, has been awarded the Ray O’Malley Seamanship Award for his service on the cutter Escanaba, of the United States Coast Guard. The award is presented to E-2/E-3 within the Deck Department, who “exhibit the highest level of honor, devotion to duty and dedication to USCGC Escanaba.” Named for Raymond O’Malley, the award is a tribute to the last living crew member of the original Escanaba, an ice breaker and search-and-rescue vessel that was sunk off the coast of Greenland in 1943. The cutter Escanaba, with a home port of Boston, patrols the North Atlantic and the Caribbean on missions of search and rescue, law enforcement fisheries, drug interdiction, alien migration interdiction operations and homeland security. Rabbitt, who was selected by his peers for this honor, is in his first year of active duty in the United States Coast Guard, holding the rank of Seaman.