Captain Bill Brogdon received many awards during his lifetime for a variety of services. But this award from the Loran Association was awarded to him posthumously. Thus it is fitting that it be displayed in his honor on our web site. The award certificate reads:
The Medal of Merit
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 Captain Bill Brogdon is cited for his long career in the U. S. Coast Guard and in retirement, as an advocate for better safety at sea and for his strong belief that reliance on a single resource of position information will lead to unsafe navigation.
During his Coast Guard career assignment to Aids to Navigation, he developed a significantly more accurate method for setting floating aids, greatly reducing the grounding risk for commercial vessels in channels. After retirement from the Coast Guard, Captain Brogdon wrote for magazines and called for requirements to use multiple electronic navigation systems. He reasoned that navigators were losing
competence in manual navigation
processes and needed redundancy in electronic systems to
 allow for loss of any one system. He spoke regularly and emphatically for the continuation of the Loran-C service, as the most useful and cost effective backup to GPS service.
In recognition of his outstanding leadership, commitment to Loran-C, understanding of the need for GNSS backup, and honoring the memory of his dedicated participation in our works, the International Loran Association presents Joyce Sidey Brogdon with its most prestigious award:
THE MEDAL OF MERIT, Presented this 17th day of October, 2007 - Langhorne Bond, President
TRIBUTE TO CAPTAIN BILL BROGDON
Captain Bill Brogdon died on May 3rd 2007. A memorial service was held in Morehead City, NC and his burial with full military honors was held at Arlington National Cemetery on July 24th, 2007.
Following his death there was an outpouring of love and support to his family from all corners of the globe. Hundreds of messages attested to the exemplary Christian life he lived and to the many lives he touched, in the military service, in the boating world, in the field of navigation and in the civilian community. A good many of the letters were sent privately, but there were also published tributes in several magazines and company newsletters. All messages have been gratefully received by Bill’s wife, Joyce, and family who have gained comfort, strength and blessings from each of them.
One of the most outstanding published tributes was done by Bill Sisson of Soundings Magazine (July 2007). With Mr. Sisson’s permission here is an exerpt:
“Retired Coast Guard Capt. Bill Brogdon was one of those rare individuals who was equally at home on the bridge of a large ship as he was at the helm of a small boat… He was a prolific writer who produced hundreds of articles, many on navigation. He was a contributing writer for Soundings, and on the subject of safety and navigation there was none better. He always came across in print and in our many conversations as seasoned, competent and capable—but never as a know it all. While he had the theory and science of navigation down cold, one of his unique gifts was the ability to make it understandable to just about anyone. He wrote a very good book on the subject: “Boat Navigation for the Rest of Us” (International Marine), which is in its second printing. There is a copy of it on my bookshelf”
Read the full article: Bill Brogdon: an Expert for the Rest of Us
THE BROGDON LIGHT
Bill Brogdon's greatest joy was as a Bible teacher. He spent many happy
hours studying God's word and foraging through the writings of Biblical
scholars to gain insight into the historical and cultural background of
Old and New Testament times. He kept copious notes of all his studies
which are now being put into publishable book form by his wife, Joyce.
Watch this site for details about these new study guides entitled the "Navigating Through with Captain Bill Brogdon" series.
The following tribute was written by a dear Christian friend who shared
Captain Brogdon's enthusiasm for scripture and partnered with him in
teaching one of his Bible study classes.
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THE BROGDON LIGHT
Standing strong against the tide
Of Satan’s scheming shoals,
The Brogdon light has guided in
Many floundering souls.
His chart, the Gospel of God’s word,
He studies night and day,
So that he may surely guide
Along the narrow way.
Yet now it seems a raging storm
Threatens to dim his light
So some lost and searching soul
May not be guided right.
O God, the master builder,
Your work has great renown,
Don’t let the destroyer
Tear our lighthouse down.
But if Dear Lord, it is your will
He move to distant shore,
He knows, like Paul, to die is gain,
His light will shine once more.
All those he’s touched with guiding light
Will surely not forget
And do their best in their own way
To keep the lighthouse lit.
By: William E. Schrock
5/3/07
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The USCGC Chilula was Bill’s second duty station in 1958. The ship was based at Morehead City, NC. It has now been decommissioned, but the crewmembers who served aboard her gather periodically to have lunch and tell sea stories.
One of the “plank owners” wrote the following piece in the Carteret County News Times as a memorial:
Morehead City, NC
May 7, 2007
TO THE EDITOR
With the May 3rd passing of Capt. William Brogdon, USCG retired, from Cape Carteret, a Chilula sailor, friend, shipmate and fellow Coast Guardsman, I thought it fitting to honor him with Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem, “Crossing The Bar.”
As we say, “He has crossed the bar.” That phrase comes from Tennyson’s poem of the same name. The poet used that seagoing metaphor to express his belief that at the time of death our souls set sail to a destination guided by the Divine Pilot, God.
Crossing the Bar
Sunset and evening star
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar
When I put out to sea
But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home
Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark
For tho’from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far
I hope to see my pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.
And so to our shipmate, Capt. William Brogdon, USCG retired, we wish him “fair winds and following seas.”
QMCS LARRY RICHTER
USCGR (ret)
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Captain's Page | Writings of Bill Brogdon | Coast Guard Corner | Coast Guard Memories
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