GRAND HAVEN, Mich. (AP) — Justin Olson carefully chose his words when describing his four years heading up Coast Guard Station Grand Haven. Master Chief Olson said those years were at times good and bad, challenging and tragic, but above all, rewarding.
“This has been by far the most challenging tour of my career, and by far the most tragic . and the most rewarding,” Olson said before a large crowd, which gathered at the station recently to celebrate the change of command. “It has been my absolute pleasure to get to know everyone here.”
Olson, after four years as station chief in Grand Haven, has been transferred to the same post in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Taking his place is Master Chief Kirk McKay, who served as station chief in Grand Haven the four years prior to Olson’s arrival.
“Master Chief McKay, we welcome you back to Grand Haven,” said Captain Thomas Stuhlreyer, commander of U.S. Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan. “You’re showing that despite conventional wisdom, you can come back home again.”
McKay expressed his excitement at returning to Grand Haven.
“It’s a blessing to be here again; a gift from God,” he said. “I have big shoes to fill, literally and figuratively, and we’ll do our best.”
FULL STORY: WOOD TV