Imagine, being in charge of saving people’s lives. Failure, will cause many lives will be gone and missed. Obstacles are knocking you down over, and over again. Richard Etheridge, a life saver on the coast of North Carolina, was in this position.

Richard Etheridge was born a slave on Roanoke Island on January 16th, 1842. Etheridge's owners taught him how to read and write, but rarely did this happen because the law prohibited such instruction. He served in the Civil War for three years in the Union army. Winning the war had brought freedom to slaves, and when he returned home he did some of his favorite things; Fishing, hunting, and crabbing. He applied for a spot in a life saving station and in 1875, he was assigned to the Pea Island Lifesaving Station. This station was the site of many rescues located on Bodie Island and it rescued sailors anywhere in the waters along the banks of North Carolina. It was nicknamed the “checkerboard crew” because they had both white and …show more content…
Later on, he was assigned as the head keeper of the station. He was the first ever black-keeper they had ever had. Four of the white men did not like him being in charge and associated with the station, so they all walked out. Now this became the only all-black lifesaving station in the nation. Etheridge started to develop life saving drills that would enable himself and his entire crew to undertake lifesaving. Unfortunately, one day Etheridge’s station burned down and he immediately began to rebuild it on the same exact spot. Soon, his station was built again, and him and his crew were back at it. His station had been given the reputation of, “one of the tautest on the Carolina Coast.” His drills were paying off, saving people and ships day by day. He continued to lead the drills that he had created, and soon they would come to the