Fleet Chief Pet­ty Of­fi­cer (Re­tired) Syd­ney Alexan­der joined the Coast Guard at 21 with a plan to stay for six years. Some­where along the way, that plan changed. His 29-year ca­reer came down to the strong bond he found with his crew: “Ca­ma­raderie, a fam­i­ly unit, love and look­ing out for each oth­er.” It was a com­mit­ment that ul­ti­mate­ly stretched from No­vem­ber 18, 1968, un­til his re­tire­ment on March 9, 1997.