The Perfect Flood

On Christmas Eve 1955, a series of fierce storms pounded northern California resulting in flooding that officials called "the greatest disaster in California since the San Francisco earthquake in 1906."
 
This is the story of one Coast Guard helicopter and a number of courageous Guardsmen who braved the swiftly rising waters to perform some of the most harrowing rescues ever recorded.  
 

Doug Kroll of Palm Desert, CA Dr. C. Douglas Kroll is an associate professor of history at the College of the Desert in Palm Desert, California. He graduated with a B.S. degree from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1971 and served as a Coast Guard officer afloat and overseas before resigning his commission. He holds a M.A. degree in history from the University of San Diego, a Ph.D. degree in history from the Claremont Graduate University and is the author of several books dealing with Coast Guard and naval history.