Most boaters on the Great Kanawha River have seen the Osage hard at work. In this photo released by the U.S. Coast Guard, the Coast Guard Cutter Osage, homeported in Sewickley, Penn., and its crew steam down the river Feb. 10, 2009.

The Osage, a 65-foot inland river tender that pushes a 100-foot, 145-ton river tender, has an area of responsibility that covers the Allegheny, Monongahela, Ohio, Kanawha and Big Sandy rivers. The Osage was built by Gibbs Corporation in Jacksonville, FL, and entered service in 1962. She was one of six tenders in her class and all entered service between 1960 and 1962. They were designed to service ATON on the western rivers and to work in tandem with a barge. The barge served as a work platform, storage area, and machine shop. Osage was first stationed at Sheffield, AL and then Sewickley, PA. During her career she escorted NASA's missile barge Promise, which carried stages of the Saturn rocket used for the Apollo missions, on five occasions.

The crew is tasked with maintaining approximately 800 aids to navigation in and along the rivers' banks, while also brush-cutting areas around shore aids during the summer months. The Osage, along with other river tenders in the Coast Guard's fleet, is responsible for maintaining a safe and navigable water system throughout the U.S. Crews of the river tenders work long hours enduring extreme weather conditions to ensure that commerce is flowing up and down the U.S. river system.

We all owe these men a great thanks for keeping the Kanawha River a safe place for all of us to enjoy.

(U.S. Coast Guard photo/Petty Officer 2nd Class Thomas M. Blue)