Veteran
Paul Tambolleo

Interviewed by:
Will Fischer and Caleb Caldwell

"It’s not some Hollywood movie or something. You just wake up put your pants on and go to work.
That's about it."
~ Paul Tambolleo (31:30)

Paul Tambolleo's Story

Paul Tambolleo grew up on Cape Cod, and attended Nauset Regional High School. He graduated as the president of his class in 1991, and influenced by several of his relatives who served in the military, decided that he wanted to join the Coast Guard. His parents encouraged him to attend college, so he went to UMass, and then applied to the U.S. Coast Guard shortly afterwards. As the Coast Guard is a relatively small service, they are selective about who they recruit, and Paul was fortunate to be accepted.

Paul entered the Coast Guard in 1994 and left just before 2001. He applied to the Coast Guard hoping that he could get involved in the search and rescue or lifesaving aspect of the branch, but ended up being involved in the military side of the service. He went to boot camp in Cape May New Jersey, and then began working as a gunners mate, maintaining the Coast Guard's weapons. He started out on the U.S. Coast Guard Gunner Seteca, and in his first month of service, Paul was involved in one of the largest cocaine busts in U.S. history. During his time in the service, he traveled all throughout the Caribbean, across the Panama Canal into the Pacific Ocean, and from the tip of Argentina to nearly the Arctic Circle. He worked with fisheries, combated piracy, and did work in alien immigration interdiction operations. He was also selected to work as part of Tactical Law Enforcement South, in the LEDET of 8 Golf and 8 Hotel (Golf and Hotel are the code words for G and H in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet) out of Galveston Texas. He traveled worldwide, and faced many dangerous situations. During his time in the military, he trained with the Seals and Marines, and went through all sorts of military training such as helicopter crash survival school. Despite operating at sea and overseas for months at a time, Paul got married in 1999, and served for roughly two more years.

Following the attacks on September 11th, 2001, Paul considered reentering the Coast Guard, but eventually decided against it. Throughout his time in the service, he made countless heroic and selfless actions in order to fulfill his duty of serving our country. After readjusting to life outside the line of duty, Paul now resides in Harwich with his wife and sons and works as a physician's assistant.