Personal information

Son of William John and Sarah Peltola Borne, of Lincoln Park, MI. Raymond William Borne served in the US Coast Guard from 22 July 1940 to 4 September 1946, raising to the rank of a Machinist’s Mate Second Class. When a reporter from the local newspaper "Detroit Times" came to his home to interview his mother after he was initially reported missing in action during the sinking of USCGC Alexander Hamilton, she said she was not worried: my son can swim the ocean. Raymond never forgot that day, he was supposed to be in the engine room, but had switched shifts with someone, and was not there when the torpedo struck. He was rescued by fishermen and repatriated aboard the troop transport USS Stratford (AP 41) on 25 February 1942.

After the war he joined the Merchant Marine and later served aboard the Edmund Fitzgerald, but retired before that ship sank in a storm with all hands on 10 November 1975. Raymond is buried at the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Grand Blanc, MI.