Ensign Benson Books

Hogan and Onyx are aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Alder as it makes its annual voyage across Lake Superior to where the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank forty years earlier during a violent storm. As Hogan, Onyx, and the rest of the crew brave gale-force winds and freezing rain to commemorate the twenty-nine sailors who lost their lives in the 1975 tragedy, both Hogan and Onyx become ill as the Alder is tossed around in the rough waters. When Onyx suddenly collapses, the captain orders a medical evacuation and calls a Coast Guard helicopter for assistance. Hogan and Onyx are rushed to Station St. Ignace, but what the flight crew discovers...

Onyx and the Guardian of the Straits are back in another exciting adventure! During routine helicopter operations with Air Station Traverse City, the Coast Guard is suddenly called to rescue a mother and daughter stranded in Lake Michigan. When the crew spots the capsized sailboat, the Coast Guard rescue swimmer wastes no time. The mother needs immediate medical attention and the little girl is scared, but the rescue swimmer can only bring up one survivor at a time. He has to make a difficult decision. But he is not alone. Onyx the miracle dog proves that being a true Coastie is as much about heart as it is about bravery.

Hogan and Onyx are training at the Coast Guard's National Ice Rescue School in Essexville, Michigan, when their instructor receives an urgent call about a snowmobiler who has fallen through the ice.  There is no time to waste, and Hogan, Onyx, and the rest of the trainees must get to work right away.  When the Coasties reach the man in distress, it is clear he is suffering from hypothermia.  The team must act quickly.  But the spring ice is too thin, and when Hogan tries to reach the man, the ice beneath him gives way.  The ice is too weak to support Hogan or any of the other Coasties, except for one-Onyx the miracle dog!