The Red Cross is getting involved after the Coast Guard became the first military branch to miss a paycheck because of the government shutdown

• Coast Guard members missed their first paycheck on January 15.
• The service has been without funding to pay them since the government shutdown on December 21.
• Coast Guardsmen are still working around the world, and communities throughout the US are organizing to support them and their families.
• "It's worrisome. I have to put food in my family's belly," said Coast Guard mechanic Kyle Turcott, who is working without pay.
• "It's hard to focus on search and rescue if you don’t know whether your kids and family are going to have a roof over their head and food on the table," a Coast Guard spouse said.

The 25-day government shutdown is already the longest in US history, and January 15 marked another ignominious milestone.

"Today you will not be receiving your regularly scheduled mid-month paycheck," Coast Guard commandant Adm. Karl Schultz said in a January 15 letter to service members. See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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SEE ALSO: Billions of dollars of cocaine are smuggled into the US by sea every year, and the Coast Guard says it can only stop one-quarter of it