Down in Sumay, an area in southern Guam long respected for its tight connection to the United States military, a facility will soon be built for the Coast Guard to conduct its operations - and bearing a proud name with a rich heritage for island history.

"I think about the legacy of Commander [Carlton] Skinner, and it's really impactful," shared Coast Guard Sector Guam commandant Admiral Karl Shultz.  

Many may know him as Guam's first civilian governor, but he was much more than that. In the 1940's he was a commander in the U.S. Coast Guard, which was part of the Navy at the time, and championed desegregation efforts. Commander Skinner was successful in enabling the first fully integrated crew in the history of the Coast Guard and the Navy.

Admiral Shultz says he was a pioneer and knew the value of diversity, adding, "The Coast Guard approved him to integrate a crew, four African-American officers, 40 African-American crewmembers with a total crew of 173. So think about that - it gets you north of about 25 percent integrated crew and took it to sea, and he did that because he understood the value of diversity.

"He looked at us as a nation at war and he realized that for us to win we needed to derive all the benefits of all of the men that served in uniform and that included men of color."

After his service with the Coast Guard, President Harry S. Truman would appoint Commander Skinner as the first non-military governor of Guam in 1949. He served in this capacity for four years.  Governor Lou Leon Guerrero said he was a visionary for Guam. He was responsible for the Organic Act, the Guam Territorial College known today as the University of Guam.

Governor Lou Leon Guerrero said he was at the forefront of everything that was happening in our history that would lead us to where we are today. "He is a man of cultural diversity, a man for integration, a man for civil rights, a man I think for social justice, a man I think who is for making the inequities right for not just for people here but throughout the nation and the country throughout the world. I was sitting here thinking I wonder what he would have said to me being the first female governor of Guam, I was just kind of wondering what he would say and what his reaction would be - I would think he would say 'right on!' I think that's what he would say, knowing his history," she said.

 Aside from the construction of the Commander Carlton Skinner building, Coast Guard Sector Guam will also be receiving three new Fast Response Cutters. One of them will be named after Chief Warrant Officer Oliver T. Henry said to be the man who inspired Commander Skinner to start the first integrated crew.