Our Heritage

Peter Joseph Carolan was born in Long Beach, California, and later moved to Orange County, where he began his swimming career. Pete came to the Naval Special Warfare community with a strong water background, having worked as an ocean lifeguard in Huntington Beach, also known as "Surf City". During his time as a lifeguard, Pete conducted numerous surf rescues, which fueled his love for the ocean. He started his military career as a Navy FROGMAN with Underwater Demolition Team 13 and eventually became the UDT-13 Cartographer for beach reconnaissance missions during two combat tours in Vietnam. He later served as a swim team leader during the recovery of the Apollo-13 astronauts in 1970.

Pete, also known as “Pete the Pirate,” gained international recognition for hand-painting "Freddie the Frog" on recovery helicopter #66 during the historic space recovery operation. This helicopter, with the frog painting, is now displayed on the U.S.S. Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum in San Diego Bay. His artwork can also be found in various locations such as the Pentagon, Military Installations, VFWs, Foreign Legions, and Firehouses across the country.