Their finest hour: documentary aims to boost Coast Guard's public image.

• Author: Pearce, Jessica
• Position: SECURITY BEAT: Homeland Defense Briefs

As the Coast Guard reels from criticism of its mishandling of the Deepwater acquisitions program, one filmmaker hopes to counteract that negative publicity and bring some positive exposure back to the service.

Her answer is a documentary called, "Heroes of the Storm."

Dawn Willson's movie, which she's calling a "non-scripted film feature," focuses on four Coast Guard search-and-rescue personnel who responded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It will feature footage taken from the National Guard, as well as from news media organizations that covered the storm and personal video taken by storm victims. The pilots and rescue swimmers will be reunited with some of the victims they saved, who will talk about their experiences in the days after the storm.

About one-third of the service's air fleet deployed to the Gulf of Mexico region after Katrina. Almost 5,300 personnel rescued more than 33,000 people in 11 days, according to Coast Guard statistics. Despite this huge mobilization, Willson said she didn't hear anything about it in the...