Homecoming Dialogues: The Last Flight: The Untold Story of the Search for JFK Jr. and the Race Against the Atlantic
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Oct 16, 2026
- 1:00 - 2:00pm EDT
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Sullivan Museum and History Center
The Sullivan Museum and History Center is a state-of-the-art museum attached to Kreitzberg Library. The museum displays artifacts from the university collection and regularly mounts new exhibits. Visitors can learn more about university history and campus ties to major historic events.
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Sullivan Museum and History Center
Join Captain W. “Russ” Webster, a 26-year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard who oversaw more than 10,000 search and rescue cases, and his wife, Theresa M. Webster, a historian, award-winning journalist, and former history newsmagazine editor, for a behind-the-scenes look into one of the most fascinating search and rescue cases in recent history.
Event Details
Lecture to be held in the Sullivan Museum & History Center Conference Room.
About the Websters
Captain W. “Russ” Webster retired from federal service in 2023 following a 46-year career with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Transportation Security Administration, and the United States Coast Guard.
Captain Webster served in the Coast Guard for 26 years, where he was engaged in or oversaw more than 10,000 search and rescue cases. He was part of a team that developed service-wide anti-terrorist doctrine. He retired from the Coast Guard in 2003.
During his tenure at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Webster helped inaugurate two programs which eventually evolved into nationwide initiatives: The Behavioral Detection (anti-terrorist) program for passenger screening, and the use of TSA screeners at other transportation venues.
As FEMA’s New England Region 1 Administrator, Captain Webster co-led the federal government’s Northeast COVID operations at the start of the pandemic, coordinating the actions of 22 federal agencies on behalf of six states and ten tribal nations. Upon his retirement from FEMA, Captain Webster was recognized by the Department of Homeland Security with the Secretary’s Outstanding Performance Award. The International Association of Emergency Managers has recognized Captain Webster as a Lifetime Certified Emergency Manager.
In his final year of federal service through Spring 2023, Captain Webster spent one academic year at his alma mater, teaching emergency management, ethics, atmospherics, and conveying operational lessons learned to emerging Coast Guard leaders.
Captain Webster is a graduate of the Coast Guard Academy, where he was honored as the 2017 Distinguished Alumni. He holds master’s degrees from the Naval War College and the Naval Postgraduate School. To learn more, visit wrussellwebster.com.
Theresa Mitchell Webster is a historian, an award-winning journalist, and a former history newsmagazine editor. She is the author of eight books focused on the intersection between maritime and cultural history, science, and the natural world. Theresa holds graduate degrees from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Yale University, and Eastern Washington University. Visit Theresa’s website at theresawebster.com.
About the John and Mary Frances Patton Peace & War Center
The John and Mary Frances Patton Peace and War Center is a Norwich University academic center of excellence for students, scholars, and practitioners seeking to advance interdisciplinary knowledge on the relationship between peace and warfare at local, national, and global levels.