MELHS grad Karly Schley of Wood River joins Coast Guard Honor Guard

ALEXANDRIA, VA. - Karly Schley, a Metro East Lutheran High School grad from Wood River, has graduated from boot camp and is now in the Coast Guard Honor Guard. Schley will be stationed in Alexandria, Va.

Schley is presently an E-2 seaman apprentice in the U.S. Coast Guard. Schley was an athlete for four years at MELHS and also a member of the band.

“I love the Coast Guard,” she said. “The Coast Guard is filled with a bunch of great people. It also feels good to be able to help and serve my country.”

Schley said her father worked on the river his whole life and she had been involved with the Coast Guard in various ways. She decided to join the military and felt the Coast Guard was a branch she felt familiar with and would enjoy.

“I hope to make it a career and retire in 20 or more years with the Coast Guard,” she said. “I went to Southeast Missouri State for a year before I joined this past summer. This will pay for my school. Basic training was difficult, but it taught me a lot about myself.”

The Coast Guard Honor Guard consists of only 80 members out of the nearly 40,000 enlisted Coast Guardsmen.

“I feel it is an honor to be chosen to be a member of the Coast Guard Honor Guard,” she said.

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