Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Dramatic rescue during RIMPAC exercise caught by Big Island blogger Damon Tucker
by Larry Geller
Big Island blogger and citizen journalist Damon Tucker was able to observe first hand how training and discipline pay off in the Navy. While on board a Navy ship as an invited guest a week ago today, Tucker witnessed a “man overboard” situation and the quick and effective rescue operation that followed.
It was probably one of the emergencies that is a possibility during any exercise as complicated as RIMPAC. None would come to public attention unless a civilian journalist just happened to be on board.
Tucker was invited aboard the USS Essex, the Navy’s High-Tech Transport vessel for the Marines. He described his experience in an article posted on his website, Damon Tucker: Hawaii News and Island Information.
The article includes several photos, including one of the air cushion ship he got to ride on to go out to the Essex. Check it out. There’s also a video of the craft leaving the water and coming up onto the beach. Water, sand, whatever—it’s all the same to this landing craft.
On July 20 he posted a second article with a reply from the RIMPAC commander to his inquiry about the rescue.
Post a Comment
Requiring those Captcha codes at least temporarily, in the hopes that it quells the flood of comment spam I've been receiving.