This post came from a friend in the military, thought some interest may be
there.BATTLEGROUP POOLS EFFORTS TO RESCUE IRANIAN FISHERMEN
> >From Fifth Fleet Public Affairs
>
> Arabian Gulf (NNS) - Ships from the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) battle
> group, currently on patrol in the Arabian Gulf in support of Operation
> Southern Watch, pooled their efforts Aug. 18 to rescue four Iranian
> fishermen stranded forty miles from land.
> At 0730 local time, first word of a vessel in distress came after an SH-60
> Seahawk helicopter crew embarked on USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55) spotted the
boat
> and called it back to the ship. The guided-missile cruiser steamed to the
> area and provided the men water. USS Kinkaid (DD 965) was then directed
to
> the scene and launched it's rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB) team,
> carrying water and food supplies to the ailing men. Cryptologic
Technician
> (Interpretive) 3rd Class George Janes of Salem, WV, accompanied the team
> and translated the details of the ordeal the four men suffered.
> Having traveled the day before to a small island to do some fishing, the
> four men were on their way to the Iranian port of Bushehr when their
engine
> failed. Out of gas, food, and water, and with no compass or means of
> communication, the four young men, all in their 20s, suddenly found
> themselves stranded. Under the scorching 100-degree heat, their situation
> seemed hopeless. Their only course of action was to rig an awning out of
> an old blanket for shade, wait and hope somebody - anybody - found them.
> That somebody was the United States Navy.
> Shortly after the helo crew first spotted the tiny fishing boat, the
> Iranians watched as Kinkaid's RHIB boat crew pulled alongside and started
> passing the men water, food, protective clothing and-with additional
> assistance of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, who also arrived at the scene-a
> magnetic compass and 30 gallons of gasoline. After receiving the relief
> supplies and being given directions, the four men shook hands with the
> American sailors, thanked them and went on their way.
> "It was exciting to see so many assets working together to render
> assistance to someone in need," said LTJG Jonathan Stephens of Burke, VA,
> who was standing the Officer-of-the-Deck watch aboard Kinkaid when new of
> Leyte Gulf's sighting was radioed in. Had it not been for Theodore
> Roosevelt, Leyte Gulf, and Kinkaid, the four men may have suffered severe
> injuries from the extreme heat.
> "These guys had to be four of the luckiest and most surprised people in
the
> world when the entire Theodore Roosevelt battle group came to all stop
> alongside their tiny vessel to assist them and get them back home," said
> Kinkaid's tactical action officer, Chief Warrant Officer Patrick Paddock
> from Bloomfield, IN.
> However, the experience was not new to PO Janes, who weeks earlier served
> as translator for another Iranian fishing vessel in need of assistance
> while the Salem, WV, native was attached to the guided-missile destroyer
> USS Stethem (DDG 63).
> "It seems that we made another friend in the Arabian Gulf," said Janes.
> SIRO Press Review -
> BUSHEHR, IRAN -
> Four young men were executed today after being convicted of treason and
> spying for the United States following a 15-minute trial in the local
> courthouse.
> The four fishermen, all in their 20s were charged with assisting the
"Great
> Satan in her quest for global domination, in general and maintaining an
> illegal, immoral, and interminable presence in the Persian Gulf".
>
>
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