What Heroes Are Made Of
Dateline 09/17/99
While any sailor worth his salt was steaming away from Hurricane Floyd just as fast as they could go, the crew of the U.S Navy Aircraft Carrier, USS John F. Kennedy turned away from safety and headed straight into the storm.
At 0830 AM (EST) the crew intercepted a distress call from the 150 foot Gulf Majesty, which was reported sinking about 300 miles east of Daytona Beach, Florida, right in the eye of Hurricane Floyd. Determining that they were the only ship in the area who could possibly withstand the high waves, and winds, the crew of the USS John F. Kennedy never hesitated. They turned back into the full fury of the storm.
| The aircraft carrier started about 150 miles away from the tug, and sped into danger at full speed. The aircraft carrier tracked an electronic beacon from the tug and launched its rescue helicopters as soon as it got into range. According to Navy spokesman Cmdr. Bill Spann, the carrier slammed into winds which were at least 100 mph, and waves were breaking over the carrier flight deck. | `They were just three orange dots,'' said Petty Officer 3rd Class Shad Hernandez, a rescue swimmer who jumped into the angry ocean to help pull the three to the safety of the helicopter. This was PO3's Hernandez's first rescue. |
Despite the storm, the crew of the helicopter flew directly to the beacon source and located three survivors.
``They were just three orange dots,'' said Petty Officer 3rd Class Shad Hernandez, a rescue swimmer who jumped into the angry ocean to help pull the three to the safety of the helicopter. This was PO3's Hernandez's first rescue.
As the helicopter piloted struggled to keep the aircraft steady in the 60-knot winds,
Hernandez attached rescue straps to two men to be hoisted aboard. He rode up with the third.
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The USS John F. Kennedy (pictured left) braved the full brunt of Hurricane Floyd in order to save the lives of 8 stranded sailors. |
| U.S. Navy Official Photo |
``It went real quick. I was in the water only 11 minutes,'' Hernandez said of the team rescue.
It was not until the Navy rescue swimmer got the divers aboard, that they were to learn that there were five other people somewhere in the water. Low on fuel, the helicopter returned through the storm back to the carrier to unload the survivors, while another helicopter took up the search effort in the dangerous storm.
``There was a number of times when I doubted they would find us,'' crew member Gerald Keeth said Thursday, in
a telephone interview from the Kennedy, where the tug crew was recuperating from their ordeal. ``I was trying to
keep my spirits up.''
Upon returning to the scene the rescue crews were able to locate the survivors, who were
afloat in a rescue raft, riding out the towering waves. Again, the Navy rescue divers took to the high seas without
hesitation to "do their job."
This is what your military is made of. Heroes.
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