SAR

Heath's cutter was involved in a amazing Search and Rescue (SAR) case yesterday. This is the forward that he sent me from the Captain of his ship. These are the moments that make all the sacrifice of being in the Coast Guard so completely worth it. I am so proud of Heath , the entire crew, and the Coast Guard for what they do to keep us safe.



----- Forwarded Message ----From: "Smith, Heath BM1" To: chicknomayo78@yahoo.comSent: Sunday, March 23, 2008 9:08:47 PMSubject: FW: SAR CASEBabe,



We won't be pulling into Dutch tonight. Foreword this email to my parents and Holly. It's pretty good. I guess this SAR Case has hit CNN, Fox, etc. There saying it's the biggest rescue in over a decade. I love you. I'll talk to you later.-----Original Message-----From: Lloyd, Craig CAPT Sent: Sunday, March 23, 2008 8:32 PMTo: 'Kcmunroombudsman@aol.com'Cc: D17-DG-CGCMUNRO-AllUsersSubject: SAR CASEHi



Kris. Please pass the following to our Spouses and friends:By now, I suspect most if not all of you are aware of how we spent our Easter Sunday. It started just after 2:30 this morning when we were notified of a fishing vessel with more than 40 people on board, taking on water and sinking about 5 hours from our position. The engineers did an amazing job as we achieved speeds I've never seen before in my life aboard a 378. As they were tweaking the engines, our Corpsman and a huge team of people turned our mess deck in to a triage and hypothermia treatment center. Up on the flight deck, helo team personnel worked in high seas, icing, air temp of 16, and sea temp of 32 with freezing spray to get the helo ready to launch when we were close enough. Then those same people worked all day refueling helos, carrying survivors from the flight deck inside, and much more. The Cooks were up early getting hot food ready and kept it comin' all day long. In Combat, our OS's were constantly on the radios, coordinating, managing the change, and trying to keep a whole lot of people on the beach informed. While I know I could go on and on and on with details of every rate and would love to tell you the personal stories of what your love ones specifically did, I'll let them tell you in their own words. Though, it might not be this evening as there are quite a few folks running on coffee and adrenaline. We have 20 survivors on board. The crew has donated ball caps, t-shirts, pants, and the latest, someone noticed they had flip flops so we are busy getting them all shoes. They've got smokes again, playing cards, bibles, and all sorts of toiletries. The plan, at this point, is to catch up on the endless paperwork that we've ignored for most of the day as we continue to search the area for the one remaining missing crewmember. We're planning on searching the area with the ship tonight and flying again at first light. At some point, we'll head to Dutch Harbor to drop off our guests, refuel, take a deep breath, then get back to work. The crew, as you might imagine, is pumped. Today is why many people joined the Coast Guard. One last funny thing. For the survivors that didn't need much in the way of treatment, we moved them down to the Rec Decks to relax, hang out, etc. They requested and we obliged them with their choice of movies... Their first pick - The Guardian.Take care and thanks for your thoughts and prayers.



Captain Craig Barkley LloydCommanding OfficerUSCGC MUNRO