THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 17, 1994 TAG: 9408170379
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
Two men sinking in a fishing boat 30 miles off the North Carolina coast drew a big response with their distress call.
About 4,000 sailors and Marines, four warships and two dozen helicopters were nearby, returning from a six-week deployment off Haiti.
A helicopter and one or two of the ships proved to be enough for the job.
``I don't know how many `Hail Marys' and `Our Fathers' I said when I was in the water,'' said one of the men, John Ungard, 54. ``Thank God for this helicopter, because I don't think we could have stayed afloat long enough to wait for a ship.''
Ungard and Allen Hutson, 44, were picked up Monday afternoon by some of the ships and aircraft in the Inchon amphibious ready group.
The assault ship Inchon, leading the group back from the Caribbean, was sending off its helicopter air wing Monday and preparing to unload the Marines at Morehead City, N.C., when it received a distress call from the fishing boat Bad News shortly after 1 p.m.
The 28-foot boat radioed that it was dead in the water and sinking.
Lt. Cmdr. Bill Rabechina, the Inchon's officer of the deck, alerted the ship's helicopter center.
A Navy HH-46, at 31 the oldest Sea Knight helicopter in the Navy, was preparing to refuel from the amphibious transport dock Trenton when it got the call. The ship's crew completed the refueling quickly and threw aboard a portable pump to save the fishing boat.
Meanwhile, the guided missile cruiser Cape St. George changed course and steamed toward the Bad News, about 25 miles away. The cruiser helped direct the helicopter to the fishing boat.
Flown by Lt. Cmdr. Doug Floyd and Lt. Greg Romero, the helicopter reached the fishermen about 40 minutes later. They learned that one of the men had a history of heart and lung problems.
The men remained in radio contact with the helicopter, which hovered just 10 feet above the water and about 25 feet from the fishing vessel.
The helicopter's crew chief, Petty Officer 1st Class Roy Poe, lowered a rescue swimmer, Petty Officer 3rd Class Mark Klingelheber, into the water.
It was Klingelheber's first rescue at sea.
``The conditions were very trying to effect a mission,'' said Floyd, who was flying as co-pilot and maintaining radio contact. ``But Petty Officer Klingelheber did an outstanding job.''
``The rough seas didn't faze me,'' Klingelheber said. ``Once I hit the water the training kicked in.''
After swimming to the boat, Klingelheber helped Hutson swim 25 feet away from the vessel so he could be hoisted aboard the helicopter in a rescue harness. Klingelheber then repeated the procedure to rescue Ungard.
By 2:20 p.m. the fishermen were flown to the Inchon and treated by medical personnel. They were later transferred to the naval hospital at Camp Lejeune, N.C., where both were reported in stable condition Tuesday.
The Cape St. George arrived later and rigged a towing harness for the fishing boat, which the Coast Guard towed to shore. by CNB