THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, June 25, 1996 TAG: 9606250243
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: 86 lines
On a stormy Saturday afternoon in November 1983, Coast Guard pilot Lewis Dunn called his wife and assured her he'd have a quiet evening on duty.
``Nobody's crazy enough to sail in this weather,'' he said. .
Eight hours later, about midnight, he called her back.
``Just in case you hear anything, I'm OK.''
Capt. Dunn, who retires today as commanding officer of Coast Guard Aviation Technical Training Center in Elizabeth City, had just performed the most daring rescue of his career. For his courage and leadership, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Dunn recalled the rescue while sitting in his living room Saturday, summing up his career before turning over his command to Capt. Grant E. Leber at 10 a.m. today at the Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City.
Dunn rarely talks about the rescue, but when he does the adrenalin flows anew.
Dunn flew a HH-52 helicopter out of North Bend Air Station in Oregon into a terrible storm that night to save a Korean crew that had run aground in a 350-foot trawler.
As winds gusted to 60 knots and heavy rain blinded him, Dunn lowered his chopper to within a few feet of a wildly swinging cargo-handling mast. Crew chief Brian Smith, watching from the rescue door, guided his pilot.
``It was like driving through Norfolk blindfolded with the guy beside you telling you where to go,'' said Dunn.
The ship was rapidly breaking apart. Dunn and his crew took 10 men in the first load, six more than they were supposed to carry. After dropping them off at a nearby airport, they returned two more times to save the rest.
Dunn, 49, fondly remembers the Pacific Northwest, not despite the weather and terrain, but because of it. He was thrilled by the challenge of flying in it. In a way, he even regretted promotions, because as he rose in rank and responsibility during a 27-year career, he had less time for flying.
Dunn's leadership style is simple. He gets results from teamwork, he says. ``I have a lot of people who know their jobs better than I know their jobs.''
Since coming to Elizabeth City, Dunn and his team have consolidated several related curricula into one.
``Which saves money,'' he said. ``It takes three years to develop a course fully. This new combined course we got on line in less than a year.''
Dunn has parting observations of the Coast Guard.
``As an organization, we give taxpayers the best value of any organization.''
On the other hand, ``I am little discouraged with the Coast Guard being caught up in the Washington political circle now.'' He referred to the Clinton administration's severe cutback of the Coast Guard's drug interdiction efforts.
After graduating from the University of Florida at the height of the Vietnam War, Dunn faced what every young man of his generation faced - a stint in the military. He followed the advice of a relative who was in the Navy and joined the Coast Guard.
He served as a training officer in Georgia. Next, he flew the Alaskan Patrol in Kodiak. He returned to Florida as an assistant administration officer in Miami. He went to Oregon as the administration officer, to New Orleans, then back west to serve as deputy group commander and executive officer in Port Angeles, Wash.
After a stint in Boston, Dunn reported to the ATTC in Elizabeth City in June 1994.
Notice an East-West yo-yo pattern to his transfers?
``On the last few transfers, we actually planned our cross-country trip without a map,'' said Dunn.
``We really got to know the path,'' said Jean, Dunn's wife of 23 years.
A must stop was a restaurant called Bubba's in Jackson Hole, Wyo. They tried to reach Bubba's on a Thursday because that was free cookie day. With three children, you have to think of these things.
Now that Capt. Dunn has become just plain Lewis Dunn, what does he do for a challenge if he can't fly a helicopter in a typhoon, buffeted by wind and rain, a sinking ship's masts swatting at his rotor blades, looking right in the face of death?
There's only one answer: teach middle school.
The Dunns plan to move to Chattanooga, Tenn., where he will get his teaching certificate. Jean already has a master's degree in education and also plans to teach full time.
There are two reasons for this new chapter in the Dunn's life. Tennessee is within a day's drive of both his family and hers. During the summer and Christmas vacations, they plan to spend time with them. The second is more altruistic: ``Experienced people with strong moral values need to be in the classrooms,'' said Dunn without the slightest air of superiority.
In a way, it's just another difficult rescue. ILLUSTRATION: Lewis Dunn
Grant Leber by CNB