Local Hero
Apr 1st, 2008 by Mark
Oceanside resident and graduate of El Camino High School Seaman David Vasquez was the Helicopter Deck Operator aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Munro during the Bering Sea rescue of a disabled ship. More proof that the Coast Guard is an awesome service, and the good men and women serve our country.
We should all be proud of these men and women.
A week earlier, when the Munro arrived on scene after receiving the Ranger’s distress call, another Coast Guard helicopter was already pulling fishermen from the frigid water. It was not long before survivors —- some just a heartbeat away from hypothermia —- were being lowered onto the Munro’s deck, according to Vazquez-Vidal.
“I was to be the person to retrieve the survivors from the helicopter when they were being lowered in the life basket,” he said, adding that his job was to “carry them into the ship where we turned our mess deck into a medical center.”
Vasquez enlisted 1 month after graduating from High School.
“It took two days looking for the man that was lost in the area, but we’re weren’t able to find him,” Vazquez-Vidal said.
After the rescue mission was complete, Vazquez-Vidal said he and a couple of his shipmates sat down for a game of dominoes with one of the Alaska Ranger’s survivors.
“I asked him about his job, his life, and what he went through when his vessel first started taking on water,” Vazquez-Vidal said. “It’s amazing how he said that there were some people who were calm and joking as they abandoned the ship.”
Vazquez-Vidal said he asked the man whether he would return to the Bering Sea fishing trade.
“He laughs at me and said ‘What would you do?’ ” the seaman said. “I kind of got the idea that this guy was no way going back out.”
Thanks for serving David.
Tags: oceanside, coast guard, bering sea, Munro, David Vasquez-Vidal, ranger