The White Falcon - 14.01.1994, Blaðsíða 1

Icelandic Comer
Where is the restroom?
Hvar er snyrtingin
(Ka-var air sneer-ting-in)
Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr„ the activist whose
birthday is observed as
a federal holiday Mon-
day, has his life chron-
icled here. See page 2.
m
Rockville
the spotlight with the
Eii-seeing ‘eyes’ of the
Air Force in Iceland.
See page 6.
RP birthday
The chaplain’s right-
hand man celebrates 15
years of service. See
page 8.
Inside
It
Editorials.........2
Lyte Bytes.........2
Briefs.............3
Features..........4-8
TV Schedule.......10
lassifieds.......11
Sports............12
56th Rescue Squadron
saves six Icelanders
Mission accomplished ... The U.S. Ambassador to Iceland, Parker W. Borg (left) and Commander
Iceland Defense Force, Rear Adm. Michael D. Haskins, welcome the returning heroes Tuesday evening
at the 56th Rescue Squadron hangar. From left: Sgt. Greg Reed, Airman 1st Class Bill Payne, Lt. Rich
Assaf Airman Matt Wells, Airman Jesse Goerz, Lt. Col. Jim Sills, Lt. Col. Gary Copsey, Capt. Gary
Henderson, Senior Airman Jeff Frembling, Capt. John Blumintritt. Also present was Col. Bran McAllis-
ter, commander of the 35th Wing. (Photo by J02(AW) Natalie Dias)
By JOC Dave Marr
It all seemed so routine.
Early Monday morning, the Godinn, an Ice-
landic rescue tugboat, attached a tow line to a
fishing ship beached before Christmas at
Vodlavflc, a city approximately 287 miles east of
NAS Keflavik. The seven-man crew aboard the
70-foot tug was to sustain the tow line until a
larger, more powerful Icelandic coast guard cut-
ter could arrive and tow the ship to safe waters.
But in the ensuing nine hours and 40 minutes,
the tugboat crew would find themselves in a
horrific life and death struggle, as they clung
precariously to their once proud ship - now
reduced to about the size of a passenger van.
* * *
“Routine” was the byword of the morning for Lt.
Col. Jim Sills, the commander of the Air Force’s 56th
Rescue Squadron, a component of the 35th Wing
based at NAS Keflavik. Two of his HH-60G
Pavehawk helicopters, aircraft 208 and 206, were
scheduled for a training sortie at 11:30 a.m. when he
received a call on the ramp that a missior, to the
easternmost part of Iceland was eminent.
Sills and Capt. John Blumintritt, the aircra.1’. com-
manders of 208 and 206 respectively, summoned the
assistance of Navy flight surgeon Lt. Rich Assaf (on
deployment to Keflavik with Patrol Squardon 45 and
making his first HH-60G flight in Iceland) and three
pararescuemen - Sgt. Greg Reed in 208 and Airmen
Jesse Goerz and Matt Wells in 206. In minutes, both
helicopters were airborne and on their way across the
North Atlantic island nation to rescue the crew of the
partially submerged Godinn in a violent storm.
See Rescue, page 4