This past Sunday, in Parade Magazine they featured the movie, “Sully” which will star Tom Hanks as Captain Sullenberger, the pilot that landed his plane in the Hudson River. He never set out to be a hero, he was just doing the job he’d been trained for. Yet it took all his skill and years of experience to make the momentous decision that saved the lives of everyone on his plane.
My husband, Frank, is such a hero. While he wrote about it in his memoirs, it took lunch with Jim Mottern, one of his former officers last year to truly realize the scope of what he had done. In the 1970’s Frank was Commander of a destroyer heading through the Philippine Sea when they encountered Typhoon Joan which had been reported to be 350 miles southeast of the ship location. The information was incorrect and the ship headed directly into the storm. For over 24 hours, using every skill he knew , he struggled to save his ship. The ship battled 50′ waves crashing over the bridge of the ship, and dove into 40 ft. troughs. High winds of 70 to 80 knots made visibility difficult. While the crew struggled to batten down every piece of equipment, they lost lifeboats and other equipment, literally torn off the ship. There were no cases of seasickness as every one of the 287 men on board were doing their jobs, working to save the ship. At one point they temporarily lost power, and rudder control, and the ship heeled over in excess of 50 degrees. Repair personnel had little sleep for two days. Electrical fires, water coming into the ship at some new place every hour and equipment that had to be watched around the clock.
When at last they found themselves in calmer water, it was like a miracle. Jim Mottern told me that there are children and grandchildren alive today because of Frank’s efforts. He presented Frank with a model of the ship encased in plastic and a letter from some of the crew, thanking him for saving their lives. With his skills and actions, over 270 men survived. Nobody will make a movie from his story, but in my eyes and the eyes of the crew, he is a hero.
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