Friday, September 5, 2008

Sad day for the Coast Guard

Today's blog isn't my usual update on the Dorval's.... it's a blog for me to get a little bit of my own feelings out, while also asking for your thoughts and prayers for our Coast Guard family.

My bubble of altered reality (the one where I pretend that Jason's job isn't dangerous) was shattered this morning when I opened my email at work.

At about 8pm last night, Hawaii time, a CG HH-65 (the small, orange ones) crashed just five miles off the coast in Honolulu. The crew was doing some training with a local small boat, and no details have been released as to what happened or how. There will, of course, be an investigation.

Here's the latest update on the local Honolulu newspaper's website.

As of right now, three Coasties have lost their lives, and a fourth is still missing. All the members of the crew have wives and families, and have left them, as well as their wider CG family behind. Jason and I are "lucky" enough to not know any of those involved personally, but that doesn't make it hurt less.

I am choking back tears as I type - our service is so small that we feel every loss. Our aviation community is even smaller, and, of course, closer to us, and I'd be lying if my first thought wasn't of Jason. I like to forget that, every time he flies, this possibility exists. I like to think that he's always safe. But, the reality is that every Coastie takes a risk every time they fly or get underway on a boat or cutter. It's not inherently safe, and we can only do our best to keep it safer.

I think I'll stop there, before I make it too real for everyone else, as well.

But, please, keep the familes of LCDR Andrew Wischmeier, AST1 David Skimin, and AMT2Joshua Nichols in your thoughts and prayers. At the same time, please keep the family of the missing pilot in your thoughts. Prayer that he may be found sooner than later. Also, keep all of Air Station Barbers Point in your prayers. They're still out there right now, flying and searching for their own lost crewmember. And, finally, remember the crew of the 47' MLB - they watched it happen since they were there conducting training with the helo. I can't imagine what images are going through their minds right now.

Hug your loved ones a little tighter tonight.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

There are no words to express the sadness I feel for the families of these wonderful men.We certainly will keep them and their families in our prayers and thank them for what they did to keep us safe.
Love,
Mom

Lisa F said...

I have been totally shocked by this too - what a horrible tragedy. Extra prayers and thoughts have been going up for their families and those left behind!

Zach and Beth said...

Becca, Zach was my first thought too. I'm not going to say more, lest I cry for about the millionth time this weekend, but yeah. Just....*sigh*. I think it was made harder, too, that it was a great night and a training mission. Somehow it would seem more comprehensible if the weather was bad.