Sunday, April 15, 2001

By Mark Oliva, Stars and Stripes

Jeff Siner / Charlotte Observer EP-3E crew member Steven Blocher hugs his mother, Sandy, after his arrival at the Naval Air Station at Whidbey Island, Wa., Saturday.

NAVAL AIR STATION WHIDBEY ISLAND, Wash. — Navy Lt. j.g. Jeffery Vignery was prepared for anything to happen when his EP-3E surveillance plane was forced to land in China.

He and the other 23 crewmembers were trained to deal with the rigors of interrogation. But nothing prepared them for the welcome they got here Saturday.

"I had no idea what kind of welcome we were coming home to," Vignery said. "All of us didn’t even think you even knew. I’ve never felt so proud to be an American in my life."

Nearly 10,000 people gathered Saturday to give a rousing welcome to the crewmembers detained for 12 days on Hainan island, China, after their plane collided with a Chinese jet.

People began gathering at the hangar at noon, four hours before the crew’s arrival. Countdown announcements preceded their return at one hour, a half-hour and 15 minutes. Cheers erupted as the City of Seattle, the Navy C-9 that delivered the crew, made a final pass over the airfield. As if on cue, an American eagle circled over the base moments later.

The crowd’s cheers boomed to a roar as the plane door opened to a sea of American flags, posters and balloons.

Navy Lt. Shane Osborn, the EP-3 pilot, led the crewmembers off into the arms of their spouses, children and loved ones, while the Navy’s Northwest Band played a rendition of Lee Greenwood’s "God Bless the U.S.A."

The crewmembers — 22 sailors, one Marine and an airman — offered crisp salutes to Navy officers after passing through an honor guard of sailors, a Marine and an airman. Moments later, they were wrapped in tearful hugs, fathers carrying their children back to a private visiting tent set aside for the family reunions.

Senior Airman Curtis Towne walked arm-in-arm to the tent with a loved one. The lone airman on the EP–3 is stationed on Kadena Air Base, Okinawa.

About 30 minutes later, the crew emerged from the tent. They were introduced to the crowd and took their seats in front of the stage. Following an invocation by the base chaplain and speeches by military officials, Osborn appeared humbled when he spoke briefly after a 45-second standing ovation.

"The welcome home is overwhelming for all of us," Osborn said. "We’re glad you’re all here. It confirms what we all believe — the spirit’s still strong in the United States of America.

"I’d like to thank God for allowing myself and my crew to be here. Without them, I wouldn’t be standing here right now. They performed far and above and beyond the call of duty."

Minutes after the ceremony concluded, several crewmembers gave details of the ordeal during a news briefing. They took turns stepping up to the podium to field reporters’ questions. A few of the crewmembers were nervous and cautious in answering questions about the destruction of the plane’s sensitive intelligence data and equipment.

After all, these servicemembers aren’t accustomed to speaking in public about their jobs.

"It was a couple of handfuls, that’s for sure," Navy Lt. Patrick Honeck, the EP-3 co-pilot, said of the difficulty in landing the crippled craft. "There was definitely a moment (when) we were all in shock."

Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeremy Crandall, a cryptologist, described what he was thinking during the plane’s descent. "I’m 20 years old, I’ve had a good life. I said my prayer."

Crewmembers scrambled to put on parachutes and life vests and destroy intelligence data.

Navy Lt. j.g. Regina Kauffman, a navigator on the EP-3, said the decision to head to Hainan island after the collision was immediate as soon as the plane was pulled back under control.

"It was the easiest. It was the closest airfield," Kauffman said. "I naturally started heading in that direction."

The crewmembers said they were just happy to have survived the landing.

Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Josef Edmunds said, "When I got off the plane (in China) I was so happy to be alive, I had a big grin on my face anyway."

Edmunds later proposed to his girlfriend over the phone after being released from China. He said he had wanted to pop the question, but knew he no longer wanted to hesitate after the incident.

"Sometimes the perfect moment doesn’t come," he said.

Chinese soldiers surrounded the plane after the emergency landing. One crewmember later described the face-to-face standoff with the Chinese as tense, with confusion on both sides about how to react.

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Wendy Westbrook said the crewmembers were treated with dignity and respect during their detainment.

"When we first got there, we were allowed to mingle and talk to each other," Westbrook said. But the crew was soon separated into two or three to a room, seeing each other only at meal times.

"Basically, they fed us rice," she said. "We requested Coca-Cola and got that for lunch and dinner."

Chinese officials pressed constantly for information about the equipment aboard the aircraft, said Navy Lt j.g. Richard Payne. "Every interrogation I was in, they asked about the equipment," Payne said.

Payne said they didn’t know they were being released until they were moments from boarding the chartered jet to Guam.

"You all knew before we did," he said. But when they finally were told, "nobody showed any emotion at all. The first outburst came when the Continental jet took off."

In his speech during Saturday’s ceremony, Navy Rear Adm. Michael Holmes, commander of Patrol and Reconnaissance Force Pacific, lauded Osborn for his actions in saving the plane and lives of the crew.

"Shane had three options," Holmes said. "Bail out, ditch, or quickly attempt to land. I believe no course, other than the course he chose, would have allowed all 24 to be here. I credit him with saving the lives of his crew."

Holmes announced the Navy awarded its Battle Efficiency award to Fleet Reconnaissance Patrol Squadron ONE, the squadron to which the crew belongs.

"Today, Americans are celebrating a great day," he added. "A great Navy day. A great Marine Corps Day. A great Air Force day, because you are back in the USA."

Washington Gov. Gary Locke was also on hand for the reunion. He explained the nation’s moment of concern for the safety of the crew. "America held her breath," Locke said, "because every seat in that aircraft … was someone’s child, parent or loved one.

"Today, the yellow ribbons come down. We are so proud of a duty well performed. Because of you 24, America is a proud and grateful nation."

Navy Lt. Matt Totoro, a P-3 Orion navigator, attended the event with his wife and children.

"It was very important for me to be here," Totoro said. "It’s kind of what I do. We’re just out here showing our support. I’m sure our brothers would do the same for me if I was in the same situation."

Totoro said he found it hard to imagine how the crewmembers are handling their return. "If I were them, I’d probably be overwhelmed," he said.

Ellism Knutsen, a World War II Navy veteran, drove 40 miles to be at the homecoming.

"I just thought I’d come up here and see the boys," said the 75 year-old. "This shows our patriotism for one thing. This makes me kind of homesick to be on a Navy base again. I was in a similar situation in the war in the Pacific. I understand what they went through."

Keawa Aikau, a 26-year-old from nearby Oak Harbor and former sailor, turned out to show support for those still in uniform.

"It’s the chance of a lifetime," Aikau said. "Being ex-Navy, it give me a chance to show my children what the military family is all about. Even though we don’t know each other, we’re all family."

More than 500 reporters registered to cover the event from as far away as the United Kingdom, pushing this sleepy base and surrounding community into the limelight. Naval Air Station Whidbey Island is home to about 7,500 sailors, and Oak Harbor, the adjacent community, is home to about 25,000.

The crew is based out of the naval air station and was on a six-month deployment to Japan when the incident the occurred.

The base and community turned out in full force to prepare for the homecoming. For days, residents tied yellow ribbons to trees, fences and mailboxes. Early Saturday morning, Ed Siegel from the Oak Harbor Lion’s Club put out more than 300 American flags along the road leading to the base’s main gate. Welcome home signs were plastered to the base’s entrance. On the air station itself, U.S. flags lined roads.

Navy P-3s, including an EP-3 Aries II plane like the one the crew left in China, lined the runway. Sailors spent two days preparing the reunion hangar in red, white and blue bunting. An oversized U.S. flag, flags from all 50 states and each of the services’ colors provided the backdrop to the stage. Five 25-foot high vertical columns of red, white and blue balloons lined each side of the hangar’s walls.

Local flower shops scrambled to fill last-minute orders for flowers and balloons. Florists Midway Florist on State Road 20, the main road through Oak Harbor, were in early Saturday morning preparing bouquets tied with yellow ribbons for the day’s event.

"We’ve been very busy," said Aaryn Garthwaite, florist at Midway. "Yellow ribbons and wraps have been popular. We had to order yellow ribbon three times this week."

At the end of the day, the ribbons and paper littered the area outside the hangar — evidence of the crowd that had since gone home.

It had been a long day and a long ordeal for the crewmembers and their families.

Honeck’s plans for his 30 days of leave are to just "sit back and relax."

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