Former Greeneville skipper's attorney
says post-Navy trip to Japan unlikely
By Greg Tyler, Sasebo
bureau chief
SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — It’s unlikely Cmdr. Scott Waddle, former skipper
of the nuclear-powered submarine USS Greeneville, will make his promised visit to Japan,
his attorney said.
Waddle — who commanded the vessel when it accidentally sunk a Japanese fishing
boat, killing nine students and crewmembers — is set to retire from the Navy on Sept.
30.
In the days following the accident, Waddle said he wanted to travel to the Uwajima
fishing village in Ehime to meet with the victims’ families and formally apologize
for the accident.
But the Navy has yet to set a date for that visit, said Charles W. Gittins,
Waddle’s attorney.
"Scott’s intent was to make the trip while in the Navy so that he would have
the benefit of the Status of Forces Agreement protections," Gittins said in an
e-mail. "Absent those protections, it would be my advice that he not travel to Japan
for any number of sound legal reasons.
"I doubt any such trip would happen in the reasonably near future," Gittins
said.
The news is disheartening to Masumi Terata, whose 17-year-old son Yusuke was killed in
the accident.
"I wonder if his tearful apologies made before us in Hawaii were sincere,"
Terata said Friday. "I was there when he offered apologies. … He told us that he
wanted to come to Uwajima by even rowing his own boat. I want him to keep his words."
Early this summer, a spokesman said the Navy would orchestrate Waddle’s visit to
Uwajima.
However, as of Friday morning, no such visit was scheduled, according to Commander
Naval Forces Japan spokesman Jon Nylander.
However, Lt. Cmdr. Kelly L. Merrell, a spokeswoman for U.S. Pacific Submarine Forces in
Hawaii, said plans still are being ironed out for a trip.
"We are working closely with Japanese officials on the details of Cmdr.
Waddle’s trip to Japan," she said. "When the date is determined and when
the itinerary is established, we will release that information."
It’s important for Waddle to visit while still in the Navy, Terata said.
"We understand that he is retiring by the end of September. We want him to come to
Uwajima in uniform to offer apology as a Navy captain who is responsible for the
accident," she said. "For him, time might have passed long enough, but we, as
families, still suffer from the loss of our dearest children and loved ones."
But Tereta said the biggest concern for the families is the Navy’s attempt to
raise the sunken fishing vessel.
"All we hope now is success of moving Ehime Maru to shallow water," she said.
"All our minds are there now."
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