Barbara wrote:Alexander, you mean the man in orange would have clutched onto anyone who fell into the water to
keep him from drowning ? That sentence wasn't 100 % clear.I guess no one fell in, thank God.
That IS terrifying that your ship was so far off the coast that
it was touch and go [i.e., dangerous] for the helicopters to be able to rescue and have enough fuel to
return to land.Was this incident covered widely in the US media at the time? I would imagine it was,
but I don't remember reading about it at the time. Of course, it was a good propaganda piece for the US.
Probably USIA would have broadcast this story everywhere overseas ! [They were not permitted by law
to publish or broadcast domestically in the U.S. But their mission was to show the good side of America
and counterract Soviet dezinformatsia. They did their best to capitalize on any incident like this to
show the world that the American way was superior to the Soviet Communist one.]
Yes, Barbara, it was covered in the U.S. Media especially when President Reagan welcomed the sailors to the White House. My son was still a toddler at that time.