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Sailor Helps With Rescue off Island of Saipan
Story Number: NNS020208-06
Release Date: 2/8/2002 5:03:00 PM
By Journalist 2nd Class Melody D. Scalfone, Naval Forces Marianas Public Affairs
COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN MARIANAS ISLANDS (NNS) -- A Sailor from USS Cowpens (CG 63) was declared a hero by his shipmates recently after assisting in the rescue of four Saipan divers whose boat capsized in the island's harbor.
"I don't know what the textbook version of a hero is, but heroes aren't born, they just happen," said Chief Operations Specialist (SW) Dan Sligh, with Cowpens' operations department. "Anyone who would risk their life to save people should be considered a hero. With all of the sea conditions that were out there that day, I don't think that there's too many people who could have done what Operations Specialist 2nd Class (SW) Francisco Solorzano did."
Cowpens is forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan, and was recently making a port visit in Saipan. Solorzano, with the ship's operations department, and members of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Police Department were on a routine patrol of the harbor on Jan. 31 when they responded to a distress call.
A 23-foot dive boat capsized more than a mile away from shore. The divers were trying to set anchor, but the line got caught in the rudder, which caused the boat to roll over.
When Solorzano and the Saipan police officers reached the boat, they found three of the divers exhausted, disoriented, in shock and unable to swim or move. The forth person was doing an underwater survey at the time of the accident and was not found for another 25 minutes.
Solorzano and the police officials were able to pull all four divers to safety, and retrieve all of their gear, despite the six-to-eight foot swells.
"We were out there over two hours and were exhausted," said 23-year-old Solorzano, who has been in the Navy for more than two years. "We couldn't see 10 feet in front of us, but we were able to take them from an uncontrolled to a controlled environment."
"It was a team effort," said Michael Camacho, one of the Saipan police officers who assisted in the rescue. "We worked together, made all of the right decisions and were able to get them out of the water to prevent further harm." Riang Yosino was the other police officer who helped with rescue efforts.
When at sea, Solorzano is the surface watch supervisor in the ship's combat information center. He coordinates the safe navigation of the ship and all surface and subsurface combat operations.
"He is a quiet professional, really good at what he does," Sligh added.
To learn more about the Navy in this region, go to http://www.guam.navy.mil.
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