Spy Planes Essay Research Paper WHIDBEY ISLAND free essay sample

Spy Planes Essay, Research Paper WHIDBEY ISLAND NAVAL AIR STATION, Wash. ( Reuters ) # 8211 ; The 24 Navy crew members of a U.S. undercover agent plane detained in China for 11 yearss arrived back at their place base to a hero # 8217 ; s welcome from 1000s of relations and protagonists. About 5,000 people, many beckoning # 8220 ; Welcome Home # 8221 ; postings, American flags and xanthous threads, gathered at the Naval air base on Washington province # 8217 ; s Whidbey Island, North of Seattle, as the crew stepped off the military plane that flew them place after a debriefing in Hawaii. Politicians and top military brass every bit good as relations, friends and co-workers gathered Saturday on the tarmac outside a airdock bedecked with flags and balloons for the homecoming ceremonial where a ruddy rug was rolled out for the crew. The crew members # 8212 ; 21 work forces and three adult females # 8212 ; hugged their relations, shook custodies with very important persons and so marched past multitudes of supporters to a response where politicians and high-level Navy officers hailed their # 8220 ; model # 8221 ; behaviour during their detainment in China. We will write a custom essay sample on Spy Planes Essay Research Paper WHIDBEY ISLAND or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page # 8220 ; Your actions made us all proud to be Americans, # 8221 ; said Rear Adm. Michael Holmes, who commands the Navy # 8217 ; s Pacific patrol and reconnaissance force. Home For Easter Arriving place a twenty-four hours before the Christian Easter vacation, several of the crew members thanked God for their safe return place and described their fright as their EP-3 surveillance plane, severely damaged in a hit with a Chinese F-8 combatant, made an exigency set downing on China # 8217 ; s Hainan Island. # 8220 ; It was chilling. At the clip, I thought hey, I # 8217 ; m 20 old ages old, I had a good life, # 8221 ; said Cryptologic Technician Jeremy Crandall. # 8220 ; But the crew was tight and everybody looked out for each other. # 8221 ; Armed Chinese soldiers rapidly made it clear to the crew that they had to go forth the plane, though one crew member said their actions were # 8220 ; non really aggressive. # 8221 ; The Americans calmly ran through a checklist, disenabling the plane # 8217 ; s advanced electronic hearing devices and destructing sensitive informations before the Chinese boarded the plane. At a imperativeness conference after the response, the crew described their crippled aircraft # 8217 ; s descent and a non really comfy stay in Chinese detention. Asked what was the first thing the Chinese said to them, Lt. Patrick Honeck quipped: # 8220 ; It wasn # 8217 ; T in English. # 8221 ; Chinese functionaries repeatedly demanded an apology from the crew members, as they had from the U.S. authorities, for doing the accident and for set downing in Chinese ter ritory without permission. However after a U.S. embassy functionary told them that President Bush ( intelligence # 8211 ; net sites ) had refused to take the incrimination for the accident, the crew repeated his words to the Chinese. Bush finally expressed sorrow and sorrow at the decease of the Chinese combatant pilot whose plane struck the bottom of the slow-moving U.S. undercover agent plane. The U.S. crew said they had radioed repeatedly to bespeak an exigency set downing on Hainan. Honeck described the daze he and his comrades felt merely after the hit, but said the group subsequently pulled together and made the best of the state of affairs. # 8220 ; Our intervention was just. We were fed reasonably good, # 8221 ; he said. Photographs Reuters Photo Rice And Coca-Cola Other crew members said their rations were limited to rice and bread, with small meat or veggies, though the Chinese did provide them with Coca-Cola. # 8220 ; Basically they fed us rice, # 8221 ; said Aviation Machinist # 8217 ; s Mate Wendy Westbrook. Possibly the most romantic minute of the twenty-four hours was provided by Cryptologic Technician Josef Edmunds, who introduced his bride-to-be, Sandra White of Fort Worth, Texas. Edmunds proposed to White by telephone Friday, after the crew left Hainan for their initial return to U.S. dirt in Guam. # 8220 ; I wanted to wait for the perfect minute, but sometimes the perfect minute neer comes, # 8221 ; Edmunds said. Pilot The Biggest Hero The loudest congratulations went to Lt. Shane Osborn, the pilot and commanding officer of the mission, who landed the plane despite extended harm, salvaging the lives of the crew. Navy functionaries rejected unfavorable judgment of Osborn # 8217 ; s speedy determination to seek to set down, alternatively of bailing out or ditching the plane in the South China Sea to maintain its ultra-secret eavesdropping equipment from falling into Chinese custodies. # 8220 ; Mr. Osborn made the right determination, and I recognition him with salvaging the lives of his crew, # 8221 ; Holmes said. Earlier Saturday Osborn rejected official Chinese claims that the U.S. plane caused the clang. # 8220 ; I am here to state you we did it right, # 8221 ; Osborn told newsmans in Hawaii before get oning the flight for Whidbey Island. # 8220 ; There are no apologies necessary on our part. # 8221 ; Many in the crowd had damp eyes amid the chauvinistic and emotional images of reunited households and the show of support was non lost on the geting crew members. # 8220 ; I # 8217 ; ve neer felt so proud to be an American in my whole life, # 8221 ; said Lt. Jeffery Vignery.