[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 54 (Thursday, March 23, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E668-E669]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      A SALUTE TO AN ORDINARY HERO

                                 ______


                         HON. JAMES L. OBERSTAR

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 22, 1995
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, at a time when we see, hear, and read 
seemingly endless reports of young people engaged in crime, drug use, 
and self-absorption, at a time when the reputation of our military 
forces has been tainted by events such as the Tailhook scandal, it is 
uplifting to read of an act of heroism by a young sailor from 
Wrenshall, MN, in my congressional district.
  Scott Gardner serves as a machinist and fireman aboard the repair 
ship USS Yellowstone. Last month, when the ship was docked in Nassau, 
Bahamas, Gardner and his fellow crewmembers came to the rescue of 50 
passengers aboard a sinking ferryboat. Gardner and his buddies pulled 
38 people--including two infants--from the water that day. Such rescues 
are not new to Gardner; last year in Greece he jumped into the water to 
save a German sailor who had fallen off the dock.
  I am proud of Scott Gardner and his buddies, Mr. Speaker, and I 
believe all America should be proud of them as well. Therefore, I 
commend to your attention and that of my colleagues the story of these 
events as reported by the Duluth News Tribune.
  In reading this article, Mr. Speaker, what impressed me the most was 
Gardner's attitude toward his heroism. To him, these acts were not 
heroic; they were reflexive, natural. In his view, he could have acted 
no other way under the circumstances.
  Scott Gardner and his equally heroic crewmates do not wear stars on 
their shoulders or ``scrambled eggs'' on their caps. They are not 
Annapolis graduates or the products of elite special forces training 
programs. They are ordinary sailors who saw their duty and responded 
without question or hesitation. These young members of the U.S. Navy 
acted in the highest traditions of the service, and displayed 
[[Page E669]] for the rest of the world the best of the American 
character.
              [From the Duluth News-Tribute, Mar. 3, 1995]

            A Sailor, a Savior--Wrenshall Man, Crew Save 38

                            (By Jason Skog)

       When Scott Gardner heard there were babies on board the 
     rapidly sinking water taxi, he jumped from the pier into the 
     swift Bahamian channel's current and began saving lives.
       After throwing dozens of life jackets into the water and 
     swimming some frightened tourists to safety, Gardner and his 
     fellow U.S. Navy crew members saved 38 people.
       Gardner, a 24-year-old Wrenshall native serving aboard the 
     USS Yellowstone, was docked in Nassau, Bahamas, on Feb. 22 
     when the alarms sounded. He humbly retold his story of 
     heroism and bravery from a pay phone in Norfolk, VA., where 
     his ship was docked this week.
       Gardner's latest rescue came almost a year after he got wet 
     saving a drunken German sailor from drowning off the coast of 
     Corfu, Greece.
       It was around dinner time and Gardner was washing up when 
     the Yellowstone's alarm sounded, signaling somebody was in 
     danger.
       He grabbed his gear and ran up top to the deck, where he 
     saw a boat in the channel sinking quickly. Panicked and 
     without life jackets, people on the sinking boat began 
     jumping into the water.
       ``We were throwing life jackets off the pier, but we 
     couldn't throw them all the way and they were washing against 
     the pier,'' Gardner said.
       Gardner said he wasn't sacred.
       ``I saw them and something just clicks and you say, `Hey, 
     idiot. Go in and help.'''
       When the rescue ended, the Navy crew learned there were 
     nearly 50 people aboard the flooded boat. Gardner's crew 
     alone had saved 38 of them, including two babies. The others 
     were saved by passing boats.
       The Navy's Yellowstone is a repair ship that fixes other 
     boats. Gardner, who joined the navy in 1992 after graduating 
     from technical college, works as a machinist and fireman on 
     the ship.
       The captain of the Yellowstone had planned to stop in the 
     Bahamas for a little fun, sun and snorkeling. The crew had 
     just finished training drills in Cuba and the captain felt 
     his crew needed a break before sailing to the Mediterranean 
     Sea.
       And if the alarm sounds again?
       ``If they made the call at 2 a.m., we'd be running down the 
     pier,'' Gardner said. ``Because if we were in the water, we'd 
     want somebody running to save us.''
     

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