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Video of the sunken Ehime Maru
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By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
Three of the civilians who were aboard the USS Greeneville when it rammed the Ehime Maru hope to speak directly to the families of Japanese men and boys who are still missing.
"We’re still talking with Todd Thoman and John Hall, deciding how to do it," Susan Nolan said yesterday. "And I know that Mickey (Nolan) has talked to someone representing the families."
Nolan and her husband, Mickey, were the only two Hawai‘i residents among the 16 civilians aboard the submarine. Thoman and Hall are from Texas, as are six of the other civilians. The others are from Kansas, Massachusetts and Colorado.
Thoman would offer no details on the plans when reached by telephone at his home in Houston yesterday.
"The next interview I give will be when I speak to the families of the lost loved ones," Thoman said.
Nolan said her husband, Thoman and Hall are searching for the right forum for the discussions, one that can be accomplished with dignity and provide comfort to the families.
She said at this point, she will probably leave it to her husband to represent the Nolans.
"I think it will be just the guys," she said.
The other civilians, whose names were released to the public by the military on Saturday, did not answer their telephones or return messages yesterday.
Dan Mitchell, brother of Mike Mitchell, one of the civilians from the submarine, said his brother’s phone had been ringing since the announcement was made. He said he had no knowledge of whether Mike Mitchell intended to speak to the families of the lost students, teachers and crew members.
"I know my brother feels really bad about the victims and would do whatever he can to make it right," Dan Mitchell said. "It was a really bad experience."
Mike Mitchell was in Houston, visiting with Helen Cullen, another of the civilians aboard the Greeneville and Mitchell’s fiancee. Cullen could not be reached for comment.
Nolan said she had decided to speak to The Advertiser because she was afraid part of a written statement, signed by Nolan and her husband and published in The Advertiser yesterday, was being misinterpreted by the public.
"We said we were innocent bystanders," she said. "We didn’t mean to imply anybody was guilty, just that we happened to be there."
Nolan said she was in the control room when the Greeneville surfaced, striking the Ehime Maru. She had watched as the crew made the required sonar and periscope checks before making the rapid ascent.
"We saw it all," Nolan said. "We didn’t see any negligence on the part of the crew at all."
Nolan said she was interviewed yesterday by representatives of the National Transportation Safety Board, who are investigating the incident.
The Nolans were contributors to the USS Missouri Memorial Association. The Nolans, Hall, and Thoman had worked together on a celebrity golf tournament that the Nolans were helping to arrange to benefit the battleship.
"John and Todd, through Fossil Bay (a company with which Hall and Thoman had been working) were going to be title sponsors of the event," Susan Nolan said yesterday.
"They were out here, they saw the ship and they were interested."
Some media reports, in the wake of the accident, have indicated that many of the civilians were contributors to the battleship memorial fund. However, it now appears that only the Nolans contributed.
Don Hess, the Missouri Memorial Association’s executive vice president, released a statement last week saying Fossil Bay Resources had contributed $7,500. That amount was returned in December, after a decision to postpone the tournament had been made.
Yesterday, Hess released another statement saying the association staff had checked its records against a list of civilians aboard the Greeneville after the list was made public Saturday.
Only the Nolans showed up as contributors to the fund.
Patrick Dugan, a spokesman for the association, said the staff also had checked its records against two businesses they knew through media accounts to be associated with the civilians.
Neither Aquila Energy Capital Corp., which three of the civilians had formed, nor Sports Media Enterprises, a business created by a fourth civilian, were listed as contributors. Fossil Bay was not counted as a contributor because that money was returned.
Dugan said the staff had no way of determining whether the civilians had contributed through other businesses or organizations without using their names.
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