 Ehime Maru search Day 21: 'A political task'
A Tribute to the Missing
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Associated Press
NEW YORK — The commander of the USS Greeneville says his vessel’s collision with the Japanese ship Ehime Maru is "a burden I will carry with me for the rest of my life."
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| "After we hit, a part of me died," Scott Waddle said. |
In an interview with People magazine scheduled to be on newsstands tomorrow, Navy Cmdr. Scott Waddle recounted the moment he realized his submarine hit the fisheries training ship during an emergency surfacing maneuver Feb. 9.
"When I saw the Ehime Maru sinking, through the periscope, after we hit, a part of me died," Waddle said. "Then I saw (men) in the lifeboats. They told me they had gotten out all (of them.)
"When I heard from the Coast Guard that nine men were unaccounted for, I felt as if my very heart had been ripped out of my chest."
Thirty-five people were aboard the Ehime Maru when the Greeneville struck it from underneath. The vessel sank within minutes. Nine are missing.
Waddle’s father, Dan Waddle, told People his son called just hours after the accident.
"He said, ‘Dad, I checked with the periscope, the first officer checked, the sonar man checked. There was nothing.’ He told me, ‘Dad, I did what I was supposed to do. I went right by the book.’ "
Nevertheless, Waddle told the magazine the accident "is a burden I will carry with me for the rest of my life." The collision "was an accident," he said. "But my submarine caused the accident."
On Tuesday, Waddle met with two Japanese officials and offered a teary-eyed apology. He also delivered letters of apology to be given to the families of the missing.
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