Skipper faces cameras, families of victims

He walked with authority, eyes forward as a dozen cameras pointed in his direction. As he strode, he held his wife’s hand. His father walked beside him to his right. His attorney led the way.

Cmdr. Scott Waddle, center, arrives at a Pearl Harbor courthouse yesterday with his wife and father. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

Cmdr. Scott Waddle arrived at a Pearl Harbor courthouse yesterday morning to face Day 1 of a Navy court of inquiry that could lead to a court-martial. He got his first real look at the media storm unleashed nearly a month ago when his submarine collided with a Japanese fishing vessel nine miles off Diamond Head. And the world got its first, fleeting close look at the former captain of the submarine USS Greeneville.

Waddle was the most recognizable of the three parties named in the inquiry because a smiling photo of him, taken in happier times, has appeared in newspapers and on TV news programs around the world since the Feb. 9 collision. Until yesterday, no one had seen the other two people named as parties in the inquiry.

Inside the courthouse, Waddle sat in the center chair at the center table at the center of the courtroom. A big man with large, sloping shoulders, a thick neck and sandy-blonde hair touched with gray, his posture was all business. His only words were whispers to his attorneys.

The other parties called to this inquiry were just as silent, just as grim. This is where they will sit for the next three to four weeks, where their futures as Navy officers may well be decided.

At the table to Waddle’s right sat Lt. Cmdr. Gerald K. Pfeifer, the sub’s executive officer. Thin and tall, his red hair is buzz-cut close around the sides. To Waddle’s left was Lt. j.g. Michael J. Coen, a compact man with a 5 o’clock shadow and a Kirk Douglas chin. He was the officer of the deck on the afternoon the Greeneville rammed the Ehime Maru as it shot to the surface like a suddenly inflated balloon.

Silence dominated the room. All leaned forward to hear the three admirals charged with finding the facts of the accident. They spoke with quiet reverence.

At the back of the courtroom, six relatives of those lost when the Ehime Maru sank listened to a Japanese translation of the proceedings through tiny earphones. Some sat with eyes closed as if in meditation, nodding at times in agreement.

Among them was Ryosuke Terada, whose son disappeared when the fishing vessel slipped beneath the waves. When the court adjourned for lunch, he told some of the 100 reporters outside about the excitement he felt at finally seeing Waddle.

During a morning filled with confusing legal terms in a foreign court far from home, the image of Waddle was the one thing that stood out in his mind. He described the former captain as calm but not relaxed.

All they would see during questions and testimony was the back of the commander and the pleats of his Navy summer whites.

But there was a moment, too, when they got their own close-up, a glimpse of the man few have seen so far. Terada said he believes he saw it when they entered the crowded courtroom. Waddle turned to the six family members, Terada said, and looked directly at them.

And then he bowed slightly.

Advertiser Washington bureau reporter Susan Roth contributed to this report.

[back to top]