Coast Guard dedicates crew quarters
By Kapono Dowson
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Coast Guard dedicated crew quarters at Barbers Point Air Station yesterday to the memory of a helicopter crewman who was one of three people who perished in a Moloka'i crash during a 1982 rescue mission.
U.S. Coast Guard
The widow of Petty Officer 2nd Class David L. Thompson, Kim Olsen, unveiled a plaque at Thompson Hall, as well as a portrait of her late husband that is being displayed inside the new quarters.
Kim Olsen views a painting of her late husband, Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class David L. Thompson, at the dedication of new quarters for rescue crew at the Barbers Point Air Station. Thompson was one of three helicopter crew members killed in a Moloka'i crash during a 1982 rescue mission. The painting will be on display in the building.
"It's appropriate that this station be dedicated to Petty Officer Thompson. His role as flight mechanic is played out every day," said Lt. Clint Trocchio, Coast Guard spokesman. "The Coast Guard rescue workers are there at Barbers Point to respond to emergencies around the Islands. That's what Petty Officer Thompson did 20 years ago. The purpose is the same now."
Thompson, a 23-year-old native of Sequim, Wash., had been married only five months when he lifted off on a mission on Jan. 7, 1982. He was the flight mechanic in the HH-52A Sea Guardian helicopter, outfitted for ocean rescue and piloted by Lt. Cmdr. Horton Johnson, 33, of Orange, Calif., and co-pilot Lt. Colleen Cain, 29, of Burlington, Iowa.
It was 4 a.m. when the helicopter lifted off from Barbers Point Air Station in torrential rains and heavy winds. They were responding to a distress call from the Pan Am, a 74-foot fishing boat that was taking on water off Maui and was in danger of sinking.
"The crew had returned late from another mission. It was a busy night," Trocchio said. "Poor weather always seems to lead to many more rescue calls."
By 5:15 a.m., the Coast Guard had lost radio contact with the crew. Almost nine hours later, another helicopter discovered the wreckage on a steep ridge in Moloka'i's Wailau Valley. Thompson, Johnson and Cain died in the crash.
Thompson Hall will house "ready crews" who are on 24-hour watches for rescue missions. It has sleeping quarters and a large kitchen and living area.
The Coast Guard recently dedicated bachelor officer quarters to Lt. Cain in Yorktown, Va.
Reach Kapono Dowson at kdowson@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8103.
