The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 21, 1984, Page Page 2, Image 2
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Page 2 ? September 21 1984 Dateline THE GAMECOCK
Freed seamen after T-shirts;
captured by Soviet warship
Associated Press
iiAiViiiKr.lv I,, Alaska ? nve tired but smiling
American sailors said they were glad to be back on
American soil today after a week in Siberia, where they
were taken by a Soviet warship that seized their supply ship
during a souvenir-hunting jaunt.
The seamen, released Wednesday in a rendezvous between
an armed Soviet icebreaker and a Coast Guard cutter
in the Bering Sea, were not harmed during their detention,
said Tabb Thorns, skipper of the 120-foot Frieda K.
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reporters and villagers Wednesday night after the freed
vessel beached on Gambrell, located on St. Lawrence
Island about 50 miles east of the rendezvous site where the
vessel and crew were freed earlier in the day.
Thorns said he and the crew piloted their ship to the
rendezvous, where Coast Guard Capt. Jack Billington met
with tnc commander 01 tne Kussian icebreaker Aisoerg in
the wheelhouse of the Frieda K to sign documents turning
over the crew and vessel to the Americans.
The transfer took place in the Bering Sea near the international
date line at 3:20 p.m. ADT (7:20 p.m. EDT).
Coast Guard officers who boarded the Frieda K were
met by tive armed soviet crew members, said cniei fetty
Officer Dan Dewell. Thorns said the Soviets confiscated
film from cameras, the ship's log and charts from the
Frieda K.
Thorns said the crew was pressured to sign papers admitting
an intentional violation of Soviet territory, but refused
to do so.
"We collect T-shirts and sweat shirts from where we go,
from time to time, and this was our intention" when the
encounter with the Soviet warship occurred Sept. 11 in the
Bering Strait, said Thorns. The crew, which delivers supplies
to remote villages, was heading for a village on Little
Diomede, an Alaskan island only 2 Vi miles east of Soviet
owned Big Diomede, when the boat was stopped and
boarded by "many, many" Soviet soldiers, he said.
Thorns, who did most of the talking for his crew, said
they were approaching the narrow passage between the |wo
islands when he saw a gray ship approaching.
He said he steered the Frieda K closer and saw an officer
on the bridee. "As we neared the shin...one of the officers
on the vessel motioned" and Thorns interpreted that to
mean they should tie up to the vessel.
"So we threw our lines on and before the wink of eye,
you could say, there were many, many soldiers on board,
armed with guns, knives and pistols, and they seized my
crew."
Thorns and other crewmembers said they were happy to
dc oacK on /xmerican son ana saia mey were graterui to me
Coast Guard crew that came to pick them up.
The skipper acknowledged to reporters that he may have
strayed into Soviet territory, but said he was not aware of it
at the time.
"My navigation equipment said I was 15 miles inside
U.S. waters, but apparently that was off," he said.
Thorns said the Soviets shut down the vessel's radio
equipment and detained the crew on deck and him in the
wheelhmise. Another shin arrived and tnwed the Frieda K
to the Soviet port town or Urelik in Siberia, he said.
Before being taken to what appeared to be a barracks at
a military installation, the crewmen were told they could
take clothes and one other item. "We asked only to take
our Bibles." Thorns said. "They refused" to permit it, he
said.
He said the crew was never harmed, but "they intimidated
us. You could say they made fun of us. They
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not the truth."
"They wanted us to sign papers. I signed nothing from
the time I entered from the time I left. 1 have been taught
from my upbringing, don't sign anything unless you
understand it, and I don't know Russian."
Thorns said he and his crew maintained morale while in
captivity by joking among themselves. He and another,
crewman were kept separated from the other three
crewmen, he said.
. frOOOOOCTTOtt
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Invitation to join
Margo Wright and Auchey Foggie, members
Islamic Jihad claims respo
Explosion ro
Associated Press
BEIRUT, Lebanon ? A van filled
with explosives crashed into the U.S.
Embassy annex in east Beirut and blew
up yesterday severely damaging the
six-story building and reportedly killing
23 people and wounding 60, included
the U.S. ambassador.
The Christian-owned Voice of
Lebanon radio said the casualties included
people inside the annex compounded
and outside, but it did not
give a breakdown of the victims'
nationalities.
U.S. Slate Department
spokeswoman Sondra McCarthy said
she had received reports that Ambassador
Reginald Bartholomew walked
out of the compound and was being
treated at a hospital for minor injuries.
Lebanese military sources said the ambassador
had sustained head and chest
injuries and was in intensive care.
About 90 minutes after the explosion,
a man telephoned the Beirut office
of the French news agency Agence
France-presse to claim responsibility
on behalf of Islamic Jihad, or islamic
Holy war - the same group that claimed
responsibility for the suicide carbomb
attack on the former U.S. Embassy
in west Beirut on April 18, 1983,
that left at least 63 people dead, 17 of
th am A mnripinc
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The wreckage of the vehicle used in
the attack lay about five yards from
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UAL VALUE FREE WI1
ECOCK TICKET STUB
DAY AFTER THE GAME & ALL DAY SU
US 1 & 12th Street \
Forest Drive - Next to
Park at Elm wood
Ft. Jackson Boulevan
Two Notch Road - Jus
Sumter Hampton (F
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risibility
icks U.S. Emba:
the main entrance to the annex
building, inside the compound.
The Dodge or Chevrolet van ap
parently exploded only a yard from the
annex entrance.
One diplomat on the scene said:
"Our guards shot at the car and tried
to stop it, but it got into the compound
and exploded right here" ? pointing
to the spot in front of the entrance.
The building did not collapse, but
there was severe damage to the ground
floor, and considerable damage to the
other five stories. The embassy recently
moved some of its officers and personnel
to east Beirut for security
reasons.
uamage irom snarpnei could be
seen 500 yards away from the building.
Three bodies were being carried away
from the scene. U.S. Marine Guards
said there were about 20 wounded. But
the military sources repcrted 23 killed
and 60 wounded.
It was unclear how many were
Americans and how many Lebanese.
The announcement attributed to
Islamic Holy War said yesterday's attack
was carried out "to prove we will
carry out our previous promise not to
allow a single American to remain on
Lebanese soil."
No member of Islamic Jihad has
ever been identified. Lebanese and
American officials have said there may
not actually be such a group, and that
TAILGATII
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Ve?t Columbia ^ ./or C
Providence Hospital
I
t North of Columbia Mall
'almetto Center Complex)
LL SEASON, SEPT. 8 NOV.10
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Photo by Sohail Khwaja
oyd ont he Russell House patio Thursday.
ssv in Beirut
m
the name may be used by many individual
attackers or small independent
groups.
In Washington, State Department
spokeswoman McCarthy said: "Apparently
a car did approach the em
bassy, went through the gate and blew
up. . . the embassy annex. There was
some severe damage. There are injuries
and deaths, but we have no figures
now. As of ritiht now. there are no
known American deaths. Our security
people there are coordinating the
evacuation. The lebanese armed forces
are assisting."
She said the blast occurrred about
11:30 a.m.
White house spokesman Larry
Speakes said "the President was in
formed shortly after the bombing occurred"
and added thee still are no
details about casualties. "As far as we
know there ae no U.S. casualties," he
said.
Reagan still plans to keep his campaign
schedule today in Iowa and
Michigan, Speakes said. "There has
been no change in trip plans. I think he
will travel today."
The Voice of Lebanon, which first
renorted thf* attnrk caiH th#? rar wnc
met by gunfire from guards at the annex
building, which is protected by
concrete anti-vehicle barriers, and hit a
house before reaching the annex
building.
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