But he looked for the yellow thing. First with his naked eyes, and then, when that didn’t work, through his binoculars. The boat was shaking so much he couldn’t hold the binoculars still.
“All engines stop,” he ordered.
MMM3 Granzichek hauled back on the throttles that controlled the twin Packard engines of PT 110. She slowed, and then began to move side to side in the swells. This action tended to make Ensign Strawbridge feel a bit queasy, but it permitted Captain Hawley to see through his binoculars.
“Good God,” he exclaimed. “It’s a man in a life jacket.”
“No shit?” MMM3 Granzichek asked, reaching for the binoculars. A moment later, he reported, “I think he’s dead. He’s not moving or waving or anything.”
“May I have a look now, please?” Ensign Strawbridge asked, a trifle petulantly. Granzichek handed him the binoculars.
“How would you say, Granzichek,” Captain Hawley asked, “would be the best way to take him on board?”
Granzichek, Captain Hawley reasoned, had been aboard PT 110 for three and a half months. He himself had assumed command only last Monday. Experience tells.
“Pull up alongside him, catch him with a boat hook, and then get a line on him,” Granzichek said.
“Very well, then let’s have a go at it,” Captain Hawley ordered.
URGENT
CONFIDENTIAL
FROM PTSQUADRON-30
TO COMMANDING OFFICER
VMF-229
VIA CINCPAC
1. PT 110 OF THIS SQUADRON RECOVERED AT SEA AT 0530 THIS MORNING CAPTAIN CHARLES M. GALLOWAY, USMCR.
2. CAPTAIN GALLOWAY IS SUFFERING FROM EXPOSURE AND DEHYDRATION BUT IS OTHERWISE IN GOOD HEALTH. HE HAS BEEN TRANSFERRED TO HOSPITAL SHIP USS CONSOLATION, WHO WILL ADVISE YOU OF ARRANGEMENTS TO RETURN HIM TO DUTY.
BY DIRECTION:
J.B. SUMERS, LTCOM USNR
Battleground Page 53
