“Easter SEALs” Rescue Captain, Kill Pirates; More to Come

jolly-rogerBest possible ending: Three dead pirates, no good guys hurt, one hero captain survives after winning his crew’s freedom by offering himself as a hostage.  On Easter Sunday, no less.  (I wish I had thought of Easter SEALs!)

Shades of United Airlines Flight 93, as the American crew apparently fought back and retook the Maersk Alabama from the armed pirates.

But there are still more than 200 hostages on other ships being held by Somali pirates, and the problem is not going to go away by itself.  “The pirates have a great business model that works for them: Seize ships, get ransom, make millions,” said Adm. Rick Gurnon, head of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, where Captain Richard Phillips had trained.

Ultimately, the pirates will have to be defeated on shore.  It’s been done before — the Marine Corps and the United States Navy both fought pirates as one of their first missions, on (and off) a different coast of Africa.

Despite my son’s desire to have stories to tell his grandchildren, he probably won’t personally get a chance to fight pirates.  His enlistment got delayed again, but he now has written orders to report on April 28 to start basic training.  He’ll be in the Navy’s nuclear power school for a couple of years before serving on a nuclear submarine or aircraft carrier.

8 thoughts on ““Easter SEALs” Rescue Captain, Kill Pirates; More to Come

  1. Hi Kirk,

    Happy Easter to you and Nina! Is your son still at home then?

    My brother (a Navy vet) was on such a high, because it’s not too often the Navy gets so much action of heroic stature. THe Marines get most of the glory!

    So is the “Easter Seals” title yours, or something you came across. VERY clever!

    Best,
    Joni

  2. This was dragged on too long as Obama just wanted to sit and negotiate. The Navy had the ability to do this earlier – The US looked stupid in the eyes of the world while four pirates ran the show in front of a might US Navy Warship. The Navy is not at fault – Obama is as Obama ordered the Navy to not intervene – wait on negotiations, only act if the Captain’s life is threatened, which occured and the Navy acted.

  3. Hi Joni — Harry is still here, counting the days. I wish I could claim credit for Easter Seals.

    Mike, thanks for stopping by to comment, but I disagree. If there’s a reasonable possibility that the pirates might release the captain, it makes sense to negotiate — for his safety. It all ended well, but the pirate training a gun on the captain could have squeezed off a round with an involuntary twitch as he went down. Or one of the snipers could have missed.

    I don’t think the negotiations went on for a particularly long time, and the pirates most certainly were not running the show — they were being towed by the Bainbridge.

    There’s a debate about how much credit Obama should get for authorizing the use of force. I don’t think he did anything heroic, but I think he handled it fine.

  4. I think Obama did fine in this tiny test. An opportunity presented itself thanks to the captain jumping overboard again and there was a happy ending to this tale.

    I am more interested in what Obama will do with the pirate they arrested.

    You can’t give in to pirates it only encourages them to continue doing what they have been doing.

  5. The captain was rescued DESPITE Obama……….!!!! he refused to give order to intervene, wanted to “negotiate .” It was OSC ( on site command , Captain of Bainbridge and Seal Commander ) who got fed up with delay ( after calling the White House twice) who decided to “go in.” Listen to Captain Phillip´s “thank-yous.” He waxes lyrical over military ( particularly Seals , deservedly so !!) BUT not a word about Obama or US Government. Silence speaks volumes…..!!!! Wake up, people !! Obama is a traitor….!!!

  6. madeline7, I take it you’re not a fan of our new president. I didn’t vote for him either, but he won. I think you can be more effective in opposing his agenda if you refrain from sounding like you’re wearing a tin-foil hat. Obama Derangement Syndrome is no more appealing than Bush Derangement Syndrome was.

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