 |
|
|
|
SOUND OFF!
|
| Join our discussion
here. |
|
|
|
Families of the Crew Begin to Feel the Strain as Efforts to Break
the Impasse Appear to Stall
HeraldNet
As U.S. and Chinese diplomats engaged in delicate
negotiations aimed at ending an increasingly tense impasse over a
badly damaged U.S. surveillance plane, relatives of 24 crew members
in custody on China's Hainan Island hung on every word.
Mothers and fathers, cousins and grandmothers of the Whidbey Island-based
crew could not help feeling anxious, and helpless, after a week of
waiting. They watched Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of
State Colin Powell on the Sunday morning talk shows try to sound hopeful
about an end to their vigil.
"I'm sick to my stomach. I've got that knot," said Tom Crandall, whose
son Jeremy Crandall is a 20-year-old petty officer who joined the
Navy almost two years ago.
"It's getting old, and it's starting to wear on me," Crandall said
from Loves Park, Ill. "I'm discouraged today because things aren't
going as well as they were Friday when it felt like things were going
to end pretty quick. I'm afraid it's going to drag on for a while."
He has been sending his son e-mail through an address the Navy has
given the families, telling him "that we miss, we love him, we want
him home and to stay strong," Crandall said.
But his son has yet to respond. Navy officials who call every few
hours "don't have a lot of information," Crandall said. So he, like
other waiting fathers, gets most of his news from the media.
His son appeared in one of the pictures released last week of the
crew.
"He looked like he was mad," Crandall said of his son. "He was in
the front row. The look on his face, I've seen that before. That's
a good sign if he's mad; that means he's being strong."
With China still demanding an apology for U.S. intelligence flights
near the Chinese mainland, Crandall stood squarely behind Cheney and
Powell, who explained that the Bush administration deeply regretted
the loss of a Chinese aviator but had nothing to apologize for.
"I'm not one to say we should apologize to get them back," Crandall
said. "I don't think the crew would want that. My kid wouldn't want
us to say we're sorry."
Like Crandall, John Bensing, father of Navy Ensign Richard Bensing,
was trying to keep a stiff upper lip in Sun City Center, Fla. He said
his state of mind was "adequate, considering."
"I think Richard is doing as well as could be imagined under the circumstances,"
the elder Bensing said. "He's a strong sort."
Bensing has seen that strength evolve since his son got out of high
school 12 years ago, lacking a clear notion of what he wanted to do
with his life. The Navy took care of that, training him, sending him
on missions all over the world and, two years ago, assigning him to
fly EP-3Es.
It is rare for enlisted men to become officers. But Bensing's son
has done just that, receiving an electrical engineering degree from
the University of San Diego in the process. He is slated to become
a lieutenant in May -- assuming he's back in the United States by
then.
Sunday, Cheney took strong exception to a suggestion in Washington
that Bensing and his fellow crew members are "hostages," calling them
"detainees" instead.
"We have access to them," Cheney said on ABC's "This Week." "They're
being treated well ... (and) we expect they'll be released shortly."
To Bensing and other family members, Cheney's words were calming.
"Everything that everyone says is that they're being treated fine
and nicely," Bensing said. "I think they're eventually going to be
released, but I don't know under what circumstances or when."
To see more of HeraldNet, or to subscribe, go to http://www.heraldnet.com
Copyright © 2001 HeraldNet. All Rights Reserved.
|
