Three men were rescued Monday after first responders spotted an SOS they had written in the sand on a tiny Pacific Island.
Guardsmen from the 203rd Air Refueling Squadron, Hawaii Air National Guard and the 171st Air Refueling Wing were the first to locate the missing mariners during a search-and-rescue mission in the Federated States of Micronesia southwest of Guam.
“We were toward the end of our search pattern,” said Lt. Col. Jason Palmeria-Yen in an Air Force release. “We turned to avoid some rain showers and that’s when we looked and saw an island, so we decided to check it out and that’s when we saw OS and a boat right next to it on the beach.”
Coast Guard rescues 66-year-old man after he went missing for more than 20 hours
According to a statement from the Australian Defense Department, the men had apparently set out from Pulawat atoll in a 23-foot boat on July 30 on a 27 mile trip to Pulap atoll when they sailed off course and ran out of fuel.
The men were found about 118 miles from where they had set out and were in good condition. An Australian helicopter landed and gave them food and water and a Micronesian boat was dispatched to pick them up.
Thank you for your service: 6 heart-stopping rescues performed by the U.S. Coast Guard
"Partnerships. This is what made this search-and-rescue case successful," said Capt. Chase, Coast Guard Sector Guam commander, in a release. “Through coordination with multiple response organizations, we were able to save three members of our community and bring them back home to their families.”
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com
Want to get more connected to the great stories and resources Connecting Vets has to offer? Click here to sign up for our weekly newsletter.
