Rescued captain gets hero's welcome in Vermont town

April 25, 2009 03:04 PM Email| Comments (1)| Text size – +

(Mark Wilson/Globe Staff)

Cindy Adams drove 280 miles from North Attleboro, Mass. to give Captain Phillips this hug.

By David Abel, Globe Staff

JERICHO, Vt. -- A crowd of hundreds erupted into applause peppered with shouts of "Thank you! Thank you!" as Captain Richard Phillips, the sea captain who was rescued from pirates off the coast of Somalia, entered a park here today for a welcome home ceremony.

"It's unbelievable. It's overwhelming. It's why we love Vermont. I just want to say thank you to everyone," said Phillips, who was wearing a blue flannel shirt, khaki pants, and a baseball cap bearing the name of the USS Bainbridge. In a drama that riveted people across the world, Phillips, 53, was held hostage before being rescued when Navy SEALs on the Bainbridge shot and killed three of his captors.

Some people had driven hundreds of miles to the event at Mills Riverside Park in this small town at the base of Mt. Mansfield.

Cindy Adams, 49, of North Attleboro, Mass., said she drove the 280 miles just because she wanted to give him a hug. The captain signed a sign that she had made that said, "Richie, Our Nation is Sooo Proud of You!"

After getting the hug, Adams said, "That's all I wanted to do – show him how proud of him we are."

Bradford Whipple, 71, of Sugar Hill, N.H. said he had driven 2 ½ hours this morning because he wanted to share his pride in Phillips's bravery. Whipple, a veteran of the US Air Force security service, handed him several coins commemorating various actions of the US military over the years.

"I just wanted to shake his hand," he said. He also handed Phillips a book entitled "Dangerous Waters: Modern Piracy and Terrorism on the High Seas." Phillips turned to a page with a world map on it and signed his name on the map next to the Horn of Africa, the area where pirates attacked his cargo ship, the Maersk Alabama.

During a ceremony under a park gazebo, the captain and his wife, daughter, and other relatives watched as elected officials praised him and offered him gifts.

US Representative Peter Welch of Vermont read a proclamation from the US House and gave him a six-pack of Labatt Blue beer. "What I find inspiring is that what you did is in the reach of any of us," he said.

Chuck Ross, chief of staff for Senator Patrick Leahy, came bearing his own resolution from the Senate, which was longer. He also gave Phillips's family a flag flown over the US Capitol and DVDs of the resolution being read on the floor of the Senate.

Governor Jim Douglas described Phillips as representing "the indomitable spirit" of Vermonters. He also provided Phillips with a flag that was flown over the Vermont capital and a proclamation declaring today "Captain Richard Phillips Day."

"That means you can take the day off," he said.

When Phillips took the microphone, he said, "I'm just floored by this. I never expected this."

Lynn Coeby and her mother drove 1 1/2 hours up from Ripton, Vt. to show their appreciation for Phillips.

"It's not every day that we have a hero in our state," Lynn Coeby, 53, an emergency room doctor, said. "We wanted to shake his hand and thank him. We're just so happy this had a happy ending."

Phillips, who is from the neighboring town of Underhill, has said the true heroes in the story are the SEAL team members who rescued him.

The hijacking crisis began April 8 when the pirates, firing their guns into the air, clambered aboard the 508-foot-long Maersk Alabama, which was delivering food aid to several African nations. The unarmed crew escaped, but Phillips was taken hostage.

Two crew members jumped one pirate and in the ensuing scuffle stabbed him in the hand with an ice pick. With the engines shut off and the ship drifting on the open sea, they attempted to exchange their hostage for Phillips, but the pirates refused to turn him over and fled in a lifeboat.

US warships arrived and shadowed the lifeboat, which ran out of gas. Then on April 12, sharpshooters positioned on the stern of the USS Bainbridge fired three simultaneous shots to kill the three pirates holding Phillips hostage. One pirate was taken captive and has been brought to New York to face trial.