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Posted on 04/15/2009 1:07:14 PM PDT by Pyro7480
When duty called and the world was watching the pirate hostage situation unfold, Cmdr. Francis X. Castellano performed his job with honor and distinction.
As the commander of the destroyer USS Bainbridge, Castellano was on the front line of the rescue operation that freed Capt. Richard Phillips from the grips of the Somali pirates, who had boarded his merchant ship Maersk-Alabama, and taken him hostage four days earlier.
The rescue on Easter Sunday, April 12, involved Navy snipers who killed three of the pirates holding Capt. Phillips on a covered lifeboat after they left the recovered Maersk-Alabama.
“We all worked seamlessly together, ensuring that the mission was accomplished,” Castellano told MSNBC in an exclusive televised interview.
Calling the situation tense, the commander said, “In the forefront of my mind was ensuring that Capt. Richard Phillips was returned to his family safely and to the United States.”
Cmdr. Castellano, age 41, is a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus. He joined Patchogue Council (N.Y.) # 725 in 1986, before his 20th birthday, and became a member of Holy Cross Assembly 3048 in Tennessee in 2006....
Cmdr. Castellano is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the Navy War College. He had formerly been assigned as an operations chief on the USS Cole, which was bombed by terrorists in October 2000....
Lisa Castellano, the commander’s wife of 19 years, spoke to Fathers for Good by phone two days after the rescue.
“He called me last night. I was happy to hear his voice,” she said, speaking from their home in Virginia Beach, Va., where they live with their two teenage daughters. “He wanted to talk to me and his girls, to see what was going on in our lives.”
(Excerpt) Read more at fathersforgood.org ...
Hey! that’s my tagline.
LOL!!!
BTTT! Who cares about the Obama supporters??
Guy Williams, right?
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