THE LACONIA DAILY SUN, Thursday, January 26, 2012— Page 13
RESCUE from page 2 ture around the world under hazardous and often hostile conditions. Special operations forces, trained for clandestine, small-team missions, have become a more prominent tool in the military’s kit since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The Obama administration is expected to announce on Thursday that it will invest even more heavily in that capability in coming years. After planning and rehearsal, the Somalia rescue was carried out by SEAL Team 6, officially known as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a secret mission. The same outfit did the bin Laden mission, the biggest counter-terror success of Obama’s presidency. It was not clear whether any team members participated in both operations. One official said the SEALs parachuted from U.S. Air Force aircraft before moving on foot, apparently undetected, to the outdoor encampment where they found American Jessica Buchanan, 32, and Poul Hagen Thisted, a 60-year-old Dane, who had been kidnapped in Somalia last fall. The raid happened near the town of Adado. Pentagon press secretary George Little said the captors were heavily armed and had “explosives nearby” when the rescuers arrived on the scene, but he was not more specific. He declined to say whether there was an exchange of gunfire and would not provide any further details about how the rescue was completed beyond saying all of the captors were killed by the Americans. The American raiders caught the kidnappers as they were sleeping after having chewed the narcotic leaf qat for much of the evening, a pirate who gave his name as Bile Hussein told The Associated Press by phone. Hussein said he was not present at the site but had spoken with other pirates who were, and that they told him nine pirates had been killed in the raid and three were “taken away.” A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. John Kirby, said U.S. officials could not confirm that the kidnappers were engaged in piracy. He referred to them simply as “criminals.” Little said the decision to go ahead with the rescue was prompted in part by rising concern about the medical condition of Buchanan. He said he could not be specific without violating her privacy but did say U.S. officials had reason to believe her condition could be life-threatening. Mary Ann Olsen, an official with the Danish Refugee Council, which employed Buchanan and Thisted in de-mining efforts in Somalia, said Buchanan was “not that ill” but needed medicine. Danish Foreign Minister Villy Soevndal told Denmark’s TV2 channel, “One of the hostages has a disease that was very serious and that had to be solved.” Soevndal did not provide any more details. U.S. officials “within the last week or so” had collected enough information to “connect the dots” that led Obama to authorize the mission on Monday, Little said. A Western official said the rescuers and the freed hostages flew by helicopter to Camp Lemonnier in the nearby Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the information had not been released publicly. The hostages will remain in Djibouti Wednesday but will be leaving “fairly soon,” one U.S. official said. They will then travel to another location for medical screenings and other evaluations before heading home, the official said.
OBITUARY
Richard Chesebrough, 81 from Australia, where he had devoted 18 months to the successful effort to bring the America’s Cup back to the U.S., he became a full-time competitive sailing volunteer. As a certified U.S. Sailing Umpire and Judge, he served both match and team races internationally, and participated on a number of race committees, primarily in mark boats, until he retired for health reasons in 2010. Cheese was a member of the New York and Manhasset Bay Yacht Clubs and the Storm Trysail
LACONIA — Richard Chesebrough, 81, of Laconia passed away at home after a long battle with lung cancer. The son of Joseph Cutler and Lois (Brown) Chesebrough, Richard was born in Westerly, RI on January 29, 1930. Richard grew up in Stonington, CT, a coastal town co-founded in 1649 by his ancestor, William Chesebrough. His great grandfather, Edward E. Bradley, was one of the three founders of the Mystic Seaport. Under the tutelage of his grandfather, Benjamin, Richard became proficient in both sail and power boating. He decided to pursue a nautical career and attended Massachusetts Maritime Academy. He graduated with a Coast Guard Third Mate’s license and commission as Ensign in the Naval Reserve in September of 1951, and then began a two-year tour of active duty that he voluntarily extended into a 20-year Naval career. He retired from the Navy in 1972, having earned the National Defense, Korean, American Expeditionary, Vietnam and United States Service Medals. It was during his last tour of active Naval duty as head of the Department of Naval Science at SUNY Maritime College that Richard found his second career, Director of Waterfront Activities and celebrated Sailing Coach for the college. It was then that he earned the moniker “Cheese” from his students. In 1977, Cheese was asked to pilot the chase boat for the America’s Cup defender, ENTERPRISE. He went on to drive the chase boats for Cup winner FREEDOM (1980), and contenders LIBERTY (1983) and STARS AND STRIPES (1987). In 1987, when Cheese returned
Club. Cheese was a volunteer at Lakes Region General Hospital and was very involved in his church. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Dorothea, their children: Sylvia Murray and partner David Pringle of Norwich, CT; Lois Wilder and husband David of Braselton, GA; Wendy Lowe and husband Richard of Venice, CA; Steven Chesebrough and wife Patricia of Meredith, NH; and their grandchildren: Sarah Murray of Bethany, CT; Heather Murray of Bradenton, FL; Benjamin Murray of Groton, CT; Erin Wilder of Hoschton, GA; Ian Wilder of Tacoma, WA; a sister, Nancy Denison of Mystic, CT and twin brother Donald of Gilford, NH. There will be no calling hours. A Celebration of Life is scheduled on Saturday, January 28th at 11:00 am at Saint James Episcopal Church, 876 No. Main Street, Laconia. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. James Episcopal Church Scholarship Fund or the C. Thomas Claggett, Jr. Memorial Clinic & Regatta, 231 Indian Avenue, Portsmouth, RI 02871.
from preceding page pics and the student run dance marathon fundraiser — the two efforts Paterno’s family requested receive donations in lieu of flowers. Paterno’s family arrived about an hour before the funeral service on two blue school buses, the same kind the coach and his team rode to home games on fall Saturdays. His wife, Sue, was first off the bus, followed by Jay. A who’s who of Paterno connections followed. His defensive coordinator, Tom Bradley, walked down the sidewalk with Penn State and NFL great Franco Harris. “Today’s Mass was a celebration. We laid to rest a great man,” Bradley said. “He meant so much to so
many people.” First in line for Wednesday’s public viewing was David Brown, who left his home in Greensburg at midnight and drove more than two hours to State College, then prepared to wait a few hours outside until the doors opened. “I wouldn’t have been surprised if there were 1,000 people here,” he said. Behind him was John Myers, 70, who drove more than two hours from Tamaqua to arrive at 5 a.m. — three hours before the viewing was scheduled to begin. “It’s worth it,” Myers said. “Joe was one of the best, if not the best, football coaches ever.”