THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 7, 1994 TAG: 9410070630
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY AND KERRY DEROCHI, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 152 lines
Standing in front of an American flag, next to an F-14 Tomcat with his name stenciled under the cockpit, President Clinton said thank you Thursday to the hundreds of sailors who helped liberate Haiti.
``The most important message I have for you today is a simple, straightforward, heartfelt thank you,'' Clinton said. ``Much has been asked of you, and you have delivered.''
Clinton, flanked by Defense Secretary William Perry and several of the Navy's top admirals, spoke for five minutes on the crowded hangar deck of the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, a bust of the late president beside him.
Sailors jostled in front of the stage, dressed in their white uniforms, carrying cameras and wearing buttons that read, ``I Like Ike.''
``It's a good morale booster for the crew, letting them know the job they do is important,'' said John Clayton, 25, an aviation boatswain's mate. ``I'll remember this day for a lifetime to come.''
The speech capped a whirlwind tour of Norfolk Naval Base, where Clinton met with leaders of the Haiti mission before shaking hands with hundreds of crew members and their families.
A throng of Navy wives and children crowded the president as he prepared to board Air Force One. For nearly an hour, they spoke to the president about poor mail service to their husband's ships, the rumors of longer deployments and the condition of Haitian infants.
``I said I have an issue for you and it's the mail,'' said Judy Brasseaux, whose husband is stationed on the supply ship Savannah, currently off Haiti.
``Everyone is upset about it. It's delayed, rerouted. We families need to know what's going on. I was going to talk to an admiral about this. But, hey, I decided to go right to the top first.''
Clinton's appearance struck a chord in the families who had waited for him at the air station for nearly four hours.
On the Eisenhower's hangar deck, his words brought applause.
Much of his speech focused on Haiti and the role played by the Norfolk-based Eisenhower battle group in Operation Restore Democracy.
Saying the mission was a milestone in military operations for its forging of the four service branches, Clinton commended Adm. Paul David Miller of Norfolk, commander of the U.S. Atlantic Command, for developing the strategic plan.
He hailed the operation as a success, citing images of grateful Haitians greeting the U.S. troops in Port-au-Prince and the faces of refugees who were able to return home without fear. The Eisenhower's role was to quickly deliver Army ground forces and their helicopters, leaving its normal complement of Navy jets at home.
``In less than than three weeks, you showed the world what the men and women of the American military can do,'' Clinton said. ``The awesome force you represent is the shield and the sword of American diplomacy.''
After the speech, Clinton awarded Navy commendation medals to 10 members of the Eisenhower battle group. He then shook hands with most of the sailors who came to see him as Fleetwood Mac and Bob Dylan music blared from the speakers.
``It's very impressive to see the president make the effort to come all the way to Norfolk to say thank you,'' said Wendy Clement, 23, an electronics technician. ``It shows he's trying to make an effort, to show that he's more involved in what the military does.
``It's not just numbers, it's people. He sees our expressions. He sees we are glad to have him come down here.''
During his five-hour visit, Clinton toured U.S. Atlantic Command headquarters for briefings on the Haiti operation. A map of the island nation covered one wall of the room.
While there, he participated in a video teleconference, hooking him up with Army Lt. Gen. Hugh Shelton and Ambassador William Swing in Port-au-Prince and with officers aboard the assault ship Wasp and special forces teams in the Haitian countryside.
His visit was confined to the large naval complex here. He landed aboard Air Force One, then took a 24-vehicle motorcade to the briefing and to the Eisenhower.
A few civilian employees on the base complained about being ``locked in'' their workplaces, unable to get out and keep appointments because of the presidential visit.
Cmdr. Dave Barron, a spokesman for the base, said traffic was stopped on the base only during the times the motorcade was on the move.
``Otherwise, we're doing business as usual on base,'' he said.
Although nearly an hour behind schedule, Clinton told an energetic crowd of mainly women and children waiting across from his plane at Norfolk Naval Air Station that he would not leave without showing his appreciation to them.
``I've had the privilege to visit many military bases in the last 21 months, and it has always impressed me just how tightly and closely our military families and military communities pull together and work as a support system,'' said Clinton.
``I know especially the cruises are long and the turnaround times are too short and I know the strain that can cause on families,'' he said, interrupted by approving cheers from the several hundred who had waited for him since shortly after his 9:10 a.m. arrival.
``I wish I were here to announce we were cutting the cruises in half,'' the president continued, again interrupted by even louder cheers.
``But I can't do that,'' he said.
``You have paid a terrific price to enable the United States to maintain its national security in a time of rapid change and challenge. I know there are great rewards to military life, but there are also great difficulties as well.''
Keeping his promise to take questions from the family members and to shake hands, Clinton waded into a 100-yard-long, 20-yard-deep sea of service members and their families, spending nearly an hour talking with them.
Few were timid about what they asked the president.
Brenda McBane, a Navy wife from Philadelphia, came to Norfolk Wednesday night after learning Clinton would be here, in hopes of talking with him. She succeeded.
Her issue was the number of Haitian babies that have been abandoned, she said.
``We read that women are leaving their infants in the fields to be eaten by wild pigs,'' said McBane. ``Women are pushing babies into the soldiers' arms to take them.''
Clinton offered her the chance to speak with an aide and promised he would give it his attention, McBane said.
An ombudsman for Fighter Squadron 102 at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, who identified herself only as Gloria, said she told the president there are rumors about extending battle group deployments from six to nine months.
``We wanted to make sure he wasn't going to do that,'' she said. ``He said he is trying not to have to extend the deployments.''
Most of the questioning for the president was good-natured.
Michael Haler, 8, and his brother, Matthew, 9, got to shake the president's hand.
``I told him I voted for him,'' said Michael Haler, whose father is serving off Haiti aboard the carrier America. ``He didn't hear me at first, but then said, `What did you say?'
``I said it louder and he came up to me and said he hoped I would vote for him again.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
MOTOYA NAKAMURA/Staff
President Clinton is surrounded by sailors on the hangar of the deck
of the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower on Thursday at Norfolk Naval
Station.
PAUL AIKEN/staff
Fireman Michael Smith, left, Fireman Patrick Dakins, center, and Lt.
j.g. J. Colby Howard, right, lean out over a restraining rope to try
and catch a glimpse of President Clinton leaving the carrier Dwight
D. Eisenhower Thursday at Norfolk Naval Staion.
MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN/staff
President Clinton, surrounded by high-ranking military personnel,
opens a teleconference on Haiti Thursday morning at the U.S.
Atlantic Command headquarters. At left, Radioman First Class Terry
Pelletier of Virginia Beach receives a Meritorious Performance Medal
for Operation Uphold Democracy from Clinton aboard the carrier
Dwight D. Eisenhower.
KEYWORDS: PRESIDENT CLINTON VISIT by CNB