Old Forge woman at the heart of Navy's rescue of Somalian refugees
Published: May 28, 2009
Font size: [A] [A] [A]
e-mail this
share this
Christopher Scarlata saw the photo and beamed.
Of all the Navy officers a photographer could capture in a Kodak moment, it was no surprise to him his daughter would be the one handing a stuffed yellow dog to two Somali children just saved at sea.
"That's my kid," the Old Forge resident said.
Lt. j.g. Gabrielle Scarlata was at the heart of a rescue mission last weekend off the African coast that saved 52 men, women and children stranded for nearly a week in a small skiff.
On a routine patrol for Somali pirates that have become notorious in the Gulf of Aden, Lt. j.g. Scarlata's helicopter crew Saturday spotted the boat in the open water. It was crammed with people, including a pregnant woman in her final trimester, according to the Navy.
The skiff's engine had sputtered. Seventeen of the refugees needed treatment for severe dehydration and other critical medical issues, according to the Navy.
"Your heart can't help but to go out to them," Lt. j.g. Scarlata said in an e-mail.
The coast of war-ravaged Somalia is infamous for the pirates who hijack ships, but the risky journey across the gulf to Yemen is increasingly a chance Somalis are willing to take. According to the United Nations, in just the past three weeks, more than 67,000 Somalis have fled from in and around the city of Mogadishu to escape the fighting between government forces and Islamist militias.
The 26-year-old lieutenant junior grade said she is not authorized to speak in detail about the rescue, but her deployment aboard the USS Lake Champlain as a helicopter pilot has been an "eye-opening experience."
"I can tell you that it is at times like this I am especially proud to be a member of the U.S. Navy," said Lt. j.g. Scarlata, the photo of whom made CNN's Web site.
"Though their situation at home may be grave," she said of the refugees. "Hopefully our intervention can bring them a new hope."
Growing up in Sussex, N.J., Lt. j.g. Scarlata was always passionate about community service - volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, cancer runs and animal rescues - but not necessarily military service, her father said.
That changed in high school, much to the delight of her grandfather, who had been in the Navy in World War II.
"He had been saying to Gabby since she could listen, the Navy is where you've got to be," said Mr. Scarlata, an Internet salesman for Toyota Scion in Scranton.
Lt. j.g. Scarlata was in the U.S. Naval Academy when her grandfather died. But she visited him in the hospital "in her uniform, and it really made his day," Mr. Scarlata said.
Knowing his daughter was stationed in the Middle East had Mr. Scarlata worried, but "it doesn't get any better" than last weekend's rescue.
"That's who she is," he said. "When she has a spare minute, she will help out any way she can."
Contact the writer: jburton@timesshamrock.com
13 posted comments