High Seas Series: The Wilson O'Toole

Patrick and Pedro stood on the pier at their home in Nawiliwili Harbor at Lihue, Kauai looking at their newest ship, The MS Wilson O'Toole. They had 'stolen' the name from their small freighter, which they had renamed The Joseph O'Toole.

They had been staggered by Wil's and Oscar's deaths, but it was Pedro who pulled them all out of their funk. Pedro had been a rescued boy as he had been headed to the slave markets when Wilson and Oscar rescued him and his brothers.

Pedro was now a medical doctor and surgeon after having been sent to school by his two Fathers, Wil and Oscar, and helped along by a scholarship arranged for him by the Governor of Alaska.

Despite being appointed Chief of Medicine at the Hospital in Lihue, he longed for the sea and treating those in need who had no way to get medical help. He knew that the old cargo ship had been outfitted to handle medical cases and he finally talked his brothers into putting that ship to work doing what Wilson and Oscar had intended for it to do.

They completely refitted the surgery suite with the latest equipment and the wards were enlarged so that it could handle a total of two hundred patients. The two wards were intended for Boy Children and Girl Children in equal numbers and they had "acquired" a retired Navy Cook from off a Cruiser to provide food for the youngsters whom they had rescued. The man was a genius; his food was the envy of all the resorts on the island.

Trong's older brother, Go - they both were rescued Sikhs from Indonesia and had been originally Singh 'Go and Singh 'Tro, both of them would serve on the Wilson. Go would serve as the ship's Chief Engineer and Trong, who was Jowto's mate, would serve as the "Hotel Manager" and would see to it that the laundry got done, the galley served the food and the ship was kept clean.

Trong was also an excellent gunner and he was to head up the Gunnery Force that protected the ship. He also had a history of being an excellent mechanic in keeping the engine room machinery in operation.

Boats Kee and his son, known affectionately as Little Boats, would run the deck crews and Min Tangimora would provide security for the ship. Little Boats was a slender young man, but deck hands ran when he was inspecting the decks for cleanliness, he had a tongue like a rapier and an eye that was even sharper. Nothing missed his inspection, which was done daily, in port OR out at sea.

They had no problem finding a crew, as soon as word got out that the Wilson O'Toole was getting ready to sail, nearly every retired sailor from the Navy and the Coast Guard who lived in the state, beat a path to Lihue to apply for the position!

One of the local doctors, Dr. Ben Tate, had recently lost his wife and he begged Pedro to allow him to go with them. There was no way Pedro could refuse the man, so Dr. Ben, who was a Pediatrician, signed on to the Medical staff.

Jowto would sail with his mate, Trong, and, it would not be long before his singing was heard in the wards whenever there were injured children on board. Both Pedro and Ben were sure that Jow's singing was as good as any medicine they could prescribe!

After a month of getting the ship ready, they were ready to sail. Their rescue ships, The Joseph O'Toole and the Patrick O'Toole, would sail with them, they had the speed that The Wilson O'Toole did not have and could race to where the children were, be it an island or a slave ship.

They had maintained their connection with US Navy and a young Navy Lieutenant, Benjamin Ickes, had left the Navy some years earlier to join the O'Tooles in their anti-slavery efforts. Ben had a special hate for orphanages as he had grown up in one, a pain filled period of his life that he was finally putting behind him. He had been released from active duty with the Navy and promoted to Lieutenant Commander, USNR for the specific purpose of coordinating efforts between the Navy and the O'Tooles.

As they were getting the two ships ready, Ben Ickes came running into the conference room where they were discussing their forthcoming voyage, and waving a fist full of radio message printouts at them. He said, "Indonesia is asking for our help again. Old Admiral Yachi has passed away and the new Admiral, Admiral Chilai is at his wits' end trying to cope with natives disappearing from their villages on Papua.

Pat growled, "Are those damned Chinese back at their old tricks again?"

Ben chuckled and replied, "Yeah, at least that is what Admiral Chilai thinks."

Nat Fong, one of their rescued boys from early in their adventures before they had even moved out to Hawaii was commanding the Patrick. He was a classmate of Trong's who had attended the Federal Maritime Academy with him. Jess Lee, another rescued boy, commanded the Joseph and both Captains were ready to go. They told Pat that they were topped off and food was being loaded as they spoke.

The Patrick had a full load of ammunition for all the ships headed to the Far East and her cargo fuel oil tanks were topped off. The Patrick was also the "Supply Ship" for the small fleet.

After everyone had said they were ready to go, Pat announced that they would sail the next morning. The Island Telegraph was alive and well, everyone on the island knew within minutes that the O'Toole Ships were back in business and headed out on another rescue mission. They had thought about including the Mary Joyce, but decided against it as the other two ships were faster and more maneuverable. The Mary Joyce could "almost" keep up with the Wilson O'Toole, but she was more suited to hunting alone.

By the time they finished with their meeting, there was a solid stream of men and boys carrying their duffels on board the two ships. Dr. Ben and Dr. Pedro headed to the Wilson and began bringing the hospital to life, while Go was busy in the engine room testing all the equipment.

Go was a stickler for everything working exactly as it should. If there was any question about any piece of vital machinery, it was overhauled immediately. Cleanliness was also paramount with the Chief Engineer and his Engine Room was nearly as spotless as the Hospital Deck!

While they were working, they heard the air conditioning come on as Go started cooling down the living quarters and the hospital. The living accommodations on both the Wilson and the Patrick were quite luxurious and having a berth among the crew was a prize all their sailors strove for.

By nightfall, the ships were ready, Min Tangimora and his wife, Alice were both going and they hosted the officers of the three ships for supper that evening. Alice was almost as good a cook as her Mother in Law had been and everyone ate until they were groaning.

It was a calm night, despite the excitement of sailing, and everyone arose the next morning rested and ready to go. As the sun rose over Mount Waialeale, Pat pulled the chain on the Wilson's horn and the mournful howling of the big air horn sounded all over the island, everyone knew the ships were headed on a rescue mission.

Many of the locals were on the beach to watch the three ships depart, each one would be sounding their horn as they made the turn to leave Nawiliwili Harbor.

Patrick gave the order to start the main engine and lead the parade of ships out to sea. The huge old Nordberg engine coughed and then rumbled to life as they backed away and headed out of the harbor. Pat ran the compressed air tank dry, blowing the ship's horn in salute to their families. He was in a particularly good mood that morning; his wife had told him they were expecting their first child!

As soon as they had cleared the breakwater, Patrick ordered the Wilson to Ahead Full. Her best speed would be about thirteen knots. That held the Joseph and the Patrick down to the same speed, but it made it a comfortable trip across the Pacific Ocean.

Min was busy marking their course as Chief Mate and Alice was ruling the galley with an iron fist. For a very small woman, all the cooks jumped when she spoke. It was not fear of her, it was genuine respect. Alice would dive in and stand over a hot griddle as long as there were hungry kids lined up for food. Ben Ikes was already plotting information he received over the radio about the slavers and he had a map on the bulkhead with pins in it showing every place children had been snatched.

Ben Ikes's own adopted son, Paul, was with his father for the first time and he was proud that his Dad had said he was the Intelligence Yeoman. Paul was fourteen and this was his first time at sea with his Dad. Paul had been rescued as a very young child, hardly yet walking and he had chosen Ben for his Papa upon first seeing him.

The Wilson was an easy riding ship, her broad beam kept the rolling to a minimum as they headed south east towards Papua. They figured it would be two weeks to get to Bandara Ayawasi, where they were to meet Lieutenant Commander Alo Pitsui, the lead Boat Captain of the patrol boats. Admiral Chilai had assigned four patrol boats to accompany the O'Toole Fleet.

As they thumped their way across the Pacific, Ben began working his contacts with Navy Intelligence. He used the single sideband radio (SSB) for voice communication with Washington and he downloaded the latest Intel Reports.

He was reading one report submitted by a Destroyer Captain that made him so angry, his eyes were blazing! He called up to the Bridge and asked Pat to come down to the Intel Office. It sounded much grander than it was, it was a cubbyhole hardly big enough to hold a desk and Ben's stacks of charts!

When Pat came down, Ben showed him the latest report and the chart that he had developed. The little village of Papua Barat had been raided and there were many dead. Twenty children had disappeared from the village, ranging in ages of sixteen down to three years old!

Ben was so angry, he was shaking like a leaf and he was sputtering in trying to talk. Pat told him that they had the Wilson wound up as tight as she would go and they were working the most direct course they could.

It was good weather for the whole trip, weather predictions showed no storms for, at least, the next three weeks. The South Pacific was notorious for terrible typhoons, but it was predicted good weather for their voyage.

The off-duty crew puttered around the ship, making sure the stands for the machine guns and rocket launchers were in good shape and they had a new three inch gun mount up on the foredeck. It was a semi-automatic gun that could be served by just three men. Word had leaked out to the crew about the missing children of Papua Barat, and there was an undercurrent of anger, the gunners stripped the guns and checked them out and the boys up in the armory, cleaned and checked ever hand gun and machine gun they had.

They had fired the gun a couple of times before they had left Hawaii and they knew it would sink barrels. Unlike an anti-aircraft gun, the barrel on this gun could be depressed to fire on surface targets.

Despite being a Doctor, Pedro's eyes gleamed every time the three inch gun was mentioned! Pedro and Doc Ben had the medical department up and ready, they both knew from prior experience that there would be no time to get it ready when they were fighting for their lives and the lives they were trying to save. Pedro knew that his "time on the guns" was over, but he COULD dream! He was now a skilled surgeon.

Everyone knew they were getting close when they swung around the Mariana Trench and bypassed Guam. Three days later saw them tied up at the pier in Sarong.

LCDR Alo Pitsui came on board immediately, along with the three other Patrol Boat Skippers. They brought the latest local intelligence and all four of the Boat Skippers appeared to be angry, there had been yet another raid and even more children were missing!

All the boat skippers were convinced the slavers were holed up on the West Coast of Salawati Island. The charts showed it was a rugged, mostly uninhabited coast with few harbors. Totally unlike the east side of the island, there were no villages.

The boys were all "hot to trot", they had six teens with them, all of whom had been rescued on earlier expeditions and they were anxious to pay the slavers back for what their brethren had done to them.

Go and Trong stayed away from their visitors, they were all Muslims and there was bad blood between them and the Sikhs.

While they were planning, Pedro and Ben got the surgery and hospital ready to receive patients, if the slavers ran true to form, there were going to be hurt children, diseases and even worse, deliberate maiming to contend with. There were some "sick" individuals who wanted slaves who had been brutally maimed, missing hands or legs were preferred!

The Patrol Boat Skippers had a list of where they had seen slavers hiding out and two days later, they were ready. The Wilson would stand out at sea and the Joseph O'Toole would join the Patrol Boats in attacking the slaver positions. The Patrick would stand by with the Wilson and assist in running rescued boys and girls to the Wilson.

Pat sat out on the bridge wing of the Wilson and watched the progress through the binoculars. He was not terribly impressed with the Patrol Boats, it was almost as if they were hanging back and letting the Americans do all the work.

It was not long before the first victims began arriving and nobody had any time to observe what was going on ashore. Ben and Pedro had both surgery suites going full blast and Pedro was getting more angry by the minute! Both Trong and Jowto had scrubbed and were doing their best to assist both doctors.

When a particularly battered boy of about sixteen was brought in, the boy spotted Trong and whispered, "Bi Bi" and pointed out through the door he had been brought in.

Trong recognized that the boy was Sikh and he held his hand as the child died. It was too late, Pedro was devastated. While Trong helped cleaning up the tragic mess, Jowto raced out to the berthing compartment and asked where the boy had been berthed.

Several injured boys pointed to a messed up bunk, the bedding was wadded up at one end of the bunk. Jow rummaged through the blankets and found .... a small boy child! Not more than six months old! He cuddled the child against his chest and wrapped clean towels around him, before he returned to the surgery.

When Trong looked up from assisting Dr. Ben, he saw his life's love holding a baby in his arms and tears running down his face as he sang softly to the tiny child. Trong dashed over to Jow and kissed him before he looked at the baby they both knew what the boy had been trying to tell them!

Jow shook his head in a "yes" and Trong knew they had another son.

They ran sixty-five children through the Hospital; most of them required surgery in order to remain alive. Jowto's small baby remained with Trong and Jow and they named him Patrick Trong O'Toole, however, he would remain BiBi to Jowto and Trong for the rest of their lives.

Lt. Commander Alo Pitsui of The Indonesian Navy, wanted all the rescued children turned over to him and he claimed they would shuttle them to Jakarta. Patrick already had his suspicions of the man, so he refused to release the children.

The Indonesian Naval Officer began to shout and bluster and Pat had him escorted off the ship, telling him he was no longer welcome of his ship! As soon as the angry Naval Officer left, he walked down to the Intel Office and got on the "horn" to Admiral Chilai's Office in Jakarta and reported the incident.

The Admiral was more than angry, the SSB was in danger of melting! He told Pat that Lt. Commander Chilai was not supposed to even be involved with the rescue project and he would chase down the problem right away! He had been warned by his predecessor that these O'Toole people were no fools and they could get things done than nobody else could do.

Pat informed the crew that the Indonesian Officer was not to be allowed aboard The Wilson O'Toole again for any reason!

That evening at supper, Pat spoke with Go at length and Go promised he would contact some officers he knew in Jakarta and attempt to find out what the "hell" was going on.

After supper both Go and Pat walked through the Hospital Wards, Dr. Ben and Dr. Pedro were still making rounds and had joined them. Pat was shaken to the soles of his shoes at the injuries the children had suffered. Most of their injuries were purposely inflicted by their captors and it was only by extreme effort Patrick James O'Toole did not scream out his anger! As it was, he was in danger of losing his supper!

They looked on the VIP ward, where Trong and Jowto were sitting beside the bed of their BiBi. Ben Ickes' son, Paul was sitting there comforting the child, Paul spoke Chinese and some Malay, so he crooned the small boy with songs that he could remember from his own early childhood.

The little boy that Trong and Jow had already adopted was still too young to come with them and they were feeling the separation terribly. They had already connected with the little child, BiBi, and Pedro saw the determination on his brothers' faces.

He nudged Pat and Pat smiled, he saw a new nephew in the making. He told Dr. Ben to keep the child separated. Especially whenever any of the Indonesian Navy Officers were around, he wasn't going to take any chances of them getting their hands on the boy.

He suspected that part of the problem was the Indonesians' animosity towards Go and Trong, who were both Indonesian Sikhs and this little child was also Sikh. He noted that all the Indonesian Officers who had come on board were Muslims.

The three remaining Indonesian Naval Patrol Boats continued to work with them and the next place they were headed for was the tiny island of Kantum Rupum, off the coast of Papua.

While nominally part of Papua, the Indonesians had agreed to watch over the small island. Being small and out of the way, nobody would expect to find a pirate nest there, so that was exactly why Patrick decided to look the place over.

The Patrol Boat Skippers protested, but, when they radioed for instructions, Admiral Chilai's staff radioed back a curt reply that Captain O'Toole was in charge!

They took it easy as they headed for Kantum Rupum, some of the rescued children were still groggy from surgery and Dr. Ben and Dr. Pedro were exhausted from their surgery marathon and they appreciated the slower speed also.

Neither man could stay away from the wards however, Pedro had been where those boys were now and Dr. Ben just loved children. The loss of his wife had nearly shattered him and this trip was rebuilding his soul.

When Palau Kanobe came up over the horizon a day and a half later, Pat slowed the ships down to a crawl. The Wilson would look like a small freighter to an observer and the Joseph O'Toole and the Patrick were even smaller.

They circled the small island during the dark hours, looking for any lights or fires. They noted several that should not have been there, so Pat called the other Captains to come on board the Wilson for a conference. The Patrol Boat skippers were not invited; Patrick had lost confidence in their drive to eliminate slavery in Indonesia.

Children were now leaving the wards and being placed in the "hotel" part of the ship. A hotel stateroom would hold four children and six if the "fold-down" bunks were lowered. The staterooms were luxurious by any standard and far nicer than anything the children had ever seen before. Each stateroom was fitted with a small television and a video player, when the children discovered the movies, they stared at the screens in utter fascination!

After initial fright, the former captives learned that the men on the Wilson would not hurt them and could be counted upon for a hug or even a lap to sit on. Some of the small boys who had been purposely maimed by the slavers brought tears to the eyes of the sailors and there was a queue at the door to the Radio Room of sailors sending messages back home about a boy or two who needed a Mom and a Dad.

They could have used the SSB (Single Side Band Radio) for voice call, but Ben Ickes had it tied up talking to the Navy Intelligence Office in Washington. He was getting the notion that this slavery problem was being orchestrated by some government and he suspected China.

That, in and of itself, was a major problem, both military and diplomatic. They all wondered if Chinese Navy ships would not pounce on them just around the next island!

With the children rescued from Palau Kanobe, the wards were full again and both Dr. Ben and Dr. Pedro had the look of death warmed over on their faces. What they were dealing with was more than any man, especially a doctor dedicated to saving lives, should endure. Pedro's brothers saw to it that both doctors had someone with them who had a "dry shoulder" and Jowto spent his spare time in the recovery wards singing to the hurt children. Jowto would sometimes have their "new" little boy in his arms as he sang and the small child would clap his hands and giggle as Jow sang.

It was on Palau Aju that their horror reached a crisis. Chief Mate Min Tangimora led a party ashore and his frantic radio call back to the ship was interrupted by his own retching!

Patrick ordered all the small boats put in the water and he led a relief party ashore himself to assist Min. Most of the children were dead, and those who were still alive were hanging on only by the most slender of threads. Patrick, who had witnessed more than most men, lost all he had eaten that day as he counted dismembered bodies.

Out of a total of three hundred children, less than twenty were still alive! He radioed back to the Wilson to man the three inch gun and break out the machine guns and rocket launchers. They were going hunting!

He came back to the ship in such a fury, even his brothers left him alone for a while so that he could work through his rage. As they were burying the dead children, found information that the main slaver base was at Pantai um Ganon on the west coast of Papua.

They discovered that it was an isolated area where, supposedly, no permanent villages existed. The Indonesian Patrol Boats has mysteriously disappeared and Patrick was in no mood to go find them. He was so angry, only his brothers who dared go near him were Pedro and Jowto.

Just as he was about to throw his coffee cup at the bulkhead, Jowto stepped into the room and gently took the cup from his brother's hand and led him to the daybed and made him lie down. He spoke calmly and quietly to Pat and soothed his brother's jangled anger.

As soon as he learned what Pat had seen, he called up to the Bridge and told them to get underway and head for Pantai um Ganon. When Pat had calmed down a bit, Jowto stuck his head out the door and asked for Pedro to come as soon as he could get away from the surgery. The look on Jow's face sent the crewman running for Pedro as fast as his legs would carry him.

Min had already clued Pedro into what had taken place and, as soon as he could get away, he rushed down to the Intel Room, where Pat was holed up. Between his tears, Pat told both men what had taken place, it was all Jowto could do to prevent Pedro from manning the three inch gun himself. Trong was already at the gun mount pulling canvass off the large gun.

Min had the bridge and he was pushing the Wilson as hard as he dared, the engine was in overload and smoke and sparks were roiling out the stack as Min headed for the small harbor of Pantai un Ganon.

Ben Ikes was on the SSB burning up the circuit with the ONI and they, in turn, were flaming the State Department. The O'Tooles were going to war!

Min took over the bridge for the duration, leaving Patrick to organize the manning of the guns and the three inch gun up on the bow. The Patrick and the Joseph were manning their own weapons, Min could see through the binoculars that both ships had put out their machine guns and manned the rocket launchers.

It took them until the next day to arrive at Pantai un Ganon. The Wilson led the small fleet into the harbor and the slave ships were identified immediately, they could see children chained to the decks! They didn't dare use the three inch main gun in fear of harming the children being held on the slave ships. They did, however arm all the away party with 40 mm machine guns.

Boat load after boatload of angry seamen went over the side, holding on to their machine guns in a grim determination to wipe out this blot on all humanity. The slavers had no chance, they were outnumbered and out gunned.

They were given just one chance to surrender before the sailors began shooting. Only a few slavers surrendered, they had already heard about the O'Tooles and they attempted to run into the jungle. Few made it beyond the beach.

Those who made it to the trees would be hunted down by the native peoples living there, they had been preyed upon by the slavers for generations and now was their chance for revenge! All through the night, the ship's crew heard screams as the natives discovered the hiding place of a slaver.

By daylight, silence had settled over the area and the Patrol craft mysteriously showed up. Ben Ikes had been in SSB contact with Admiral Chilai and he asked that Ben's people arrest the skippers of the Patrol Boats and hold them for the Indonesian Heavy Cruiser Baktu that was heading in their direction at 25 knots!

As it was, the skippers had already been arrested by their own crews and each patrol boat was being skippered by a Junior Ensign! When Ben reported that to the Admiral, he replied, "Good, they are all now Senior Ensigns!"

They got all the surviving children on board the Wilson and both Doctors were doing all they could to save their lives. It would be a marathon of surgeries that would last well into the next day.

Despite his horror, Patrick felt he needed to get on his feet and encourage his crews. He thanked all the gunners who had incapacitated the slaver ships and then he went up to Sick Bay (the Hospital) to see how the Doctors were doing.

Jowto led him around as he went to every child in the hospital and spoke to them. It was mostly boy children, only eight girls had survived. When Pat had been told of their injuries, he went to them first. Not one of them had escaped the "attentions" of the male slavers.

They were afraid of this white man who walked on a metal leg, like everyone else, Pat was wearing tropical shorts and his prosthetic leg was there for them all to see.

He sat beside a girl's recovery bed and just waited for them to speak. Jowto was beside him to translate if needed. It was.

Pat spoke calmly and quietly to each girl, assuring them that they were safe and, if they wished, he would take them to a safe place to live in America.

Andrew Causey had made up a bunch of photographs of The Children's Hotel and Cottages and Pat showed each girl the pictures of where they could live. Jowto had already been singing to them and his brothers had already told them that they were safe now, that nobody would ever hurt them again!

Now, this strange white man had come down to speak personally with them and everyone called him Captain Pat. The girls cried and Pat held each one of them.

Jowto translated what Pat said to them and, finally, they began to believe it. What the nasty sailors had done to them began to fade. Pat whispered to Jow, "Brother, sing the Happy Boy song to them."

As Jowto began to sing, Dr. Ben and Dr. Pedro walked among the rescued children, hugging each one of them.

They then moved over to the Boy's Ward. Here there were still some boys from their first rescue plus the thirty six boys they had just rescued. Again, with Jowto translating, Pat welcomed them all to his ship and promised they would all be taken care of and, if they wanted, he would take them back to his own home in America, where they could live, grow up and go to school.

The boys were all shouting that they wanted to go to America with Captain Pat!

Again, Pat went to every bed and personally welcomed each boy. Some of the boys had been cruelly maimed and were missing a leg or an arm or a hand. Pat showed each of the boys his own prosthetic leg and how he got around on it and told them that he would see to it that they would have a prosthesis just like his own.

By the time he finished, Pat was an emotional wreck and when Jowto sang, he was crying right along with all the boys.

All the children understood the Exalted Language and they tried to sing along with Jow. They were no worse than Trong's singing and, pretty soon, they were all giggling, despite their injuries.

Pat told them all that he had to get back to the Bridge, after all, somebody had to Captain the Ship! The children all laughed and Pat told the galley crew to get some kid food up to the Recovery Ward ASAP! He need not have worried, the food was already on its way.

As he left, food was starting to arrive in both wards and the children stared at the mounds of food being put on their trays, more food than they had ever seen before! The food was strange to them, but it smelled so good, they all cleaned their trays and were looking for more.

When Pat finally returned to his bridge, he was wrung out, but he had a happy grin on his face as he relieved Min. Min had been worried sick about his friend and was greatly relieved when he saw Pat back as himself again.

He hugged Pat and whispered to him, "We have been praying for you, Pat and our prayers have been answered." They did not see Jow and Tro holding hands and big smiles on their faces as they watched their big brother back in command of himself and his ship.

The small fleet of three ships swung their way back through Jakarta to make their report to Admiral Chilai. Like his predecessor, Admiral Yachi, Admiral Chilai was firmly in their box and supported their efforts 100%.

He came on board the Wilson O'Toole personally and thanked everyone in the small fleet for their efforts on behalf of the country's children. He made arrangements to refuel all their ships and told them that the Nation's Ambassador to the United Nations was going to tell the World Body how these private American Citizens had risked their lives and their fortunes to rescue Indonesian Children from slavery and death.

He presented Patrick with Bronze Plaques to be affixed to their ships at the gangways telling of Indonesia's gratitude for their assistance in stamping out slavery in their country.

The next morning, all three American ships visited the fueling pier before topping off their water tanks. Then sailing in line out of the port, each ship in turn, dipped their flag in salute and blowing their horns in thanks as they departed for home.

It was a long trip home, they could sail only at the best speed of their slowest ship, The Wilson O'Toole. They made about twelve knots all the way back to Lihue.

All along their route, they saw American Naval Ships guarding their way. Each Navy ship would blow its air or steam horn in salute and, when they got in range, United States Coast Guard aircraft would fly over twice a day and "waggle" their wings in greeting.

By the time they were approaching the Hawaiian Islands, the wounded children were getting up and around. Those children who had lost a leg were up either on crutches or in wheel chairs and those who had lost an arm or hand had someone with them to give them a steadying hand.

The slow old Wilson O'Toole led the fleet into Nawiliwili Harbor, her air horn screaming out a greeting. Pat left only enough air in the tank to be able to stop the main engine.

The Patrick and The Joseph both emptied their air tanks screaming their greeting to their home port. All the ships and boats in the harbor returned the greeting. As each ship dropped anchor, those on shore set off rockets to let the children know they were welcome.

Pat's wife, Julie had dug up Mrs. Tangimora's old recipes and a feast was set out on the lawn of O'Toole House for the children and the rescue crews.

A crew member walked or carried each child to the table for a welcome feast. Both children and crew members were in tears as handicapped children stared at the food, not really believing it was for them to eat. The Prince Tahulie Welcome House was put to good use once again.

Andrew was there with room assignments for every child at the Children's Hotel.

Jowto and Trong tried to smuggle their little boy, who they were calling "Willie" (Wilson), into the house. They were unsuccessful as the children of their brothers greeted the little boy in his own language and welcomed him into the "OToole Family.

The children who had been maimed by the slavers had been assigned helpers of their own sex to assist them until they could be fitted with prosthetics and the few girl children were met by girls of their own age to get them settled.

The children's hotel absorbed the nearly three hundred children without a burp! Many of the new boys were already plotting on how they could become members of the crew of the Wilson or the Patrick or the Joseph. It didn't matter just so long as they could help others as they had been helped. They could not know that the line of applicants was already all the way around the hotel!

One would think that, after all these years, the ranks of the slavers would have been thinned out. That, however, was not the case and our boy heroes were going to have to do the job all over again.