Schrader: Pirate hostage drama hits home
By BARRY SCHRADER
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| Matthew Olin. |
Pat Olin Francis is a very proud grandmother these days. Her grandson, Matthew Olin, piloted the rescue boat that carried the Navy Seals on their mission to surprise the Somali pirates and rescue American captain Richard Phillips on Easter weekend in April.
Pat is a resident of the Grand Victorian assisted living facility in Sycamore. Her son Mike and his wife Nora, who live in Virginia, informed her of the high-seas drama by phone so she could turn to her television for the news as it broke.
Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Olin was aboard the U.S. Navy destroyer Bainbridge which had been ordered to head for the hostage standoff underway in the Indian Ocean. A U.S.-flagged merchant ship had been boarded by Somali pirates and the American captain had given himself up as a hostage in return for the release of his crew.
As events unfolded, Olin found himself assigned to pilot one of the small boats that first plucked Navy Seals out of the water who had parachuted down near the Bainbridge in darkness while taking small arms fire from the pirates. Then, on Easter night, he piloted the Seals on the mission that resulted in the successful rescue of Captain Phillips. Olin reported in a Navy Times article that, as he drove the 7-meter rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB), the Seals aboard took aim and killed the three remaining pirates in the lifeboat where the captain was hostage. A large color photo of the boat showing Olin at the helm ran on the front page the same edition (April 27) of the paper. A proud grandmother has it displayed in her apartment and will no doubt share it with anyone who asks.
She last saw her grandson when he graduated from boot camp at Great Lakes in Chicago about three years ago. She admits that, like most all young people today, he doesn’t write letters and, since she doesn’t own a computer, they have had little direct contact since then. But Matthew’s father Mike, a 1969 DeKalb High graduate, and his wife keep in touch by phone on a regular basis. According to his brother Terry, with whom I talked on the phone from Pat’s apartment, Mike has made the U.S. Army his career, serving 27 years, and is soon headed for a special assignment in Africa while he and his wife will maintain an apartment in Italy.
Pat is well-known around Northern Illinois University where she was secretary to the chairs of the English Department over a 26-year career that ended in retirement in 1992. After that, she served as secretary at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in DeKalb for six years. An annual award named in her honor has recently been created to recognize outstanding service to the English Department by a faculty member or student.
Looking back, I asked what she did while attending DeKalb High and she explained that her mother was manager of the Prince Castle on North First Street so she held a job there after school for a few years.
But this latest saga will probably go down in their family genealogy as one of the most exciting events in this family’s history. You can be sure she can’t wait to give her grandson a big hug when he finally gets to come back stateside next September.
• Barry Schrader was editor of the Daily Chronicle from 1969-1972 and later worked at newspapers in San Francisco's East Bay. He and his wife are retired and live in DeKalb. Visit his Web site, www.dekalbcountylife.com, for an archive of columns. Reach Barry at barry815@sbcglobal.net or P.O. Box 851, DeKalb, IL 60115.
