Petty Officer Kerry Truax remembers:
Captain, I do remember. This was a happy story, one for the good guys. I was stationed on the bridge when word of the MOB came to the bridge and I was there when Chief George Sumner came up to talk to you. He was very thankful to be alive. I remember you two ended your chat with a chuckle or two.
I was at replenishment station number one and saw Chase Summers get hit by the fuel hose and knocked over the side. Man, next thing I know he was back on board. What a lucky man he was that day!
I was the Senior Air Wing 2 Flight Surgeon assigned to the island BDS when this occurred. When the SAR helo touched down on deck the corpsmen raced to it to bring the Chief into the BDS for evaluation of potential injuries. However, they returned empty handed to the BDS stating that the overboard victim had darted away across the deck through the chocked airplanes and could not be caught for a medical evaluation. I later heard that he had made it back down to his assigned MOB station to answer to his name when the role was called there! I assumed that he had not sustained any serious injuries, at least any that slowed him enough to be caught by 4 pursuing corpsmen with a Stokes litter!
CAPT James H. Kerr Medical Corps, USN(Ret)