Coast Guardsmen Honored : Reagan Uses Sea Rescue to Hail U.S.-Soviet Thaw

With blue-uniformed Coast Guardsmen to his right and the crew of a sunken Soviet freighter to his left, President Reagan saluted the recent thaw in superpower relations Tuesday, saying that this weekend’s dramatic high-seas rescue of the Soviet sailors should serve as an example of cooperation between the nations.

“I hope and pray that no matter how stormy (are) international affairs, the leaders of the world can look at what happened between these fliers and sailors and be duly inspired,” Reagan said in a hastily assembled Rose Garden ceremony under cloudless skies.

“After all, this good planet whirling through space isn’t so very different from a ship upon the sea. We must reach out to each other in good will, for we have no other alternative,” the President said.

Nearing Fuel Limit

On Saturday, three Coast Guard helicopters operating near the limits of their fuel capacity plucked a crew of 37 and a young child from the freighter Komsomolets Kirgizii after its engine had died and waves were cresting nearly over the pilot house. The ship was en route to Cuba with 10,292 tons of flour when it foundered 220 miles east of Cape May, N.J.

Tuesday’s ceremony took place as U.S.-Soviet relations have taken a recent optimistic turn. Officials have begun speaking optimistically about the prospects for an agreement to eliminate medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe and a senior State Department official was in Moscow preparing for a visit there next month by Secretary of State George P. Shultz.

At the end of the ceremony, Reagan presented medals to the Coast Guard crews, honoring them for carrying out “one of the most dramatic rescue missions in the history of the Coast Guard.”

‘Brings Best Out of Them’

Oleg M. Sokolov, the charge d’affaires at the Soviet Embassy here, also hailed the rescue, saying in nearly flawless English: “It underscores a broader point. When our two nations, their people, act in cooperation in things big and small, it brings the best out of them, helps worthwhile and noble things happen.

“Let it serve as an inspiration for our joint efforts in other areas as well,” said Sokolov, the second-ranking Soviet official assigned to Washington. “Mr. President, we appreciate the personal attention you have given to these men and women, American and Soviet, who, though coming from different lands, are united in this triumph of courage over misfortune.”

The rescued Soviet crew members--who lost their personal belongings aboard their ship and were wearing new shoes, shirts and suits purchased by the Soviet Embassy at a discount clothing store--met Reagan after visiting the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials and the Washington Monument.

Later, they headed for lunch at a McDonald’s on Capitol Hill and a tour of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum before leaving for home in the late afternoon aboard a Soviet airliner.