Corpsman ‘Amazed’ by Refugee Decision

A hospital corpsman testified Wednesday that he and the ship’s doctor were both “amazed” that Capt. Alexander G. Balian decided not to rescue Vietnamese refugees drifting in a junk last June in the South China Sea.

“What we were really worried about was major starvation and dehydration cases,” the corpsman, Benjamin M. Tarango, testified.

Some of Tarango’s testimony was given outside the presence of the six Navy captains hearing the case so the judge could rule on whether it should be allowed as evidence.

The judge, Capt. James A. Freyer, later ruled that Tarango will not be allowed to repeat the testimony in their presence.

Tarango said he had told the ship’s doctor--who was then in the sick bay of the amphibious transport Dubuque--that the refugees were “very skinny” and appeared to be “very dehydrated.” He said that sick bay personnel prepared beds and intravenous-feeding equipment and that he went on deck to board a motor launch in order to get a closer look at refugees on the junk.

Not Permitted on Launch

But neither he nor any other medical personnel were permitted to board the launch, he said.

“I personally thought I should have been on the boat,” Tarango said. “There was no qualified expert out there to evaluate anybody.”

Tarango was the 11th member of the Dubuque’s crew called to testify at Balian’s court-martial on charges that he disobeyed orders when he left the refugees at sea. Balian is also charged with dereliction of duty and violating Navy policy.

Drifted for 19 Days

The refugees drifted for another 19 days after the June 9 encounter with the Dubuque and resorted to cannibalism when they ran out of food, according to survivors. Of the 110 who boarded the junk at Ben Tre in southern Vietnam last May 22, only 52 survived. They were rescued by Philippine fisherman.

Tarango said Wednesday that he made a videotape showing the junk and some of the refugees, then descended to the sick bay to help prepare for patients.

Later, word came that there would be no rescue.

“I said, ‘This is amazing. I don’t believe we’re not picking them up,’ ” Tarango recalled.

He said the doctor “was amazed,” and added, “Everyone down there assumed we were picking them up.”

In asking the court to suppress some of Tarango’s testimony, Balian’s lawyer has argued that the corpsman is not a doctor or an expert, and therefore not qualified to give an opinion on the refugees’ condition.

Tarango was permitted to tell the court about what he saw as he made a videotape from a catwalk on the Dubuque. His testimony was another in a series of conflicting accounts that have been heard since the first witnesses took the stand Monday.

A key point of contention is whether Balian issued an order to shake several refugees into the water after they began to climb up the lines used to lower the launch into the water.

Not Shown on Videotape

Tarango said that while he was on the catwalk he heard someone issue an order to “shake them off the monkey lines.” Crew members then shook a refugee into the water, he said, adding that he had not been able to capture that scene on the videotape, which was shown Wednesday in court. Ensign Dale Esperum, who was in charge of launching the boat, said he could recall no such order.

“I received no word to shake the lines,” he said.

Seaman Jay Philippsen said it was Esperum himself who issued the order.

Philippsen said that he and two others did as they were told, causing a refugee to fall about 10 feet into the water.