The Finest Hours by Michael J. Tougias

holding on to the belief that their comrades would be found alive.
    The survivors were whisked to the station, where they were met by local physician Dr. Carroll Keene. He knew right away that many of the men were in a state of shock. “One of the fellows I drove down simply collapsed once we got inside the station,” Joe Nickerson recalled. “Then it was like dominoes, another guy fell, and then another. We had eight guys laid out on the floor completely unconscious.” Red Cross leader Leroy Anderson and his unit assisted Dr. Keene. Tailor Ben Shufro, manager of Puritan Clothing on Main Street in Chatham, had a tape measure around his neck and was fitting those survivors who remained on their feet for new clothes that he had donated. Reverend Steve Smith of the United Methodist Church was also on hand to offer prayers for the survivors. The reverend’s presence was especially comforting to Wallace Quirey. The seaman approached the minister and told him that he had lost his Bible during the mad scramble on board the ship. Reverend Smith nodded and gave Quirey his own copy of the Holy Book.
    John Stello, Bernie Webber’s friend and neighbor, called Webber’s home and broke the news to Miriam, who was still in bed with the flu. Her husband was being hailed as a hero, and Stello told her why.
    *   *   *
    Bushy-browed WOCB newsman Ed Semprini had survived the grueling drive down snow-covered Route 28. The bad weather had not let up during the 21-mile trek from Hyannis to Chatham. Semprini arrived at the Chatham Lifeboat Station, where he met up with his engineer Wes Stidstone. Both men were wired for sound when the Pendleton survivors came dragging in. Semprini knew that he didn’t have much time. He had to get the interviews done quickly so that they could drive back to the radio station in Yarmouth and broadcast live. He put his microphone in nearly every tired man’s face as they warmed up on coffee and doughnuts. The accents befuddled the veteran newsman, who was himself still learning to understand how Cape Codders spoke. “One survivor from Louisiana asked me if his family could hear him speaking live.” Semprini explained that the interviews would later be aired coast-to-coast on the Mutual News Network. Every survivor Semprini interviewed that night could not say enough about Bernie Webber and his crew. “They called it a miracle,” Semprini remembered with a smile.
    Webber, meanwhile, had gone upstairs to his bunk at the Chatham Lifeboat Station, still shaken by the long hours spent riding the biggest waves in the worst storm of his life. He bent down and kicked off his overshoes. He then called Miriam. “I’m fine, and I’ll be in touch with you tomorrow,” he said. A cup of mud and a doughnut wouldn’t feel half bad right now , he thought. Webber made his way down to the galley, where he met Andy, Richard, and Ervin. They all nodded toward one another. No one had to say a word. They would leave that to Daniel Cluff, who offered words of congratulations and admitted that he doubted he’d see any of them alive again. Ed Semprini had been searching for Bernie and finally spotted him coming out of the galley. Webber had been called the true hero of the rescue, and the newsman understood why. Bernie answered a few questions as coherently as possible. He had finished his cup of coffee and devoured his doughnut, and now all he wanted was sleep. He returned to his bunk and collapsed. Webber was safe now, but as he drifted off to sleep, he thought only about those still fighting the storm at sea.

 
    PART II

 
    13
    THE MERCER ’S BOW CAPSIZES
    As Chatham celebrated the rescue of the sailors from the Pendleton ’s stern, the survivors still on board the Fort Mercer ’s drifting bow huddled together for warmth. They had watched several of their crewmates fall to their deaths, and now, in the darkness, all they could do