National Guardsman locates disabled boat thanks to flare
21/10/2021
An off-duty National Guardsman responded to a distress call in Guam and located a drifting boat thanks to a flare.
One day in October, Sgt. 1st Class James Gumabon was returning to port after fishing out at sea when he heard a distress call requesting assistance for a disabled boat.
He obtained the captain’s phone number, asked his position and was told the skipper could see the governor’s office, but his coordinates did not bear that out.
Sgt. Gumabon says, “Then I asked him to send me his live location on phone chat, but all it gave me was a dot on a blue map. So I proceeded dead into the six feet to eight feet western swells on this day.”
He later asked the captain to send up a flare and within 10 minutes he located the 16-foot vessel. Sgt. Gumabon threw him a rope and towed him back to Sea Plane Ramp in Apra Harbor, around 90-minutes away.
James Gumabon is a noncommissioned officer for Hilitai Company, 1-294th Infantry Regiment, Guam National Guard.
His response in part is due to his training and core values instilled by the Guam Army National Guard: “Selfless Service and Personal Courage.”
The National Guardsman has named his catamaran, Chamorai, after his battalion’s nickname “Chamorai Battalion.”
The image shows Sgt. 1st Class James Gumabon and is courtesy of Mark Scott/Guam National Guard
