Page:Ford, Kissinger, Former British Prime Minister Edward Heath - September 10, 1974(Gerald Ford Library)(1552779).pdf/1

File scanned from the National Security Adviser's Memoranda of Conversation Collection at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library MEMORANDUM

THE WHITE HOUSE

WASHINGTON

I was sorry to hear about the tragedy on your boat.

[The press enters for photographs.]

It was unlucky. It was a bad storm. The terrible thing was we weren't expecting rain. They were hit by the first wave. We lost two overboard and had to go about and the second wave hit.

[The press left the room.]

Five of them were in a life raft for nine hours.

I was in a Pacific typhoon in World War II. We lost two destroyers which rolled over and sank. We were dead in the water for six hours on a carrier. A fire started and we almost had to abandon ship. It's a demonstration of the real power of water.

They were just seven miles from the coast.