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CNN Live Today

One Sailor's Survival at Sea Makes Homecoming All the More Emotional

Aired March 27, 2002 - 12:56   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: One sailor's survival at sea makes his homecoming today that much more emotional. Family members were on hand to greet Peter Von Szilassy when the Theodore Roosevelt pulled back into port.

Bob Franken now on his story and his ordeal getting back to dry land once again.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like any parent, Peter Von Szilassy worried about his son, also Pete, who had gone to war. The younger man has been working on the Frenetic, very dangerous flight deck of the Roosevelt, the Teddy Roosevelt. For more than six months, father has kept in touch with son almost exclusively by e- mail.

One night, though, right before Christmas, while no one was at home, there was a phone call, a message on the answering machine.

PETER VON SZILASSY, FATHER OF NAVY SEAMAN: He called us on the morning -- I believe it was the 20th of December -- to say he is OK. It was a recording, and that he got blown overboard, and that he'll call us back.

FRANKEN: Navy safety technician Peter Von Szilassy was blown off the deck by a jet blast. He was rescued after he fell several stories into the water, and managed to struggle free of the suction toward the mighty ship's propellers.

This is his father's most recent picture of him, shot just after he was taken back from the Arabian Sea and, now almost none the worse for wear, he is one of the 7,000 crew members who will be back with their families.

SZILASSY: Of course, I'll be very happy. The fact that he went overboard and survived makes, it even more significant. I think I'll be able to meet him, and just able to see him, that he's okay, all four limbs are there, and that he's walking appropriately. And I believe mainly that he is still continuing with the service.

FRANKEN: The elder Peter Szilassy is retired from the Army, and understands that hazardous duty is part of the job in the military. So there is a sense of relief that his son's close call was only close.

SZILASSY: He survived a major catastrophe, I mean, what could have been a very significant major catastrophe. There aren't that many people that survive falling overboard, falling from a height such as the flight deck of the Theodore Roosevelt.

Bob Franken, CNN, Norfolk, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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