JERICHO, Vt. — Less than two weeks after the U.S. Navy rescued Capt. Richard Phillips from captivity by Somali pirates, the skipper got a hero’s welcome Saturday from about 500 of his neighbors and well-wishers.
“Now I know why I moved to Vermont,” said Phillips, a U.S. cargo ship captain. “It’s not just the maple syrup, the foliage and the snowboarding. This is true American community, and it’s a true caring for each other.”
Phillips was skipper of the MV Maersk Alabama when Somali pirates boarded the ship April 8. The five-day hostage drama ended when Navy sharpshooters shot and killed three of the pirates holding him and took a fourth into custody. All that was a world away Saturday as Phillips’ neighbors threw a community picnic for him in the park straddling the line between Underhill, where he and his family live, and neighboring Jericho.
Phillips spoke briefly, thanking his family, his community and the U.S. military. “If you see someone in the military in a restaurant or on the street, in an airport, shake their hands and thank them for what they do day in and day out,” he said. The Associated Press
