Two of ‘Whidbey 24’ shift hero talk to veterans and rescuers

By Susanna Ray

Herald Writer

EVERETT — Lt. j.g. Richard Payne, one of the famous "Whidbey 24" who crash-landed on a Chinese island in April after their plane was struck by a Chinese fighter jet, honored the heroism of New York rescue workers as he spoke at a veterans appreciation dinner here Thursday night.

"When we returned from China, they called us heroes," he told the audience at the Everett Elks Lodge. "We were not heroes. We still do not see ourselves as heroes. You can ask any member of the crew. We were just doing our job.

"True heroes are ordinary people who show uncommon valor during extraordinary times," he said.

And that makes the true heroes the police officers, firefighters and ordinary citizens who demonstrated their bravery during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, he said.

"They did not volunteer to fight a war," he said. "We look to them for strength today in every mission that we fly over Afghanistan."

Payne was the tactical evaluator on board the EP-3E surveillance plane that made an emergency landing in China on April 1 after the collision with the Chinese fighter.

He was the first one of the crew of 24, which was held by Chinese authorities for 11 days, to be sent back out on another mission a few months later. His plane made surveillance flights over the Middle East for two months, returning to Whidbey Island Naval Air Station exactly one week before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. And one week after the attacks, his crew was sent back to the region around Afghanistan to help gather information for the U.S. and British missile strikes.

They returned Oct. 18, without the homecoming fanfare that will be accorded to an EA-6B Prowler squadron expected back at the Whidbey base today.

"Because of what we do, we try to stay out of the limelight," he said in an interview after the dinner.

But that didn’t happen this year.

Payne’s service in the military had been completely routine until April, said his wife, Jill. And then she got the call that Saturday night that made her heart sink and turned out to be the beginning of a "very eventful" six months.

"Up until then, everything was normal," she said.

She kept a low profile during the media circus that engulfed crew members and their families in the spring, only giving two interviews, and when Payne returned, he shrank even more from the attention, giving only one interview.

That humility was in full bloom Wednesday night as Payne, accompanied by Petty Officer 2nd Class Scott Guidry, also a member of the Whidbey 24, downplayed the 11 days he spent in captivity on the Chinese island.

"Our detainment was nothing like what these other POW’s have been through," he said.

Thanking the veterans in the audience, he told them, "Everything we are today we owe to you."

You can call Herald Writer Susanna Ray at 425-339-3439 or send e-mail to ray@heraldnet.com.

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