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 BM1
Pernaselli
was the leading Boatswain's Mate, a 50 Cal Machine Gun
Operator, Quartermaster of the
Watch, and Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) Team Member
in USS FIREBOLT (PC 10) deployed to the Arabian Gulf in the
Spring of 2004. On 24 April 2004, the first day of patrols
inside the territorial waters of Iraq following an extended
training and repair period, FIREBOLT was tasked with
maintaining an established exclusion zone around the Khawr al
Amaya Oil Terminal by querying vessels and approaching as
necessary to direct them clear. An unidentified dhow was
detected by the boarding team traveling along a course that
would take it in close to the oil terminal and the RHIB was
maneuvered to query and intercept. At intercept, the dhow did
not answer bridge-to-bridge queries, was unresponsive to
loud-hailer directions, and maintained a direct course for the
terminal. Abruptly, the dhow altered course toward the
FIREBOLT RHIB and exploded
at close range, violently throwing the security team into the
water and overturning the RHIB. Petty Officer Pernaselli had
been all the way forward in the RHIB to observe the actions of
the dhow and operator and was killed instantly by the blast.
Soon after the explosion alongside the FIREBOLT RHIB, two other
explosives-laden vessels attempted to close the nearby Al Basra
Oil Terminal but were disabled by crew-served weapons fire from
the alerted security forces on the terminals. The actions of
Petty Officer Michael Pernaselli and his security team on 24
April 2004 prevented a large scale environmental disaster and a
strategic blow to the coalition forces that would have been
caused by damage to the oil pipeline or destruction of the
offshore oil terminals. |
Alexandria, Virginia 22303