During the lull, Nelson gave orders that boats be sent to pull survivors from the water around the remains of Orient.
In 2002 a further memorial was unveiled at the site, to the rescuers who risked their lives to pull survivors from the burning aeroplane.
But as crewmen pulled survivors from the sea, the fishing boat sank, about three hours after the accident.
On another occasion, he and his buddies watched an errant rebel rocket hit a local bus, then rushed to pull survivors from the carnage.
Two lifeboats returned to pull survivors from the water, but some of those later died.
With this in mind, the crew of Escanaba used a new rescue technique when pulling survivors from the water.
Following the blast, it took many hours to pull survivors from the rubble.
Sharks tried to pull survivors out of the boat.
In the hours after the highway fell, rescuers tried to pull survivors from the twisted metal and fallen concrete.
Special teams, including several from Europe, were on hand to pull survivors out of the rubble.