NORFOLK, Va. — When the Navy helicopter approached Bob and Doug McKenzie's lifeboat, they felt only gratitude at their impending rescue, after the brothers' fishing boat caught fire and they were forced to abandon ship. Now just hours later, they feel only anger after the Navy delivered a $37 million bill for the rescue.
According to Navy Spokesman Cdr. Frank Hardy, the USS Theodore Roosevelt disrupted a training exercise, a luau, and karaoke night in the Chief’s mess to rescue the fisherman, so the bill is "more than reasonable."
"How can you put a price on a human life, and say $18.5 million is too much for each? Not to mention the price of screwing with the Chief’s mess?" Hardy said.
