Ship captain on the road to recovery

By: Lori Hammelman
Posted 7/2/17

Bob Jornlin is grateful for the quick actions of Jack Beranek who saved his life back in April 2016.

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Ship captain on the road to recovery

Posted

Bob Jornlin is grateful for the quick actions of Jack Beranek who saved his life back in April 2016.
Jornlin was one of more than 300 people present at Rochelle Township High School that evening attending a public forum on the proposed Great Lakes Basin railroad.
Like many others that evening Jornlin spoke onstage expressing his disapproval of the railroad’s plans and the route that would have the trains operating about 200 feet from his home in Earlville.
Following his speech and shortly after taking his seat, Jornlin suffered cardiac arrest. Beranek, also present at RTHS that evening, heard the commotion and sprang into action to perform life-saving CPR on Jornlin.
“I don’t really remember leaving the stage and going to sit down,” Jornlin said. “I don’t remember [Beranek] working on me or getting in the helicopter.”
Jornlin said the first thing he remembers is waking up in a hospital and wondering why his daughter, Kim, was there since she lives in Iowa. That’s when the family knew he was back and would be all right.
Doctors at the Rockford hospital where he was taken lowered his body temperature to 92 degrees to allow his body to heal, much the way a grizzly bear’s temperature lowers during hibernation.
He also said he doesn’t believe he has any lasting effects from the incident other than some memory issues, which he chalks up to his age.
“I am still angry at the railroad thing but the wife won’t let me talk about it,” Jornlin said. “It definitely had me worked up.”
Beranek is modest about his efforts, crediting the training he received in the Army in the 1970s as a medic.
“I heard the commotion, and the fact of being a medic I just did what I knew. I did it the way I was taught,” Beranek admits. “I have saved a lot lives and I have lost a lot of lives. I haven’t ever heard back from those I saved, being in the military you don’t see them again. It was good training.”
Repeat ride  
While most people have not been in unfortunate circumstances to need a Medivac helicopter, Jornlin says this is his second time. The first was back in 2004 after he was accidentally run over by his own tractor.

Telling the story of that tragedy, the former Rochelle resident noted nationally for bringing home a WWII LST boat from Greece, said he was working on his tractor to try and fix a battery issue. One day after he started it up he realized it was left in gear and proceeded to scale the ladder to maintain control before it did any damage. With one foot on the rung, the other slipped under the tractor’s wheel where he got caught causing the tractor to him over. At that time, Jornlin broke ribs in six places, with a couple of them breaking in two. He also suffered cracked bones in his foot.
Just the year before he contracted encephalitis from a suspected mosquito bite, although never confirmed. He recalled the delusions and vivid dreams he had during that time, spending nearly two weeks in the hospital.
He also had a quadruple bypass at the age of 55.
Jornlin jokes that people have mentioned he must be related to a cat, having been through quite a few lives already.
Captain
Jornlin’s medical emergencies are just a part of his colorful past. Certainly, others have had similar health issues and experiences but not too many can say they have traveled over 6,400 miles across the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean in the middle of winter. In a restored World War II ship. With a crew of 29 military veterans whose ages averaged in the mid-60s.
“I never thought I was going to be captain of the ship,” Jornlin confessed.
Jornlin had the job of ship’s captain of the LST-325. Over a thousand of these Landing Ship Tanks (LSTs) were built and used during WWII. The ships were designed to drive up to beaches and unload equipment, including Sherman tanks, and troops directly onto the sand.
Jornlin had joined the Navy, enrolling in officer school during the Vietnam era. He was told he would be drafted into the Army, but instead decided he would enlist in the Navy spending three years in school and becoming a commissioned officer in four months.
After serving his time Jornlin decided to leave and not reenlist. It was years later that he discovered there was an LST association.
“They were all WWII guys mostly. Someone came up with an idea to find a ship that they could turn into a museum,” Jornlin said. “I never thought it would happen, but 10 years went by and another guy in the group said he found one in Greece.”
Jornlin had quite the experience – so much that he wrote a book, “Bringing Back A Hero,” documenting the many months of restoration, sailing the seas through storms, and above all revealing the trials and tribulations that the 29 men endured to bring the relic back to Mobile, Alabama in January of 2001.
“These guys were the most persistent guys around. They said ‘we got this ship, we got it through Congress and we are going to Greece to get it. Are you still going to help us?’ All kinds of things happened I never envisioned, but the Lord took care of us,” Jornlin said.
Jornlin has been on many trips back to the LST-325 docked in Evansville, Ind. His most recent was in November of 2016 for an appreciation dinner for the crew. Last year during another visit, Jornlin sold 600 copies of his book. Reenactments are conducted on the ship each year, and there are also tours available. As far as captain, he passed the torch to another man, a retired tugboat captain, who Jornlin says conducts the tours.
The adventures of Jornlin and the crew of the LST have been made into documentaries that have aired on the History Channel. A Japanese documentary has also been filmed on the ship as well. Jornlin said there is a movie in the works, although he isn’t sure when it will be completed.
Slow pace
Recovering from his cardiac event has been ongoing, and Jornlin admits he works hard at it. Between visits to the YMCA a few times a week, and his daily walks with his dog, he is enjoying his time. Every month he does sell a book or two off of Amazon, but most sales come from the tours of the ship.
There are also other things he notices about being a little older. Jornlin celebrated his 78th birthday in May.
“People start opening doors for you, they take stuff out of your hands that you may be carrying, and they also bring you a stack of napkins when you eat at a restaurant,” Jornlin joked as he rattled off some benefits of being older.
After finding out who performed CPR, Jornlin felt compelled to get to know his lifesaver, who as it turns out lives only four miles from him. Although they don’t get together too often, Jornlin said he and Beranek share political views, and have military service in common.
“I’m glad I could help, and I am glad the other gentleman helped me,” Beranek said, crediting another person who assisted during the ordeal. “I’m glad I had the training. The best thing that came out of this is the fact he is alive.”
Jornlin agreed.
“The Lord has been very good to me,” Jornlin said. “By the grace of Jack’s quick action, and God has given me another chance in life. I haven’t particularly changed what I do a lot, but I do think about it more. I do enjoy life and have always said you’ve got to enjoy every day basically.”