Commander Scott Waddle, skipper of the USS Greeneville, stunned a Navy court of inquiry in Hawaii today by taking the stand to testify without immunity. He is taking full responsibility for the sub's deadly collision with a Japanese fishing trawler. Waddle and his attorney had said he would not testify in the inquiry unless assured that his answers would not be used against him in a court martial or other criminal proceeding. But in a dramatic opening statement, Waddle said he wanted to be heard by the families of the nine killed in the Feb. 9 collision. Linda Wertheimer talks with NPR's Andy Bowers who's at the hearing in Pearl Harbor.
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