A news conference of sorts was held in the Ledtke home yesterday. Dr. Steven Ledtke and his wife Kathy of Fort Gratiot Township were among the some 3000 passengers aboard a cruise ship off the coast of Italy Friday evening, that after 3 hours into the cruise, crashed and landed on its side. The two said it was complete chaos at times during the ship’s evacuation. The couple were at dinner, felt a thud of the ship then their tables shifted with food, plates and bottles of wine sliding to the floor. The lights went out and a scene right out of the Titantic followed. There was no organization from the time of evacuation, to housing on a small island. The American Embassy was closed for the holiday weekend, and fortunately an emergency opening of the offices was obtained. The Ledtke’s returned home in Fort Gratiot Monday evening. Safe and sound, however, shook from their vacation cruise experience. Eleven people were killed with still some 20 passengers unaccounted for as of Tuesday out of the nearly 4,200 aboard. The Captain of the ship is being held on manslaughter charges, causing the wreck, and having left the ship before the all the passengers were off
