Katrina's Rescued, Rescuers Meet

Almost eight months after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, the first family saved from the storm's violent floodwaters finally got to meet the Coast Guard crew that rescued them.

It was a very emotional reunion.

As CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann reports, it happened at a ceremony in Plaquemines Parish, La., honoring more than 100 New Orleans Coast Guard members who took part in post-Katrina rescue efforts. Their daring aerial rescues spared the lives of more than 1,500 people.

Strassmann pointed out that, with all it blew apart, Katrina connected strangers, including the Moreau family and their heroes.

Hugs came freely, as did tears.

"I can't get over what you all did for us," Bobby Jean Moreau said.

Katrina's storm surge sent the Moreaus scrambling from their home into a nearby fishing boat.

"We just kept praying and praying and praying," recalled Bobby Jean's teary-eyed daughter, Tasha.

They were on hand along with Tasha's daughter, Cassidy, who was 3 months old when Katrina hit.

"I was screaming on the radio, 'Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!' " Tasha said.

Lt. Dave Johnston, whose crew heard the distress call, told Strassmann, "I couldn't believe anyone was alive down there, from the devastation we saw."

But the crew embarked on a daring, high-winds rescue of the three, and the family dog.

They all got to watch together, for the first time, video of the rescue taken from the helicopter.

"I was scared to death," Tasha admitted. "That was the scariest ride I ever took. … I just kept my eyes closed, and I had (Cassidy), and the helicopter was so loud; I was just holding her little ears."

Bobby Jean knew her rescuers only from Coast Guard photos, and said through soft tears that seeing them in person today was "very, very emotional."

But, notes Strassmann, the reunion was just as personal for the crew.

"There were many nights I really wondered, 'Whatever happened to that family? Especially with that small baby,' " Johnston said.

Bobby Jean knows she can never repay them, Strassmann adds.

"One day," Strassmann concluded, "the Moreaus hope to come back to the home they abandoned for a boat, and a chance at life. Rebuilding so much is daunting. But they're just one more family grateful just to have the chance."