AK 239: The Enemy Is Already Here

Some of the smallest guys in my SEAL class had the biggest hearts and the fight and strength of guys much, much, bigger. In the combat classes it was like watching a Chihuahua nipping at the heels of a pit bull. The Chihuahua is much faster and has the heart of a lion.  And when the Lion soon tires the Chihuahua pounces.

Suddenly, the rain pours!

Thank God!

The rain will make it harder for them to see any trace of us.

I took another deep breath and continued to swim, if you can call it that.

It was a chore to push my legs at all. The strain of holding a hundred-pound woman’s head now above water would have been tough enough at these temperatures and with only one arm pushing through the water, it’s too much.

I’m standing still!

It was like the reoccurring dream I had as a child.

With a high fever, I was running down my grade school hall.

The harder and faster I ran, the further and further the door seemed to get.

The harder I paddled, the further away the beach seemed.

I’m giving up.

On the other hand, this is much easier than that five-and-a-half-mile ocean swim!

The cult I lived in with my mother banned all electronic devices but I found this old cassette tape recorder left at a rest stop picnic table on Interstate 5 and after asking everyone, no one seemed to own the it so I took it!

It had one cassette tape with one song:

When all else failed, that one song got me through Phase II underwater SEAL training.

I started singing what little I could remember:

Every man has a place
In his heart there’s a space
And the world can’t erase his fantasies
Take a ride in the sky
On our ship, fantasize
All your dreams will come true right away
And we will live together
Until the twelfth of never
Our voices will ring forever, as one…

Every thought is a dream
Rushing by in a stream
Bringing life to the kingdom of doing
Take a ride in the sky
On our ship, fantasize
All your dreams will come true miles away

Our voices will ring together
Until the twelfth of never
We all will live love forever, as one…[7]

I couldn’t remember any other verses so I just kept singing the ones I knew over and over and over.

Strange as it sounds:

It worked!

After what couldn’t have been more than ten minutes,

I touched land!

As I try to stand the sheer weight of my wet clothes and Jennifer drop me back into the water. I make one more lunge at the shoreline and fall into some shallow water like a ton of bricks.

Jennifer isn’t breathing. I pull her all the way out of the water to give her a few more breaths.

All SEALs were given basic medical lifesaving training but this situation was clearly beyond “basic.”

I notice the duct tape on her wound is peeling and starting to bleed. Jennifer is still unconscious and doesn’t look like she’ll make it.

I look around knowing we can’t stay here, exposed on the beach. If that is a Special Forces Platoon they will search this beach first.

I would.

So I pick her up and sling her over my back and head for some trees.

I find a sheltered area inside a huge dead tree. I am deep in a lush green forest. What am I thinking: Are you sightseeing? Or trying to stay alive?

Fortunately, this whole area doesn’t have much snow.

I knew from wilderness survival training this meant the area was warmer than the surrounding areas covered in fresh snow.

Also, it’s fortunate that this area has no snow.

Tracks in the snow would lead those operators right to us.

Again, the whole area is beautiful.

“Maybe you should take out your phone and get a picture,” I sarcastically thought to myself.

Idiot!

We’re gonna die here and I want a selfie!

I take off my waterlogged trusty, old, Richard Bass, black parka.

My cell phone falls out of a pocket and quickly check to see if there’s service.

Everything on the phone seems fine but:

No Service.

I now find myself angrily shaking my cell phone trying to deny physics and common sense.

I place my parka under Jennifer’s head and again shake her.

Nothing.

I check for a pulse on her neck and, getting nothing, I put my ear over her mouth.

Once again, nothing!

So, I begin chest compressions.

Nothing.

Now I remember, I am supposed to clear the mouth. I pull out a piece of green slimy something from her mouth, hopefully that’s from the water.

I extend her neck and elevate her chin and start mouth to mouth. I can’t believe it: I think I’ve remembered most of my medical training!

After several attempts, Jennifer half opens her eyes and mumbles something I can’t quite make out. I put my ear to her mouth to hear what she’s trying to say: