Alive and Alone

by W. R. Benton

  “Roger that and they didn’t take it well.”

  “Understand that Save One. Give me five Mikes to prepare a LZ.”

  “Roger, five mikes, and I have you visual Rescue 26. Our ETA is less than five Mikes”

  Five minutes later a bright orange panel was on the snow and the men lined up to load onto the chopper. Airman Baird pulled a MK-13 Mod-O flare from his survival vest and held it at the ready in his right hand. The smoke from the flare, once popped, would indicate wind direction to the chopper pilot and make his landing safer.

  “Save One, Rescue 26, popping smoke now.” Price spoke as he nodded to Baird and pointed with his right index finger. The young airman pulled the metal o-ring and there came a slight fizzing sound as the flare ignited. Bright orange smoke shot out from the end of the flare and was very noticeable against the white background.

  “Roger, we see your smoke and have you in sight.”

  No one spoke on the way home and it bothered Sergeant Price that they’d not been able to search the tree line furthest away from the mountain. While he’d seen no smoke or other indications anyone was there, something about those trees now bothered him. I hope to God they were not in those trees, he thought as he looked out of the chopper window at the frozen ground below.

  The air was rough and the chopper bounced as Zee sat in the front left seat and felt frustrated because the mission aborted. As a rescue pilot, he was willing to risk his life and the life of his crews, if there was a remote chance to save a person, but he couldn't disobey an order. Before he was a rescue pilot, he was an officer in the United States Air Force and as such, he had no choice but to return to base. He’d flown countless missions and most had resulted in survivors being rescued, while others hadn’t ended so nicely. But, in all of his years flying in Rescue and Recovery, this was the first time no signs of possible survivors had been found. It was as if the mountain had simply swallowed Banks and Wade alive, leaving no sign of them ever being there.

  CHAPTER 15

  SNOW WAS FALLING as Colonel Wilcox walked from the Command Post to his office. His mind was not on the weather or at least it wasn’t any longer, other than being very cold, the weather no longer had any impact. Once the mission to find Banks and David had been recalled, the weather no longer mattered to him, instead the reality of leaving a comrade behind had came to the front of his mind. Never in his many years of service, except for once in combat, had he ever failed to find a survivor or their remains. He felt a mixture of anger and frustration, and then realized the rescue teams, pilots, and everyone involved in the rescue attempt must feel the same way. But, none of them had had a choice, because the Air Force had stopped the mission based on the safety of the pilots and rescue teams. He understood the safety matter and then thought, Perhaps I’m too personally involved in all of this. If Jim hadn’t been a friend or if I had not known David, would I still feel this way? How can I tell this to Cathy? How can I tell her I can no longer search for her missing son?

  Once in his office, the colonel called home and informed his wife that the mission was finished and no sign found of either person.

  “Frank, can’t y’all go back out once the weather breaks?” Carol asked.

  “No, honey, the mission is scrubbed for good. The experts seem to think there is no chance either of them are still alive. I called the arctic survival experts at Fairchild Air Force Base and while they didn’t come right out and say it, I got the feeling they agreed. They kept talking about body heat, hypothermia, calorie and protein intake, frostbite and a whole bunch of other stuff. According to them, if both Banks and David were very lucky they might still be alive, but it was unlikely.”

  “Frank, how can we break this to Cathy?”

  “I don’t have any idea. The woman has already lost her husband and now I have to tell her I’ve left her only son in the mountains.”

  “She’ll go to pieces Frank, so you’d better show up with her minister and a doctor.”

  “I’ll stop by on the way home and get Pastor Lucas. In the mean time, you contact her therapist and have him meet me here at my office. I’ll notify the front gate he’s coming so he’ll have no problems getting an entry pass.”

  “Frank?”

  “Yep?”

  “How are you takin' all of this?”

  “Hard Carol, but I’ll survive. I still think those two are alive and I have absolutely no facts to base my feelings on. There were no signs of either of them, but I have no choice now; I have to stop the search. Oh, Carol?”

  “Yes?”

  “I’ll be home as soon as I can, but way before the six o’clock news. The FFA, Civil Air Patrol, and the Air Force have scheduled a press release for that time. It’ll be short and sweet, but it'd hard on Cathy, so let’s keep her from the television if we can.”

  “Frank, I love you.”

  “I love you too baby, but I have to get back to work,” Colonel Wilcox spoke and then hung up the phone. He closed his eyes, tilted his head back, and felt mentally exhausted.

  “Sir,” Sergeant Donaldson spoke as he entered the office, “I’ve got you a cup of coffee and I wanted to remind you of the mission debrief with General Moores in ten minutes.”

  Opening his eyes and leaning forward, Colonel Wilcox said, “Thanks Jim, for both the coffee and the reminder. How long have you been in rescue?”

  “Twenty-one years, sir.”

  “Ever leave anyone behind?”

  “We had to do it once in Vietnam and it was hard to do. I was the P.J. on that mission and I was looking out the door and right into that man’s eyes when the pilot told him we had to leave. I’ll never forget the look on his face, never.”

  “Why did you abort the mission?”

  “We’d already lost two choppers attempting to get him out and even as we hovered over him and I prepared to go down to get him, we started taking ground fire. It was pretty heavy and I could hear the bullets striking the aircraft. I guess the AC had to make a choice and now I think he made the right one, but I didn’t at the time. If we had not called off the rescue, all of us, including the survivor might have been killed.”

  “Was the man later released as a prisoner of war?”

  Sergeant Donaldson’s eyes grew sad as he slowly shook his head and replied, “No, sir, he was not released at the war’s end. He’s listed as MIA to this day.”

  “Thanks again for the coffee, Jim.”

  “No problem sir, but don’t forget your meeting with the boss.” Donaldson replied and then left the office.

  Entering the general’s office a short time later, Wilcox saluted as he approached his commander’s desk.

  “Frank,” General Moores said, “take a seat and be at ease.”

  “Yes sir,” Wilcox replied as he sat in the plush leather chair.

  The general did speak for a few moments, as if he needed time to organize his thoughts, but finally he said, “You understand why the search has been called off, right?”

  “Yes sir, I do.”

  “Frank, honestly, I don’t see any way those two could still be alive. The temperature has been well below zero for weeks, the snow has piled up by the yard, and, well, I think they’re dead.”

  Wilcox moved uncomfortably on his chair as he replied, “Sir, with all respect, I disagree with both you and HQ on this. I think they are still alive, but I will follow orders. I know the search is expensive and we’ve had no luck, only I don’t like the idea of leaving one of our own behind.”

  General Moores let out a loud sigh, slowly shook his head and said, “Frank, I suspect you’re too close to the people you’re looking for, but I’ve told you that before. And, second, I feel you are not looking at this in its proper light. The weather has killed those two by now, regardless of how much you don’t want to admit it.”

  Wilcox did not reply, but he felt anger building inside, Keep it under control here, because the general is just following orders too, he thought.

  Silence filled the large roo
m, until General Moores said, “I don’t want you to leave this meeting with me with a negative attitude Frank.” As he spoke, the general reached into his top drawer, pulled out some papers and said with a smile, “Your promotion to brigadier general has just come through and you’re being reassigned to the Air Force Rescue Center at Scott Air Force Base. The promotion is to take effect on the first of May, next year, but you’ll be moving in sixty days.”

  Wilcox was dumbfound, because he’d never expected to ever rise above major and now he was being notified he had been selected to become a general officer. As he sat in the chair, unspeaking, the general reached into his drawer once more, pulled out two shiny single stars and tossed them to the colonel. As he caught them, the general said, “Frank, you deserved this promotion more than any man I know. In all of my years of working with search and rescue, you’re the best. Now, let me be the first person to congratulate you on your promotion.”

  As the general stood, so did Wilcox and they shook hands. Frank finally managed to say in a weak voice, “Thank you sir.”

  General Moores gave a light chuckle and said, “Frank, this is the first time I’ve ever seen you almost speechless. Now, get out of here and back to work. I’ll make an announcement about your promotion at the staff meeting on Friday morning.”

  Cathy Wade sat crying in her living room as Colonel Wilcox, Carol and Pastor Lucas attempted to comfort her. It had been difficult for Colonel Wilcox to tell her the search had ended, but it had to be done. Now, she’s lost both of the men in her life, he thought as he met his wife’s eyes and slowly shook his head. He nodded toward the kitchen and a few minutes later he was alone with his wife.

  He said, “Carol, you stay here with Cathy tonight and I’ll see you tomorrow after work. I suspect right now, she’d need all the support she can get.”

  “Frank, I’ll stay with her as long as she needs me, but I think the Air Force has made a mistake in this.”

  “Mistake or not, Carol, the search has been called off. You have to understand that the Air Force will do anything humanly possible to rescue folks, but once a reasonable period has elapsed or when there is no longer any hope of finding survivors, well, they have no choice but to call the mission off. The cost of this mission alone is into many hundreds of thousands of dollars and we’re no closer to finding David now than when we first started. At some point, a general officer will usually say, that’s enough.”

  “Speakin' of generals, tomorrow night let’s go by the Officers Club, have dinner and celebrate your promotion. I’m so proud of you Frank and I should be with you tonight to share this with you, but I can’t.”

  Colonel Wilcox gave a low chuckle and replied, “Carol, we have a lifetime to share and if you hadn’t decided to stay with Cathy, you’d not be the wonderful woman I married. I not only expected you to stay with her, but I want you to stay. She needs you as a friend.”

  A little later, Colonel Wilcox was sitting at his kitchen table sipping on a cup of coffee as he opened a large box. He only opened this box every few years, when he wanted to remember his military career and the people he had known. The box was filled with photos, medals, and other odds and ends he’d collected over years of service. To most people, it would appear to be a collection of junk and perhaps it was, but it was his junk. All of it had meaning and value to him.

  The first photo he pulled out was of him sitting in a rescue chopper in Vietnam. He had been so young then, just a little over twenty, and the eyes of a tired and experienced rescue pilot looked back at him. He remembered well the reason for his fatigue . . .

  “Save, this is bamboo echo three, over.”

  “Go three.”

  “I got movement to the west, maybe a two hundred meters.”

  “Roger, copy. Put your head down three, I’ll have the fast movers work the area over for you.”

  “Tango niner four, this is Save. Three has reported movement in the tree line two hundred meters west of his position. What ya got to help him out?”

  “Save, Tango niner four, I have some Mark 84’s and a little shake and bake.”

  Wilcox knew the Mark 84 was a five hundred pound bomb and shake and bake was napalm. “Rog, understand, drop the shake and bake in the tree line.”

  “Copy Save, one shake and bake comin’ right up. Tell three to lower his butt, it might get hot down there.”

  A few seconds later, as the jets turned to approach the target all enemy ground fire stopped. Wilcox quickly moved over the survivor, lowered the rescue collar, and watched as the whole tree line lit up in flames. Within four minutes, the downed pilot was onboard and he pulled to the west, gaining altitude all the while. When they got back to base, the crew chief counted over forty bullet holes in the chopper and a gunner had a wounded leg he’d not said anything about. The photo brought all of his memories back with vivid clarity.

  The remainder of the evening Colonel Wilcox relived most of his career in his mind by looking at old photographs. Some had torn edges and many were black and white, but each held a small part of his memory and past. It was late before he turned off the light and went to bed, wondering how he’d survived long enough to make captain, much less general.

  The next morning, Wilcox left for work early and as he drove by Cathy’s house he said, “God, give her strength, she’s a good woman.”

  The morning was cold, with snow falling gently and a light wind. The temperature was warmer than usual at minus ten. He’d just stepped out of his car when a captain he knew from the Command Post walked to his side, saluted and then asked, “Did you hear about the beacon reported last night, sir? Seems a . . .” He never got to finished, because Colonel Wilcox was running as fast as the slippery walkway would allow toward his office.

  Entering quickly he asked, “What’s this I heard of a beacon being reported last night?”

  “We didn’t get the word until General Moores called just a few minutes ago. Seems a private pilot was returning from a village when he picked up a weak beacon on guard near the site where the Wade plane went down,” Staff Sergeant Blankenship said as she placed some messages and letters on her desk.

  “What did the general have to say about this and why wasn’t I called at home?”

  “Sir, the general said for you to come to his office after you have a cup of coffee this morning and you weren’t called at home because we weren’t notified until after we showed for work.”

  “I see. Any idea when the civilian reported the beacon? I mean was it last night or the night before?”

  “No, not really. Sir, we’re looking into it right now and have phone calls out, but so far we’ve only got what the general told us.”

  “Well, I’m skipping the coffee and I’ll be in the general’s office if you need me.”

  “Yes, sir,” She replied and went back to sorting her paperwork.

  Turning, Wilcox made his way to the general’s office and when he entered, his secretary smiled and said, “Go on in, he’s expecting you.”

  The colonel knocked once on the door, heard Moores command him to enter and walked in. The general had a big smile on his face as he said, “Have a seat, because after I tell you what’s going on, you fall over if you don’t.

  “Yes sir,” The colonel replied and sat in a plush chair in front of the general’s desk.

  “Frank, last night a civilian pilot reported hearing a beacon on guard near where the Wade plane went down. He even talked to Sergeant Banks for a few seconds before he lost communications. Banks, thank God, reported he and David Wade were both alive and able to continue surviving. I think his words were, ‘We’re both fine and can continue on’ or something like that. The Command Post has the exact wording from the pilot.”

  Leaning forward with a big smile on his face, Wilcox said, “That’s great news!”

  “Wait,” General Moores replied, “It gets better. I contacted Rescue Headquarters at Scott and they gave me authorization for more missions.”

  “How many more, sir?�
�

  The general laughed and replied, “Frank, we know exactly where they are, thanks to that pilot, so all we have to do is go in and bring them home.”

  Realizing what the general said was true, Wilcox stood and said, “Sir, if you will excuse me, I have a crew to notify and some work to do.”

  Chuckling, Moores replied, “I’d imagine you do. Let me know the minute they return!”

  Saluting, the colonel moved quickly from the general’s office.

  Once in his office he picked up the phone and called Cathy. After she answered, he said, “Cathy, a pilot talked to the P.J. that’s with David last night and we’re going out to bring them home.”

  “I’ll be out at the base in a few minutes! Oh my God, my son is alive!”

  “Cathy, please don’t do that just yet. There are a lot of things that could go wrong right now, weather, aircraft and other things. Why don’t you wait until I get confirmation from the rescue bird that David is onboard first?”

  “Okay, I can do that, but do you think a problem might come up?”

  “I’ll be honest with you, I have no idea. But, I’ve learned in this business not to take anything for granted. The main reason I called was to let you know your son is alive and as of last night, healthy. I’ll give you a call when I know more!”

  CHAPTER 16

  DAVID WAS COLD and the wind had a knife-like edge as he moved over the tundra. Vittles was walking in front and Banks was last in line. The P.J. was still upset that his radio had stopped working while he was talking to the pilot the night before. He knew it was the batteries, only there was nothing he could do. He’d wanted to tell the man in the plane he was moving to a small native village, only his radio stopped at the wrong time.

  “David, are you hangin’ tough?” Banks asked, knowing the young man must be tired. They’d been moving for hours.

  “I’m okay, just sore is all.”