by Jaxson Love
Daniel finally snapped out of it, and a worried Brad picked him up, and they began heading toward the entrance which was just around the corner. One of the armed soldiers peered around the corner, and before he could pull back, he was shot in the throat by the leader of the terrorist who ordered his men to push forward and kill them all. The terrorist army pushed Daniel and his group back as Brad, and the others opened fire laying down suppressing fire striking several enemies as they retreated to the last room where the two guns were gunned down by Greg. They managed to get into the room and locked the door with crates of supplies, but Daniel was getting worst as she lost a little more blood. The terrorist knew they had them trapped and their leader ordered his men to break down the door, so they started ramming the door. Greg and Brad braced the door as the other two soldiers took defensive positions. Dalton grew angry and struck the wall which partly gave way revealing another passage. He looked at everyone else, and as they started to split the door, Dalton grabbed a pickaxe and struck the wall breaking down the wall and making a hole large enough to escape. Daniel was helped up by Brad and Dalton, and they went first through the hole followed by the women and children; Greg found in one of the small crates C4 and a detonator, so he took the boxes through the escape entrance. The other two soldiers opened fire through the door as they escaped the room, the radicals started shooting back not realizing that they weren’t in the room anymore. As they quickly and quietly made their way through the cavern of the mountain, Greg was placing C4 throughout the walls of the cave. The terrorist finally made through the door and found it empty, so the leader ordered them to pursue them. Now was the last stand as they came to an end and saw no other way out as they hit a dead end. The soldiers, Greg, Brad, and Dalton, took up defensive positions behind rocks and boulders preparing for the final assault. The women and children were ordered to take cover as severely injured Daniel took a block of C4 from the crate and placed it against the back wall then shot it as he got clear. The enemy was almost on them when the blast now revealed a hole in the wall which leads outside to freedom; Daniel managed to avoid a cave-in and ordered the soldiers to start clearing out the women and children. Daniel looked at Brad “you're in charge now” he told him as he ripped off his dog tags and placed them in his hand. “ Sir no I can’t take these, your our captain," he told Daniel, “I knew you would protest, Order your men out of the cave now Lt” he gave one last order. Daniel looked at the men who nodded and began to retreat through the entrance, Brad Had a hard time leaving his captain behind but he did as he was ordered and Daniel stood up with his gun at the ready in one hand and the detonator in the other behind his back. The enemy finally reached his location at the end of the tunnel, and over thirty men raised their weapons as the leader called out and ordered him to drop his arms, Daniel who could barely stand placed his gun down barrel first to hold him up as he fell to his knees. The leader of the radical terrorist group raised his hand, and all his men aimed their weapons preparing to fire, and that’s when the first four guys looked at a now smiling Daniel and opened fire. All of them laid bullet after bullet in him, and as Daniel hit the ground on his back the and took his final breaths, he just smiled at the leader and released the trigger of the detonator setting off the C4 explosives throughout the cavern killing the radical terrorist group and their leader in one fell swoop.
Just before he let go of the trigger, Brad and the others who were now out of harm's way looked back and then an explosion crumbled the side of the mountain down on top of the terrorist and their beloved captain. The men and hostages walked through the desert for several hours before coming to across U.S. checkpoint patrol units for the base. The patrols stopped them and called for a truck to get them back to base, after loading up into the truck they breathed a sigh of relief that it was over. After two days of recovery and a lot of counseling and debriefing for the soldiers, the women and children were returned to their villages, and the soldiers caught the first flight home.
Three months have passed since the escape, and all the men gathered for an award ceremony that would honor them and captain Sanders for his sacrifice in saving the hostages and fellow soldiers. After the president gave his speech and awarded the medals to his men, Dalton and Greg presented the metals to the families of their fallen comrades, and Then everyone gave their statements showing support to the families and Brad honored his captain by speaking from the heart.
Ladies and gentlemen, Today we honor not just a fallen military captain but a friend of mine, a man who taught me that there could be no courage more significant than the sacrifice to save others. Captain Daniel Sander while dying from his injuries sacrificed his life to save his fellow men and strangers being held, hostage. He was a real American hero, and because of him, I Survived.
The end