Alive and Alone (14 page)

Lowering his facemask, Banks began a fast walk toward the smoke he’d smelled.  The wind was blistering cold now and the air filled with blowing snow, which stung his eyes, so he removed his goggles from his coat and put them on.  With the wind as high as it was, he knew he’d never see the smoke and there was a good chance he’d walk right by David’s shelter.  Slowing, he began to search the snow around the tracks looking for some indication of a shelter or fire.  While he moved slowly, his eyes were quickly scanning every inch, hoping to spot the survivor.

After almost a half an hour, Banks noticed metal in the snow off to his right.  The wind was so high he no longer could see David’s tracks and he suspected they'd been filled in by blowing snow.  He leaned over and walked into the wind to the metal.  Kneeling, he raised the metal sheet and immediately saw a snow trench.  
Lord, I hope it’s David, or I’ll never find him in this weather,
Banks thought as he called out in a loud voice, “David, are you in there?”

It took the young man a few seconds to clear his mind of sleep.  Although he was unsure if he’d really heard his named called, he replied, “Yes, it’s me and I’m freezing!”

“David, I’m going to enlarge your shelter, so I can get in with you.  I will dig another trench beside yours and the last thing I will do it cave the wall in between the two trenches.  Once I’m finished I’ll fix you some hot food, get you a drink, and warm you up.  Are you able to understand me David?”

“Y . . . yes, I understand and I’ll wait.”  David replied weakly.

Banks lowered his backpack onto the entrance to the young man’s shelter, to help block the wind, pulled his folding shovel and started digging a trench.  Once the snow was removed, he knocked the wall down to David’s shelter, placed a casualty blanket on top of his trench, and held it in place by using snow blocks.  As soon as the shelter was in good shape, he crawled inside, made another ventilation hole near the edge of the casualty blanket and started a fire with his portable stove.  As the water heated for a cup of cocoa, he gave David a quick looking over.

After a minute or two Banks said, “David, you came really close to having hypothermia and I see some white patches of damaged tissue on your face, ears and right hand.  We’ll warm you up real good first and then treat the tissue problem.”

“I’m glad you found me!  Who are you and how'd you get here.”

Sergeant Banks explained who he was, all that had happened, and then said, “We’ll get you back in good physical condition and then continue on to the smoke we saw.  First, have a couple of hot drinks, eat a MRE, and get some rest.  After all of that, I’ll look at the damaged tissue again and see if we need to thaw it out or wrap it.”

“Sergeant Banks, thank you for coming for me and my dad.” As David spoke, Banks could hear the sorrow in his voice.

“David, just call me John.  I’m a pararescue man and it’s my job in the Air Force to rescue people.  I’m sorry about the loss of your father, but I’m glad you made it.  Too many times all we find is a crashed plane and no survivors.”

“My father was in the Air Force once and he taught survival.”

“I know, Colonel Wilcox told me all about your father, and you.  I think it was your father’s training that kept you alive, wasn’t it?”

David lowered his eyes and replied, “Uh-huh, he taught me things in ways I didn’t know I was being taught.  Usually he just had me do things and I’d learn as I went along.  He was always telling me stories, jokes, and different things about the outdoors.”

Seeing the young man was exhausted, Banks placed his right hand on David’s shoulder and said, “Get some hot food in you now and then use my sleeping bag.  You’ll find it very warm compared to the casualty blanket you’ve been using.”

David had two hot drinks, ate a meal, and fell asleep in the sleeping bag with a smile on his face.

CHAPTER 11

T
HE
SNOW
IN
ANCHORAGE
was up to the bumper on Colonel Wilcox’s truck, and it was still snowing, as he opened the door.  He glanced around and noticed very little traffic on the base, which meant the Base Commander had shut the place down due to weather.  The weather guessers were calling for more snow off and on overnight, with an additional six inches by morning.  Entering the truck and closing the door, he started the engine and waited for the heater to defrost the inside of his windshield.  The outside of the windshield he’d scraped clean a few minutes earlier.

The handheld radio, commonly referred to as ‘the brick’ by military personnel, sudden came on and he heard a voice say, “SAR One, this is the command post.”

Pushing the transmit button, Wilcox replied, “Command post, go.”

“Sir, the weather continues to worsen, but the weather forecasters asked me to notify you that they see a clearing coming in about forty-eight hours.”

“Are they pretty sure of the time line?”

“The officer in charge said it should happen in about two days, but he was unsure how long it would last.”

“Roger, keep me informed of the weather and check with the honor guard to see if the Wade family has requested an escort with the aircraft returning Doctor Wade’s remains to New Mexico.”

“I’ll check sir and let you know.”

As he laid the brick down on the seat of his truck, Wilcox wondered what Cathy would do.  He’d suggested she not take Jim’s body back for burial until David was found, but she’d not answered him.
Most likely,
he thought as he pulled from the parking lot,
she’s still in shock.

Carol was not home, so after a hot shower, dinner, and a little television, he called Cathy, “Cathy is my wife over there?”

“Yes, do you want to speak with her?”

“No, it’s ok.  I was just wondering where she disappeared is all.”

“Frank, I want to thank you and Carol for the support you’ve given me the last week.  I have had a pretty rough time of it, but you’ve both helped me so much.”

“You are a friend in need Cathy and I’m doing just what you’d do if our situations were reversed.  Don’t hesitate to ask if we can help you in any way at all.”

“T . . . thank you.”
“Cathy, I hate to bring this up, but shouldn’t you hold off taking Jim to New Mexico until the weather clears enough for us to look for David?”

A few seconds of silence followed, but finally she replied, “I’ve given that some additional thought and decided to wait.  I guess at first I thought Dave was dead as well, but I’m beginning to think he might survive this.  He’ll want to be there when his father is buried.”

“Sergeant Banks, he’s the P.J. on the ground, is one of the best men I have and if anyone can find David it’ll be him.  Remember, my men and I have dedicated our lives to saving others.”

“Isn’t your motto, ‘That others may live’?”

 “Yep, it is and the pararescue creed says it best, ‘It is my duty as a Pararescueman to save a life and to aid the injured. I will perform my assigned duties quickly and efficiently, placing these duties before personal desires and comforts. These things I do, that others may live.’ And it’s a pretty serious bunch of words to us, with a heck of a lot of meaning."

“Frank, I know you and your men are doing your best and I find myself having highs and lows as I worry about David.  I know all of you are dedicated to saving him, only I really don’t know how much more of this I can take.”

“Cathy, my job is never easy and the hardest part is the waiting and telling people bad news.  When I was in Vietnam and the Gulf War it was different, and someone back in the states did the notifying of the next of kin.  All I did was drive a Jolly Green helicopter so my pararescue teams had a platform to work from as they did their jobs.  But, since I’ve become the commander of this organization it’s my responsibility to do a lot of things I didn’t have to do as a young captain.  Right now, the best thing you can do is what you suggested last night.”

Silence followed and then Cathy asked, “What was that?  I’m sorry Frank, but I don’t remember.”

“You spoke of having some family members come up here to spend some time with you.  You were considering Jim’s parents as well as your own.  I personally think that’s a great idea.  It’s not good for you and Marie to be alone right now, not after all that has happened.  You need good solid family support for a while and they’ll do wonders for your emotions.”

“I remember now.  I just had so many different thoughts going through my head the last few days that I can’t remember what I had for lunch.”

Frank chuckled and replied, “I can and it wasn’t much.  A bag of chips, a cola, and a candy bar.”

“Frank, I have to go and start dinner.  Would you like to come over and eat with us?”

“No, I just ate, but I’ll take a cup of coffee if you have some.”

“I’ll put a pot on and tell Carol you’re on your way over.  Frank thanks again, because the two of you have been true friends.”

“Get the coffee on, I’ll be right over.”

At five O’clock the next morning, Colonel Wilcox was at his desk sorting through a large pile of rescue messages from all over the world.  There had been a private plane crash in California, an American ship taking on water in the China Sea, and a commercial airliner had gone done in South America with no survivors.  Then there were the update messages from previously reported rescue efforts.  He sipped his coffee, shook his head, and realized that in most of these cases, there were no survivors.  What did please him was when there were survivors search and rescue had not lost a single person.  That told him his chosen profession was made up of highly trained professionals who took their jobs seriously.

His phone rang and he picked it up, “Colonel Wilcox speaking.”

“Frank, it’s General Moores, you got a minute?”

Wilcox laughed and thought,
now who wouldn’t have a minute if a general officer wanted to talk to them?
But he replied, “I’ll be right there sir.”

Entering the general’s office, Colonel Wilcox walked up to the man’s desk, stopped at about four feet and saluted as he said, “Colonel Frank Wilcox reporting as ordered sir.”

The general returned his salute and said, “Have a seat Frank and let’s keep this informal today.”

“Yes sir, as you wish.”  Wilcox replied as he sat down in an overstuff chair in front of the general’s desk.

“Now, tell me what you know about Doctor Wade’s son, David isn’t it?”

“Not much I can tell you other than what I wrote in my earlier report sir.”

“Frank, I'm well aware of what the report said, but I want to know about this P.J. and whether he’s found the boy yet.”

“Our last contact with Save One was when the P.J. requested to say behind. We’ve had no other contact since then but it is safe to bet that Banks, the P.J., is doing fine.  We have no way of knowing if he’s found David or not.”

“I’ve thought of that.  The only radio your man on the ground would have is the PRC-90, which has extremely short range, correct?”

“Yes sir, the radio is designed for line of sight use and there is no way he can contact Elmendorf.”

The general chuckled and said, “I know the radio very well.  In Vietnam I spent three days hiding in the jungle from the communists and that little radio was my only hope of rescue.”

“The problem we have is the weather.  If the weather doesn’t clear soon the batteries in the radio Banks has might die, due to cold.”

The general leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and then said, “A radio in a non-combat rescue is just a luxury.  Since no one will be shooting at us, it’s likely Banks will have signals out and I’ve seen some good ones in my time.  He still has his smoke flares, his pen-gun flares, signal mirror and signal panel.  He’ll be able to contact us when we arrive, as long as he’s healthy and in good shape.”

“I just meant the radio would speed the rescue up sir, especially if Banks has had to leave the crash site.”

“Why in the world would he do that? We’re all trained to stay near the crash site, so I don’t see your P.J. wondering off.”

“Sir, Banks reported he had not found the survivor on the ground and a man like him will do whatever it takes to find David.”