Alive and Alone (19 page)

Price laughed and then replied, “It’s hard on a man and more than one person has died from a heart attack walking in this stuff.  By the way, I know this is your first mission, so it seems harder than it really is.”

“I’m in good physical shape; just new to the job is all!  For some reason, training didn’t seem this rough.” Tony said with a laugh.

Price gave a light grin and replied, “Tony, your training was much more difficult than this, physically.  The mental aspects of this mission make it rougher.  We all want to find Wade and Banks, so the emotional stress is what you’re dealing with right now.  And, the mental part of the mission can make you as tired as the physical efforts can.”

Tony met the eyes of the older rescue man and said, “Uh-huh, I think you’re right.  I know Sergeant Banks real well and I’d like to be part of the group that finds him.”

“Maybe it’ll be us or maybe it’ll be Ushers’ team, but Tony, keep in mind we may never find a sign of either one of these guys.  This country is hard on people and its valley’s and canyons are filled with unburied bones of those who made a single simple mistake at the wrong time.”

Looking down at his boots, Tony didn’t look up, even though he could feel the eyes of Sergeant Price on him.  Finally, he said softly, “Sergeant Price, there’s always a chance we won’t find these two, but it won’t be because we didn’t try.”

Price reached over, patted the younger man on the shoulder, and replied, “We never leave a man behind that we can recover and you know that.  So, you just keep our motto in mind as you walk tomorrow, ‘That Others May Live.’  We’re out here, hopefully, to save two lives and that makes our mission special.  At least nobody is shooting at us.”

Tony gave a slight grin, looked up and said, “I’ll do that sergeant.”

The next morning, instead of moving toward the tree line where David and the rest were sheltered, Sergeant Price led his men to the southwest and another tree line that was about two miles closer.  He fully intended to move toward David’s trees, but he’d start that search the next day.  Price knew most survivors moved in circles or made their way to the closest shelter, so the tree line he’d picked that morning made sense to him professionally.  As he walked, Price prayed that David had met with Sergeant Banks, because that would greatly increase his chances of survival.  Even without any survival gear, Banks was fully capable of surviving in the arctic and had done it often enough in training.

As they walked, Price called out, “Remember to keep a watch on your water intake and check for dehydration at each break.”  

All of the members of the rescue team knew dark urine was a sure sign of dehydration and that in cold weather most people had a tendency to drink less water than normal.  Often, when they took breaks, the men would drink hot water to make sure their bodies were getting enough fluids.  Besides, the hot water helped to keep their body heat up.

It was less than an hour after dawn when the RTO moved up beside Price, during a short break, handed him the headset and grinned as he said, “Guess who?”

“Save One, Rescue 26, how do you read me?” Sergeant Price spoke into the small microphone.

“Five by five, Rescue 26, and I hope your night was restful.”

“Not bad.  I complained to the manager about the lack of heat, but he didn’t seem interested.”

Zee, who fought hard to hold back his laughter said, “Rescue 26, we’ll 360 over both teams as long as we can.  Colonel Wilcox has two other birds scheduled to take over when we bingo on fuel.”

“Copy Save One, out.”  Price spoke, handed the headset to his RTO and then turning to his team he said, “Saddle up and let’s move.  I want to be in that tree line before noon.”

The team reached the trees well before noon, but there was no sign of anyone having been in the area.  It was hours later, over a hot cup of coffee, and as the sun went down that Price said, “Any of you guys have any ideas?”

“They might be in the next group of trees to the northwest.”  Airman First Class Chip Brown spoke as he raised his steaming coffee cup.

“They could be.”  Price admitted.

“Look,” Sergeant Bill Lavet, the assistant team leader said, “we have to face the fact they might well both be dead too.  Now, don’t everyone jump on me, but it’s more than likely they haven’t survived the cold.”

Price gave a shallow smile and replied, “Well, it makes no difference if they’ve survived or not as far as I’m concerned.  I intend to keep looking until I find them, their bodies, or I’m called back by Rescue Center.”  He noticed Tony Baird give a big smile.

Lavet look around the small group. “I’m not saying we quit and I’m not a quitter.  I just meant we are looking for survivors, when maybe we should be looking for bodies.  No one has seen any signs of life and as much as I like John Banks, well, there is a better than average chance he didn’t make it.  Besides, what are the odds a young boy like David Wade surviving the period he was alone before John was even put on the ground.”

The team grew quiet and after a short time Price said, as he looked over at Lavet, “Bill, I hope your wrong, but you could be right.  The problem, if they have died, is finding the remains in all this fresh snow.”

“There aren’t any remains where we’ve been so far.”  Airman Samuel Jenkins, the dog handler, said as he placed his empty cup in his rucksack.  “It there had been, Max would have moved toward them.”

Max was the big German Sheppard trained in rescue and recovery.  Part of the dog’s job was to find survivors, but another part was locating remains of those who did not survive.  He’d been with them from the beginning, so maybe there was still hope for David Wade and John Banks.

“Good point, Sam, and from now on I want you and Max on point, though we’ll take turns breaking the snow on the trail so you don’t wear yourself out.” Price said with a grin as he thought,
Max, you could actually end up being a real lifesaver in this situation.

The next morning, just as a false dawn broke off to the east, Zee was back on the radio, “Rescue 26, this is Save One.”

“Copy, Save One, go ahead.”  Price spoke as he unzipped his coat a few inches to allow his body heat and moisture to escape.

“I’ve got some bad news, Rescue 26, the mission is called off.  There is another bad front moving in and Headquarters Air Force has ordered the teams to return to base. I repeat you are to return to base.”

Price didn’t answer immediately because he felt a mixture of anger and shock. They all knew if they returned now they’d never come back.  For a moment he considered not responding, knowing he could always say later he’d not received the last message from Zlotkowski and blame it on radio problems.  But, like the professional he was, he replied, “Copy, Save One, has Rescue two 27 been informed?”

“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

S
NOW
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.”