Pilgrimage (The New World) (8 page)

At the same time that Ross strode confidently towards his wife, other soldiers and sailors were coming off the plane to their loved ones with devastating injuries that would change their lives forever. Ross knew instantly that he needed to get Patty away from that scene as quickly as possible, because there was a good chance he would be called back into action for another tour of duty. Prolonged exposure to those types of visuals would only do her harm, and he didn’t want her to be concerned with any of the terrible “what if” scenarios.

Their joyous reunion was brief, although thirty days together was a wonderful change when compared to the short duration of their honeymoon. As Ross had predicted, he had been selected for a second deployment to Vietnam, so they would have to make the most of his short leave. The many letters both had written to each other over the previous year had been of great comfort, but it wasn’t the same as waking up next to each other every morning. They got together with Jessica on a few occasions for dinner, but for the most part they just enjoyed each other’s company as they rekindled their romance.

BY THE END
of July, Ross was back aboard the USS Enterprise for his second tour of duty. He hadn’t been gone long enough to forget the daily routine, so getting acclimated to life at sea again wasn’t difficult. Throughout the next year Ross had seen a few more pilots die, or potentially get captured by the enemy when shot down, but he had been fortunate in his lone mishap.

After recording his fifth overall kill by shooting down an enemy plane, his plane was badly damaged during the same dog fight. There had been roughly a dozen planes from each side involved at the beginning of the aerial combat, but the squadron from the Enterprise had knocked five of the enemy planes from the sky before it was over. The victory had not been without cost however, as one plane from the Enterprise had been blown to bits along with the damage to Ross’ plane.

There was enough left of Ross’ plane to fly away from territory occupied by the enemy, but it was doubtful he could make it back to the aircraft carrier. Ross knew if he could manage to at least get well out to sea before the plane broke apart, his chances of avoiding capture would increase. He took great care, as he nursed the wounded aircraft to keep it aloft for as long as possible. The squadron leader, Commander Harris, had stayed by his side off the port wing after sending the remaining planes back to the Enterprise, and he knew that the damage to Ross’ plane was too severe to attempt a carrier landing. Even if Ross could somehow cover the entire distance, he would still need to ditch in the ocean somewhere near the ship. Unfortunately for Ross, he didn’t make it that far as the plane began to shake violently during what would become the last few minutes of its life. The controls then became totally unresponsive, and he radioed to Commander Harris that he would need to eject.

With his transmission understood and verified, Ross watched as his escort plane peeled away to a safe distance before he pulled the ejection handles located over his head. He was launched into the air high above the smoking plane with tremendous force, and then his parachute opened an instant after he began to fall back to Earth. During his slow descent towards relative safety, Ross watched his plane crash violently into the sea below. With no pilot to fight the controls, the plane had nosed over into an almost vertical plunge downward. It was easy to follow the path of the plane, as a trail of black smoke coming from the damaged craft stood out boldly against the surrounding light blue sky. Ross wondered if he had been trailing that much smoke since he was hit, or had it become that pronounced only during the last few minutes before he needed to bail out. He spotted Commander Harris circling around him as he drifted towards the water, and a gentle rocking, or wave of the wings, signified that his position had been relayed to rescue personnel. Ross realized how lucky he had been to make it this far out to sea, and then braced for an impact with the water that would create a mighty splash.

For the first time in his life Ross finally understood how vast the oceans of the Earth were. He had always gazed upon them from the comfort of the beach, a ship, or various planes, but he had never been this isolated and at the total mercy of the waves before. Ross had followed the protocol of cutting loose the parachute after hitting the water, and swimming away from it so as not to get tangled up in the guide lines as it filled with water and sank. Once at a safe distance, he then untied and kicked off his boots. The idea behind that was to ease the strain on the floatation device, and his legs, by getting rid of the excess weight, because a pilot never knew how long he would be in the water.

Three hours after watching Commander Harris fly away towards the Enterprise, Ross began to wonder when the rescue helicopter might arrive. During that time of helplessly bobbing in the waves, Ross had several quiet conversations with Grandpa Hank, Patty, Jessica, and even his father Robert. He was actually thankful for his present situation, because it was most definitely better than if he had needed to eject over enemy territory, or had been killed when his plane was hit.

The peace and tranquility of his quiet contemplation over his relative luck was then interrupted by the sounds of helicopter rotors in the distance, and Ross knew he would soon be hoisted from the water. A moment later he shot off his flare to help guide the helicopter to his exact location and soon after a rescue swimmer jumped into the water roughly fifty feet away from him. A basket was then lowered, Ross climbed in for the ride upward, the rescue swimmer followed suit, and off they went. It was a long slow ride back to the Enterprise, but Ross didn’t mind as he knew he was lucky to be alive.

Once back on the deck of the ship, Ross was greeted by Commander Harris and a medical team. He would spend the next few days in the infirmary recovering from his near miss, and all the guys from his squadron came by to visit him from time to time. By collecting his fifth overall kill of enemy aircraft Ross had officially become an ace, and had therefore earned himself a recommendation by Commander Harris and the Captain for another promotion to full Lieutenant.

Before he could climb into a new jet fighter and fly again, Ross needed to be cleared to do so by the medical team and Commander Harris. He had suffered no serious injuries such as broken bones or burns when his plane had been shot down, and none of the high-powered rounds fired by the enemy plane had struck him either. The odds were that if one had, Ross would not have survived long enough to get his plane to relative safety.

Ross demonstrated both the physical and psychological ability that was needed to fly again to the satisfaction of those who would make the decision, and he was cleared to fly. Some sage advice then came his way via Commander Harris, as they discussed his brush with death. He suggested that Ross not inform his wife or family members about being shot down until after he returned home. It wasn’t the type of thing that should be put in a letter, and it would only make his loved ones worry about his safety more than they already did. Ross knew he would worry more about Patty if she had added cause to worry about him, and that would diminish his skills and sharpness while flying. He still had roughly eight months remaining on his second one-year tour, so he needed to stay focused. With that in mind, Ross heeded the advice, and kept the news from Patty until he got home.

The remainder of his tour was successful without any more trouble in the sky, and the wonderful news of the end of hostilities came his way four months before the completion of his tour. Ross had managed to get one more kill by shooting down another enemy plane roughly a month after he had suffered the same fate, which brought his total to six enemy planes shot down during the two tours.

Perhaps of more importance to Ross than the number of kills, was the feeling of redemption. Ross knew that the pilot he recently shot down was probably not the same one that had put him onto the ocean, but he needed to think it was in order to obtain some measure of closure.

BY EARLY AUGUST
of 1975 Ross was on his way back home to Patty. The long transport flights that had taken him across the vast Pacific Ocean towards his duty station near Vietnam paled in comparison to the ones that brought him back home. He knew the flights were no different; they just seemed much longer because he was anxious to see his wife again.

Patty joined a large gathering of people who were waiting for their loved ones near the tarmac, and jumped for joy when she saw Ross emerge from the plane. As had been the case a little over a year before, he was unharmed compared to some of the less fortunate who had come home on the same flight with him.

Ross helped a young wounded soldier down the stairs from the plane, and then walked with him over to his family. After wishing him well he turned to begin the search for Patty, but there was no need as she was standing only twenty feet away from him. Ross said, “Hello beautiful” as he began to move towards her, and then she lunged into his arms. From Patty’s perspective, all was right with the world once again, as Ross had been safely delivered back to her in one piece.

Throughout the previous year, much of the social unrest that had become a trademark of life in America during recent times had calmed down considerably. Without a doubt, the most significant event to take place in the country during that time had been the resignation of Richard M. Nixon in August of 1974. He had the misfortune of getting caught up in a scandal that went all the way to the oval office of the White House, and then he became the first President of the United States to surrender his office before either death or expiration of term. Because the former Vice President, Spiro Agnew, had resigned amid the same scandal sometime earlier, the current Vice President had not actually been on any ballot. That led to another first in American history upon Nixon’s resignation, as Gerald Ford became the first President of the United States to have not been elected to either one of the top two spots in the executive branch of the government.