American Sniper - Boekje Pienter

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worried that they would be reported and that I would hear
about them and worry.
“I just want you to know, in case you hear it on the news,”
he’d say. “The helo was in a minor bang-up and I’m okay.”
One day he told me he had to go out on another helicopter
exercise. The next morning, I was watching the news and they
reported that a helicopter had gone down near the border and
everyone had died. The newscaster said it had been filled with
special-forces soldiers.
In the military, “Special Forces” refers to Army special-operations
troops, but the newscasters had a tendency to use the
term for SEALs. Immediately, I jumped to conclusions.
I didn’t hear from him that day, even though he had promised
he’d call.
I told myself, I’m not going to panic. It wasn’t him.
I poured myself into my work. That night, with still no call,
I started to feel a little more anxious. . . . Then a little freaked
out. I couldn’t sleep, though I was exhausted from working and
holding back the tears that kept threatening to overtake any
sense of calm I was faking.
Finally, around one o’clock, I was starting to crack.
The phone rang. I jumped to answer it.
“Hey, babe!” he said, as cheerful as ever.
I started bawling.
Chris kept asking what was wrong. I couldn’t even choke
out the words to explain. My fear and relief came out as unintelligible
sobs.
After that, I vowed to stop watching the news.