Lone Survivor_ The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 ( PDFDrive )

someone else.
Joe Burns nodded curtly and said, “Actually, guys, there is no other
evolution. All of you. Back to the grinder.”
No one believed him. But Joe wouldn’t lie. He might fool around, but he
would not lie. It slowly dawned on us that Hell Week was over. We just stood
there, zonked out with pure disbelief. And Lieutenant Ismay, who was really
hurting, croaked, “We made it, guys. Sonofabitch. We made it.”
I turned to Matt McGraw, and I remember saying, “How the hell did you get
here, kid? You’re supposed to be in school.”
But Matt was on the verge of exhaustion. He just shook his head and said,
“Thank God, thank God, Marcus.”
I know this sounds crazy if you haven’t gone through what we went through.
But this was an unforgettable moment. Two guys fell to their knees and wept.
Then we all began to hug one another. Someone was saying, “It’s over.”
Like the remnants of a ravaged army, we helped one another back over the
sand dunes, picking up those who fell, supporting those who could barely walk.
We reached the bus that would take us back to base. And there, waiting for us,
was Captain Joe Maguire, the SEAL commanding officers, and the senior chiefs.
Also in attendance was the ex-SEAL governor of Minnesota, Jesse Ventura, who
would perform the official ceremony when we returned to the grinder.
But right now, all we knew was the baptism of fire that had reduced Class
226 by more than half was over. It hadn’t beaten thirty-two of us. And now the
torture was completed. In our wildest imaginations, no one had ever dreamed it
would be this bad. God had given us justice.
We lined up on that sacred blacktop, and Governor Ventura formally
pronounced the official words that proclaimed we never had to tackle another
Hell Week: “Class Two-two-six, you’re secured.” We gave him a rousing
“Hooyah! Governor Ventura!”
Then Instructor Burns called us to order and said, “Gentlemen, for the rest of
your lives there will be setbacks. But they won’t affect you like they will affect
other people. Because you have done something very few are ever called upon to
achieve. This week will live with you for all of your lives. Not one of you will
ever forget it. And it means one thing above all else. If you can take Hell Week
and beat it, you can do any damn thing in the world.”
I can’t pretend the actual words are accurate in my memory. But the
sentiment is precise. Those words signify exactly what Instructor Joe Burns
meant, and how he said it.