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

dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
It was all I had, just a plaintive cry to a God Who was with me, but Whose
ways were becoming unclear to me. I had been saved from more or less certain
death, and I was still armed with my rifle. But I did not know what to do
anymore, except keep trying.
I left the trail and once more went upward, heading for high ground again. I
was listening, straining to hear the sound of the water I knew must be here
somewhere. I was on a steep escarpment, hanging on to a tree with my right
hand, leaning out away from the cliff face. Would I ever hear the tumbling sound
of a mountain stream, or was I really destined to die of thirst up here where no
American would ever find me?
I kept repeating the Twenty-third Psalm in my head, over and over, trying to
stop myself from breaking down. I was scared, freezing cold, without shelter or
proper clothes, and I just kept saying it . . .
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still
waters.
He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His
name’s sake . . .
That’s how far I was in the prayer when I heard the water for the first time. I
could not believe it. There it was, unmistakable, way below me, a brook, maybe
even a small waterfall. In this pure mountain air, amid this awesome silence, that
was swiftly flowing water. I had to find a way down to it.
I guess I knew in that moment, I was not going to die of thirst, whatever else
befell me. It was just one of those moments that make your life spin right out in
front of you. I thought of home, and my mom and my dad, and my brothers and
friends. Did any of them know about me? And what had happened? Maybe they
thought I was dead. Maybe someone had told them I was dead. And in those
fleeting seconds I was overwhelmed by the sadness, the heartbreaking, crushing
sadness of what this would mean to my mom, the lady who always told me I was
Mama’s angel.