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

us. There were always guys showing up wondering how tough we really were. I
guess my dad considered it a matter of time before one of us was faced with a
low-flying pugilist and either hurt someone badly or got badly hurt himself. And
so I decided to get out of town and join the U.S. Navy SEALs. Morgan thought it
was a great idea, and he introduced me to a recruiting officer in a nearby town,
Petty Officer First Class Beau Walsh. He steered me down to the military
enlistment processing station in Houston; that’s navy recruitment.
Naturally, I told them immediately there was no need for me to attend boot
camp. I was already way too advanced for that. Yessir, I’ll go straight to
Coronado, where the big dogs eat. That’s what I’m all about, I’m a half-trained
SEAL already.
They sent me directly to boot camp. I signed the papers and prepared to
report for duty in a few days. As I left the ranch, it was not a real ceremony of
departure, but everyone was there, including Beau Walsh and Billy Shelton. As
previously stated, Mom caved in and retreated to the house, unable to witness
the departure of her baby. That was me.
My destination was more than a thousand miles to the north, Navy Recruit
Training Command (RTC) in Great Lakes, Illinois. And I can truthfully say, it
was where I spent the most miserable eight weeks of my entire life. I had never
even seen snow, and I arrived in the middle of the worst blizzard that boot camp
had seen in eleven years. It was like sending a Zulu to the North Pole.
That wind and snow came howling in across Lake Michigan, blasting its way
onto the western shore where we were situated, thirty-five miles north of
Chicago. Right on the water. I could not believe the sheer misery of that freezing
weather. The camp was a gigantic place, with hundreds of recruits trying to
make that miraculous transformation from civilian to U.S. Navy sailor. It was a
drastic metamorphosis, both mental and physical, and it would have been
difficult enough in fine weather. But in that ice, snow, and wind, Jesus. Words
fail me.
I’d never needed winter clothes, and I had none. I remember being extremely
pleased when the navy issued everyone the right gear — thick socks, boots, dark
blue trousers, shirts, sweaters, and coats. They told us how to fold and store
everything, showed us how to make our bunks every morning. Without missing
a beat, they put us straight into physical training, running, working out,
marching, drilling, and many classes.
I didn’t have much trouble, and I excelled in the swimming pool. The
requirements were to enter the water feetfirst from a minimum height of five