Bumgardner
Honors English III
1 December 2012
That Others May Live
Life as a pararescuemen was not easy, training until we dropped to our knees everyday was physically and mentally exhausting. Their job was to prepare us for a life outside of the United States where you were hated and nobody really wanted to help you. Pararescue school was in the middle of Texas and only one of ten made it in my class of a hundred. I considered giving up so many times but I guess I was too lazy to get up and ring the bell. Nothing they did would prepare me for the life in Iran. When we got to Iran and I thought that the locals would welcome us into their country and help us to find the “bad guys” but they were hostile and help that we did get seemed forced from higher in command but we never were to question our authorities. We did not get to speak with the locals very much because we were an elite rescue squad that had to save other military soldiers, not some worthless soldier that had to pass one test to grab a gun and shoot the Taliban. Even the SEAL’s need to call 911 every once in awhile. We are and were the best of the best.
I remember my father telling me to get close with the men I worked with but not to close. This may seem easy but the fact is we all went to Hell and back together and this creates more than a friendship it makes you family. I would die for each and every one of them. My squad was made up of about six men when we were in Iran. Each of them were trained medics and killers but they all seemed to have their own specialty. Matt was in charge of the light machine gun and he could shoot it with the precision of a sniper. If you ran out of ammo you better hope he was with you. Luke was the most experienced medic we had and we designated him to do most of the surgeries out on the ground. Tyrone was the only black man in our squad and was a very quick thinker getting us out of some of the tightest missions. He also was in charge of the radio that seemed to fail due to signal most of the time. Fernandez was our explosive expert. Nothing ever stood in our way. Eric was our weapons expert and we could always rely on him to choose the right weapons for the mission. Finally me, Seth Harris, and I was best at reconnaissance with my sniper that I still have to this day. Don’t get me wrong I could use any weapon but my weapon of choice was the sniper rifle. We made the perfect family.
My first mission in Iran was supposed to be one of the easier missions we would face. All we had to do was get in and out saving three marines trapped behind the red zone. We were briefed on the mission an hour in advance. We did not know what to expect. They told us we would skydive in at 2200 hours, extract the wounded, and have to travel about a mile to a less heated area to reach the extraction point where the helicopter would be their landed. Easy enough.
At 2159 we all stood up with fifty pounds of weight on our backs and walked to the edge of the plane. The Sergeant yelled 2200 as we had already begun to jump out of the plane we were way ahead of him. We all landed on top of a rather large building, unstrapped, and climbed down the three story ladder. We were a block and a half away from the marines but nobody knew we were there. We reached the marines no problem. All three of them were shot, one in the leg, one in the arm. The third marine was K.I.A. (killed in action), shot right in the chest three times but we had to get him too. No man left behind. Luke injected the two marines with vitamin k to thicken their blood so they could make it back to the military hospital in the green zone. Luke, Tyrone, and Eric each carried a body while the rest of us covered them. We moved silent but swiftly. As we started to turn the corner of a back alley we were accompanied by the sound of ak-47’s ringing in our ears. Matt kicked in the door to an abandoned apartment. We kept the wounded with Luke downstairs as the rest of the squad went to kill the Taliban. We flanked them from the West side and killed them fairly quickly due to the surprise ambush. No casualties were taken. The squad regrouped and moved only in the shadows to the helicopter even though the whole Taliban insurgency was after us. The three marines were being loaded into the helicopter and we also began to load up ready to get back to camp. The helicopter lifted up only about twenty-five yards off the ground when the helicopter jerked as an RPG missile shot through opening in the helicopter throwing Eric down to the ground putting him on his back. I could not leave him behind so I grabbed the air lift and propelled down to him. As I tied him me I looked to my right and left to see my family fighting beside me. As the rope was being hoisted back to the helicopter we knew that one of us would have to stay and make sure they wouldn't get to shoot us out of the sky. I will never forget when Matt looked me in the eyes and said “Regroup in Hell” and dropped down and began unloading. Right before my eyes as we were flying off I watched my best friend or rather my brother get killed right in front of me. The emotions spilled out of me. Anger overtook me, I immediately wanted revenge. The whole ride home I thought of the meaning of my life why I serve as I do. It was not for the praise, it wasn't for the good of my country, it was because this is what I wanted to do, I wanted to save others lives and put my own at risk.
That day two marines were saved who went home and saw their families again. I received letters from all three families thanking me over and over again. Should I have this credit or should Matt the one who died to save us all be thanked. It wasn't until his funeral that I realized the true meaning of being in the Pararescue. “That Others May Live.” Matt was a true pararescueman and I owe him my life and that I will be forever grateful for.
I continued my life a pararescueman and ended my life in Iran. I stayed in the states and helped in hurricane Katrina flying in with helicopters and air lifting people to safety. I have received many medals but when you are in my business medals are the last thing on my mind when saving someones life. I serve so that others may live and i will live by that motto until I am deceased.
