GI Time

On the fourth day we began leaving the safety of the spider hole for short periods of time. We would leave for a few hours in the mornings between 0300 to 0500. We would walk to a nearby stream for some fresh water and a breath of fresh air.

After a week, we were confident that we had pulled off this part of the mission. We were able to relax a bit, and prepare for the next stage.

"I think a storm is moving in," Brett said as he looked out of the peephole. "We'll leave tomorrow at dusk if its snowing. It'll be a day early, but the snow will cover our tracks." He turned around, sat down beside me, and continued. "We'll hike to Eisleben and find a barn or a haystack and spend the day there. When it gets dark we'll make our way to the farm house."

"Sounds good," I said. "That'll give me plenty of time."

The next afternoon, it started to snow. Within a few hours, snow had covered the ground and was now accumulating on the branches of the pines.

We began securing the gear that we were going to leave behind. The gear included some home made C4, miniature remote electronic detonators, our pair of mini binoculars, some counterfeit identity papers, and a few other devices that we had been able to conceal from our fellow airman. We wouldn't need the stuff where we were going and we didn't want our captors to suspect that we were spies.

As soon as we had secured our gear, we took off our homemade camouflage wear and dressed back into our flight uniforms. We were ready to go.

At dusk we exited the spider hole and concealed the entrance. The snow was really coming down now. We estimated that we would arrive at Eisleben around 0100. That would give us some time before daylight to find a place to hide. We would be safe as long as we didn't stumble into an enemy patrol. Brett led the way.

Brett checked his compass every half-hour or so to make sure we were going in the right direction. We had trained a few months ago under the same conditions using the same antique tool.

We arrived at the out skirts of Eisleben around 0030. The combination of lights from the small German town and the falling snow resulted in a dull yellow glow. We topped a small hill and Brett pointed to what looked like a small farmhouse and barn. We headed for the barn.

We entered the barn and climbed to the loft. The loft was covered with a couple of feet of hay, so we crawled in and covered ourselves. We took off our wet boots and socks and wrapped our coats around our feet. It was now 0130. I tried to get comfortable. Brett fell asleep almost immediately.

Brett Evans became a SEAL in 1995. He served in several Iraqi combat missions during the final war in 2000. He was also one of the few who survived the raid on Bin Laden's terrorist camp. The raid was organized after Laden's terrorists detonated the nuclear device. Over 230,000 people were killed in that North Carolina City. Brett's sister was listed among the dead.

Physical scars cover his six foot one inch muscular body and mental scars haunt his subconscious. Brett is on his own now, no other living relatives. I suspect he never got over his sister's death. Guess that's why he volunteers for extended, dangerous missions like this one.