Sent: Sunday, October 23, 2005

Jim,

Absolutely incredible experience! Amazing story! And a fantastic job of writing!
You are to be commended to have the courage to re-live, in all of its detail, and write out this amazing story. And to think all of this was inside you for all of these years! It's inspirational that your motivation has been your children. You are right - it is a lesson of life that needs to be passed on to them. I'm a firm believer of parents' passing on their legacy of wisdom through words. And the timing is certainly right - they are now young adults with more maturity and are now familiar with the military way of life. Your other motivation - "to evoke the emotions, the feelings, the incredible power of that experience" has certainly been accomplished a hundredfold, not only to your children, but to all of us privileged to have been given your story.

Thank you for sharing it. It is, indeed, a story that will leave lasting effects on us all. It will change each reader in a way that is personal and individual to them. It will have far reaching and profound effects on many people. I know that it has with me.

For 2-1/2 hours I was drawn into your experience - taken into a world totally unfamiliar to most people - the surreal world of war, combat, danger, risk, challenge, courage, heroism - and also into the realm of the unexplainable. I was totally transported for those hours and suspended in the drama and trauma of the events. After reading it, I sat - motionless, stunned, amazed, wordless, overwhelmed. My mind was still there, whirling with the intensity of your experience - consumed by a flood of thoughts and feelings. It took me quite some time to "come back" and for it all to settle.

I knew from the first chapter/first paragraph - "You could taste and smell the smoldering jungle" - that I would be taken on a fantastic journey. It is a magnificent writing feat. The writing on the 3 levels was extremely effective: the story itself; the supporting technical information and details that helped in comprehending the complexity of the situation; and the interjections of your own person comments - that drew the reader in further and further. You showed tremendous sensitivity to present the reader with the information we would need in order to understand the full impact of the experience.

With your vividly descriptive narrative you certainly take the reader with you into the place where you and each of your crew members went, a place of total commitment - physically, mentally, emotionally - calling upon and involving every aspect of your being - to help fellow comrades in a situation of life and death - to complete an impossible mission. The night flying and the lack of instrumentation, the lack of a focal point and the impacting explosions, truly takes this mission into the "impossible" realm. Amazing beyond words!
When you were in the "arena of chaos", there was a point when you had done all you could do, when your men were doing all they could do, and still the drop point in through the trees was obscured. It was then your most powerful thoughts took place:

"Please, please God, let me find them." (a prayer, a plea)

You still saw nothing and "was just about to . . . call off the attempt." (point of release)

It's very interesting that it was at this point that you finally spotted the red light. And, then:

I had completely given myself over to flying the helicopter by instinct alone." And, then, the all important mantra:

"I kept repeating over and over . . . Keep the rope steady, keep the rope steady . . .

I believe that the powerful energy of these thoughts from you enabled the "miracle" to occur - the slow motion, the time warp, the buffered impact of the explosions, the amazing Light. Absolutely incredible! And, then, finally the words: "we have the package" and "the rope is clear" and your incredible instinct in knowing just how to get out of there and back. Your description of the aftermath - the effect of the shock to your body, your mind, and the intensity of a full range of emotions hitting you all at once - gave me chills and brought tears to my eyes. Your struggle at trying to comprehend the whole situation had to be profound. Your ability to maintain your leadership and to find just the right words for your crew to put them somewhat at ease - absolutely amazing, especially under the circumstances.

It was impressive to see the immediate response from the high ranking officers with them coming out to congratulate you. Very impressive. And the recognition and congratulations from the other pilots, And your Award. What a great honor to get the Distinguished Flying Cross. It was impressive to see a copy of the actual document - and the description of the event. And now we know "the rest of the story"!!!

Thank you for re-living your experience so that you could share your very special story. I know that had to be a profound personal challenge for you. That you retained this story intact in your memory, all these years, is phenomenal. I do appreciate your making me a copy. There are many parts that I have re-read and re-read. Your extraordinary "twilight zone" experience had to be shocking, bewildering, and certainly confusing to you at the time. It was truly miraculous - encapsulating and protecting you and your crew for those precious minutes, keeping you safe from harm and allowing you to complete your life-saving mission. It is truly in realm of the unexplainable. Absolutely amazing - yet totally believable to me. Your description of it made it so real, so powerful, so incredible. It truly was a near death experience. And, although you haven't given much thought to it over the years, on the deepest of levels, I think its effect has probably been with you since that time, and given you a special connection to life and how to live to the fullest.
One more thing . . . as I laid in bed, hours after reading your story, unable to go to sleep, the images still so vivid in my mind, I had a "flash" that explained something that had been puzzling me since August 7, 2004. That was the day you, Marguerite and I took the bus trip up to Flagstaff for the Indian event at the museum. That was the day I met you and first saw your enthusiasm for living - you were trying out your new camera. There was something very special about you. I even mentioned it to Marguerite - "you have a very special son". Since I met you it has puzzled me until, there in the darkness at 3:00 a.m., after having read your story, I realized what it was - it is the specialness that emanates from those who have experienced "special" things. Truly the "Force is With You."

Thank you, also, for the inspiration of your courage, for validating the occurrence of unexplainable events, and for your final message about embracing life, knowing we have a purpose, believing in the impossible, believing in oneself, and knowing that "The Force" is always with us.

Most appreciatively,

Diane Jamieson

Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Mr. E,

What an incredible story! I absolutely DO want this for Contrails, and would greatly appreciate your sending me the "unlock-file" password.

Yes, I'll have to condense the story significantly to fit it into our Contrails format, but will keep the hard-core essence of it, for sure. Our readers will be able to understand much more than the average-bear civilian, so we can dispense with quite a bit of the surrounding explanations, I think.

And I can honestly say you flew a miracle mission that fateful night, obviously with an angel on your shoulder. I understand completely that dilation-of-time phenomenon that you experienced, too. I had to bail out of an aircraft that crashed during a flight test program, and experienced the same time-dilation. It's a strange experience, but works FOR us in a life-threatening emergency, for sure. You described it extremely well in your story.

Thanks for a terrific tale! And congratulations on that award; you earned it.

Cheers,

Bill Scott

Managing Editor

Aviation Week Contrails

www.contrailsmagazine.com

Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2005

Hi Jim,

I just finished reading your story. Two Kleenexes later, I am totally amazed by the emotion you project and the experience! Your perception of “time” and reactions to the high stress situation is very in line with reports I have read, but the way you express the experience was riveting.

I especially like your explanation of how things work. That truly helps the reader, me, understand better the dynamics and risk. I also liked how you spoke to the reader. It made the story very personal.

Maybe it is because I know you, maybe it is the knowledge that you can never judge someone’s insides by their outsides, but I fully encourage you to continue your journalist efforts.

Thank you for sharing your story with me. If I had to editorialize your work, I would direct you to think about the message you really want to convey in your post-logue. You do a good job of keeping this religious experience from becoming an evangelical tool.

The message that strikes me is that if I am in big trouble the psychological and physical processes for survival are in place. I need to keep focused, just as you did. All I can do is my best. The rest is out of my hands.

The other message is that the best reward there is, is that of recognition from your peers.

I am glad you are here to tell the story! You are awesome!

Fly Safely,

Betty

High Energy Sports Inc.

1081 Shepard Street Unit A

Anaheim, CA 92806

phone: 714-632-3323

Fax: 714-632-6622

www.highenergysports.com

"THANK YOU Jim.

I’m in awe.  Of your achievements.  Of your ability to finally define them.  Of your brush with God’s hand.  And the humility with which you still express the impossible.

There have been times … nothing compared to your twilight zone … but there have been times…

Thanks for helping me focus.  My hands are still damp."

from a US Sailor serving in Iraq