I, finally, got to the perfect position and I would be able to observe what was happening in the courtyard of the building where our target was being held prisoner. The rest of the SEAL team would arrive in about ten minutes to effect the rescue of our target. My name is Rick Steiger. I am a lieutenant in the United States Navy attached to SEAL Team 12.
My job was to observe and take any action necessary to insure that the rescue mission was successful. I was situated approximately eight hundred meters on a hillside above site. Unslinging the M170A sniper rifle from my shoulder I quickly removed the caps from the high powered scope and dialed in the ranges. As I completed the task I reflected on our mission. The target was John O'Hara, the president and CEO of O'Hara Construction. He had been kidnapped outside his hotel in Kandahar, Afghanistan. He was in the country overseeing the construction of a hospital dedicated to treating women and children in this war torn country.
Apparently, the Taliban insurgents who kidnapped him found this to be unacceptable to their vision of how women and children were to be treated. He was taken to a remote village and held prisoner, along with others who disagreed with them. Our job was to get him out safe and alive.
We had been flown in by Navy heloes and dropped in a landing zone some five kilometers from the village. I went ahead to the site that had been selected during the planning stage of the mission to observe and direct the remainder of the team in effecting the rescue. As I sighted in on the court yard, I wiped what I thought was sweat from my forehead. My hand came back covered in blood, my blood. God, I was tired and wanted to close my eyes and rest, but I knew I couldn't. Focus, Rick, focus, I told myself over and over.
Suddenly there was movement in the courtyard. A man emerged from the building and set up a tripod with a video camera attached. He held another camera in his hand. Two more men emerged with a third being half dragged into the center of the courtyard. The third man I recognized from our briefing photos. It was John O'Hara. With his hands bound behind his back he was forced to his knees. One of the men was holding a curved sword.
Shit! I knew what they were planning to do. Cut his head off and film it for propaganda purposes just like what happened to that Wall Street Journal reporter a couple of years ago. My team was still several minutes out from the rescue effort. I chambered a round and flipped the safety off my rifle.
As the guy with the sword raised it above his head for the killing blow I fired. Without waiting to see the results of my shot I sighted in on the second man. As he reached for the pistol on his waist, I fired again. The guy with the camera, who had been filming the entire episode, dropped to his knees and raised his hands above his head as the first of my SEAL Team members stormed into the courtyard. It would be several months before I would see the results of my shots. The video was focused on the sword wielder face when a small nickel
size hole appeared on his forehead at the same instant the back of his head exploded spewing brains, blood and bone fragments. The second shot was caught on the tripod mounted camera and showed the second man withdrawing his pistol from his belt as my round struck him sending the weapon and three of his fingers flying across the paving stones.
I closed my eyes and thought to myself that I would just rest for a few minutes before rejoining my team. That was the last thing I remembered.
Chapter Two
Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep. I awoke to the sound of the machine monitoring my heart rate. Lying in a bed I became aware of my surroundings. A nurse, who had been adjusting the flow rate of one of the several I.V.s spoke to me.
"Welcome back to the land of the living lieutenant. Don't try to talk just yet. The doctor will be along shortly to remove that tube from your throat and answer all your questions."
I closed my eyes and drifted back to sleep. The next thing I knew I was being poked and prodded. Opening my eyes I saw several people standing around my bed. "OK, son. You had us all worried about you for awhile. I am Doctor Taylor and I think you are going to be all right."
He went on to tell me the extent of my injuries. A fractured skull, three broken ribs and multiple lacerations to my arms and legs. I had lost a lot of blood and only the quick action of my comrades saved my ass.
As I found out later two of my team mates found me and rushed me to the LZ, got me on the helo and I was flown to a field hospital where I was stabilized and then flown back to a carrier. From there I received further treatment and put aboard an evac jet. They told me the pilots put the pedal-to-the-metal and flew me at near mach 1.5 speeds to a military hospital in Germany. It was there that surgery was performed to relieve the pressure on my brain from the skull fracture. Then it was decided to keep me in a medically induced coma until the swelling in my brain went down. Ten days later I was flown back to the States and gradually brought out of the coma.
Once I regained consciousness my recovery proceeded rather quickly. During my de-briefing I was told how my injuries occurred. Based on the reports of the team members who found me there was evidence of a fierce hand-to-hand fight between me and five enemy combatants. One of them had clubbed me with the butt of his AK-47 assault rifle causing my skull fracture. Somehow I managed to eliminate all five before taking up my position and shooting the two guards who were about to kill John O'Hara.
About ten days after my transfer to Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland a nurse entered my room and announced. "You have some visitors. Shall I allow them in to see you?"
After securing my approval she left and soon returned with my two visitors. One I immediately recognized as John O'Hara. The second visitor was a very attractive woman with red hair who he introduced as his wife Carol.
"I am so very happy to see that you are on the road to recovery and I came to express my heartfelt thank you for what you did and the personal sacrifices you made in saving my life," he said gratefully.
His wife stepped over to my bed and grasping my face with both her hands bent down and kissed me on my forehead. With tears in her eyes she thanked me over and over for saving her husband. "I can't begin to express my gratitude to you for giving me back my husband. If there is anything, anything at all that you ever need or want do not hesitate to ask us."
There was a lot of emotion in that room just then. I know I had tears in my eyes as well as the the two of them.
For the next two hours we sat and visited. I found out that they had two daughters, one of which was married with two small children. Their younger daughter was studying to be a veterinarian at the University of Florida. They lived just a few miles from the school.
"Wow! What a small world. I went to UF as well." I said.
"I know" he replied softly. "Please don't be angry with me but I did some investigating about you. I know that your parents were both killed in automobile accident just before you got your commission and you have no living family. I, also, know you did very well in college and received degrees in civil engineering and architecture. You were number one in your class at BUDS and at SEAL training and the men under your command could not say enough great things about you."
As they got ready to leave, John asked me if they could visit with me again.
"Sure." I replied jokingly. "I am not going any where any time soon and I would really appreciate your company."
Grasping my hand, with both of his, he once again expressed his thanks and reiterated his wife's offer of assistance in anything I might need or want. Carol, once again, kissed me on my forehead as she left promising to return the next day.
Over the next several weeks not a day went by when I did not see John and Carol. I looked forward to these daily visits. They both did so much to lift my spirits and sped my recovery along.
In the middle of November my doctor walked into the room as I was visiting with John and Carol. They were ready to leave to allow me to consult with the doctor but I asked them to stay and listen to what he said.
Essentially, he told me I was ready to be discharged from the hospital but he was at a loss as to where I could go. Because of the seriousness of my head trauma I should not be driving and would need someone to check up on me from time-to-time. Other than that I was fully capable of looking after myself. The BOQ was ruled out as well as any rehab centers, as I did not require any physical therapy.
