The Love For One

– Lk 19:10

For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost

Lk 15:4-7 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? 5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. 7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentanc

Lk 15:24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

June 2/95

- Bosnia, on most days, there is only murk, brutality and death.

- Scott O’Grady -30

- F-16 26,000 ft. above the Bosnian forests

- SA-6 surface-to-air missile fired

- Right into the belly

- 20 sec to react to eject

- Center of the Bosnian Serbs

- Within four minutes, Serbs had swarmed over the area

- Six-day game of hide-and-seek

- Temperature still dips below freezing at night, and heavy rains are frequent

- All he had was a 29-lb. survival kit

- Contained a first-aid kit, a few flares, some radio batteries and a 9-mm pistol, among other items.

- In his vest, O’Grady also had an "evasion chart"--a waterproof map with pointers on how to survive in northwestern Bosnia, including cues for edible plants such as dandelion, licorice root and nettle.

- His most important asset was a 28-oz. PRC-112, a survival radio, barely larger than a Walkman, that can operate for as long as seven hours on a single battery and can broadcast a locating beep, Morse code or voice

- O’Grady was able to catch rain in Ziploc plastic bags

- Tried to squeeze water out of his wet woolen socks, without much luck.

- He ate leaves, grass and ants--but not too many of the latter. "They’re hard to catch," he reported afterward

- Pentagon threw a massive intelligence net over the region. CIA spy satellites initiated a continuous sweep of northern Bosnia

First Contact 2:08 am

- "Basher-52 reads you," said O’Grady, using the "call sign" that signifies a particular plane and its pilot. "I’m alive; help."

- USS Kearsarge a helicopter carrier

- 51 Marines--including 10 helicopter crewmembers

- Two CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters--16-ton, seven-blade monsters

- Two Marine AH-1W SuperCobra helicopter gunships, bristling with missiles, cannon and machine guns

- A pair of single-pilot Marine AV-8B Harrier jump jets.

- These six aircraft were backed up by identical sets of replacement helicopters and jump jets--none was needed--

- Also two Navy EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare planes,

- Two Marine F/A-18D Hornets to provide air cover,

- And a pair of tank-killing Air Force A-10 Warthogs.

- The entire aerial armada of roughly 40 planes was choreographed from above by a NATO AWACS radar plane - intelligence gathering

- The helicopters had to circle over the Adriatic for 45 minutes waiting for the rest of the rescue package to arrive from other carriers and Italian bases.

- 50 minutes flight at 200 ft. over pine forests.

- At 6:35 a.m. pilots saw bright yellow signal smoke

- 20 Marines scrambled out to set up a security perimeter.

- The helicopter’s side door had been open for all of three seconds when O’Grady tumbled across its threshold

- 7:30 am aboard Kearsarg

- The Love For one

- We celebrate and remember his love for one