Collier Landry Boyle

I am 12 years old.

I am 12 years old.

I heard the two bangs and heard the scream.

I heard the two bangs and heard the scream.

And then I heard the footsteps.

And then I heard the footsteps.

I looked in my mother's bedroom.

I looked in my mother's bedroom.

Collier Landry Boyle wasn't your average 12-year-old. He was very smart. He was very determined.

Collier Landry Boyle wasn't your average 12-year-old. He was very smart. He was very determined.

So I'm just kind of doodling away, and we have all these doctors and their wives around us. And my father's telling this story of how he was flying a solo mission for the Navy. during the Vietnam War over the South China Sea and he gets shot down in his fighter plane.

So I'm just kind of doodling away, and we have all these doctors and their wives around us. And my father's telling this story of how he was flying a solo mission for the Navy. during the Vietnam War over the South China Sea and he gets shot down in his fighter plane.

The smoke in the engines is billowing and he's trying to pull the ejection lever and his F-14 Tomahawk crash lands into the South China Sea. And he cannot get out. And the water is coming in through the cracked cockpit, right? As he's slowly sinking. And he gets out his trusty bowie knife and uses the blade to cut his way out of the cockpit. And he sees an island off into the distance.

The smoke in the engines is billowing and he's trying to pull the ejection lever and his F-14 Tomahawk crash lands into the South China Sea. And he cannot get out. And the water is coming in through the cracked cockpit, right? As he's slowly sinking. And he gets out his trusty bowie knife and uses the blade to cut his way out of the cockpit. And he sees an island off into the distance.

And he swam to this island. And he survives in the jungle, eating bark and slugs and waits for the naval team to rescue him. And my mother is listening and nodding because she's enthralled with the story.

And he swam to this island. And he survives in the jungle, eating bark and slugs and waits for the naval team to rescue him. And my mother is listening and nodding because she's enthralled with the story.

Everybody wants to believe their father is a, you know, the savior of the world, right?

Everybody wants to believe their father is a, you know, the savior of the world, right?

So every day that I go to school, I'm trying to like check in with Dave, whether I ask him to come to the school to talk to me or I'm just checking in with him on the telephone.

So every day that I go to school, I'm trying to like check in with Dave, whether I ask him to come to the school to talk to me or I'm just checking in with him on the telephone.