Dale Hanson

So about the time he was probably thinking that in his head, I got the last branches done, and we sprung 100 feet into the air.

It was like it was a bow and arrow.

We just shot into the air.

And then we headed toward a base.

Doc Peck or Ben had one of those.

And I remember it crashed.

A couple of things.

One is that I was spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning because the other guys were hooked together on two ropes.

Oh, another thing too is that when that chopper came in, there were four ropes.

And as I'm looking up, looking for one for me to hook on,

The fire was so intense that one of the ropes got shot in two, and I watched it fall to the ground like a snake.

And so I grabbed the one, made the biggest overhand lock, stuck in.

Then I'm stuck in the trees, and the tree is just bending, and it's just a second or two before he cuts it.

But then when I get the last branch done, and I got the rifle over the shoulder and cutting with my K-bar.

And boy, when they gave, we just shot into the air like a bow and arrow.

And on the way back, they were low on fuel.

So they couldn't make any detours.

So they drew us right through a hailstorm.

And I remember we were about beat to death by that hail.

It was awful.