Page 18 of Building Courage

“I’m from Pascagoula, Mississippi.”

Just saying the words seemed to bring out the Southern flavor in his diction.

“What did you do there?”

“I did the same thing most kids do—went to school and helped out my grandmother while my dad was working. Well, actually, we looked out for each other.”

She wondered why he didn’t mention his mother.

“Later, I worked on a Bachelor’s degree at college while I worked to pay for school and my hobby, which was scuba. I got my master certification when I was eighteen.”

“Not an overachiever much,” she said in a dry tone.

He chuckled.

“How did you end up in San Diego and in the Navy?”

“When I was twenty, I was giving scuba lessons for a dive shop in Gulfport as one of my jobs. A guy walked into the shop, looking for a replacement valve for his tank. His brother had taken my class, and we became friends. I went cave diving with his brother in Florida several times. Anyway, while he was visiting, they dived together. He asked me to go with them on a dive. I said sure. We spent the day on his brother’s boat, diving, fishing, and rehashing some of our more eventful dives. When we got back to the dock, I started packing up my gear to leave, and he asked me if I wanted to spend my life teaching other people how to scuba or use my skills to do something for my country.

“I told him I was waiting for a job opening at Ingalls Ship Building to do just that. They build Navy ships, and it was where my father worked. I’d been taking college courses in Homeland Security, crisis management, and cyber security, hoping to get hired there.

“He said he knew about something more interesting he thought I might want to explore. He started to tell me about the SEALs and how, because I was already skilled, was in good shape, and seemed not to shy away from challenges… At that point, I was thinking he was piling it on, and I was skeptical. Anyway, he said the Navy could train me in the areas I was already studying, give me hands-on experience, and pay me while I was doing it.

“That sounded pretty good since I was working two jobs and going to school. He encouraged me to think about it. Then he said, call me if you decide to enlist.” He motioned toward the left. “The dive shop is just ahead on the left.”

He switched gears so quickly it took her a moment to follow. She turned on the blinker, swung into the parking lot, pulled into a slot, and turned off the car.

“You obviously decided to enlist,” she said, wanting to hear the end of the story.

“While I finished out the semester, I did some research on SEALS, the training, deployments…everything. And that challenge thing kicked in. It sounded like something I could do. So, I talked to my dad. My grandmother was a little anxious, but she still supported me. So, I got all my paperwork together, references from my jobs and people who’d trained me and all that, then I called the number and left David a message that I was going down to the recruiting office at eleven. When I told the recruiter I wanted to be a SEAL, he nodded but wasn’t really too interested until he started looking at my paperwork and started asking questions. Then the phone rang.

“The recruiter answered and was given a California number to call back. I heard a bunch of yes sirs and no sirs, then he hung up and just stared at me. He asked, ‘Do you know who that was?’ I shook my head.

“He said, ‘It was one of your references.’

“I asked, ‘David McCallister?’”

“He said, ‘You really don’t know who he is, do you?’”

“I explained to him about how David and his brother and I went diving and fishing together a while back, and he kind of sold me on the Navy SEAL thing and how he told me to call him when I got ready to enlist.”

“Who was he?” she asked.

“A freakin’ three-star admiral in the Navy. I had no idea.”

She laughed. “So, he rubber-stamped your way to try for the SEALs.”

“Not exactly. He was one of my references, which went a long way, but I still had to take a test to see if I had an aptitude for the teams, pass the physical, go through basic, numerous trainings, BUD/s, and then make it through hell week and do all the work to earn my place on the teams. His support probably got me short-tracked to the program, but I had to earn my place there on my own. Even with all the work I’d already done, it wasn’t easy.”

“Do you think you could’ve gotten the opportunity without him as a reference?”

“With my background, probably. But his support made it more certain from the start that I’d get the opportunity. He called me from time to time to check on my progress.”

“Do you still hear from him?”

“Yeah. He’s retired now and lives close to his brother. They’re still diving and fishing.”

Wow. “It must’ve been meant to be.”

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