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"NAPLES, Italy — When his daughter told retired Navy SEAL Don Shipley to turn on the news on May 1, he thought President Obama was going to announce that U.S. forces had killed Libyan leader Moamar Gaddhafi.
But the SEALs had instead taken out Osama bin Laden.
To Shipley and other retired SEALs, as well as the 2,500-strong active duty force, that was a watershed moment.
“Man, that’s our version of raising the flag on Mount Suribachi,” Shipley said, referring to the now-mythical image of Marines raising the flag at the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. “That operation had so much hair on it. These operations ... are zero to hero. There’s no other way they’re going to go.”
Three months later, that same community is reeling from one of the lowest points in SEAL history, the shooting down of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter carrying 30 U.S. servicemembers — including at least 17 Navy SEALs — and eight Afghans. It was the largest single-day U.S. loss of life in the Afghanistan war.
For former SEAL Larry Yatch, who retired in 2008 after major injuries sustained during an operation, there are two levels of loss for the community.
The first is the human loss, always tragic, he said.
“The fact that it took so many people is what makes it hurt so much more,” Yatch said.
But second, Saturday’s deaths were a significant blow to the SEAL ranks."
08-08-2011, 12:59 PM
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