Tom Clancy's Act of Valor (27 page)

“Safe journey my friend.” Nolan paused, then continued in a softer voice. “Before you died, you gave me this reading by Tecumseh for your kid—just in case. At the time I told you that I’d make it into a paper airplane, that you’d be there to say these words yourself.” Nolan then chuckled to himself as he recalled their talking about it, even though it hurt to do so. “That’s not all I said I’d do with it, but that was then. Now I’ll complete the mission and do as you asked. I’ll give it to Jackie, but I’m going to keep a copy. In a few years, James and I will sit down and read it together. We’ll have a talk about old Tecumseh, and we’ll have a talk about you as well.”

The last of the mourners drifted away. Most sensed that Dave Nolan and Roark Engel needed to be alone and gave them a wide berth. Yet one man walked quietly up to the casket and the man in the wheelchair.

“Admiral,” Nolan said, as Admiral Burt Jackson approached. Jackson had been their operational commander and had sent the Bandito Platoon into action. There is a special sense of loss known only to those who must give the orders that send other men off to die. Unfortunately, Jackson was no stranger to this sense of loss and grief.

“Chief. We lost a true hero, and I know you lost a friend. Thank you for all you did for him, and all you’ve done for the Teams. I understand you want to return to duty as soon as you’re fit. We’ll be blessed to have you back.”

“Thank you, Admiral.”

They were silent for several minutes until Jackson again spoke. “Tell me something, Chief. He had an honored place waiting for him in Arlington. Why here?”

“He wanted to be near Jackie and the Teams.”

Jackson nodded, and the two waited in silence for a few moments longer. Then the admiral moved down the hill, leaving Nolan alone with his SEAL brother.

*  *  *

Ten months after Roark’s death, Jackie was having a light breakfast while Jimmy was scattering his Cheerios about his high chair and onto the kitchen o te="floor. It had soon become clear to everyone that James was much too confining for this boy; he was now called Jimmy. She was thinking about making a change, perhaps a move to a bigger city where there was a demand for her professional skills. Maybe to New York or L.A. She wondered what it might be like to be just another single mother. But at the end of the day, she knew she would do none of those things. For now, she knew she would stay here, to be near Roark and those who had been a part of their lives back when he was alive. The SEALs, the SEAL wives, and the command had all been so good to her. Yet she often wondered what it would be like to be away from it all and to not be a SEAL widow—one of the SEAL widows.

She stood up, hesitated, then walked into their small living room. There she reached up to their fireplace mantel and unfolded the last letter Roark had written, the one to his unborn son. It was the letter Dave Nolan had folded into the shape of a paper airplane almost a year ago. She unfolded it gingerly, carefully, just as she had so many times before. And each time she unfolded it, she read it to Jimmy. Each time she did, she somehow sensed that he understood the words. At least she wanted to think he did. She cleared her throat, looked into his blue eyes, and read what Tecumseh had said over two centuries ago and what Jimmy’s father had written to him—to the both of them.

Live your life that the fear of death never enters your heart. Trouble no one about his religion. Respect others in their views and demand they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, and beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and of service to your people. When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.

Jackie paused a moment and looked at Jimmy. He smiled, spit up a few Cheerios, and smiled again. And she knew that Roark’s words were reaching his son.

Jackie Engel carefully folded the letter and returned it to the mantel. There she placed it atop a folded American flag. The flag was flanked by a shadow box displaying Roark’s military medals and decorations. There on the other side of the flag was a similar display of his grandfather’s military achievements. Somehow she knew that the warrior legacy would not skip a generation this time.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

DICK COUCH
served as a surface warfare officer aboard a Navy destroyer and as a platoon officer with Underwater Demolition Team 22 and SEAL Team One. While with Team One, he led one of the only successful POW rescue operations of the Vietnam War. He has served as a maritime case officer with the CIA, has been an adjunct professor of ethics at the U.S. Naval Academy, and has been an ethics advisor with U.S. Special Operations Command. Dick began his professional writing career in 1990. His novels include
SEAL Team One
,
Pressure Point
,
Silent Descent
,
Rising Wind
,
The Mercenaro te=hicy Option
,
and
Covert Action.
His nonfiction works include
The Warrior Elite
,
The Finishing School
,
Down Range
,
Chosen Soldier
,
The Sheriff of Ramadi
,
and
A Tactical Ethic.
Scheduled for release in June 2012 is his latest work of nonfiction:
Sua Sponte: The Forging of a Modern American Ranger.
Dick and his wife, Julia, live in Central Idaho.

CAPTAIN GEORGE GALDORISI, U.S. NAVY (RETIRED)
, spent a thirty-year career as a naval aviator, including commanding officer tours of two helicopter squadrons (HSL-41 and HSL-43), the USS
Cleveland
(LPD-7), and Amphibious Squadron Seven. His last operational assignment spanned five years as chief of staff for Cruiser-Destroyer Group Three, where he made combat deployments to the Western Pacific and Arabian Gulf, embarked in the USS
Carl Vinson
and the USS
Abraham Lincoln
. Subsequent to his Navy career, he was a senior advisor with the Center for Security Strategy and Operations in Washington, D.C., where he was involved in Navy and Marine Corps strategy and policy formulation. He has written two previous novels; four works of nonfiction, including a definitive study of the history of combat search and rescue entitled
Leave No Man Behind
; and more than two hundred articles in professional journals, newspapers, and conference proceedings. He and his wife, Becky, live in Coronado, California (home of the Naval Special Warfare Command). He works as a senior analyst for the Department of the Navy.