Excerpt from "The Supply: A Memoir"
Excerpt from a book published in March 2020 (names have been removed to
preserve confidentiality, i.e. “Daughter” is daughter’s real name)
Chapter 1: Last Call
Saturday, July XX, XXXX
Daughter: “Hello?”
Dispatch: “Hello, it’s dispatch calling. Is Sergeant XXXXX there?”
Daughter: “Yes, he’s here, but he’s sleeping now. I’d have to wake him up. He’s so
tired from my sister’s wedding yesterday. Hold on. Let me go get him.”
Dispatch: “Thank you.”
Sergeant XXXXX: “Hello? This is XXXXX.”
Dispatch: “Sergeant XXXXX, there’s a little two-year-old girl lost in the Uintah
Mountains. We need a helicopter there as soon as possible. We’re afraid there might
be bears in the area. Can you go?”
Sergeant XXXXX: “10-4. I’ll be right there!”
Daughter: “Dad, where are you going? You’re too tired to go anywhere. Can’t
someone else take this? Yesterday was completely exhausting!”
Sergeant XXXXX: “No, daughter. I have to go. They need a helicopter. See you
later, I love you!”
Daughter: “I love you too, dad!”
Thus, off he went to do another rescue mission, just like so many that had preceded,
many of which were unknown to his own family.
Daughter was the only one home at the time, as everyone else had left the house for
the afternoon. The whole family was exhausted from the beautiful wedding that had
been held the day before for XXXXX’s youngest daughter.
A few hours later, a knock came at the door. Two law enforcement officers were
standing there. The look on their faces was nothing less than somber. It was evident
that they had something important to tell us. Our family invited them into the living
room, but they refused to sit down.
They began, ¨We hate to inform you, but XXXXX´s helicopter has gone down today
and unfortunately the ELT (emergency locator transmitter) is missing. This means
we can´t pinpoint the exact location of where he went down. We are organizing an
extensive search party to look for him in the Uintah Mountains. We will be in touch
as soon as we have any new developments.¨
We sat there as a family, stunned to discover that our father was missing. Numb with
disbelief, there are no words to describe what it feels like to receive this kind of
news. Moreover, to not know if he was dead or alive, if he was hurting or what to
believe, just pure uncertainty.
Daughter: ¨We need to notify our sister who´s on her honeymoon. What´s the name
of the hotel where they´re staying? I´ll call her, mom. You just sit down. I´ll take
care of it.¨
The call was made, and the new bride and groom were shocked to find out that we
had a missing family member. They made immediate plans to return to Utah.
The next few days were a blur. When someone you´re close to goes missing, a
million thoughts go through your mind.
Day One was Saturday. The search party was organized, the control center was
hopeful they´d find him soon. Then Sunday went by. Local people were interviewed
in the downed area. We received an unofficial report that a sheepherder had heard
the sound of what might have been a helicopter, but reports were still sketchy.
Sunday went by and still on Monday, there was no news to speak of… There was no
news whatsoever of my father´s whereabouts. My anxiety was at its peak. People
from the neighborhood were bringing food over, keeping us company and the news
of my father´s disappearance was continually making the headline on our state news.
Law enforcement officers began to keep vigilance at our cul-de-sac to ward off the
reporters who wanted extra information for their news reports. Nobody in our family
wanted to talk to anyone. We had nothing to say…
Tuesday, nothing was known except that more and more people were searching for
him. Finally, dusk came, and another knock came at the door. It was another set of
law enforcement officers. ¨We´ve found XXXXX. The good news is that he was
killed upon impact and he didn´t suffer…¨