“Yeah, once I was climbing and I zippered down about 65 feet,” the soldier said. “I was in ranger school at the time, you had to climb up this thing, they starve you and all and I was just about to the top, I just had a couple feet to go and I so tired rather than… (I don’t remember… put in another piton??) I just leaped the last couple feet and was hanging there by my hands on the ledge. The instructor was standing right there with his feet between my two hands. I was just hangin’ and he was looking down at me.”

“Yeah?” (swearing below the break)
Continue reading Voice Of Mars: Ranger School…Neptune On The Midheaven, I’m Not The Only One

“There was another guy, he got tangled up in line hanging from an airplane… he got all jumbled up and tangled,” the soldier said. “They looked down, the plane was going like this,” he said rocking back and forth to indicate instability. “They cut the rope on him.  They just cut the rope and he fell.”

“He died?”

“Yeah.” (swearing below the break) Continue reading Voice Of Mars - Ranger School Redux

“Ranger school?  It’s tough, I’ll tell you that. One day I was standing there waiting to do something and some guy was backing up he had a line he was (I forgot).  And all the sudden I heard this yell, OWWWWWWW OOOOOOOH, splat! He’d walked backwards right off a cliff.”

“Oh my God.”

“Yeah, he fell 55-65 feet, landed on a rock and was lying there with his leg mangled, it was actually up under his head it was so messed up.”

“Oh my God.” (swearing after the break)

Continue reading Voice Of Mars: Ranger School