Order of Importance...

You're alive, what could be more important than that?...What happened?...Couldn't have been a SAM, you were too low...Probably too low for artillery, maybe a lucky shot from small arms fire?...Maybe the new fuses?...You had never used them before...Maybe they activated as soon as the ordnance left the rack...It's not important right now, you'll figure it out later...

How long have you been here, and where is "here?"...That's important...What happened to your hand and leg?...That's important, but not as important as whether it will slow down your extraction...You made contact with the jet you heard overhead, how long ago was that?...Yesterday?...This morning?...

If only your head didn't hurt so much, it slows down your thinking...Concentrate on what's important...That coffee you drank before the pre-flight briefing, that was important...The guy who got up even before you did and had it hot and ready for you, he was important...So was the guy who set out the brown fiberboard tray of clean mugs next to the urn...

You realize some USAF people think their job is not important, but they're really all important at one time or other...The 19 year old woman with one stripe on her arm walking up a stairwell carrying a sheaf of papers at finance section in a stateside base is important if you expect to get paid...That staff sergeant that spent the night sorting and assembling that stack of new photos you studied at the briefing is important whether you ever meet him or not...

All the people at McDonnell-Douglas who were involved in building the aircraft which lies in smoldering ruin now are important, just like the taxpayers who financed it, and will never get their money back...The only return they want to see on their investment of time, effort and money is your safe return...It's important to them...

All the people who were assigned to SEA at one time or another, did their duty and went home, they were important...So are the ones who signed on for another tour, and are still at the grind...And the ones who didn't get back...And never will...

That young lady you're so fond of, the flight attendant you met, she's very important...And you're important to her...That's why she's arranging her workload to meet you in Da Nang for a few hours...A few hours at a time is all you've ever had together...Who's going to meet her flight now?...Who's going to explain why you're not there?...Who's going to tell her how important she is to you?...

There's an awful lot of activity around you now, but you can't see any of it because of the thick cloak of jungle around you, and the triple canopy over you...Some of it is the dinks combing the vines and bushes hoping to add you to their collection of POW's...A lot more is all the aircraft buzzing overhead trying to get you to a safe haven...

You can't hear them because they're so high, but you know there are a number of fighters up there in a RESCAP formation to protect the aircraft sent to pull you out...Some of them you know very well, others you never met...

Some diverted from egressing their own bomb runs after taking on fuel from the KC-135's and KC-130's that are circling in their own endless loops hoping a SAM or AAA doesn't find them before they can get you out...Some have empty guns from earlier action, and know the only thing they can do is draw fire away from the others...

The enemy AAA crews found the first Jolly Green you heard overhead...You heard the change in engine noise and rotor pitch as it took a 23 mike-mike and was forced to egress...You know a couple of Sandies escorted them home...What you don't know is that 20 friendlies involved in your rescue attempt were shot up and damaged, and forced to withdraw...Most RTB'ed safely...Some joined your Phantom on the jungle floor...

How long have you been here?...What is that noise overhead?...Have you been asleep?...The fog starts to clear and you remember some details, but they're jumbled...You realize there's a penetrator about 20 feet away which you were supposed to crawl to...How long has it been there?...You remember you gave the order over the radio not to allow the Para-Jumper to descend with the penetrator...

You thought you had the strength to crawl to it without further endangering the life of the PJ...How long ago was that?...Did you black out?...[Capt. Sijan would never know that the Jolly Green's aircraft commander chose to hover the site, taking hostile fire for an incredible 33 minutes before being ordered to withdraw by the SAR on-scene commander]...

When did it get dark?...Did you black out again?...The enemy is still out there searching; you know because you can hear them...Better to stay put until morning and not draw attention...You have to find something to eat soon...They'll be back tomorrow...How many tomorrows have you been here?...Did you leave your radio on "transmit?"...The battery's dead...You have to get off this mountain and into an open area, or they'll never see your signal...That's what's important right now...

[This article was inspired by the final events in the life of Capt. Lance Sijan,and by the book detailing those events and his legacy...On his final mission over Laos, his F-4C erupted in a ball of flame...After ejection he survived 10 weeks in the jungle with no rations or medicines, only to die in a prison camp after being captured a second time...

The thoughts I outlined above may have gone through his head, or he may have had other things more important on his mind...Capt. Sijan believed all missions were important...His importance in the lives he touched is immeasurable...]

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