Robert Rohrbach was on a Hell Week run with fellow SEAL candidates when the urge to quit hit. A nearby comrade pulled him into the middle. Now two buddies were holding him up.
The moment passed and so did his impulse to drop out.
It’s called the 30-second period, he says — when you reach the point of giving in, if you just keep putting one foot in front of the other, the time disappears and you forget that you thought you couldn’t make it.
At least that’s how 80-year-old Rohrback remembers it. One of the two helpers dismisses the story.
Was it a hallucination amid sleep deprivation? Rohrbach isn’t sure.
Famously secretive about their missions, retired SEALs on last weekend’s Honor Flight San Diego journey to Washington confided how they survived intense training and what the public gets wrong about their warrior brotherhood.
Their mystique.
Rohrbach was part of a 90-member Navy Special Warfare Operator group on the three-day journey, several of whom reflected on what it means to be a SEAL. These included Frogmen, Underwater Demolition Team members and Boatsmen.
“We are not big hairy monsters,” the retired SEAL said when asked the biggest misconception about his cohort — some who served in the elite group’s first decade (SEAL teams were developed in 1962).
“We’re ordinary people,” he said. “Most have a great sense of humor and a terrific drive.”
Twice a year, Honor Flight San Diego takes around 90 veterans to Washington, D.C., to visit war memorials that honor their service in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.
Among those on the journey were Medal of Honor recipient Lt. Mike Thornton and Walter “Ditty” Dittmar, force master chief of Navy Special Warfare Command. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro met the San Diego contingent at the World War II Memorial.
But it’s the renewed connections and quality time with former comrades that has proven to be a huge part of the trips’ meaningful — even lifesaving — nature. Plus the enthusiastic homecoming at journey’s end.
In April, it was Naval Special Warfare members — “the men with green faces,” the “silent ones” — to be recognized.
“That we’re all big, brawny bad guys” was retired SEAL Gene Peterson’s response to the misconception question.
“I’m a little puny guy,” said Peterson, 76. “I was only 150 pounds when I went in. I wasn’t some great big brute, but I was able to carry the boat and stuff because my head didn’t hardly touch the boat and the big guys had to carry it.”
Peterson went on to spend 30 years as a Los Angeles Police Department officer.
‘One of the Nicest Guys’
Retired warfare operator Andy McTigue’s reply to the misconception question: “That we’re all killers, and were killers after the fact — and we’re not.”
“I’m one of the nicest guys that you’ll ever meet,” he said, adding that he has been compared to Mr. Rogers.
All of the military men on the trip back East, except for an 89-year-old Korean War era operator, served one or numerous Vietnam combat tours of six months each. Comrades remarked at a dinner presentation in Baltimore that that generation of warriors is considered by counterparts to be the strong initial foundation of the force.
Some told of hours-long firefights and seeing others in their unit die. Others spoke of their reconnaissance and engineering tasks. Many stories were shared only among themselves.
Some in wheelchairs had visible reminders of their willingness to fight oversees. Others gave hints about past animosities or internal battles. (At Arlington’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, one SEAL was heard saying: “I have scars, but these days I have so many wrinkles, they cover them up.”)
Those interviewed expressed pride without regret for their arduous,…
This article was originally published by a timesofsandiego.com . Read the Original article here. .