HAVING THE WORST THANKSGIVING DAY EVER WHILE TRYING TO EVADE ENEMY FORCES IN SPECIAL OPERATIONS SCHOOL
Steve Balestrieri | November 23, 2022
Way back in the day (or, as my son says, “before electricity), our 7th Special Forces Group was back from a deployment and we were stuck in a support cycle. Myself and another guy got ourselves put in a short course for some reserve Heavy Weapons guys. It was early November, and the weather was turning crappy in Ft. Bragg. Rainy, cold and raw.
But then the word came down that the Company was sending me to SERE School as, back then, it wasn’t part of the SFQC (Special Forces Qualification Course). Of course, no one wanted to take it because it would entail being out there over Thanksgiving. And back then, I was like the kid Mikey from the Life cereal commercials “Let’s give it to Mikey!, He’ll eat anything.” Yes indeed, “Steve never turns down a school.” So off to Camp Mackall I go. (I never said I was smart.)
We had a pretty eclectic class. About a dozen guys from 7th SFG, a bunch of pilots from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment “Night Stalkers,” three Air Force Pararescuemen, a few crew chiefs from the 160th, and two Rangers from the 1st Ranger Battalion.
One of the best parts of our class was having former SF POW Dan Pitzer speak to us one day. Dan was captured by the Viet Cong in 1963 along with Colonel Nick Rowe who started the SERE Course. Pitzer was a tremendous person and totally laid back. He spoke in a quiet, steady tone and described his years of “benevolent, humane treatment” by the Viet Cong.
As he described his treatment, the room was totally silent. You could hear a pin drop, and it seemed that everyone was leaning forward in their chairs to catch the next word. His words were pretty prophetic, although we didn’t realize it at the time.
https://www.sandboxx.us/blog/having-the-worst-thanksgiving-day-ever-while-trying-to-evade-enemy-forces-in-special-operations-school/
