SEAL Stories: Glimpses: SEAL Stories, #2

By Brett Hanson

One boy's stories about becoming a man in the US Navy SEAL Teams.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brett Hanson
• Release date: Feb 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393402831

Book preview

SEAL Stories

Glimpses - Part 1

True-Life Fiction Short Stories

Brett Hanson

Hanson Education Services

www.sealstories.com

Hanson Education Services

Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235

www.sealstories.com

 image1.png 2018 by Brett Hanson

All rights reserved. Do not print, share, or sell without direct, written permission.

 image1.png Cover Design by Brett Hanson

 image1.png All images are property of Brett Hanson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information stored and retrieval system, without permission in writing by the author.

Interior design and composition: Create Space

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN-13: 978-1724612182

ISBN-10: 1724612182 

Distributed by Hanson Education Services

Hanson, Brett.

SEAL Stories: Glimpses, True-Life Fiction Short Stories

p.  cm.

I..Coming of Age – Military II. Fiction

Copies of SEAL Stories: Glimpses, True-Life Fiction Short Stories can be downloaded through sealstories.com or amazon.com

Visit sealstories.com for more information.

Contents

Introduction        - 7 

The Interstate      - 11

The Ocean Swim - 35 

The Body Shop  - 65 

The Last Jump    - 87 

The First Day    - 113

More free stories at sealstories.com

Introduction

  I started writing true-life fiction stories based on memorable events I experienced in the Navy before publishing my first SEAL Stories book, A Boy’s Journey (a memoir designed to help young adults transition into adulthood using lessons I learned during my quest to become a SEAL.) That book, which has evolved into an educational program, grew out of my students’ requests that I tell my story, from homelessness to SEAL Team 4 to ethical manhood.

  This book is very different. For decades I’ve tried to tell people what I really learned while becoming a good man in the SEAL Teams. Not what I did, or why it was exciting, but what I got from it. It’s not what most people expect. True-life fiction allows storytellers to creatively explore real events in order to discover the meaning hidden within the deep complexities of our experiences. It has been decades since I started my boyhood quest, and I am still realizing what I learned and how I learned it.

  Each story is a glimpse into one of the most important moments in my young life; they are based in real experiences, but I expanded all of them to try to tell the entire story. The real story. For example, all the events, details, and characters (names changed for privacy) in The Final Jump are as true as I can remember, except for the Army captain and the interrogation, but the story wouldn’t be complete without him holding the protagonist accountable for his ignorance. The short-short story Green is the least factual, but might be the most real of all the stories. I will never forget the Green that so deeply affected that part of my life.

  Some of the stories needed re-creation because our memories just aren’t reliable. With each revision, trying to remember as much as possible while creating a dynamic reality, the stories became more important than the memories, more real. To be honest, I no longer fully believe any of my memories, especially not of the SEAL Teams, but that doesn’t make the experiences any less real. One of the responsibilities of a good storyteller is to find the appropriate balance between memory and meaning.

  The stories are listed chronologically, but can be read in any order (although Green is probably best read last). The only theme critical to understanding or relating to these glimpses of one young man’s life in the SEAL Teams is the complexity of becoming a good man in a violent world. I joined the SEAL Teams because I wanted to become a real man. And while running, dreaming, swimming, drinking, enduring, lusting, searching, shooting, questioning, watching, and growing, I learned many things about life and becoming a good person. Hopefully, you will glimpse some of them, because the truth about becoming a good, strong man in a deeply violent world is not what most people expect.

Glimpses

The Interstate

1 ‒ Chicago

  Ben went all the way over to get them. It didn’t really take that long to drive from Detroit to Chicago, just four or five hours in his mom’s minivan, but it still felt like a haul. Although he probably wouldn’t admit it, Ben wanted to make the drive. Things had changed. He’d been a model student-athlete before meeting Sean and Kyle.  Good grades, quarterback of the football team (although a little short for the position), a starter on the baseball team, the kind of nice kid Grosse Pointe could be proud of, and soon, one who’d move on to even better things. A perfect student in a perfect American suburb… Well, things had changed.

  The burgundy Astro-van looked like a tiny bread truck converted into a mobile family command center. The seats were permanently crumb-covered and food stained, worn from good use transporting him and his little sister to sporting events for years. The carpet was worn and the dash faded from eons of summer sun, but it had a first aid kit, an extra blanket, a good spare tire, the cassette player worked, and she’d said yes. They had told him to just wait outside the gate because it was too much hassle to get a day pass onto the base. But that was a lie. Truthfully, they just wanted to get off, to get going, to light it up. Today was their last day at Great Lakes Naval Base, hopefully forever. Although early summer now, they’d endured a Lake Michigan winter of dark days, darker nights, -50 degree wind chills, and half a year of regular Navy bullshit for a work designation they’d never use. They had no intention of fixing gun turrets or checking electrical wiring. They were both just ready to go anywhere else.

  Ben really wanted to see the base, as if anything was better than his mediocre college in middle America, the suburban two-story he’d spent so many years trying to escape, and his privileged social life of low-grade drinking parties and safe sex experiments with other bored, privileged kids. He’d just finished a long, dull ride in a minivan listening to high school mix tapes and dreaming about being 17 again, when the future seemed like a possibility, not a responsibility. I deserve a tour, he thought. He watched the gate guard, leaning on the frame just inside the door of the security building in his funny looking uniform, and wondered if he liked being in the Navy, wondered if he’d ever been overseas on an aircraft carrier or a destroyer. The guard looked young and bored. Ben knew he never wanted to be in the military, he just wanted to be able to say he’d seen something, something to add details to the stories he’d tell his college buddies. But when Sean and Kyle exited the gate with their duffle bags, overstuffed backpacks, and last minute shit jammed into sacks, he knew they weren’t going back on the base.

  Ben jumped out, Sean… Smasher! opening his arms wide, his Ray Ban’s dangling from one hand. Sean and Smasher (real name Kyle) both smiled, happy to see him and the Astrovan. Kyle looked at Ben, dropped the smile, and bluntly said, Open the back… let’s go!

  After tossing his stuff in the van, Sean hugged Ben, lifting him up off the ground for a second and then dropping him the few inches back to earth. Man, it’s good to see you. Thanks for coming.

  My pleasure. You sure I can’t see the base? I mean I did drive all the…

  Fuck no! Let’s go! Kyle was already getting into the passenger seat, so Sean hopped into the back.

  As Ben pulled out of the parking lot, Kyle added, It’s not what you think. Just a bunch of old buildings and guys dressed in ugly-assed pants. No guns. No girls! It’s bo-ring

  Which way do I go?

  To Chicago, dude. Thataway! Kyle said, pointing sort of south.

  Sean leaned up between the seats, Go to the next light, turn left, and you’ll see a sign to Highway 90. Then follow the directions to the loop. They had decided to treat Ben to an all-nighter in Chicago for picking them up and driving them back home for their two weeks of leave before reporting to BUDS.

  Did you bring any beer? Kyle asked.

  No, but I brought a cooler. Ben never bought the beer. He was only 19, but had always looked younger than he was and had always been scared of getting caught. I’ll pay.

  Pull in to the that store... Sean, get us some beer. Kyle gave him a twenty. Sean looked older than both Kyle and Ben, partially because he actually was older. At 20, he still wasn’t legal, but he’d never had trouble buying anything. He was smooth and confident at the counter and had a decent fake id, just in case, but he rarely needed it. Kyle always tried to intimidate clerks: Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t, so it was just easier for Sean to buy.

  No. Go to the next one, down on the left. It’s better. Sean walked into the mom and pop store, grabbed a bag of ice and a 30 pack of Strohs cans, and then laid the money down on the counter as he asked the kid, Do you have any Trident?

  Uhh, over there I guess. The clerk pointed to a snack rack as he focused way too hard on the buttons of his cash register. He didn’t really look at Sean much.

  Sean didn’t want the gum; it was just a distraction. As soon as he heard