1
00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:09,560
Time is a funny thing, and
as humans, we always seem to think

2
00:00:09,679 --> 00:00:14,640
we have some to generate, some
to waste, and none at all.

3
00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:19,199
It isn't until our lives dwindled down
to the last moments that we realized that

4
00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:23,920
time was always there, moving at
the same pace, and provided in the

5
00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:30,559
same finite amounts. It ever was
since birth, making time, wasting time,

6
00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:35,960
and not having time were never more
than a mirage smoking mist in a

7
00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:42,240
magician's mirror. Never has that been
more apparent to me than today. It's

8
00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:46,200
Father's Day and my dad and I
are spending it with my grandfather for what

9
00:00:46,359 --> 00:00:52,439
may be the last time. Grandfather's
health is failing. In the end,

10
00:00:52,679 --> 00:00:58,039
it's been time that we've given him. Time to relive his life through our

11
00:00:58,119 --> 00:01:02,320
memories, and time to go over
things and reassure him that he did it

12
00:01:02,439 --> 00:01:06,719
all right, and time to let
him tell us once more the stories that

13
00:01:06,879 --> 00:01:12,319
fascinated us through the years. My
grandfather is my hero. More than that,

14
00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:18,519
he's my best friend. We're a
military family, and as such,

15
00:01:18,599 --> 00:01:23,079
we've lived all over the country.
From age five until I graduated, my

16
00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:27,400
grandfather would pick me up the day
after school let out and take me on

17
00:01:27,599 --> 00:01:33,040
Grand adventures all over the world until
it was time to bring me back to

18
00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:38,439
start school again in the fall.
Together, We've been on safari in Africa.

19
00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:42,920
We've seen temples and ridden elephants and
looked at tigers in the wilds of

20
00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:48,359
India. We've gone scuba diving off
the Great Barrier Reef and dug in the

21
00:01:48,439 --> 00:01:53,760
ruins of Egypt. Grandfather taught me
to hunt and fish, and track and

22
00:01:53,799 --> 00:01:57,959
trap, and climb mountains and drive, and even to fly a plane and

23
00:01:57,079 --> 00:02:04,120
skydive. Because of him, I've
done more in the last fifteen years than

24
00:02:04,159 --> 00:02:08,879
most people have done in a lifetime. This is a tradition in our family,

25
00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:13,759
and when my grandfather was a boy, his grandfather did the same for

26
00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:19,240
him. That man was a hero
among heroes. His name was Lawrence.

27
00:02:20,759 --> 00:02:24,319
My grandfather loves to tell me how
his grandfather, Lawrence, lied about his

28
00:02:24,439 --> 00:02:30,680
age and volunteered for the cavalry at
the age of sixteen so he could fight

29
00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:36,639
in the Spanish American War. He
was one of Teddy Roosevelt's rough riders and

30
00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:43,439
eventually became a trusted friend of the
future president. A bond forms between soldiers

31
00:02:43,599 --> 00:02:47,039
when they fought side by side and
it's a brotherhood that lasts the lifetime.

32
00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:54,080
Grandpa Lawrence formed that bond with four
of his fellow cavalrymen. They were all

33
00:02:54,120 --> 00:03:00,639
there with Teddy Roosevelt when he charged
up San Juan Hill. Jack was a

34
00:03:00,719 --> 00:03:05,479
Navajo who took a bullet that would
have otherwise struck Roosevelt's horse, and he

35
00:03:05,599 --> 00:03:09,439
survived because the other four men rushed
forward, providing cover for their friend.

36
00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:15,719
And Frank was from New York,
and he spoke with that clipped accent that

37
00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:19,560
made him sound cold and uncaring,
but he had the heart of a lion

38
00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:23,520
and the loyalty of a wolf.
He was the first to move when Jack

39
00:03:23,639 --> 00:03:30,560
was hit. Billy was a Texan. They all called him Cowboy. His

40
00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:36,680
slow Southern drawl was a thin disguise
for his lightning reflexes and excellent marksmanship.

41
00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:40,639
And while the others fired rounds to
distract their enemies and hopefully hit a few,

42
00:03:42,199 --> 00:03:46,199
cowboys sharp eye and rapid fire and
deadly aim brought down anyone who stuck

43
00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:51,919
their head out even for a second. But it was Tommy who fought the

44
00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:57,240
hardest. He was a member of
the tenth Cavalry, the Buffalo Soldiers,

45
00:03:58,879 --> 00:04:04,319
the Spanish American War was an integrated
fight, and volunteers fought alongside regulars,

46
00:04:04,319 --> 00:04:11,639
and blacks fought beside whites. Some
eight thousand American soldiers pushed hard for over

47
00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:16,680
two weeks to capture the San Juan
Heights outside Santiago to Cuba. Men bled

48
00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:21,839
and died together in that charge.
Rank and color ran as one in the

49
00:04:21,879 --> 00:04:28,879
scorching heat and driving reins. There
were no whites. Only signs hung outside

50
00:04:28,959 --> 00:04:33,759
any hastily dug latrines, and the
only question that mattered was who side are

51
00:04:33,839 --> 00:04:39,639
you on. Tommy was on the
side of his friends Lawrence, Jack,

52
00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:45,839
Frank, and Cowboy, and they
were on his A few days ago when

53
00:04:45,879 --> 00:04:49,600
grandfather told us that story one last
time, he sighed and took a deep,

54
00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:54,920
ragged breath that caught on a lump
in his throat before saying, my

55
00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:59,800
grandfather was as proud to call tommy
friend as he ever was of any man.

56
00:05:00,959 --> 00:05:06,079
The bond between these men was well
and truly set. After the war,

57
00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:11,120
Roosevelt won his bid for the highest
office in the land, and in

58
00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:15,519
his book The Rough Riders, he
was not kind about the role played by

59
00:05:15,519 --> 00:05:19,720
the Buffalo soldiers during that battle.
He even went so far as to state

60
00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:25,720
that they were quote shirkers in their
duties, only going so far as they

61
00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:32,839
were led. Historical evidence proves otherwise. Despite his personal feelings toward men of

62
00:05:32,879 --> 00:05:39,240
color from the Oval Office, Roosevelt
placed Lawrence and his four friends, including

63
00:05:39,319 --> 00:05:44,759
Tommy, into positions inside the White
House and close to him. The men

64
00:05:44,879 --> 00:05:49,639
would most likely have never lost touch, but working together insured it. Even

65
00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:55,399
after they retired, they remained close. They began to travel together and explore

66
00:05:55,439 --> 00:06:00,439
the world outside of the United States, and just like my grandfather took me,

67
00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:05,759
my grandfather and Jack's grandson went along
to share their adventures. The two

68
00:06:05,759 --> 00:06:11,800
boys had the advantage of experience and
knowledge of all five men as they ventured

69
00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:17,120
out into the same amazing places and
embarked on the same fantastic journeys my grandfather

70
00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:23,360
would eventually take. There was only
one place that they went that I never

71
00:06:23,439 --> 00:06:29,480
got to see. It was the
Amazon. There they traveled up stream and

72
00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:33,800
fish for some of the largest freshwater
fish in the world. My grandfather often

73
00:06:33,879 --> 00:06:40,160
spoke of Lawrence's many trips to the
Brazilian rainforest and all the exciting things that

74
00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:44,800
happened when he went, but he
never spoke much of his own trip to

75
00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:48,120
the Amazon, except to say that
he'd caught some really big fish there.

76
00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:55,639
For me, the Amazon was mecca. Fishing is one of my greatest joys.

77
00:06:56,279 --> 00:07:00,319
My grandfather had taken me fishing for
marlin off Cabo San Lucas in Baja

78
00:07:00,319 --> 00:07:05,399
California. In the Big Island of
Hawaii, we'd fish for goliath grouper near

79
00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:11,879
shipwrecks in the Bahamas. But grandfather
never took me to the Amazon. I

80
00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:15,319
can't say I was hurt that he
never took me there. I guess I

81
00:07:15,399 --> 00:07:20,680
was just disappointed. Over time,
Lawrence and his friends grew older, until

82
00:07:20,839 --> 00:07:26,360
one by one they all passed away. Lawrence was the last to go.

83
00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:32,120
He died on my grandfather's twenty ninth
birthday, and even sadder, grandfather was

84
00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:38,399
in Vietnam fighting his own Generations War
at the time. It couldn't be helped,

85
00:07:38,519 --> 00:07:42,639
but it was something he never forgave
himself for. He felt he should

86
00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:46,079
have been there for his grandfather's final
days, and it left a massive hole

87
00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:53,040
in his soul. It was this
grief that prompted my grandfather to volunteer for

88
00:07:53,079 --> 00:07:58,759
another tour in the Boondock. Guilt
drove him to volunteer for the most dangerous

89
00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:03,399
missions. He didn't care if he
made it back home. He'd let his

90
00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:09,839
hero down. As the last helicopters
were flying out of Saigon, my grandfather

91
00:08:09,959 --> 00:08:13,959
was on the ground helping load them. It didn't matter to him if there

92
00:08:13,959 --> 00:08:16,519
would be room for him on the
next chopper. He had nothing to go

93
00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:22,319
home too. His mind was leisured
on the task at hand, but his

94
00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:26,839
thoughts were at the grave of the
greatest man he ever knew. Of course,

95
00:08:26,879 --> 00:08:31,519
he did make it on to one
of those helicopters, despite his overwhelming

96
00:08:31,639 --> 00:08:35,679
sorrow. When it came time and
the seat was open, he jumped in.

97
00:08:37,039 --> 00:08:41,200
Somewhere inside he knew it was his
grandfather's hand that pushed him, and

98
00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:48,320
that small glimmer of realization was what
he needed to keep going. Back in

99
00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:52,600
the States, he used some of
Lawrence's contacts to land a government job.

100
00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:56,960
I never quite knew what branch of
the government grandfather worked for. He wouldn't

101
00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:01,480
say, and in those years,
what mattered most to him was bringing Lawrence

102
00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:07,080
back to life in his own mind. Over the years, I often wondered

103
00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:11,080
if his interest in me stemmed from
his knee to relive those days of his

104
00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:16,240
youth when his grandfather took him on
all those amazing journeys. It is for

105
00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:22,080
this reason that I'm sitting down by
his bed now. I won't chase my

106
00:09:22,159 --> 00:09:28,279
grandfather's memory like he did Lawrence.
Grandfather can't do much anymore. He needs

107
00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:31,879
constant care. It probably won't be
much longer before he goes, but who

108
00:09:31,919 --> 00:09:37,960
can say whether it's tomorrow or next
year. I will be at his side.

109
00:09:37,639 --> 00:09:41,799
I'll be here for him. Then
when he's gone, I'll enlist in

110
00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:46,480
the Air Force, and his memory
will be a comfort, not a specter.

111
00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:52,679
My grandfather's age and health have limited
his activities, but his mind is

112
00:09:52,759 --> 00:09:58,440
strong. We can't jump a plane
and head off to the Serengetti or Nepal,

113
00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:03,039
but we can relive those times when
he did. Over the years,

114
00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:07,080
grandfather kept journals of the adventures he
had as a boy with his grandfather and

115
00:10:07,159 --> 00:10:11,879
later with me, and it was
a habit he picked up from Lawrence,

116
00:10:11,919 --> 00:10:16,639
who kept his own journals. We've
been taking turns reading them from these past

117
00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:22,679
few weeks. It always begins the
same, pull a journal off the shelf,

118
00:10:22,799 --> 00:10:28,600
Grandfather will say, I'll walk over
and reach for one of the leather

119
00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:33,000
bound note books that fill the entire
shelf of the built in bookcase, and

120
00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:35,799
I'll hold it up for him to
see, and he'll squint across the room

121
00:10:35,879 --> 00:10:39,440
at it, issue a low hmmm, and then say, yes, that

122
00:10:39,519 --> 00:10:45,480
one. If I remember correctly,
that's when we were in And he finishes

123
00:10:45,639 --> 00:10:50,200
with whatever time that particular journal represents, and then I'll go over and sit

124
00:10:50,279 --> 00:10:54,519
by his bed and open the book
and begin to read. I don't know

125
00:10:54,559 --> 00:11:00,559
why I bother to hold them up
for grandfather's approval. No matter which books

126
00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:05,399
I pull, he always agrees.
Only once did I hold up a book

127
00:11:05,399 --> 00:11:07,960
that he responded with a no,
not that one. Put that one back.

128
00:11:09,759 --> 00:11:13,360
I won't deny that. I was
a little bewildered by his reaction to

129
00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:16,679
that. It wasn't his words,
it was the look on his face.

130
00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:22,279
There was something in that book he
didn't want me to read. I slipped

131
00:11:22,279 --> 00:11:26,799
it back into its place on a
shelf and made a mental note not to

132
00:11:26,799 --> 00:11:33,240
touch it again. And then yesterday
grandfather said, pull a journal off the

133
00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:39,480
shelf, just like he always does. I walked over, but before I

134
00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:41,480
could put my hands on one,
he added, get the black one.

135
00:11:43,159 --> 00:11:48,039
And I looked back at him in
confusion. There was only one black leather

136
00:11:48,159 --> 00:11:50,360
book in the lot, and that
was the one he told me to put

137
00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:56,159
back. Grandfather studied my face for
a minute, and then he said,

138
00:11:56,519 --> 00:12:01,080
yes, that one. He spoke
with resignation, as though he knew this

139
00:12:01,159 --> 00:12:05,639
time would come and he couldn't put
it off any longer. Bring it here,

140
00:12:05,759 --> 00:12:09,200
he said. So I placed it
in his hand, and with a

141
00:12:09,279 --> 00:12:13,000
sigh, he let the pages fall
open, and he began to thumb through

142
00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:18,399
them, squinting and frowning through his
reading glasses as he glanced at first page

143
00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:22,440
one and then another. Here,
he said, handing the journal back to

144
00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:28,799
me. Start here. The pages
were worn and had begun to fade.

145
00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:35,279
Unfortunately, Grandfather writes with a bold, clear script, so I had little

146
00:12:35,279 --> 00:12:39,840
difficulty in reading the words. The
entry began the summer my father joined the

147
00:12:39,919 --> 00:12:45,679
Navy, and Grandfather decided to go
back to Brazil that year, back to

148
00:12:45,759 --> 00:12:50,080
the river where he and Jack's grandson
had caught so many fish back in his

149
00:12:50,159 --> 00:12:54,360
youth. He was still chasing Lawrence, and in the journal he wrote about

150
00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:58,720
his hopes of reconnecting with those memories
and how they might fill that hole that

151
00:12:58,799 --> 00:13:03,840
still felt empty. He found a
local guide to take him up the river

152
00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:07,840
to one of the remote villages where
he could find a native that might be

153
00:13:07,919 --> 00:13:13,879
better suited to take him deep into
the rainforest, where he wanted so desperately

154
00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:18,759
to recapture that time he'd spent with
his grandfather. A week later, he

155
00:13:18,919 --> 00:13:22,919
was in a wooden, dugout canoe
with a motor attached that had been pieced

156
00:13:22,919 --> 00:13:28,360
together from so many different parts that
it looked like it could double as a

157
00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:31,559
blender, a lawnmower, or a
ceiling fan. As the need arose,

158
00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:39,120
he and his new native guide went
upstream for days. They fished for hours

159
00:13:39,159 --> 00:13:43,399
on d and they ate what they
caught and passed stories back and forth across

160
00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:50,519
the fire. The guide talked about
five American men and the two young boys

161
00:13:50,519 --> 00:13:54,240
who came to the river so many
years earlier. They'd brought food to the

162
00:13:54,279 --> 00:13:58,399
area that many of the people there, with their limited access to the outside

163
00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:05,039
world, knew little about. Grandfather
smiled to himself and the knowledge that he

164
00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:09,639
was one of those two young boys. On the thirty fifth day, the

165
00:14:09,639 --> 00:14:13,320
guide offered to take him to a
hidden lake where he knew there would be

166
00:14:13,399 --> 00:14:20,919
a monster arapima only a few men
knew of the lake's existence. They traveled

167
00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:24,960
for nine hours up a small stream
when they began to see the skulls and

168
00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:31,120
hides of howler monkeys hanging in the
trees overhead. The banks were covered in

169
00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:35,039
strange markings made from the blood of
the monkeys, and the guide immediately turned

170
00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:39,519
the boat around. This area has
been cleaned by the snake people, he

171
00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:46,799
told my grandfather. We can't go
here. What grandfather asking confusion, why

172
00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:52,200
not? Who are the snake people? Unable to understand the god's sudden fear,

173
00:14:52,279 --> 00:14:56,799
he continued to bombard him with questions
about the snake people and why they

174
00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:01,519
couldn't keep going. The guide wouldn't
resp spond beyond telling grandfather to hush or

175
00:15:01,559 --> 00:15:05,919
to lower his voice, and finally
he said, we need to get as

176
00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:11,720
fast and as far away from here
as possible, but he refused any other

177
00:15:11,879 --> 00:15:18,080
explanations. Time and its infinite mystery
moved at a snail's pace as they made

178
00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:22,879
their slow, laborous way back down
the stream, and with lightning speed,

179
00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:28,399
as the sun sank into the west, night fell over them with the weight

180
00:15:28,519 --> 00:15:33,720
of a steamroller. The snakes and
caman they knew surrounded them made continuing on

181
00:15:35,039 --> 00:15:39,720
too dangerous. They had no choice
but to stop for the night. They

182
00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:43,960
pulled the boat to the bank and
put out their bed rolls, but the

183
00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:48,120
guide refused to light a fire,
and they quickly fell into an exhausted sleep.

184
00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:54,720
Sometime in the middle of the night, a loud scream split the air

185
00:15:54,759 --> 00:16:00,759
and brought both men wide awake.
Grandfather's mind raced through a catalog of animal

186
00:16:00,799 --> 00:16:04,200
calls as he tried to identify the
creature that could make such a powerful sound.

187
00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:10,440
The Guide jumped from his bedroll and
sprinted off into the jungle, leaving

188
00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:15,200
Grandfather there to face the unknown assailant
alone well. His immediate reaction was to

189
00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:21,960
try and follow the guide through the
black mire of vegetation. Tree branches and

190
00:16:22,039 --> 00:16:27,600
briar limbs clawed at Grandfather's face and
arms, and spiderwebs burst like fireworks and

191
00:16:27,679 --> 00:16:32,960
fell down over his body. As
he ran through them, the holes grew

192
00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:38,679
louder and more intense. Not one
creature, not too but many, too

193
00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:45,919
many were closing in on him as
he became increasingly disoriented in the dense foliage.

194
00:16:47,039 --> 00:16:49,440
Suddenly, something struck him in the
head from behind, and his mind

195
00:16:49,639 --> 00:16:56,720
went as black as the world around
him. When Grandfather next opened his eyes,

196
00:16:56,799 --> 00:17:02,440
the jungle was inverted. The haze
a brain filled with too much blood

197
00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:07,799
and made logical thought difficult. It
was the raw discomfort in his ankles that

198
00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:12,240
made him realize that he was hanging
upside down. Focus his mind was telling

199
00:17:12,319 --> 00:17:18,519
him think, Keeping his eyes closed
to no more than a slit. He

200
00:17:18,559 --> 00:17:22,559
glanced around him, and he was
in a clearing. He saw his guide

201
00:17:22,599 --> 00:17:29,920
sobbing thirty feet away. Focus his
mind repeated, the guide was alive,

202
00:17:30,279 --> 00:17:34,599
and that had to be a good
sign. And then Grandfather realized that the

203
00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:40,640
guide's legs had been severed off to
stumps and cauterized to stop the bleeding.

204
00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:47,599
With all his might, Grandfather fought
back any reaction that might reveal that he

205
00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:52,440
was alert. He had to assess
their situation and to formulate a plan.

206
00:17:52,359 --> 00:17:59,079
Think, his brain whispered. As
he hung there. Three little creatures approached

207
00:17:59,119 --> 00:18:03,599
the guide and licked the burnt stumps
of his legs. They walked on two

208
00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:07,079
feet, like humans, but they
were no more than three feet tall.

209
00:18:08,079 --> 00:18:12,240
Their skin was a dull greenish brown, and it appeared to be made up

210
00:18:12,279 --> 00:18:17,599
of scales and where their ears should
have been. There was some sort of

211
00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:22,880
bronze plated scales, and their legs
were shaped like a kangaroo's, ending in

212
00:18:22,079 --> 00:18:27,039
large, three toed feet. They
had long, thick tails that they dragged

213
00:18:27,039 --> 00:18:33,279
behind them. Their heads were reptilian
instead of noses. They had two slits

214
00:18:34,319 --> 00:18:40,079
no lips formed around the mouths through
which their long forked tongues darted in and

215
00:18:40,119 --> 00:18:45,559
out. And Grandfather took it all
in for a minute as the words snake

216
00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:51,319
people formulated in his mind. This
is what his guide meant when he said

217
00:18:51,319 --> 00:18:56,400
that the area had been claimed by
the snake people. In the distance,

218
00:18:56,480 --> 00:19:00,759
the morning light was beginning to break
through the canopy of the jungle, revealing

219
00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:06,319
others moving about. They were like
the little creatures tasting as guide, only

220
00:19:06,359 --> 00:19:11,319
they were more than twice as big
and heavily built. Some sort of vocal

221
00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:15,119
command rang out, and the little
creatures ran off to join the others,

222
00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:21,200
before all of them vanished into the
jungle, and Grandfather slipped back into unconsciousness.

223
00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:26,680
The sweltering sun was directly overhead when
he was shaken awake by a young

224
00:19:26,759 --> 00:19:32,359
man in a tan uniform with black
boots and a cowboy hat. Keep quiet,

225
00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:36,079
he whispered, and we'll get you
out of here, and his hands

226
00:19:36,079 --> 00:19:38,759
were cut free first, and then
he fell to the ground with a thud.

227
00:19:41,039 --> 00:19:45,319
The stranger immediately pulled at Grandfather's shirt, indicating that he should follow,

228
00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:49,920
but instead Grandfather turned to his guide. No, the stranger commanded, there

229
00:19:51,039 --> 00:19:53,680
is no hope for him. There's
only death here if you don't follow me.

230
00:19:53,799 --> 00:19:59,359
This instant, it was the tick
of a single second on a clock.

231
00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:03,759
His grandfather looked at his God,
then he looked back at the stranger.

232
00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:11,000
Self preservation won the day as Grandfather
followed the man into the bush.

233
00:20:11,039 --> 00:20:15,480
They moved with stealth, and Grandfather
struggled to keep up with his God,

234
00:20:15,599 --> 00:20:19,680
until finally the realization of what he
had done overcame him, and he fell

235
00:20:19,759 --> 00:20:26,960
to his knees silent agonied. Sobs
racked his shoulders as he mentally pleaded with

236
00:20:26,039 --> 00:20:30,640
God for forgiveness for having left the
God behind, and the stranger stood guard

237
00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:36,759
over him until he regained his composure. Once he was back to his feet,

238
00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:41,200
they resumed their trek through the rainforest. After about an hour, his

239
00:20:41,319 --> 00:20:45,759
savior said, we're far enough away
now that we can move quickly without fear

240
00:20:45,799 --> 00:20:51,160
of being heard. We must put
as much distance between us and them as

241
00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:56,200
we can, so we'll have to
run now. The younger man set a

242
00:20:56,279 --> 00:21:02,359
grueling pace, but not so fast
that Grandfather couldn't keep up. He glided

243
00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:06,839
through the jungle without faltering, moving
with the sure footedness of a man who

244
00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:11,640
knew his turf. He never looked
back. He didn't have to. Somehow

245
00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:18,519
he knew that Grandfather was there behind
him. The temperature rose to over one

246
00:21:18,559 --> 00:21:22,759
hundred degrees fahrenheit, and the humidity
grew so dense it gurgled in their lungs,

247
00:21:23,119 --> 00:21:27,839
and the young men never broke a
sweat. They ran for hours.

248
00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:33,359
On occasion, the Savior would stop
for a minute to allow Grandfather of the

249
00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:36,920
chance to drink some water, need
a piece of fruit, or a handful

250
00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:42,039
of berries that always seemed to miraculously
present themselves on a stump, and then

251
00:21:42,119 --> 00:21:48,400
they were running again. They ran
until the sky grew dim. We're going

252
00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:51,880
to have to find a place to
hide for the night, the Savior said,

253
00:21:52,599 --> 00:21:56,160
and he looked around and found a
vine hanging from a canopy. He

254
00:21:56,200 --> 00:22:00,359
grabbed it and the two men climbed
one hundred feet straight up. The younger

255
00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:04,759
man ascended with ease, using only
his arms to pull his body upward.

256
00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:11,000
For grandfather, it wasn't so easy. He considered himself to be in remarkable

257
00:22:11,079 --> 00:22:15,680
shape, but it still took him
quite a bit longer to reach their hiding

258
00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:18,880
place in the trees. But once
he caught his breath, he began to

259
00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:23,279
ask questions. Who are you?
Was the first. You can call me

260
00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:27,480
soldier, was the answer, and
then he added, they will be hunting

261
00:22:27,559 --> 00:22:33,119
us now they have your sin.
He waited for a second to let his

262
00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:37,200
words seek in before continuing, they
are far better at moving through the jungle

263
00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:41,599
than humans, with a great deal
more speed. We'll have to use trickery

264
00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:47,279
and luck if we want to get
out of here with our skins. Grandfather

265
00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:52,359
thought for a minute before he asked, what are they ah, The soldier

266
00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:56,599
sighed, they've been around for a
long time. He explained to my grandfather

267
00:22:56,759 --> 00:23:03,200
that they once existed throughout Mexico.
In Central America. The Incas and Mayas

268
00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:08,000
and Aztecs worshiped them as gods,
and then the Spanish came and brought smallpox

269
00:23:08,079 --> 00:23:15,559
and measles, and their population was
nearly destroyed. They migrated to Brazil and

270
00:23:15,599 --> 00:23:18,680
made their home in the deepest parts
of the rainforest, away from all white

271
00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:26,359
men and their illnesses. Shortly after
dark, Soldier tied grandfather to the tree

272
00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:30,799
so he could sleep without falling.
He was awakened to the call of a

273
00:23:30,839 --> 00:23:37,240
bob white quail in the distance.
Immediately, Soldier placed his hand over grandfather's

274
00:23:37,319 --> 00:23:41,279
mouth and put his finger to his
own lips to indicate that he needed to

275
00:23:41,319 --> 00:23:45,039
remain silent. There was a commotion
on the jungle floor, and more quail

276
00:23:45,079 --> 00:23:52,160
whistles moving away from them. It
was half an hour before the soldier spoke.

277
00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:55,799
That was a close one, he
said, I didn't expect the Cucko

278
00:23:55,960 --> 00:24:00,839
klan to move so fast. What
made them move on? Father asked,

279
00:24:00,839 --> 00:24:03,440
as he made a mental note of
the name soldier had given the creatures.

280
00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:08,640
That was my friends. They lured
him away, answered the soldier. The

281
00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:12,160
rest of the night was restless,
and as soon as the sun broke through

282
00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:17,119
the canopy, the two were back
on the ground and running farther away from

283
00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:21,720
the river and deeper into the jungle. The Cuckoo clan will be watching the

284
00:24:21,839 --> 00:24:26,119
river, Soldier told my grandfather.
They could outswim anything with those big tails.

285
00:24:27,799 --> 00:24:32,680
Over the next several days, they
ran hard, stopping only when they

286
00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:37,920
came to the food that was laid
out for them by Soldier's friends. Sometimes

287
00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:41,680
it was fish and other times it
was meat, but mostly it was fruit.

288
00:24:41,839 --> 00:24:47,720
Soldier told grandfather that his friends were
luring the snake people away from them,

289
00:24:48,519 --> 00:24:52,039
and when they heard North American owls
or eagles or the winning of a

290
00:24:52,119 --> 00:24:56,480
horse, that meant the cuckoo clon
were close, then they'd be off chasing

291
00:24:56,519 --> 00:25:03,759
ghosts, and my grandfather and soldier
would escape. A week passed before Soldier

292
00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:07,279
reported that the Kuka Klon had given
up their hunt and returned to their people.

293
00:25:08,079 --> 00:25:11,039
It would be okay now to take
him to safety, but that it

294
00:25:11,079 --> 00:25:15,720
would take another two weeks to get
there. As the two men made their

295
00:25:15,759 --> 00:25:22,359
way back to civilization, my grandfather
regalls soldier with tales of his adventures with

296
00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:26,599
his grandfather. In turn, the
soldier told grandfather many tales of his own

297
00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:32,440
adventures and spoke with great knowledge of
different books from the Bible and of the

298
00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:37,319
Holy Wars. In the Middle East. The rainforest isn't famous for its great

299
00:25:37,319 --> 00:25:41,960
halls of learning, yet this man
had knowledge that few men possessed, and

300
00:25:42,039 --> 00:25:47,119
when grandfather pressed him for information on
how he came to know these things,

301
00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:52,680
he would change the subject. Grandfather
also noticed that soldier never really got dirty,

302
00:25:53,279 --> 00:25:59,200
nor did his clothes show much wear. Grandfather's clothes were beginning to look

303
00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:03,680
tattered and full of holes. A
friendship form between the two men, and

304
00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:08,519
for the first time since Lawrence's death, Grandfather began to feel that that hole

305
00:26:08,799 --> 00:26:15,160
was closing inside of him. One
day, they came to a large clear

306
00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:19,599
cut area where soldiers stopped. He
turned and looked directly at my grandfather and

307
00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:23,359
said, I can't go any further, but there's a group of men ahead

308
00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:27,680
who will see you to safety.
He paused for a moment and then added,

309
00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:33,279
you can never return to the Amazon. The Kucko Klon will forever know

310
00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:37,200
your set, and they will haunt
you down. Then he told grandfather that

311
00:26:37,279 --> 00:26:42,279
he had enjoyed their time together and
added one last thought, I will forever

312
00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:49,079
be with you. Grandfather, who
had been looking towards the horizon, turned

313
00:26:49,079 --> 00:26:56,319
at this and found himself looking at
five young soldiers. Three were white men,

314
00:26:56,880 --> 00:27:00,240
one was an Indian, and the
last was a large black man man.

315
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:04,519
It was then the grandfather knew that
he had just spent all those days

316
00:27:04,599 --> 00:27:10,720
with his grandfather, while the others
had provided cover, just like they had

317
00:27:10,759 --> 00:27:15,240
done for Jack on San Juan Hill. As the men faded in front of

318
00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:19,839
him, he heard Lawrence's voice in
his head, Tell your father that I

319
00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:26,400
love him and I'll be waiting on
you on the other side. As grandfather

320
00:27:26,559 --> 00:27:30,839
crossed the clearing to safety, his
heart sang with the knowledge that he had

321
00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:36,759
been given all that time with Lawrence. He only wished he'd realized it sooner.

322
00:27:37,279 --> 00:27:41,400
Even so, all that weight that
he'd been caring for so long was

323
00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:45,519
lifted from his shoulders, and he
knew he had to build that same bond

324
00:27:45,559 --> 00:27:52,559
someday with his own grandson. I
will be eternally grateful for the time my

325
00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:56,200
grandfather has given me. I hope
that all men have a true hero and

326
00:27:56,279 --> 00:28:00,240
their lives like I have. S