WEBVTT

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