Survival

Then-Corporal Kenneth “Rock” Merritt poses for a photo. (Courtesy Photo) During World War II, Kenneth “Rock” Merritt was aboard a plane that got lost over France. Here are his memories of his experiences in the Army from 1942-45. His words are as follows. … I was sworn into the Army on …

The crew of Little Eva bailed out of their B-24 Liberator over northern Australia in 1942. They spent the next four months trying to get out through flooded wilderness, tidal coastline, and river country. Not everyone made it. by Jose Campos The trees caught him hard enough to stop the …

The French Foreign Legion these days is more exclusive than it used to be. If there is an Interpol notice against you, for example, you won’t get through the gate. A century ago, however, a man who wanted to escape his past and assume a new identity could disappear into …

When a B-24 went down in subzero weather, one airman was stranded alone. by Jose Campos Lieutenant Leon Crane stood hip-deep in snow on a frozen Alaskan mountainside, watching what remained of his B-24 Liberator burn itself out on the slope above him. He shouted for the other men. The …

In 1942, Jack Sillito found himself alone in the Libyan desert, more than 100 miles from camp, with a flask of water that soon ran dry. What he did next became the standard every SAS soldier after him was measured against. by Gatimu Juma He raised the rock above his …

Investigators say false emergencies in the Himalayas had little to do with survival. by Gatimu Juma The radio call came in around noon from the approach to Everest Base Camp in Nepal. The tour guide spoke in urgent, desperate tones. A trekker was down. He was a British man in …

The first CIA officer killed in the line of duty rode for six months across deserts and mountains while escaping Communist China. by Stephen Caldwell Douglas Mackiernan rode at the front of the caravan, pushing his horse across the frozen Tibetan plateau. The animals were thin, the men exhausted, and …

Weak, burned, and alone, he drifted for months through shark-filled waters of the Atlantic. by Victor Hale The Atlantic Ocean was calm when Steven Callahan went to sleep. It was the kind of calm that convinces a solo sailor to trust his preparations. His 21-foot sloop, Napoleon Solo, rode low …

by Jose Campos The flight went bad in the high, thin air above North Carolina. Major William Rankin, who flew for the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II and Korea, was on a routine training hop in in his F-8U Crusader. He was an experienced pilot, and expected to …

by Gatimu Juma Publisher’s note: Gatimu Juma, who reports from the Horn of Africa, told me he was working on a story about the Al-Shabaab terror group. Nearly a year went by, and I couldn’t reach him. Finally he surfaced to tell me where he was all that time: convalescing. …