Fisher Cat
New member
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2007
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I would like to stick with the article and mention that the efforts, sacrifice, and pure guts of SAR are to be heralded. It has been many years since I have been involved, mostly the late 80's and into the 90's. "Its the New Hampshire way" are the only words I can agree with that truly sum it up. I remember growing up, whenever there was an incident in the Whites, be it injury or fatality, my parents would break out the article in the Democrat and Reporter, and we would break it down to see where the mistakes had been made. Not all were mistakes, the mountains take without mercy at times, as it has been said. But as I grew up, its what I wanted to be involved with, going out there and getting the job done, regardless of where the hiker was from, or even the reason why, I went out without question. My only explanation being, if I was out there in the same plight, I would want someone out there looking for me, without prejudice, without judgement. My family knew the Dow's, and I can remember the effect that had on friends and the community.
Times have changed, especially with the tools available. Seems like in the past, it was more of guessing where a lost or injured hiker would go, just on intuition alone.That being said, I've never regretted a single SAR, though as I mentioned, its been years. I went out to recover the bodies of the plane crash with the Texans' in 90, and spent days looking for a local community member, only to find out he wasn't lost in the woods, he had gone deep into the woods to end his life. It was both tragic and startling to see, but it brought closure.
And that's what SAR does, brings closure, good or bad, whether its a rescue or a recovery. I was involved in an out-of-state SAR several years ago and quite frankly, I was shocked to see what happens when personnel are not trained or experienced when it comes to getting an unconcious medically hampered hiker out of the woods. It made me all the more proud of my upbringing, volunteerism, and of the current SAR teams that are out there using the latest technology and equipment, but using the most important tools of all, heart and courage. And if there was a fee to help support them, you bet your sweet you-know-what I would pay it.
Times have changed, especially with the tools available. Seems like in the past, it was more of guessing where a lost or injured hiker would go, just on intuition alone.That being said, I've never regretted a single SAR, though as I mentioned, its been years. I went out to recover the bodies of the plane crash with the Texans' in 90, and spent days looking for a local community member, only to find out he wasn't lost in the woods, he had gone deep into the woods to end his life. It was both tragic and startling to see, but it brought closure.
And that's what SAR does, brings closure, good or bad, whether its a rescue or a recovery. I was involved in an out-of-state SAR several years ago and quite frankly, I was shocked to see what happens when personnel are not trained or experienced when it comes to getting an unconcious medically hampered hiker out of the woods. It made me all the more proud of my upbringing, volunteerism, and of the current SAR teams that are out there using the latest technology and equipment, but using the most important tools of all, heart and courage. And if there was a fee to help support them, you bet your sweet you-know-what I would pay it.
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