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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Tuesday, July 5, 2005

Secretive unit quietly mourns

By Tony Perry
Los Angeles Times

CORONADO, Calif. — The music was loud and the beer was flowing, but there was an undercurrent of sadness this weekend at McP's, a legendary hangout for Navy SEALs. One of the U.S. military's smallest and most secretive combat units, the SEALs have just suffered the biggest single-day death toll in their history.

Eight SEALs, including three stationed at Pearl Harbor, were confirmed killed last week in the crash of a Chinook helicopter in the snowy mountains of Afghanistan. And the news got worse last night.

Although one SEAL who was part of a team that the troops on the Chinook were sent to rescue has been found alive, two others reportedly are dead and a fourth is missing.

"The entire SEAL community is devastated," said a SEAL who, true to SEAL secrecy, would give his name only as David. "It's devastating but it's also humbling. It shows you how dangerous this job is."

McP's, located a block from the famed Hotel del Coronado, is a short drive from the SEALs' base, one of two main SEAL bases in the United States.

The SEALs were formed in 1963 at the urging of President Kennedy. Until last week's helicopter crash killed eight SEALs and eight Army soldiers, the largest loss of life among the Navy commandos was during the Vietnam war when five SEALs were killed in a helicopter crash.

In 1983 four SEALs drowned during the U.S. offensive in Grenada, and in 1989 four were killed in a firefight as U.S. forces in Panama captured Gen. Manuel Noriega. No SEALs have been reported killed in Iraq or during the Persian Gulf War of 1991.

The SEALs killed in the Chinook crash were from squads based at Pearl Harbor and Virginia Beach, Va. There has been no announcement where the missing SEALs were stationed.

"We're a small community, very tight, and everybody feels each loss," said Brian Cooper, who retired last year as a SEAL and comes to McP's to see buddies who are still on active duty.

It's here that SEALs come when they return from an overseas mission. This is the place where newly initiated SEALs celebrate after completing the grueling 26-week basic training at the Naval Special Warfare Center here.

Owned by former SEAL Greg McPartlin, the walls of McP's are covered with SEAL memorabilia, including a picture of McPartlin and his SEAL team in Vietnam. Navy blue T-shirts are sold with the name of the bar and the words "U.S. Navy SEALs."

Split between West Coast and East Coast teams, there are 2,400 SEALs, backed by 600 special warfare combat craft crewmen and 2,000 support personnel.

The Bush administration wants to increase the SEALs by 15 percent. The dropout rate during SEALs training is said to exceed 50 percent. To encourage SEALs to re-enlist, bonuses of more than $45,000 are offered.

Even by the standards of other special operations units, the SEALs — the name comes from sea, air and land — are secretive. In Iraq and Afghanistan, reporters traveling with Army and Marine Corps units are required to promise not to mention the presence of SEALs.

In war zones, the SEALs avoid wearing recognizable insignia, but McP T-shirts are often a giveaway.

Even before the U.S. invasion, SEALs had slipped quietly into Iraq, assessing the strength of bridges and roads, testing the Euphrates and Tigris rivers for poison gas. SEALs seized important dams, secured oil fields, and assisted in the rescue of Army Pvt. Jessica Lynch.

SEALs were assigned to work with the CIA to capture suspected terrorists, a fact unknown until eight SEALs were accused of mistreating prisoners. The charges were handled administratively; in the only court-martial, a SEAL lieutenant was acquitted last month by a jury whose foreman was a SEAL officer.

The mission in Afghanistan was one for which the SEALs are known to train extensively, rescuing and reinforcing other troops in rugged terrain surrounded by enemy forces.

The SEAL named David said that he believes the deaths in Afghanistan will only increase the desire of SEALs to "get into the action."

"It will show the guys that this thing isn't over," he said. "I don't know a guy who isn't motivated to get over there."

Cooper agreed. "I think the general mood is 'mourn quickly and move on,' " he said. "There's a job to be done."