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stay with the Duggan family. While they were there, Heather received a telephone call from Marcus Luttrell’s younger brother Morgan, who stated, “Marcus is all shot up! Marcus is all shot up!” The news devastated Heather. Jim took the phone from Heather and continued the conversation with Morgan. Morgan provided no additional information about Michael or any other member of the team. This did not go unnoticed by Jim or Dan, who just looked at each other but said nothing. Dan resigned himself to the inevitable but remained mentally torn. As a prosecutor, he was used to looking at a set of facts, analyzing and organizing them together in a logical sequence, reaching a logical conclusion. A simple straightforward process he had done for many years. However, as a father, he could not bring himself to the logical conclusion the facts showed him. To do so was unthinkable.
    Having returned to Maureen’s home and the nearly one hundred family members and friends gathered there, Dan and Karen repeated the previous day’s routine. Rosary prayer vigils were constantly held as family members and friends worked and prayed in shifts. Early in the afternoon it was announced that Marines had rescued Michael’s teammate Marcus Luttrell, and the names of the Navy SEALs and Army Night Stalkers killed on the helicopter were released.
    Captain Bisset called again, but this time Maureen took his call, and after several questions she was satisfied that he was the “real” Captain Bisset. She told him of Michael’s status, and he took several seconds to regain his thoughts. He reassured her that Michael was well trained and that if anyone could make it, Michael could. Maureen agreed. Even though the family was mentally and physically exhausted, the prayers continued. At one point Dan’s sister Maureen noticed him with a set of rosary beads, the same rosary used by their mother when Dan was seriously wounded in the jungles of Vietnam thirty years earlier.

Monday, July 4, 2005
    At about 2:00 PM, the family turned the television to CBS, as word had been received that there were news reports that two dead Navy SEALs had been recovered in Afghanistan. The family questioned Muse, who made an immediate phone call to NAVSPECWARCOM. Muse was told that the information being reported was not confirmed and that the Navy believed “someone was jumping the gun.” Dan and Maureen, now desperate for information and despite being warned by the Navy to the contrary, began paying increased attention to the news reports as it appeared that more information was available, despite the media’s reputation for releasing unconfirmed and sensationalized information as fact.
    However, after the initial reports, there were no rebroadcasts or any additional information regarding the two Navy SEALs. Maureen became upset, voicing her concern that Michael and the others “could be seriously injured and bleeding to death and there is no one to help them. I don’t want Michael lying out there alone, bleeding and in pain. Someone needs to help those boys.”
    Dan began to wonder if this was indeed a case of unconfirmed information being released, but this did little to affect his increased pessimism. As he intensified his silent prayers for Michael, he also began praying for Maureen, who visibly showed both the mental and physical strain of the ordeal. Although their family and friends continued to be optimistic in their conversations, Dan and Maureen both had consciously begun to accept what they believed was the inevitable, this being the sixth day since Michael’s team had come under fire. Beth and Heather returned to Mount Sinai, and Lieutenant Widenhofer returned to his apartment and wife in Queens.

The Inevitable
    At about 11:00 PM, Muse made his usual late-evening call to NAVSPECWARCOM. This call was different. Dan knew that Muse’s usual routine was to go outside in the front yard, make his call, and then return within three to five minutes and report