Good Day Everyone I thought I would pass along some new information to you regarding SS Recovery Service LLC

HOGS, SOGS and Firemen

Recovery of Flight 11016

This was one for the books! When my wife and I obtained the coordinates for the SOG the e-mail was accompanied by a note stating the property was a shooting ground/gun club and may have something to do with a prison in the area. It also said the locals weren't the most friendly. We figured we had our work cut out for us!

Because of the distance to the SOG in Diboll, TX we had to leave about 4:00 AM to have enough time to get this and two other SOGS on the same trip. I thought I would stop at the county seat at the Sheriffs Office and ask to speak to a deputy familiar with the area (surely I could get the name of the property owner and any other pertinent info from someone in the S.O., I have had lots of help from deputies before in other towns). Not this one, the dispatcher I spoke to via telephone from the lobby told me the SOG was in another county. I explained that I had a map using the coordinates and though it was indeed near the county line I was sure it was in her county. I even read her the landmarks in the area. She wasn't familiar with them. I decided my best bet would be to visit the local police department and try my luck there.

From left to right is Diboll Fire Department Asst. Chief Darrell Roberts, Diboll Fire Chief Gary Jones, Diboll Fireman Jeff Glass and Fireman Odell Harper holding what's left of SOG # 11016 after the hogs got to it.

Being a Saturday there wasn't much of a staff on hand when I found the Diboll Police/ Fire Department. I spoke to the dispatcher telling him who I was and why I was there. He looked at my map " I think I know where this is going to be" he said. The dispatcher told me the property was a leased hunting club owned by the local timber company. I told him it was only 4 miles from the station. Laughingly he said Its probably hog bait by now, its all bottomland in that area. I asked if he knew whom I could speak to gain permission to enter the property. He said the Assistant Chief there was a member and he would call him. Being on the other side of bulletproof glass I wasn't sure of the conversation but the dispatcher said the Asst Chief would be there in about 20 minutes.

When the Asst. arrived I again identified myself and told what I wanted. I showed him the map and he looked at me with a look of are you sure? The Asst. Chief Darrell said it stays pretty wet in there most of the year but as dry as it has been, we may get it. I have men and four wheelers coming. My stomach knotted up. Did he misunderstand to think some type of NASA satellite as big as a car had fallen from space? I explained that I usually just walk in and pick them up and that all I needed was permission to go get it. He told me that as wet as it was and being over a mile from ANY road. Well need the 4-wheelers. He made a phone call to someone and told him or her about the satellite in the woods (I'm dying). When he got off of the phone he said that the person couldn't make it but the Chief was on his way (I'm really dying now, what have I started!).

When Diboll Fire Chief Gary Jones arrived I again told who I was and why I was there. I showed the Chief my map and he looked at me with a look of are you serious? I told him I had already seen that look and it was making me uncomfortable. He said, Let me go get the suburban ready. While we waited on the other men I explained to the Chief that a SOG is not large and that I normally just hike in and carry it out and that I didn't intend on creating an incident. Chief Jones said they were glad to get to help and that they didn't have anything better to do. I felt a little better. I explained it all to my wife (the water and snakes) and we agreed that this trip might be better without her.

I got my gear together just as the other fire department officers arrived with 4-wheelers. We departed town at about 11:30 AM. I rode with the Chief while we bounced our way down a long sandy road where the local kids with 4WD trucks go mud hogging. After a couple of miles of this the lead truck driven by the Asst. Chief Darrell stops so that we can determine the best route. The GPS said 2.25 miles south. We worked our way down the trails to within 1.25 miles when we encountered a BIG mud hole in the road. Those with 4-wheelers decided it was time to mount up while Chief Jones and I toughed it out through a couple of holes until we found the road had washed out. It was time we all rode on the 4-wheelers. I rode with officer Odell, while Chief Jones rode with Asst. Chief Darrell. Also along was another fire dept. officer Jeff.

After a couple of washouts we thought we were back on the road. Two hundred yards later we learned the road had disappeared. Washed out and nothing but water as far as we could see. We back tracked a little way and started crossing creeks and circumnavigating sloughs. We were 1 mile from the SOG. Along the way I saw acres of ground that had been tilled by hogs. I tapped Odell on the shoulder and tongue in cheek asked Yall got any hogs in here? He just laughed.

It wasn't long after that when Odell pointed to a large group of about 50 hogs running through the woods. We were still .75 miles from the SOG. This was by no means a straight ride through the woods. It seemed as though wed gone three miles around to get a half of a mile closer. Picking and winding our way through the woods Odell asked, Was that a raindrop? I said I didn't know was rain in the forecast? Odell said No, but that don't mean a thing. At about that moment we could hear a roaring sound over the sound of the 4-wheeler coming through the woods. Yep, it was rain. Not just a sprinkle but the kind that has them BIG drops.

Odell is doing the best he can to pick his way through the woods and I'm trying to hold on to the bike and hold the GPS out so that it will keep receiving a signal but I cant see the readout for all the water. Were .25 miles from the SOG when the rain lets up. At .05 miles I tell Odell lets stop and well walk to it. We all start looking and someone asked, Is that it? It was the skirt. It was broken but it meant we were near. I thought wed find the rest in a tree but someone else asks Is that supposed to be it? Looking in the direction I see the hogs had already found it.

They stripped the Styrofoam from it and had chewed the antennae off. They had dragged it around the woods until the parachute, which was covered in mud (as was the rest of it) to the point that you wouldn't spot it easily had become entangled in the brush. Luckily they apparently lost interest in it before they could tear into the plastic bag surrounding the internal unit. The dispatchers words were came ringing in my ears Its probably hog bait by now. We laughed. We had been through a trial. I took a photo of the guys with the SOG and we made our way back to the vehicles and back to town. We arrived back at the Fire Department at 4:30 PM. Yes, five hours after leaving we were finally back.

You never know about someone until you have a chance to talk with him or her. In my conversations with these men I found out that these men of the Diboll Fire Department had participated in the recovery of the 2003 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. These men spent countless hours securing and retrieving the largest to the smallest pieces to aid in explaining the cause of the explosion. The things they witnessed would be heartbreaking to most of us but they had a job to do, and they did it. They played a part in history. They do this in addition to their routine job of saving lives and property. I thank them for all they do. I was proud to have met them and look forward to seeing Odell, Darrell, Jeff and the Chief again.