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WHO WAS SHE
A friend who read Wear Your Waders from panic to peace asked to speak with me about the book. Of course, I'm agreeable to do that. I was very curious to hear what he had to say.
He asked a question I never considered. Even 50 years after the incident, thinking about this never crossed my mind until the moment he raised the question. He tearfully asked, “What happened to the young woman in Yuma? Did she die?”
That question made me realize how self-centered I am. From the moment I discovered her bloody fingerprints all over the room in the barracks at MCAS Yuma, Arizona, all I could think about was my own safety. I had to get out of there if I wanted to live.
I was ordered into a situation I wanted no part of, ordered to knock on the door of a coworker who was then arrested along with everyone else from my department, and ordered to go back to the Central Intelligence Division with them. There I saw all of my coworkers in handcuffs. They saw me walk in freely with those who arrested them, only they did not know I was also an unwilling participant in this.
Less than 2 days later I was sent back to the women's barracks to take photographs. I learned that this young woman had come in through the night. In enlarging the photo on her military ID, of which I have no idea how it came into my hands, I found her image to be like looking in a mirror. Terror set in.
I asked about her and was told the base of her skull was bashed in. She was flown to a Naval Hospital in San Diego.
I never gave her a second thought until my friend asked, with tears running down his face, “What happened to that young woman?”
The reality hit. So many thoughts and prayers ran through my mind. For days I rested in the presence of the Lord, seeking revelation.
This was a head injury. Heads bleed profusely. There was no pool of blood in the room, which you would expect with a blow to the head. There was no large amount of blood anywhere. There were only bloody hand prints on the mattress, the furniture, and on the floor, mixed with dimes tossed around the room. There was no handprint anywhere with more blood or less blood than any other handprint.
I should have known we had a new resident in the women’s barracks, since that was one of my charges. I was not notified that she was coming in. I usually greeted new residents.
With two sets of stairs to access the women’s barracks, we were both in the first room on the left at the top of the stairs. Was this meant for me and a mistake was made in going to her room instead? Or was this divine intervention?
Why would God allow such a thing? He is love and light. This is not who He is. Did He sacrifice her for me? That doesn’t sound like Him. His wish is that none should perish (die). Did God have a supernatural being replace me in that room? That sounds more like Him. What happened and who was she?
Did it actually happen? Or was this staged to scare the daylights out of me, which it did?
It’s an unanswered question. The fear that lived in me for many years is gone. It’s almost mid-April, which is when this incident occurred. For many years I was an emotional wreck at this time of year. Now I face it as if it is another beautiful day in the paradise of Southeast Alaska. No fear, no worries. I’ll leave the answer to my question up to God to reveal when He knows I am ready for the answer.