The former commando, who would airdrop into problem areas without a second
thought, now routinely crisscrosses the country as part of his job as a security
consultant. One day, he calls from San Francisco, the next day from Washington,
D.C. Sitting still for several hours to talk about his past is not his idea of a
good time.
But he acknowledges that many of the traits that helped him become a Green Beret
were there in childhood.
The middle of three children, he had a "difficult relationship" with his father,
a man whom he described as "extremely overbearing and angry."
But that relationship also gave him "an immunity to stress" - an adaptive trait
suited to Special Forces, he said.
Growing up in Utah, he had always relished high-risk challenges. From an early
age, he was a mountaineer, hiking, rock climbing and ice climbing. He also
skied, both cross-country and downhill.
His favorite show was Mission: Impossible. "I was always imagining I was on
missions when I was a boy."
He attended the University of Utah but was bored by the traditional classroom
environment. He enrolled in the Marines Platoon Leader Corps. Before long, he
started a personal campaign to join Special Forces.
After applying numerous times, he was invited to apply in 1981. He was just 20.
Longtime friend and fellow Green Beret Mike Flick, who was with Mr. Seideman
during the aborted mission in Iraq, says the mystique of the Green Berets was a
very strong attraction to many candidates.
"That's John Wayne. That's way out there. And there was something different,"
Mr. Flick says. "You were part of a team. You had that camaraderie. Once you get
into that team mode and go through trials and tribulations with other guys, you
make lasting friendships."
At graduation ceremonies at Fort Bragg, N.C., the headquarters for the Green
Berets, his family was not there to share the moment.
"My mother was scared to death that I was in Special Forces. My father and I
were not on the best of terms."
It didn't matter. He felt "total elation that I actually had made it."
Action in Iraq
Army Black Hawk helicopters took Sgt. 1st Class Seideman and eight other Green
Berets inside the Iraqi border during the Persian Gulf War. They had marched for
a day with their 100-pound rucksacks north of the Euphrates River.
The troops had been in place a few days when the Bedouin shepherd discovered
them.
Sgt. 1st Class Seideman knew the mission had to be aborted. A radio call brought
F-16s, which dropped cluster bombs around their perimeter to form a protection
zone. However, a daylight rescue with Black Hawk helicopters was considered too
risky. They would have to wait for the cover of night. But it was only 8 a.m.
"We made every shot count," Mr. Seideman says. "We were doing well. Special
Forces guys are taught to carry on."
After just six hours, help arrived in the form of two Black Hawks.
"The prettiest thing in the world was seeing those Black Hawks coming right at
ground level over the sand dunes," he says.
The soldiers threw themselves into the helicopters as gunfire popped around
them; they took off for an air base in Saudi Arabia.
"We're looking at each other. Our shirts are sweated. There are bullet holes in
the helicopter. But nobody's hurt, nobody's shot," Mr. Seideman recalls.
"So then we said, 'Let's go eat.' "
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