Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why

Gonzales reminisces on his time flying military planes. Even without any major incidents, the job was grueling and uncomfortable, and pilots endured extreme temperatures and constricting gear while flying. Pilots are trained to know when to eject from their airplanes in the event of a crash; the author observes that this requires split-second decision-making, and the ability to shift from “reaction to action” (251).

Gonzales insists that survival is a “way of life” and that there can be “instant wilderness but no instant survival” (252). He points to experienced firefighter Peter Leschak, who survived over 500 wildfires in the US and Canada, as an example of how people can build resilient mindsets over time. Leschak, a former minister, shares that he feels he has a spiritual relationship with wildfire and channels his faith and feelings of awe and respect for nature into his firefighting. The author draws parallels between Leschak’s experience and those of astronauts who live monk-like, ascetic lives and embrace pain, fear, and extreme experiences in their training. Gonzales points to Neil Armstrong as an example of an astronaut whose extensive training paid off in a moment of crisis. When landing his ship The Eagle on the moon, Armstrong had to turn off the automated controls and manually guide a safe landing. The author emphasizes that only the perfect combination of logic and emotion could serve Armstrong in this dangerous situation, and that he managed to balance his thinking and land his ship effectively.

One fighter pilot shared that successful pilots should be athletic, perfectionistic, competitive, confident, and able to rely on habits. Gonzales recognized these traits in his own father. He considers how the pilot subculture has changed since the mid-20th century, when there were looser restrictions around pilot behavior. While the profession still attracts risk-takers, they understand that “arrogance and disregard for safety” can easily kill a pilot on the job (258). The author laments that amateur extreme-sports enthusiasts don’t have this same awareness, and that fatal accidents are a predictable consequence of more people trying these activities. Gonzales reiterates that humility is an essential part of survival, and life in general.

The author ponders how successful survivors such as the sailor Steve Callahan and mountaineer Joe Simpson spent years of their lives preparing themselves for the challenges they faced. Learning to function and make sound decisions in uncertain situations was a key aspect of their success. The author reminisces about his lengthy career flying commercial, aerobatic, and bush planes, which taught him about the many “indifferent forces which punish inattention or arrogance” (260). Gonzales credits his father for teaching him how to approach life and work humbly; while his father was an accomplished science professor, he saw everyone as perpetual students of life. He remembers taking his father up in his aerobatic plane and feeling thrilled when his dad complimented his flying skills.

He ponders the role of luck in survival, acknowledging that it almost always plays a part as he returns to his father’s story. The German peasant’s pistol misfired, and he survived. However, Gonzales chooses to focus on the resilience his father honed to be able to survive his injuries and imprisonment. A German officer arrived on the scene a few moments after and told the peasant that he could not shoot the pilot, who was now a prisoner of war. Fortunately, a local woman also arrived and insisted they let him live. Gonzales’s father was laid in the snow along with his dead crew, and, in spite of his injuries, felt “deliriously happy” (264). He was transported to a German prison camp, where a fellow prisoner stitched him up. Over the months, he heard the neighboring areas bombed by Ally planes, and endured slow starvation during which he fantasized about food.

One day, he sat outside when he noticed a single figure approaching from the distant hills. Finally, he realized that the man was an American soldier, and when the German guards easily surrendered, that the war was over. Gonzales’s father returned home emaciated at 119 pounds.

The author argues that families develop “survival rituals” and their own “codes of integrity” (269). For instance, his family always celebrated the day his father was shot down in his plane. Growing up, the author revered his father for coping bravely with the lifelong effects of his injuries, including a steel pin in his arm and deformed feet. His father retained his joyful spirit and sense of humor, and would dance, juggle, and joke with his kids. He had a successful career as a scientist and professor and many creative pursuits such as pottery, painting, drawing, and piano.

Gonzales desperately wants to attain some of the “cool” demeanor that helped his father to survive, an aspiration that led him to countless misadventures dirt biking, hunting in the Arctic, and aerobatic flying, among other things. He reiterates that while systems can feel unpredictable, it is possible to find patterns in them, including patterns of people’s own risk-taking behavior. His father always showed a penchant for risk-taking, such as riding his bike off of his house’s roof as a child, which foreshadowed the risks he would take as an adult.

The author concludes his work by reflecting on more of his father’s accomplishments, and praising him because his “catastrophe had not broken him” but instead gave him “endless energy” to embrace life (277).