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Somebody's Trapped in There!
As a U.S. Marine Corps drill instructor, Jamie Nicholson had a tough-as-leather scowl and a cannon-like voice that could drain the color right out of the faces of his new recruits. Whether driving his platoon on a 12-mile hike with 45-pound packs or ordering them to plunge fully dressed from a tower into water ten feet below, he pushed the young soldiers ceaselessly. As Marines he taught them to act decisively and effectively, even in the midst of chaos. Rushing through some early errands before work one morning, Nicholson pulled into the McDonald's fast-food restaurant on Balboa Avenue in San Diego. He was dirty, hungry and sleep-deprived. The staff sergeant, 28 and single, had been up half the night at a remote outpost with his platoon. In a few hours, he would help lead the recruits through the Crucible -- their final, grueling 48-hour endurance test before graduation.Nicholson was due back at Camp Pendleton by 11 a.m. And since he was wearing his camouflage utility uniform, Marine Corps regulations prohibited him from entering a public building. No matter, he thought. The drive-thru will be faster.
"A large black coffee and an Egg McMuffin," he said into the speaker.
"Just a minute, sir," said a woman's voice. A split-second later she shrieked, "Oh, my God!" Then there was screaming -- and the intercom went silent.
Nicholson thought maybe there had been an accident inside. But when a McDonald's employee ran out the back door and disappeared around the corner, Nicholson pulled forward to get a better look. Up ahead, he could see a silver Ford Focus rammed into the side of the restaurant. The driver's door was ajar. Wait a minute, he thought. Somebody's trapped in there!
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