"I lay there and looked at the night sky and would almost feel like I was in my backyard at home. But I didn't think I was going to make it out." He doesn't remember turning to thoughts of God or prayer at the time. "And that's amazing because I certainly believe in God. But the one thing, the weirdest thing, is that I had made out an insurance policy when I went into the Army. Out there on the lake, that long a time, you have everything in the world to think about. I knew it was all over, and I hoped that the insurance had gone through so my Dad would get it."

One afternoon. McMorris looked across the frozen lake and saw a soldier in the distance, lying on his stomach. "I kept watching to see if he moved, and another guy walked up behind him. I saw the prone soldier raise up his head to talk to him, so I knew he was alive. The man who had walked to the fallen soldier stamped out a signal in the snow, and a pilot saw it and relayed the distress signal to the Marine encampment.