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It's around 1240 in the afternoon on October 5, 1986, somewhere in the skies over Nicaragua.

Eugene Hassenfus, a 45-year-old sturdy Midwesterner and veteran marine,

crouches by the open back door of a fair child's C-123 cargo plane.

Below him, green tree tops blur past as Hassenfus scans the jungle for his target, a drop point.

Beside him in the plane, our tall crates loaded with 60 Soviet-made AK-47 assault rifles,

50,000 rifle cartridges, rocket-propelled grenades, and 150 pairs of jungle boots.

The weapons and equipment are intended for the contrast,

a rebel military group fighting to overthrow Nicaragua's Santa Nista socialist government.

But today, the Santa Nista is strike first.

Strieking out from the thick jungle below, a surface to air missile locks on and then hits the plane.

Hassenfus has thrown back into the floor as the plane shakes and twists violently to the right.

Flames engulf the cabin and Hassenfus struggles to regain his balance

as the plane groans and rumbles, arcane toward the ground.

Finally, finding his footing, Hassenfus quickly checks the parachute he has on his secure,

then leaps out the back of the flaming aircraft.

Eugene's body jerks violently as he deploys his parachute,

and he watches the plane he just leapt from,

roll over in mid-air, scrolling a smoky spiral in the sky.

Seconds later, the aircraft plummets into the Nicaragua jungle and explodes.

...