Old Habits Die Hard Sean Verdi sat back down into the plush seat when the

Pledge of Allegeince ended. He and his friend were attending a movie at the base theater to relax from their daily demands of Navy flight training as helicopter crewmen. On the screen, images of soldiers diving in scuba gear and jumping out of planes appeared, followed by the words, Join the Naval Diving Community. Seans friend nudged him. Hey man, we should apply for that! The short clip stayed in his head all night long and the next day he and his friend sent in their applications for a program in Naval Special Warfare. I remember the day I was accepted perfectly, he says, I had just come back from my PRT (physical readiness testing) when I found an envelope in my mailbox. I just knew who it was from. I had passed the physical, psychological and academic standards with flying colors and I had top secret security clearance. So Sean packed up and moved to San Diego, California to begin training for BUDS (Basic Underwater Demolition School) and a Navy Seal was born. The Coxackie New York native began his career in the Navy when he graduated from Ballard High School in1980. After boot camp he studied nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. He was stationed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Mayport, Florida. He was then assigned to Naval Weapons Station in Yorktown, Virginia, to teach nuclear weapons handling and delivery system repair. He was in the process of training as a helicopter crewman when he became interested in the Navys Special Warfare unit, the Navy SEALs. After an injury, he transferred to Explosive Ordinance Disposal. He attended deep-sea dive school in Hawaii, EOD tech school at Egland Air Force Base, Florida, and gas/nerve agents in Huntsville, Alabama. Sean has achieved much success in his life but he is a prime example of how things dont always go as planned. It was the single event in my life that will always haunt me. It was just a regular op, everything was going as planned, I mean theres always danger when youre a SEAL, but its not something we think about. Rich Baker remembers. Rich and Sean had served on the

same special ops team during Seans time in the Navy. Sean was in the portable dingy with the rest of his team members, rowing to a remote beach on a reconnaissance mission. The night sky was pitch black, covered by storm clouds. The wind was roaring and the 7 foot swells crashed mercilessly over the small dingys and the soldiers on them. Everything was under control but suddenly Sean was swept off into the swirling black ocean ad thrust against the rocky cliffs like a rag doll. His team radioed for backup and they rushed to save him. His fellow SEALs miraculously pulled him to safety on the beach. He was badly injured, banged up and unconscious but when the helicopter landed to take him to medical care, he was conscious and willing to continue on the mission. He was airlifted to a hospital anyway. He made a quick recovery but it was determined that he would not be able to carry a heavy load on his back for long distances, essential for Navy SEALs. That is how he began his journey with Explosive Ordinance Disposal which eventually led him to return to Louisville, Kentucky to join the police force and the bomb squad. This military man was never a lone wolf. When he graduated from boot camp, he married a former high school flame and settled in New Jersey, right across the bridge from where his unit was stationed. He and his wife had a baby girl in 1984, soon after he was transferred to Mayport, Florida. But the stress of the military life proved to be too much and they divorced in 1985. He served during the first Persian Gulf War by assisting in the demolition of oil platforms, searched for anti ship and personal landmines, and conducted limpet mine attacks. At the end of his obligated service, he returned to his childhood home of Louisville, Kentucky to study chemical engineering at Speed School. He also met Dr. Karen Erbeck and they were married. He joined the Louisville Division of Police in 1999 where he has served as a patrolman and narcotics detective. Sean has given up the life of danger and adrenaline pumping adventure, instead hes busy being an everyday hero here in Louisville, Kentucky; patrolling the streets of Bardstown Road and Old Louisville. But whenever things get a little too boring, hell receive a call from the

station that requires the use of the haz-mat suit or sniper rifle in the trunk of his patrol car. It seems like old habits die hard.