Chapter 58

When I left the next week, it reminded me of how much I hated this drive. When I entered Nevada, I understood exactly why Pete had gotten into flying. The drive was not bad, simply long and boring. And as I was crossing into Utah I had to put on a Nickleback CD because I needed a break from nonstop theme songs.

When I finally pulled into my usual parking spot, mom and dad both came out and gave me hugs and welcomed me home. Dad and I went to the back where I unlocked the trailer and opened it. I think it surprised him it was less than half full, and he asked me why I had gotten such a big trailer for so few things.

“Well, remember I bought this when I moved into the first trailer. So it had to fit the broken down futon, the TV, my extra keyboards, DJ equipment, and a lot of other things. Some of that like the futon I already brought up here. But with the newer trailer, a lot of that is actually inside now so I can use it.”

I pulled out my phone, and showed mom and dad some photos I took before I left. Mom thought it was not actually that bad at all, but dad wondered if I had placed up all the moving quilts for insulation. Then suggested adding a double wall in the back and insulating it instead.

Mom shook her head and laughed, as I explained it was to deaden the sound. As otherwise it was trying to work in a small echo chamber. But I’ll give it to dad, he suggested using the cork tiles I had used on the ceiling and floor on the walls also.

“And that will actually do both. You know, if you come up with the trailer in the future I have an idea.” And it was actually quite an idea. The cork tiles I had on the floor and ceiling were only a half inch thick, but dad said they could get industrial sheets of cork up to four inches thick. “We can even special order sheets up to five inches thick. Simply put that on the walls and ceiling, that will help deaden the sound as well as give some decent insulation.”

And that was actually a good idea, and I wondered why I had never asked for his advice on that in the past. I asked him how he thought of that, and he laughed. “Oh, I did not think of it, I’m stealing it. No, back in Nam our remote RADAR huts were just trailers. And somebody even before me did that for insulation. It’s light weight, and was easy to put on the walls and ceiling, but could also be removed easily if needed. We had to keep the trailers light, just in case they needed to be moved. And back then, we were moving a lot.”

We went inside, and I actually found I was interested for the first time. And all through dinner, dad told mom and I about some of his time in Vietnam. Now I had known he was a soldier, but only barely remembered he was in Vietnam. And he was there in the early days, before it was really a war and it was just occasional fighting as they were advising the South Vietnamese government.

And as that was when the first surge of base expansions there was going on, it seemed like every two or three months their equipment was being relocated. And he actually brought out something I had never seen before. It was an old photo album, and filled with photos of him in the Army.

The three of us sat in the living room as he went through it. One was his graduation from boot camp, and another with Pete’s mom on his arm. Then the next was his sitting on the hood of a jeep with a cigarette in the corner of his mouth, and a rifle in his arms. But it did not look like a military rifle, and when I asked he told me it was him M-14.

And there were pictures of him at work in front of a green trailer that was about ten feet by six feet by eight feet tall. And inside it was crammed with electronics and two chairs. I asked him if that was where he worked, and he shook his head and laughed.

“Oh no, I was never a RADAR operator. Even then I fixed them. Which had me going all over the place, but mostly I assisted the HAWK missile guys. I was stationed at Da Nang Air Base, and spent most of my time there.” And I was surprised at some of the photos he had, and that the base had been occupied by so many nations. Originally it was French, then South Vietnamese. And now it was just Vietnam.

“So that means it was an American base also, right?”

“Oh no, we occupied parts of it, but it was still their base. Kinda like those in England. The US actually has no bases in England, we just occupy parts of their bases. The same here, actually.”

“Wait, what? Other countries have bases in the US?”

He looked at me hard, like I was a child. “Yes, you don’t know that? Out in Texas and New Mexico there are now a couple of camps for the Germans and Japanese. Same thing, they are small bases of theirs on one of our bases. And the Navy does the same thing, some of our Navy bases have small bases inside for those from Taiwan, Germany, and more.”

At about that time Pete and Mandy came up with the kids, and after hugs were exchanged the kids went downstairs to play video games and dad asked Pete if he saw any foreign bases on the Marine camps he was on. He thought for a moment, and shook his head. “Nope, then again our bases were not all that big and most of my time was on Okinawa. But it was not unusual to see ‘Foreign Exchange’ officers on bases.”

Turns out that was something else I never heard of, that every year our military would exchange officers with our allies. And some would serve with us, while some of ours served in their military. “When I was in Japan, one of the Infantry units had this guy from Norway assigned to them. They don’t actually have a ‘Marine Corps’, but Naval Commandos which are similar. He wore Captain rank, and we treated him like he was one of our officers.”

And when dad mentioned the bases in Texas, at that both Pete and Mandy laughed. “Oh yes, Pete and I have been there. George, you were there not long ago. Did you not see the German encampment on Fort Bliss?”

I thought, and shook my head. “Well, they are there, hundreds of them. Go into the commissary, that’s like a grocery store. But they have some big areas set aside inside for food from Germany and Japan inside. Remember those big blocks of Toberlone Candy we got you all for Christmas a few years ago? That’s where we got it.”

And that I did remember, as they were huge! And absolutely delicious. I ate a third of it at one go, and mom took it away and hid it. And would only give me small pieces on occasion until it was gone.

“Oh, and there were ones on the Naval Base at Long Beach and Mare Island. I saw the one at Long Beach, as I often went there to get things at the commissary or exchange after therapy. And Mare Island did also. Curry showed me that one time when he gave me a tour when he was stationed there. They had a school that the Navy used to train submariners from other nations.”

I was actually surprised at that, as I thought things like that were selfishly guarded. But both dad and Pete laughed. “George, you have never seen it from the inside like your brother and I have. No, we actually share a lot of stuff like that. Heck, the mortars the Marines use come from England, I remember when that deal went down. And since 1990 a lot of countries have been buying our PATRIOT missile system.”

“You betcha. George, go on most US bases, and you will see foreign military fairly regularly. We train with them, we serve with them. Mostly NATO, but also close allies like Japan. Hell, there was even a Rock Marine at Yuma when I was there. One of the toughest son of a bitches I ever saw, he was a Rock Marine helicopter pilot, serving two years with us.”

And at my puzzlement, he explained it was not “rock”, but “ROK”. “Republic of Korea, we just call them ROK for short. They are tough bastards, they have to be. Only around 30,000 of some of the Sharpest Marines on the planet.”

“What, that’s not ours, like you?” I said.

“Nope, but close, damned close. We have around 200,000 Marines, and our nation is under no threat. They have a much smaller but more elite force, under almost constant threat of invasion once again from over two million North Koreans. And they know if they invade again, their job is to place themselves in front of those forces, to allow the civilians time to escape. The ones I have talked to have an amazingly fatalistic mindset there. They know they are meat shields, and are to slow down or kill as many as they can before they die. That will allow more of their friends and family to escape.”

Dad and Pete then continued talking about things like this, and it was both fascinating and disturbing to listen to. I had never heard dad talk so much about his time in the military, ever. And when they went outside so Pete could have a cigar, I remained inside. Mom had poured herself and Mandy some wine, and I got a beer.

“Do they do that often?” I asked, and after looking at each other they both nodded.

“George, sometimes Larry and your brother will get like that. About the only time I hear him talk about his time in the military is when your brother comes over, or we go to the VFW hall. And it’s kinda funny, I was one of the kids that was protesting against Vietnam in college. Never even knowing that in less than a decade I would be married to a man that had served there. Don’t let your dad’s appearance fool you.” And I thought on that, and mentioned his normal work attire of button up shirts, pocket protector, and a belt holster with an expensive scientific calculator inside.

Both mom and Mandy laughed at that, and nodded. “But also don’t forget, your dad shot somebody in Pete’s entryway. Get a few drinks in him, he’ll sing the Elements song by Tom Lehrer, or random songs from Monty Python. But inside, he’s still a soldier, a fighter. Mandy dear, what was that movie you and Pete have, about Russians invading the US?”

Mandy took a sip and smiled. “Oh, Red Dawn. Yes, exactly. George, if you’ve not seen it, come on by some time and watch it. It’s about a Russian invasion of a small town in Colorado during World War Three. Patrick Swayzee is the star, and it also has Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen, and Jennifer Grey in it. And they take up arms as partisans to fight the occupation. Yes, you’re right Dee. If that was ever real, I would expect Pete and Larry to be some of the first to do that. Dave too, even though he only served two years in the National Guard.”

“What, that they would go into the hills to fight?”

“Oh no, your dad is too old for that, and Pete’s too broken. But I think they and Dave would take us all to the hills for safety, and likely support and train those that did. Dave and Jeff still maintain that hunting and mining camp up near Swan Valley. Pete and I’ve been there a few times with the kids. There is a small creek along the edge, and a covered trailer pad and small shed. It’s about ten miles from the highway.”

At that time dad and Pete came back, and when Mandy mentioned that to Pete he nodded. “You know, we’ve actually talked about that as our bug-out hole. Mandy and I would take the UAV, dad would have taken you, your mom and whatever trailer we had sitting around. The same with Dave and Jeff. Head up there as four families, and set up there until things cooled over.”