Chapter 15

If it hadn't been for the damn crutches I would have been skipping down the corridors. Despite personal tragedies and almost having my ass shot off in Vietnam, life was good again. Nothing like having gotten laid to help a young man's spirits. I made my way back to the ward to find Nurse Wilson standing outside the door to my room. She was dressed in her khaki uniform instead of whites. Her dark hair fell softly around her face and she looked downright sexy. The shorter skirt and heels really showcased her terrific legs. The biggest change was that she had a slight smile on her face. What the hell is this all about?

I stopped in front of her. "How did your physical therapy go?" Did she know/suspect something? "I sent one of the orderlies down there to find you. They must have just missed you."

"Yes ma'am, they must have just missed me."

"Well, in future before you leave the ward you need to check with the nursing station and sign out... otherwise we won't know where you are."

"Yes, ma'am, I'm sorry."

"Sergeant Reid... here comes the ass chewing... but why is she being so nice about it? It's not your fault... I know Lieutenant Fischer came to get you... she probably just forget. I guess nobody has explained the rules around here since nobody expected you to be up and around so quickly. I'm glad to see it though."

"Thank you ma'am... is there any particular reason you needed to see me?"

"Oh... yes... Lieutenant Colonel Becker, the Marine Corps liaison to the Hospital wants to talk to you... and I have also received notice that a Navy Captain named Kinney will also come by this morning. Who? "Do you know him... or the reason for his visit?"

"No ma'am, I don't have a clue."

"Well that's the reason I'm in uniform today instead of whites. Got to dress up for the brass... The hospital commander is always interested when senior naval officers show up on his turf. You haven't had improper relations with his daughter, or flirted with his wife have you?"

I started to protest and caught the twinkle in her eye. She laughed. One of the junior nurses came around the corner and just kept going with a look of amazement on her face. I was sure that in about 60 seconds it would be all around the ward that Nurse Wilson actually laughed. "As your mother... I certainly couldn't condone such a thing... you understand!"

"Yes ma'am!"

She turned serious for a moment, touched my arm, and said quietly. "Thank you Sergeant Reid." I knew exactly what she was talking about and was glad to see the change. Guess I wasn't headed for the brig after all!

"Ma'am?"

"Yes?"

"Considering your status... er... as... er... my mother... would you please just call me James?" She looked at me for a few seconds and in almost a whisper said, "Yes, James." She knew she could trust me not to be familiar in front of her staff or other patients. With a slight smile, she turned and walked toward the nurses' station. I admired her tight ass all the way down the hall.

My room was spotless. Someone had come through and cleaned it thoroughly, changed the bed linens and even brought a plant for the windowsill. I wasn't tired and I hated to mess up somebody's hard work of making that bed so professionally so I just grabbed a pillow to sit on and went to the desk. The letter to Karen and her picture were still there. I picked up the picture. I wished I had been there when she got the news about Swede.

When Swede was 15 he ran away from home and ended up in California. Karen took him in, got him enrolled in school and pretty much looked after him and more importantly got him on the straight and narrow. The Swede I knew was quite different from the Swede that showed up on Karen's doorstep a few years ago. She was his family and as far as I knew she was the only one he had listed as next of kin. The notification of his death from the Department of the Navy would have come to Karen. I knew that as soon as I got stateside I had to see her. I cared deeply about her but also felt like I had let her down. I looked at that beautiful face with the sparkling smile and it pained me to think she was now in mourning. Why hadn't I got to him sooner? I missed him very much.

There was a knock on the open door.

Lieutenant Wilson escorted a tall thin Marine Lieutenant Colonel dressed in khakis. I tried to jump to attention as I had been trained. I almost dropped my crutches. Fortunately I grabbed the edge of the desk. "At ease Sergeant." He said in an even voice. He carried two red, Marine Corps folders and two small boxes. "Please be seated."

"Thank you sir but it really is easier to stand." He nodded. I noticed he had a number of ribbons showing Korean War service, Vietnam service, a Purple Heart with an oak leaf cluster, and a Silver Star. He looked about 40, with close cropped hair without a trace of gray. Lieutenant Wilson was still with us. I noticed she tried to hide an obvious interest.

"Sergeant Reid, I'm sure you know that I'm the Marine Corps liaison to the hospital. My job is to handle all Marine Corps matters for the personnel who transit this facility. First, I have these awards to present" He set the folders on the desk and opened the boxes. I'm sorry we can't do something more formal but... well that's just the way it is." I knew with the number of wounded who came through that the hospital would have round the clock awards of the Purple Heart if we had a formal ceremony each time. He presented me with the box with the Purple Heart. There was an oak leaf device on it denoting a second award. He then handed me a box with a Bronze Star medal with a "V" device for valor denoting an award for combat action. "This medal came through for your service on your first tour. Your skipper forwarded it to me."

"Now I need to talk to you about the action where you received your wounds." He looked at Lieutenant Wilson. She got the hint. "Sir, if there is anything you need, please let me know." She turned and left. I noticed Colonel Becker's gaze followed her out the door.

Colonel Becker was lost in thought for a few seconds. He looked at me and knew I has seen where his thoughts were.

"Sir, I've prepared an after action report and recommendations for awards for some of my people. Things were a bit hectic that day, but I tried to include everyone I could observe." I handed him the envelope for the company commander. He took a couple of minutes and scanned what I had dictated. "Excellent... excellent. I know Seventh Marines wants to give some awards for the action and that is why it was so important to get your report. If you don't mind Sergeant, I'll forward these to Seventh myself."

"Not a problem sir."

"Sir, do you know why I'm in this single room when I should be out on the ward?" He thought about my question for a moment. "I've known the skipper of the Seventh for a long time... we were at the Chosin in Korea together. He knew I was here and called me when he found out you were on your way. He asked me to look out for you. He bragged that you were probably the best buck sergeant in the Regiment... if not the whole Corps."

"Sir, that still..."

"Shut up Reid... I'm not done." He said it with a grin though. "The hospital Commander and I are poker buddies... I asked and I got some special treatment for you, plus the fact the seriousness of your wounds was a good excuse to have you by yourself." I nodded, thinking that really wasn't enough to rate the special treatment.

"One more thing... and I don't want this repeated since it may never happen but the skipper of the Seventh has nominated you for a Medal of Honor." I was dumbfounded and finally sat down. "But... but... sir... I... I... didn't... haven't... I... don't... deserve..."

"Look Reid, your actions that day are more than worthy of decoration. When Bravo and Charlie companies swept through that area later that day they found 47 dead NVA. We know from witnesses that 14 of them, including the NVA company commander, were killed by you with your rifle. You and your men survived contact with a reinforced NVA company... and from the look of it, left them combat ineffective."

"But sir... I lost two of my men killed and counting myself at least 6 of us wounded."

"Unfortunately, three were killed and 7 wounded, but that wasn't your fault... if it were not for the actions of you and your men... you would have all been killed. You trained them well and you lead them well, and more importantly you refused to leave one of your own. So like it or not the award will go forward... anyway most get downgraded to a lower award though... so I wouldn't plan any trips to DC to see the President."

"So your are in a special room because you are worthy of it... so no complaints... got that?"

"Aye, aye, sir!"

"There is one more thing we have to discuss... it has to do with where you go from here."

"Sir?"

"What I mean is... they tell me you have several months of rehabilitation ahead of you. The Navy will try to accommodate your wishes if at all possible. I know you joined in Seattle and I can get you assigned to the Naval Hospital at Bremerton. I expect you would like to be close to family."

"No family to speak of sir. Actually, I would prefer to go to San Diego."

He looked at me for a moment digesting that news. "Okay, I'll see what I can do."

There was another knock at the open door. Lieutenant Wilson came in with a Navy Captain. Colonel Becker and I both snapped to attention. "As you were, please." He had short sandy hair, was in his early forties, and tall and handsome. His khaki uniform looked slightly rumpled like he had been traveling for a while and he carried a large manila envelope. A large seaman in whites came in carrying a green sea bag and a smaller green bag with yellow USMC markings. The Captain pointed toward the wardrobe. "Just put them there." The seaman set the bags down. "Anything else sir?"

"No, Bradley... I'll see you in the car when I'm done here."

"Aye, aye, sir." He left.

"I'm Captain Kinney." He stuck out his hand. I shook it and introduced him to Lieutenant Colonel Becker.

"I know you are both wondering what the hell I'm doing here. Well today I am merely an errand boy. I've been doing a WESTPAC inspection tour for the Joint Chiefs and stopped to see my nephew Michael. Sergeant, you know him as Doc... Rosen. I heard he had been wounded. He's my sister's boy and she was frantic... so I said I would check on him."

I was stunned. I had no idea Doc had been wounded.

"Sir, when did that happen? Is he okay?"

"It was the same time you got hit... apparently it was from shrapnel from the same RPG that got you. His wounds are mainly superficial."

"I didn't even know he had been hit. He was taking care of me, and my friend Swede. The helicopter was right there... he could have easily got on with us... but he stayed to take care of the rest of the squad."

"Anyway, he was in and out of NSA DaNang in 24 hours. When I showed a few days later he was getting ready to go out in the field again... damn fool... Guess he takes after the Irish side of the family. Anyway when he found out my itinerary he insisted I deliver your gear to you, along with this envelope which he says are personal effects."

"Colonel Becker, Lieutenant Wilson... could I have a few moments alone with Sergeant Reid?" Nurse Wilson turned to Colonel Becker. "Sir, perhaps you would like to visit with some of my Marines." He looked dumbfounded. Had he really heard her say "my Marines"? Was this the same bitch nurse Wilson he had been dealing with over the months?

Captain Kinney set the envelope on the desk and pulled up a chair. "Look Sergeant Reid..."

"James, sir."

"Okay, James... Michael would hardly talk about the action you were both involved in... I hate to ask... if it would not bother you... could you tell me a little about what happened?"

I opened the desk drawer and handed him a copy of the after action report, along with the award recommendation I had made for Doc Rosen. He took his time and read them twice, occasionally nodding. "May I keep these?"

"Yes sir... the originals are on their way with Colonel Becker to the Seventh Marines."

"Michael could not say enough good things about you."

"Sir, he has enough balls for ten men... if he wasn't a sailor... he'd make a damn fine Marine!" Captain Kinney laughed.

I spent the next few minutes telling him about the action. He mostly just listened, but did ask a few perceptive questions. He then pulled out a small notebook and asked me my opinions about the way things were going in Vietnam. We talked for two hours. He didn't like everything I said but he told me he was glad to have some time to talk to someone who was honest with him. I stressed the fact that the North Vietnamese Army was our major foe now and unless we could take the ground war to them on their turf we were bound to lose.

Sergeant... er... James... have you ever thought about applying for the Naval Academy?" I shook my head. He smiled. "They even take former Marines you know."

I smiled at his joke. "Well... think about it... I know both Senators from Washington. You have all the right stuff to make an excellent officer, and God knows this country can always use a few more of those." This time he wasn't joking.

He looked at his watch. "Well I've taken up enough of your time. I've got a plane to catch to San Diego. Michael asked me to stop and see Sergeant Johansen's aunt and deliver his personal effects to her."

I picked up the letter and Karen's picture. "Sir I would very much appreciate it if you would deliver this letter to her and tell her how sorry I am." I showed him her picture. "Not exactly what I pictured." I noticed he did not turn the photo over to read the writing.

There was a quick knock and Mary opened the door and came in with my lunch tray. She was still wearing the short-sleeved navy blue dress and looked and smelled fantastic. My heart skipped. She was so damn beautiful.

"Oh... I'm... so sorry... I thought... sorry, I'll come back later."

Both of us got to our feet as she came in. He smiled. "Hello Mary" She took a good look at my guest for the first time. "Oh hello Tom!" She was obviously pleased to see him. She put down the tray and turned to shake his hand. Instead he hugged her. She flushed. He stepped back but held both her hands. "Mary, I'm so happy to see you. You look wonderful. How long has it been... six... seven years?"