Chapter 6

When I finally dragged my exhausted butt out of bed the next morning, I discovered that the Pearl Harbor area and its bases were repaired, running smoothly and everything had the patina of success attached to it. Apparently our changes, wrought against the Japanese in the opening salvo of our entry into World War Two, were even more dramatic than I realized.

Being out of the loop chasing spies for almost two years meant that I was ignorant of much of the war news. Japan’s Navy was a shell of itself. Once General Wilson got the warning out to all our Pacific bases, and those Commanders responded with a fury after hearing about the sneak attack on Pearl, their response was as brutal as it was efficient.

It had apparently taken some time to change from a peacetime to wartime footing, but our soldiers and seamen took it to the Japanese with an almost surgical precision that kept them from bouncing back and becoming the terror they were the first time through. Once the full nature of their many and varied defeats was known, Japan executed many of the leaders who had pushed them into opening their war on multiple fronts. Their bloody nose and brutal reduction in forces did nothing to change their minds about the United States, but it did limit their options.

Almost as soon as we landed, I was provided with a staff car and driver, a female aide to take notes and type up orders, two armed security officers, and everything and everywhere was open to my inspection. My little entourage visited scores of locations, examining the condition of the bases and morale of the troops.

My aide, Georgia Dickson, was a southern belle, more accustomed to mint juleps than diesel oil, but she was effective and organized. “General Rasmussen, I have the orders you dictated for the changes in the delivery of aircraft fuel to the planes. If you would just sign them, I can have the duty officer deliver them back to the C.Q. Sir.” She was about twenty-five, a bit on the stout side, and the owner of a fine set of breasts that threatened to topple her over each time she leaned down to pick something from her briefcase. Once I had read over her typed orders, I signed them, thanked her, and had the driver take her to the Base Commander’s hut to be transferred back to the affected area.

Georgia hopped out and nearly ran to handle the transaction. When Georgia ran, wonderful things happened to the front of her uniform. It was a pleasant interlude, in an otherwise ordinary day. Somehow, I suspected, Clair and Jenny would be the recipients of my enjoyment.

Once Clair and Jenny understood my need to be in Washington, they pitched in and got me organized and packed. While they did that, I arranged quarters in Washington for the newest General and his bride, as well as accommodations for his executive assistant who would be joining his staff and working out of his quarters. Put that way and because we never appeared anywhere as a threesome, nobody twigged to the unusual arrangements of our relationship.

The hammer came down shortly after I arrived, when I reported, to be given my new assignment. “General,” this came from a Three Star, General Henry ‘Hap’ Arnold, who would go on to be the only Five Star General to hold that rank in two different branches of the United States military. On this day he was a three star and the Commander of the Army Air Forces. “Your work in the Pacific was without peer. We stopped everything to read your reports, hoping to glean enough from your methods to reproduce your success across other intelligence agencies.”

He stopped and gave me a steady and probing look. “Phil, you’ve taken intelligence to places we would have spent years trying to reach. The simple, yet brilliant ways you invented to identify and capture spies is far too important to keep hidden in the Pacific. We are sending you to Europe, giving you carte blanche to follow where your instincts tell you to go, and to root out the German and Russian spies that seem to come from everywhere and nowhere.”

He consulted folder he’d been fingering since I was escorted in to see him. “We have a list of places where there have to be active spies using current servicemen to do their treason. We have collected a list of potential suspects, similar to what was provided when you headed out to the smaller islands and bases in the Pacific Theater. We also know you will find your own way, uncover your own sources, and capture the most unlikely traitors.

“The War Department understands you need autonomy and solitude to remain as invisible as possible, so we are not going to over burden you with rules and regulations. One thing is going to follow you to Europe, Phil. I am ordering you to continue to dispose of those you determine are spying against the United States and our allies. We do not wish to have your mission compromised by spies following your trail of prisoners.

“Interrogate, empty those unfortunates of everything they have to offer in terms of intelligence, and make them disappear. It will be safer for you and more effective for us.”

I thought we were done, but he changed the topic suddenly. “You have an appointment with the President to officially receive your Star. He is in failing health and you need to be aware that every minute of his time takes a toll on his body. Be brief. If he asks you a question, answer only it and add nothing else. If he seems to lose track of the conversation and doesn’t immediately return to the topic, thank him and consider yourself dismissed.” General Arnold was clearly a fan of Mr. Roosevelt and running interference for his Commander-In-Chief.

This time I knew we were done. General Arnold shook my hand, prayed for my safety and success, and handed me a stack of orders that would grease the skids as I moved among the more dug in branches of the American war effort. General Arnold thought of everything when he had those mission orders drawn up. There was not a commander, bureaucrat, or general officer that would dare hold me up, turn me away, refuse me assistance, or violate the strict and specific orders I carried.