by Timothy V. Gatto
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CHAPTER 35 Lydia had moved away. Patty couldn't understand why. She hadn't mentioned it to him, or given any indication that she was going to leave. He went down to the Seamen's Service to pour out his troubles to Miss Im. She listened to him politely as he drank away his troubles. Patty left just before curfew and spent the night at the Yellow House. He let himself be consoled by an understanding business woman, as they liked to be called. He awoke the next day with a terrible hangover. He took his usual cure and went to work feeling a little better, but he still couldn't understand why Lydia had just left without letting him know. The more Patty thought about it, the more he realized that she had been acting strangely. She was getting quieter and more withdrawn when he had been with her. Thinking back on it, she hadn't been with a sailor for quite a while. Her drinking had almost stopped too. The only thing that had remained constant with her, was her desire for sex, even though that had changed a bit also. He couldn't exactly explain it. The frequency of their love making had stayed the same, but it had seemed more intense on her part. She still acted the same way, but when they were finished she wanted to talk when they were through. She also wanted to told him more. Once, he awoke to her stroking his face. He thought she was crying, but he wasn't exactly sure. He didn't mention it. He knew she would have denied it. Missing her was different than before. He somehow knew she wouldn't be back this time. He also knew that she wouldn't be hooking. He didn't know how he knew, he just did. Leaving Inchon and hooking somewhere else would be really stupid for her. She had it made here. Nowhere else in Korea could she make the kind of money that she made here. She had told him that. But that wasn't the reason he knew she wasn't honking. She had changed somehow, and Patty couldn't figure why. Wagner had left Korea. Patty realized with surprise one day, that he only had four months left on his tour. God, he thought, time really flies. His mother had written him a letter, slamming him for not writing. He knew she had a perfect right to be angry with him, he never wrote. He was always too busy. He wrote her a letter to make her happy. Patty didn't miss anything by being here. He didn't miss his family and he didn't miss his friends back home. He missed Wagner and Tim at times. He hated it when people would leave. The new guys on the hill were great, but they weren't the same. Murphy was getting short, so was Reeger. Everybody that was at the Battery when he got there, was getting short. Phillips had extended his tour though, and that made him feel a little better. He debated at times whether he should do the same. He couldn't decide. Murphy had to fuck up one last time. The crew was at the Frog drinking something new called Black OB. OB was one of two types of Korean beer. The other was Crown. Patty hated Crown because he had a walking nightmare once after drinking it. He blamed it on the beer. Black OB was really strong. Wagner started drinking it and had introduced Patty to it. Patty mentioned that it was strong to the crew, but they drank it the same way they drank regular beer. Tonight it was Murphy's turn to drink until he passed out. In fact, Murphy got drunk so early, that nobody wanted to leave the Frog to escort him back to the Battery. They decided to put him in a cab and pay the driver to just drop him off-at the gate. They went back to their drinking after Murphy was safely in the cab. The next morning in the mess hall, everyone was talking about Murphy. Granny told Patty that Murphy had come in last night drunker than shit and started throwing rocks at the BC's window. The BC came out and asked Murphy what the hell he was doing. Murphy told him to go fuck himself. Patty shook his head and started to walk away. Granny stopped him by pulling at his sleeve. "You didn't hear the best part!" Granny said. "There's more?" "Yeah. After the BC told Murphy he was going to get him busted, he asked Murphy if he had anything to say for himself." "Oh shit." Patty said. "Shit is right!" Granny said. "What did Murphy say Granny?" Fallica wasn't sure he really wanted to hear this. "He walked up to the BC, and told him that even though he was a real fucking asshole, he loved him anyway because he was his commanding officer. Can you imagine that?" "What did the BC say?" Fallica asked. "Before or after?" Granny asked Fallica. "Before or after what?" "Before or after Murphy walked up to him and kissed him on the lips." "Get out!" Patty shouted, turning around with his hands over his face, "Murphy didn't do that! "Swear to God, Fallica. I saw it. So did four or five other guys that were coming back from the Vill." "What did Captain Williston do?" "He punched Murph in the mouth. Murphy passed out and the BC told me to get the medic. But don't worry, Murphy's all right." He assured Patty. "Where's Murphy now? He wasn't in the barracks." "The BC sent him to ASCOM this morning with the medic for a psychiatric evaluation." Granny said. "But he's not crazy, he was just drunk." Patty protested. "I know that, you know that, but the BC thinks he's nuts. He thinks all you guys on the hill are nuts. He told me that watching those scopes causes brain damage. Especially the guys on your crew Fallica." They kept Murphy for over a week. The crew couldn't understand why they wouldn't let him come back. One afternoon Murphy walked into the corridor like nothing had happened. The crew crowded around him. "What happened Murph?" McCoy asked. "How come they kept you so long?" Patty wanted to know. "Because they thought I was crazy!" Murphy laughed. "They really thought I was nuts'" "So how did you convince them you weren't?" Mannik asked him. "At first, I couldn't. Every day they sent me to this shrink. He would ask me how I was feeling and all that kind of shit. He wanted to hear all about my family and about my upbringing and all the rest of that crap that they want to know. He asked me how I got along with everybody and if I liked the Army. I told him that everything was fine. I told him that my family was fine, that the Army is fine, and that I got along with everybody just fine." "He didn't buy it." McCoy said. "No, he didn't." Murph answered. "Every time the session was over he would tell me that if everything were fine, I wouldn't be talking to him. He kept telling me that he was there to help me, and that he was going to help me get better. I told him that nothing was wrong with me and that I was just drunk at the time I kissed the BC. "He didn't believe you." Patty said. "Nope. The more I told him I wasn't nuts, the more he thought I was. Yesterday I figured out that if I really were nuts, I wouldn't know I was nuts. I went in this morning and he started in with the same old line about how he was going to help me, and all that other shit. This time though, I told him that really did feel like I was crazy. I told him I was glad that he was going to help me. He was as happy as a pig eating shit. I could see it in his face." "So how come he let you go?" Phillips asked.. "Well, after he quit smiling at me, and writing things down in his book, he told me about how this was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. He was really laying it on, after he was done talking I thanked him, and told him he was the best psychiatrist in the whole world. Do you know what I did then?" Murphy asked with a mischievous smile. "What?" Patty said with mock exasperation. "I kissed him. Right on the lips. He jumped up and told me to get the fuck out of his office and get back to work. He told me that I was beyond help!" He laughed. Everyone laughed with him. It just showed the crew once again, it was them against the Army.
CHAPTER 36 Fallica couldn't believe how his crew had fallen apart the instant the jamming got bad. McCoy was the principle offender. He was as shaken as Patty had ever seen him. Paddlefoot's crew had a field day picking on his crew, even though they had only scored six out of ten. Foxtrot Battery had the worst score in the Battalion. The trip to B Battery had taken three hours over back roads that were mostly dirt. The newer members of the crew, after the long ride in the back of a deuce and a half, learned about the value of jockey shorts. McCoy left the truck bow legged. Staying the night was a different experience for the crew. They had to wait on the hill until late in the evening for their turn at the equipment. One of the section chiefs from B Battery, a short Italian from Brooklyn showed Patty around. They were looking off the top of the mountain into the South China Sea when Patty noticed the action on the beach. "What's going on down there?" He asked pointing through the darkness at the beach. Rossi squinted through the fence. "Oh that". He replied. "there seems to be a firefight going on. "What do you mean a firefight?" Patty asked, not really believing he had heard Rossi correctly. "Just what I said, a firefight. Happens all the time. Infiltrators. The North Koreans keep sending them, and the South Koreans keep killing them. " He pointed down toward the beach. "Notice the tracers. Our side uses red tracers. The Commies use green." Patty noticed that the red tracers outnumbered the green tracers by a large margin. He made the observation to Rossi. Rossi replied that the communists use one tracer to every ten rounds. The South Koreans use a tracer every three rounds. Patty looked again and figured that the rate of fire was about the same for each side. A few seconds later, the green tracers could no longer be seen through the darkness. Moments later, all the firing stopped. "It's all over." Rossi said shrugging his shoulders and walking back toward the corridor. "We won again." After the crew's miserable performance, Patty wanted to scream at them for letting him down. He told them to gather out by the deuce, where he figured that no one would hear him do his little tap dance. He was about to give them the tongue lashing of their lives, but he realized that they didn't need it. Nobody could beat them up as badly as they were beating themselves. Patty paced in front of them for a few minutes. They couldn't look up from their boots. He cleared his throat and stood with his hands on his hips. Still he got no reaction. They were ashamed. Patty realized at that point he had the makings of a critical morale problem. There had to be a way to turn this thing around, he thought. He saw the solution. "Does anyone here know how to play pool?" he asked. They all looked at each other. "What the fuck are you talking about Fallica." Murphy asked. "You play pool with us all the time." "No dickhead. What I mean," He said slowly and deliberately, "is does anybody really know how to play pool? Did anybody here actually make any money doing it?"' "I used to make money." Mannik said. "Because you're the best pool player around. Right Mannik?" Patty said sarcastically. "No , because I played smart." He answered defensively. "How did you play smart? Either you win or you don't." Patty replied. "That's the point." Mannik explained, "The trick is not to win the first time around, that way you get the guy thinking that you suck. You act like you did your best and ask him to play again. He raises the stakes, and you whip his ass. Simple." "Works every time?" Patty asked. "Just about." "Well fellas, I bet a few bucks on our crew. I lost a few bucks. Next time I'm going to bet a few more bucks." He stopped and looked at the crew. "Next time I'm going to bet a lot more, and guess where I'm going to get the money The men looked at each other. They turned and peaked toward Patty. "I'm in!" Phillips said. "Me too!" Mannik said with a grin. The others voiced their approval. The conversation turned from one of shame and embarrassment, to chatter of how they were going to hustle the battalion. Patty smiled to himself. We wouldn't have bet a nickel on these guys he thought, but what they don't know won't hurt them.
CHAPTER 37 Mr. Benjamin was the maintenance chief on the hill. He wasn't a particularly jovial fellow, but if Patty needed a T-l van, he would he the guy to ask for it. "Fuck a T-l Van! It's more trouble than it's worth." He said with a wave of his hand, dismissing Fallica. "But we need one!" Patty protested. "There's no way we're going to get through TEE's with my crew. They don't have a chance against that jamming." "Everyone else has to do it." He said testily. "Everyone else has trained on T-l's before in the states. My guys are all cherryboys except for Wagner and me." "Tough shit Sarge." He said. "Come on Sir, you can do something" "There's nothing I can do Fallica, the only operational T-l van in the country is at B Battery, and they're not going to give that one up! "You mean there's another T-l van?" Patty asked. Mr. Benjamin looked at Patty and ran his hand over his face. He had said too much and he knew it. He turned to walk away, but Patty followed him. "Where is it? What's wrong with it?" He badgered. "Enough, enough already. I don't want to hear about it anymore!" He said, placing his hands over his ears and walking away. That night, after training, the crew played RISK! with an occasional break to pull six hour checks, or to go out to the guard shack for a bowl. Patty won, beating Wagner who was holding out until six in the morning in Australia. Wagner told Fallica he would never play with him again, but Patty knew better. The next day, Patty took a ride with the courier to K-6. He stopped off at the massage parlor, and after a refreshing rub down he walked over to Depot maintenance. He walked to the back of the huge Quonset hut and noticed a lot with chain link around it. There were radars of every type, and a few vans spread out between the weeds. He searched each of the vans, but not one was a T-l. Patty figured that he had made a wrong guess and walked out of the yard. He rounded the corner of the building heading toward the NCO Club for a brew before the long trip back to Foxtrot. He was just about to cross the street, when he noticed out of the corner of his eye, an old van, on blocks, caddy corner to the building behind a huge pile of fifty five gallon barrels. He walked towards it, his pace quickening with every step. He could see it clearly once he got behind the drums. He could tell by the squarish outline and the double doors at the end that this was indeed the T-l van he was seeking. He didn't know whether he was happy or sad. True enough, he had found it, but looking it made his heart sink. It was a mess. He heard footsteps behind him and turned around. "It's a shame, isn't it?" Patty looked at the man who was speaking. He was a Master Sergeant that looked as if he had seen better days. He was extremely overweight, and his fatigues were disheveled and faded. His face was pink, his eyes bloodshot. "Yeah, It's a mess." Fallica answered. "It's too bad, I really needed this T-1. Shit." "They've been cannibalizing it. There was nothing wrong with it when they dropped it off. Using it for parts. Even took the tires." The Master Sergeant said sadly, as if he were talking about an old friend. Patty looked at this old sergeant standing before him, Something in his the way he spoke, in a melodic , pleasant voice made him warm up to this man. He looked at his name tag and saw Harrigan. "Can it he fixed?" "Anything can be fixed. " Harrigan answered simply. "Problem is, nobody wants to take it. Me and this van have a lot in common, we're both old and used up. Nobody wants us, but what nobody realizes, is that we both have some life left in us. Fallica heard the hurt in the old Sergeant's voice, but he saw the pain, it was in his eyes. The situation was clear. Fallica was standing in an Army junkyard with two relics that time had marched away from. One was a machine, the other was human. Seeing this made him angry. How could they let this happen? His thoughts were interrupted by someone shouting from the depot entrance. "Harrigan, get back here. What do you think you're doing? You got work to do. It's not lunchtime yet!" Screamed an angry voice. "Who the fuck is that?" Patty asked him. "Oh, him. " Harrigan sighed. "That's SFC Poulus. He used to work for me hack in the states. Now I work for him. He gets a kick out of breaking my balls." "But you outrank him! He can't talk to you like that!" "You got a lot to learn." Harrigan turned and walked toward the depot building. The next day on the hill, Patty cornered Mr. Benjamin. "Don't badger me Fallica!" He snapped. "Give it up!" "I found a T-1. It's at K-6. We can fix it!" He protested. "I knew you'd find that piece of shit. It's beyond help. Even if I could fix it, I don't have the manpower. I'm three maintenance men short. What am I supposed to do, leave it outside my bedroom door and let the elves fix it at night?" He said sarcastically. "What about Harrigan?" Patty asked. "Harrigan? How do you know Harrigan?" "I met him yesterday at K-6. He showed me the van. He's a maintenance man. He'd come with it. I know he would." Patty pleaded. "You don't know anything about Harrigan. He's finished. He used to be the best, but he's washed up. He's about as useless as tits on a bull. He's been drunk ever since his wife died, and his wife died more than two years ago! He was the best, but now he's a bum. You don't know anything about Harrigan." Seeing Benjamin shake his head, Patty could almost feel the emotion and pain he seemed to be experiencing. "He was close to you. You were friends." Patty said gently. "That was a long time ago. He might as well be dead. He's lost it. He's all washed up. Leave it alone Fallica." "I can't. I talked to Harrigan. He wants a job. They're abusing him at K-6. He wants to fix the T-l. He needs a friend. Why can't you just give him a chance?" "Fallica, You are a pain in the ass. Your father should have his dick cut off. You are a fucking curse. Do you know that?" "Come on Sir! Be a human, fucking being and give Harrigan and the crew a chance!" "If I get the van I want Wagner assigned to the T-1. I want you on call twenty four fucking hours a day. I want that useless crew of yours to eat sleep, and dream T-l. I will also hold you personally responsible for Harrigan. If the man farts off key it's your fault. Do you understand me?" He shouted. "Yes Sir' You got it. I'll cork his goddamn asshole! I swear to God!" "You cork his, or I'll cork yours Fallica. With a size ten boot!"
CHAPTER 38 As far as getting Harrigan out of Depot maintenance, that was the easiest part of it. Everyone at K-6 was more than happy to help him pack. The motor pool even volunteered to supply the wheels and the manpower to put them on. By the time Patty and Wagner arrived in the afternoon, the T-1 was ready to roll, and Harrigan was sitting next to it with his duffel bag and kimchee cabinet. "Sergeant Harrigan!" Patty shouted down from the cab as the truck rolled alongside the T-l. "Ready to bring back a ghost?" "Gonna bring back two of 'em sonny boy!" He called back and flipped Patty a mock salute. Fallica climbed down from the truck and guided Warner back to the trailer. He hooked the trailer to the deuce and watched in amazement as the old Master Sergeant hooked up the lines. He wasn't the same as the day before. He had a quickness of step and moved with a purpose. Patty had a good feeling about this. He could actually hear Harrigan whistling as he hooked up the brake lines. All the way back to the Battery, Harrigan's mouth moved. He told Patty and Warner his game plan for resurrecting the T-l, he told them about his Army career from the time he was a buck private, he told them everything except who he really was, and how he really felt. Listening to him, Patty knew that this, dream of restoring the T-l was really a way of restoring Harrigan. He had come to a great fork on the road to despair, one side led to death, the other to life. Harrigan was choosing the road back to life, and it led in the direction of Inchon. Wagner was driving, and Patty was riding shotgun. They reached the battery just before dark. Benjamin came out of the corridor as the truck rolled in. Harrigan saw him and his expression turned from one of joy, to just a blank stare. Mr. Benjamin walked over to the side of the truck and Harrigan stepped off the running board. The two men stared at each of her in silent communication. "I'm sorry about Maureen." Benjamin said softly. "These things happen." Harrigan said with a shrug, but his face belied the casual gesture. "Are you going to be O.K.?" "I'll be fine. I think that now, I'll really be fine." "I think you will Harry. I really think you will. The two men embraced. Patty could hear Mr. Benjamin tell Harrigan he was sorry he wasn't there for him. He heard Harrigan reply that it wouldn't have helped. Fallica had to turn and walk away. He thought he was going to cry. He went behind the truck and wiped the tears out of his eyes. Wagner and Murphy came out of the corridor with the rest of the crew. They all walked around the T-I and inspected if by kicking tires and lifting off patches of peeling paint. Patty went into the maintenance shed and came out with a pair of bolt cutters and cut the padlock that was hanging on the van door. He opened the door and went inside. The rest of the crew followed. It couldn't have been much worse than it was. Cabinet doors were lying on the floor, removed from their hinges. Consoles had circular holes were the scopes should have been. Cables were spread around the floor, and hung from walls so that the inside of the van resembled a snake pit. He looked around at the crew. They looked like he felt. "Holy Shit!" Phillips said. Everyone nodded their heads. "Where's the rest of it?" Mannik asked. "Why did they bother to lock the door? There's nothing here to steal!" Reeger added. "Well, we have to look on the bright side guys." Wagner said. "At least they can't say we fucked this thing up. "Yeah, it can't get anymore fucked than it already is." Murphy added. "Let's get started guys. If we start now, we might get this thing going before we DEROS." Patty said. The rest of the crew followed Patty's lead and removed the cables that were rolled up on the floor. Warner came back with a broom and started to clean the debris off of the floor. Wagner and Murphy stacked the cabinet doors along the outside of the van. Mannik came in with a vacuum cleaner and an extension cord and began to vacuum the spaces where the electronic chassis should have been. There was so much to be done that everyone just went about a particular project they wanted to work on. McCoy brought in bulbs for the ceiling lights and started to hook up the power cables so they could get some light. Even the generator operator was helping to figure out which cables did what. Harrigan came in and immediately took charge. He brought in a crate full of manuals and had Wagner writing requisitions as he pointed out what was missing. It was almost midnight before they quit. Harrigan slept in the ready room with the rest. They tried to convince him to go down to the admin area, but he protested. Wagner volunteered to work with him the next day. By the time the crew came back to work, a phone line had been installed in the T-l. Sergeant Harrigan was constantly badgering the people from Depot for parts. Mr. Benjamin had coerced the Colonel to get a Blue Flash priority on parts delivered from the States. Wires and test scopes were attached to the chassis that were still intact, ceiling lights were working, and power could be heard humming through the van. It took less than a week for the critical parts to begin to arrive at K-6. Every day the courier would come back with boxes of parts for the hill. Little by little the thing started to look like it was supposed to. By the third week most of the parts were in, but the hard part of setting them up to work was just beginning. Harrigan was like a man possessed. He seemed to live for the day they could apply full power and send targets to the tracking van. Patty overheard him on the phone talking to depot. "I don't give a shit how you do it Poulus, I want that target generator here by tomorrow afternoon! Work through lunch if you have to! He paused , and Patty assumed he was listening to his reply. "You better remember who you're talking to wise ass. I'm a Master Sergeant and I expect to be treated like one! If I tell you to do something, you just do it." Exactly twenty six days after it arrived, the T-l went on line. Mr. Benjamin and Lt. Moore came up with a bottle of cheap Korean champagne they persuaded Sergeant Harrigan to break over the van. Standing there watching Harrigan made Patty believe in life after death. He looked over to Mr. Benjamin, he was looking over at Patty. Me winked and mouthed the words; "Thank You."
CHAPTER 39 Sometimes crews from other Batteries came to Foxtrot to train. They would get a guided tour of the T-l. The guys were proud of it. They were also proud of Harrigan. Even though he was a Master Sergeant, he was as much one of the crew as any of them. He never criticized them or complained when they screwed up. He accepted them as they were. Training was an experience. The conditions were as realistic an actual combat. The targets would come in low, drop chaff and emit different types of jamming. At first it was impossible to track them. McCoy would freak out and scream to Patty, with sweat running down his face, that he couldn't handle it. Patty would try to talk him through it. Even after they got good enough to initially lock onto the targets, they couldn't stay locked, and they would lose them. Sometimes Patty thought that they would never get through this. Every day they would ask Harrigan how the other crew did the day before. They were more experienced and never failed to get less than six out of ten. Sometimes they would track and destroy all ten targets. This didn't seem to weaken their resolve, all it did was encourage them to go back into the van and train. Fallica was extremely impressed with his men. Eventually they got better. The anxiety level started to decrease as their skills improved. McCoy didn't sweat as much, and he even started to challenge the targets under his breath. "O.K. dickbreath, drop that chaff, I've got a little trick for you!" We would mutter. Or Patty would hear him say; "Oh, fuck up my scope. Think I can't see you , huh? Well I do! Take this commie dog!" The tracking crew would giggle at McCoy's muttering. Patty would tell him to shut up. but he didn't really mind. It was a game. What ever it took was O.K. with him. He was too busy behind the tracking crew switching frequencies and pulses to really get into much conversation. Eventually the crew started to get better. Sometimes they would beat the other crew's scores of the previous day. On one occasion they scored ten out of ten, and they accused Harrigan of being too easy with them. Patty thought the same thing and asked him about it. Harrigan told Patty that he didn't do anything different, the crew was just getting better. Once they started to get proficient in the training, the guys started to go back to their old ways. The night time air was again filled with the smoke from bongs and joints. It didn't seem to affect training too much, so Patty didn't protest. During one summer evening, Fallica was walking along the fence line thinking about Lydia. The sky had just put on a spectacular light show for sunset, and there was just enough light to walk around without a flashlight. He was walking behind the MTR along the birm, when he heard voices. Ahead, sitting an the birm, were Wagner and Mannik. They had the Bertha with them. Bertha was a giant bowl with no stem. They were chattering excitedly as they passed the bowl back and forth. "What are you guys up to?" Patty asked as he sat down next to them. "We're catching fireflies." Warner giggled, high from the smoke. "What fireflies? I don't see any fireflies." He said, taking the bowl from Mannik. "They're here. Trust me Sarge. Just wait." Wagner said with a dope produced vacant smile. "I think you guys are stoned. " Patty said. "I haven't seen any fireflies. I think you got fireflies in you brain." "No shit Fallica!" Mannik said. "Just wait. You'll see them." Fallica took a pull from the bowl and felt the smoke in his lungs. He figured that he would humor these guys and catch a little buzz. "There!" Warner said triumphantly. "Did you see that?" "See what?" Patty asked. "The firefly. It went past your shoulder!" He said with annoyance. "I still didn't see shit." Patty said. Patty peered into what was now total darkness. The only light visible now was the soft glow from the bowl and the cigarette Wagner held in his hand. "Look!" Wagner pointed his finger toward the valley. Patty saw, coming toward them from below, a green streak of light. Mannik stood up and tried to catch it. Patty knocked his legs out from under him, and Mannik fell with a thud. "Get down you assholes! Those aren't fireflies, they're tracers! Somebody's shooting at us!" "Mother fucker!" Wagner exclaimed. They crawled behind the MTR, and ran the rest of the way to the ready room. Patty told Lt. Moore what was happening, and the platoon of infantry was dispatched from the launching area. Everyone knew that the sniper would be long gone by the time they got there. The Lt. doubted the guard and told everyone to be extra careful. It was all they could do. |
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