W.E.B. Griffin - The Corps VII - Behind the Lines

"Which one would that be, Sir?" Hardee asked. He was beginning to sus-pect that he was not going to enjoy this encounter.

"I'm with the OSS, to put a point on it," Brownlee said. "And the chain of command is a little fuzzy in the OSS."

Master Gunner Hardee was not an admirer of the OSS, about which he knew little except that the service records of a couple of hundred officers who had volunteered for it had crossed his desk. Hardee had nearly thirty years in The Corps. So far as he was concerned the officer personnel requirements of The Corps obviously should come first. And with the to-be-expected excep-tions to that rule, like that sea lawyer "hero" Macklin a couple of days ago, here they were sending what looked to him like good officers to the OSS at a time when The Corps was up shit's creek without a paddle trying to find offi-cers to staff a Marine Corps that was growing larger than anyone ever thought it would.

"So I hear," Hardee said. "Exactly how can I help you, Major?"

"I'm the senior Marine officer at the OSS reception center," Brownlee said. "Yesterday, an officer, a first lieutenant Macklin..."

Oh, shit!

"... was transferred in. I generally go over the records of people coming into the OSS-Marines, I mean-to make sure everything is shipshape."

"Yes, Sir?"

"And I went over Lieutenant Macklin's records. That's not exactly true. His records have been misplaced. Or possibly lost. Probably at Guadalcanal."

In fact, Master Gunner Hardee knew, the service record of First Lieutenant Macklin, Robert B., USMC, was thirty feet away, filed under the R's, in a file cabinet devoted to those officers "Absent, Sick In Hospital." The reason he knew this to be true was that he himself had put them there, in a place where he-but no one else-could readily lay his hands on them.

"Is that so?"

"I suppose that happens all the time," Brownlee said.

"Yes, Sir. It's not at all unusual."

"This officer is one hell of a Marine, Gunner."

One hell of an asshole of a Marine, is the way I hear it.

"He was twice wounded at Guadalcanal, storming the beaches, during the invasion."

"Yes, Sir."

"As a matter of fact, he was one of the heroes The Corps sent back from over there for the War Bond Tour."

"Is that so?"

"From what you've told me, Gunner, his promotion to captain should have come along by now, more or less automatically."

You and your fucking big mouth, Hardee!

"You think so, Sir?"

"Well, he's got the twenty-four months in grade you mentioned, and then some. And, even though his records have been misplaced, I think we can give him the benefit of the doubt about not being under charges, can't we?"

"I'm sure we can, Sir."

"I had to be in Washington today, Gunner," Brownlee said. "What I'd hoped I would be able to do here is see if we can't find his records and get him promoted, as he deserves."

"As you said, Major, his missing records do pose a problem. I can tell you I'll keep a sharp eye out for them, now that you've brought this to my atten-tion."

"I'd really hate to go to the Inspector General with this, Gunner..."

Oh, shit! That's all we need in here, the Inspector General running around trying to do right by this goddamned Marine hero!

"... because of the administrative problems that would inevitably cause."

"I understand, Sir."

And if I have to "find" this asshole's records, that would mean I would have to send them over to the OSS, where, after one look at this bastard's effi-ciency reports, they'd boot him out so fast it would take two weeks for his ass-hole to catch up with him.

And it would also be pretty embarrassing for Colonel Wilson, personally and officially.

"Major, how long are you going to be in Washington?" Master Gunner Hardee asked.

"I'm going to leave about sixteen hundred."

"Do you suppose it would be possible for you to come by here, say, at fifteen hundred? Let me look into this myself and see what I can turn up."

"That would be great!" Major Brownlee said happily. "Thank you very much, Gunner."

"My pleasure, Sir."

As soon as Major Brownlee had left the office, Gunner Hardee went to the R section of the "Absent, Sick in Hospital" file cabinet. He briefly examined a service record it contained, made a note of Macklin's full name and serial num-ber, and then went to the corner of the room where the two typists were prepar-ing mimeograph stencils of last week's promotion list.

He tapped the staff sergeant supervising the operation on the shoulder, and when he turned said, "One more for the captain's list."

"It's already done, Mr. Hardee."

"Do it again."

"Already printed and everything," the staff sergeant pleaded.

"Do it again," Hardee repeated.

"Aye, aye, Sir. Where's the records?"

"I'll take care of his records, you just get his goddamn name on the god-damned orders!"

"Aye, aye, Sir."

When Major James C. Brownlee returned to the office at 1600 hours, Master Gunner Hardee told him that while he had been unable to locate Lieutenant Macklin's records-he was still working on that-he had arranged to deal with the problem of his overdue promotion.

He gave Major Brownlee a copy of the promotion orders, so fresh from the mimeograph machine that the ink was a little wet.

Colonel David M. Wilson, USMC, Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff G-l for Officer Personnel, never heard a thing about it.

Major James C. Brownlee's belief that master gunners were the people to see when you had a problem was reinforced.

Captain Robert B. Macklin, USMC, was of course delighted to receive his long-overdue-and in his opinion, richly deserved-promotion.

Master Gunner James L. Hardee, who had been on the water wagon for six months, went to a bar in Georgetown that night and got very drunk.

[FIVE]

T O P S E C R E T

SUPREME HEADQUARTERS SWPOA

NAVY DEPT WASH DC

VIA SPECIAL CHANNEL

DUPLICATION FORBIDDEN

ORIGINAL TO BE DESTROYED AFTER ENCRYPTION AND TRANSMITTAL

EYES ONLY-THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA

MONDAY 2 NOVEMBER 1942

DEAR FRANK:

I THINK I HAVE GOTTEN TO THE BOTTOM OF WHY EL SUPREMO SHOWS NO INTEREST AT ALL IN THIS FELLOW FERTIG IN THE PHILIPPINES. I'M NOT GOING TO WASTE YOUR TIME TELLING YOU ABOUT IT, BUT IT'S NONSENSE. ADMIRAL LEAHY IS RIGHT, THERE IS POTENTIAL THERE, AND I THINK RICKABEE'S PEOPLE SHOULD BE INVOLVED FROM THE START.

I'M GOING TO TELL RICKABEE TO COME TO YOU, IF HE ENCOUNTERS TROUBLE DOING WHAT I THINK HE HAS TO DO. I SUSPECT HE WILL ENCOUNTER THE SAME KIND OF PAROCHIAL NONSENSE AMONG THE PROFESSIONAL WARRIORS IN WASHINGTON THAT I HAVE ENCOUNTERED HERE.

I HAVE BEEN BUTTING MY HEAD, VIS-A-VIS DONOVAN'S PEOPLE, AGAINST THE PALACE WALL SO OFTEN AND SO LONG THAT IT'S BLOODY, AND AM GETTING NOWHERE. IS THERE ANY CHANCE I CAN STOP? IT WOULD TAKE A DIRECT ORDER FROM ROOSEVELT TO MAKE HIM CHANGE HIS MIND, AND THEN THEY WILL DRAG THEIR FEET, AT WHICH, YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED, THEY'RE VERY GOOD.

MORE SOON.

BEST REGARDS,

FLEMING PICKERING, BRIGADIER GENERAL, USMCR

T O P S E C R E T

T O P S E C R E T

SUPREME HEADQUARTERS SWPOA

NAVY DEPT WASH DC

VIA SPECIAL CHANNEL

DUPLICATION FORBIDDEN

ORIGINAL TO BE DESTROYED AFTER ENCRYPTION AND TRANSMITTAL

FOR COLONEL F.L. RICKABEE

USMC OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA

MONDAY 3 NOVEMBER 1942

DEAR FRITZ:

DON'T TELL HIM YET, OR EVEN BANNING, BUT I WANT YOU TO TRY TO FIND A SUITABLE REPLACEMENT FOR MCCOY FOR THE MONGOLIAN OPERATION.

PUT HIM AND BANNING TO WORK FINDING OUT ABOUT GUERRILLA OPERATIONS, BECAUSE I BELIEVE THAT THIS WENDELL FERTIG IN THE PHILIPPINES IS PROBABLY GOING TO TURN OUT MORE USEFUL THAN ANYBODY IN THE PALACE HERE IS WILLING TO EVEN CONSIDER. I SUSPECT THAT THE SAME MENTAL ATTITUDE VIS-A-VIS UNCONVENTIONAL WARRIORS AND THE COMPETENCE OF RESERVE OFFICERS IS PREVALENT IN WASHINGTON.