Griffin W.E.B. - The Corps 09 - Under Fire

"You mean out of town, as in away, or out of Pusan?"

"Out of Pusan, sir. But I don't know where."

"Damn it, it's really important that I get to see Captain McCoy. Do you have any idea who would know where he is, or how I can get in touch with him?"

Captain Overton lowered his voice.

"That CIA agent, Major Dunston, would probably know, sir."

"And how would I get in touch with Major Dunston?"

"I don't know, sir. Maybe the Army's G-2 would know. But they might not tell you if they did know."

"The G-2 would be the Eighth Army G-2, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"You have a Jeep. How long would it take me to drive there?"

"An hour, sir. Maybe a little longer."

And that means an hour and a half. Twice an hour and a half. I'd have to come back. And Overton is right. They might know where the CIA guy is-they might even know where McCoy is-but they probably wouldn't tell me. I don't have the need to know.

"Then I don't seem to have much choice, do I, except to wait here for McCoy's sergeant to show up."

"It doesn't look that way, sir," Overton said.

Thirty minutes later, the Avenger's crew chief came in and reported that since there "wasn't hardly nothing for the Badoeng Strait," they could take off whenever the colonel was ready.

Dunn decided to wait another thirty minutes for Mc-Coy's sergeant, and when that passed, decided to wait an-other thirty minutes.

Twenty-five minutes into the second thirty minutes, he took Captain Overton's arm and led him outside.

"Overton, I don't care how you do it, you discreetly- this is an intelligence situation-get word to Major Dunston, asking him to tell Captain McCoy to get in touch with me as soon as he can. It's very important. And call the ser-geant major at the brigade, same message. Or anyone else you can think of to ask. Discreetly."

"Aye, aye, sir."

Then Dunn went out and got into the Avenger and fired it up and flew back to the Badoeng Strait.

[FIVE]

K-l USAF AIRFIELD

PUSAN, KOREA

0905 9 AUGUST 1950

"Good morning, keep your seat," Major William Dunston, TC, USA, said to Captain James Overton, USMC, as he walked into Overton's tiny office. "Word is you've been looking for me?"

"Yes, sir. I have been. I called every place in Pusan I could think of."

Dunston made a joking gesture with his hands, signify-ing, Here I am.

"What's on your mind?"

"Sir, do you know how I can get in touch with Captain McCoy?"

Dunston shook his head, "no."

"Do you know where he is, sir?"

Dunston shook his head again.

"What's your interest in Captain McCoy?"

"Colonel Dunn..." Overton paused until Dunston nod-ded, signifying he knew who he meant. "... was in here yesterday, sir, from the Badoeng Strait. He said it's really important that he talk to Captain McCoy, and told me to find you, and ask you to tell him."

"Are you going to be in touch with Colonel Dunn?"

"I can get a message to him, sir. The Badoeng Strait's COD will be here in a couple of hours. I don't know if the colonel will be flying it again today-"

"Dunn was flying the Avenger?" Dunston asked, sur-prised.

"Yes, sir."

"Then he must be as anxious for a word with McCoy as I am," Dunston said. "Got a piece of paper and an enve-lope?"

"Yes, sir," Overton said, handed it over, and then mo-tioned for Dunston to take his seat so he would have a place to write.

Dunston wrote a short message on a sheet of lined paper, put it in an eight-by-ten-inch envelope-all Overton could offer-wrote Dunn's name on it, and then handed it to Overton.

"If Colonel Dunn is flying, tell him I don't know where McCoy is. I would tell him if I knew. And I would really be grateful if he finds McCoy before I do, if he would tell him to get in touch with me."

"Aye, aye, sir."

"Oh, you salty Marines," Dunston said. "That's what the note says. If Dunn comes here, burn the note. Otherwise, give it to the pilot of the COD and tell him to personally put it in Dunn's hand."

"Yes, sir."

"And if you see McCoy..."

"Have him get in touch with you. Yes, sir."

"I sort of like that `aye, aye' business," Dunston said. "And I just remembered what it means: `Order understood and will be carried out.' Right?"

"Yes, sir."

" `Yes, sir,' on the other hand means, `I heard what you said, and I will consider doing it.'"

Overton laughed.

"How about an `aye, aye, sir'?" Dunston asked. "This is really important, Overton."

"Aye, aye, sir."

[SIX]

COMMUNICATIONS CENTER EIGHTH UNITED STATES ARMY (REAR)

PUSAN, KOREA

0120 10 AUGUST 1950

Captain R. C. "Pete" Peters, Signal Corps, USA, was tak-ing a nap, lying on the counter of the outer room, when Captain Kenneth R. McCoy, USMCR, and Technical Sergeant J. M. Jennings, USMC, entered. It was the first sleep he'd had in twenty-four hours, but he woke immedi-ately nevertheless when he heard the squeak of the door. And was momentarily startled, even a little frightened, when he saw the two Marines.

They were wearing black cotton shirts and trousers. The shirts were too small for them, and therefore unbuttoned, leaving their chests exposed. McCoy had a Garand hang-ing from his shoulder and Jennings was armed with a car-bine. There were two eight-round clips on the strap of McCoy's rifle, and Jennings's carbine had two fifteen-round magazines in the action, taped together, upside down, so that when one was emptied, the other could quickly be inserted.

"Jesus Christ, McCoy! What are you dressed up for?"

"Don't you ever go to spy movies? All we secret agents go around in disguise."

"Do you know that everybody and his brother is looking for you?" Peters asked, as he got off the counter.

"Does everybody and his brother have names?"

"Starting with your general," Peters said. "He calls-or his aide does-every four hours or so to remind me that I am to tell you, the minute I lay eyes on you, to call him."

"Anybody else?"

"Major Dunston of the Transportation Corps," Peters said, his tone of voice putting that name and identification in quotes. "And Captain Overton, of the Marines."

"Who's he?"

"The liaison officer at K-l," Peters said.

"Oh, yeah," McCoy said, remembering. "Did he say what he wanted?"

"You're supposed to get in touch with a Colonel Dunn at your earliest convenience."

"Okay, I'm going out there from here," McCoy said.

"What happened to your uniform? Am I allowed to ask?"

"Would you believe they got swept over the side while they were being washed? Or, actually, being dried? One moment, they were on the deck of our luxury liner, drying in the sun, and the next minute a wave came out of nowhere, and so long utilities."

"I don't think you're kidding," Peters said. "What were you doing on a boat?"

"That you're not allowed to ask," McCoy said.

"I am under the personal orders of a Marine brigadier general to get you on the horn to him thirty seconds after I lay eyes on you. That time is up."

"Before I call him, maybe you can help."

"What?"

"I need a part for an SCR-300," McCoy said.

"What part?"

"The oil-filled transformer," McCoy said.

"There are three oil-filled transformers in an SCR-300," Peters said. "Which one?"

"The one that looks like a square tin can."

"They all look like square tin cans," Peters said.

"Marvelous!" Jennings said.

"Then we'll have to have three of each."

"You don't happen to have the one that's broke?" Peters asked.

"No."

"When do you need them?"

"Now."

"I've got two SCR-300s here, about to go back to Japan for depot-level maintenance. I can take the transformers out of them, if that would help?"

"How would we know if they're any good?"

"We don't," Peters said. "But as a general rule of thumb,