Griffin W.E.B. - The Corps 08 - In Dangers Path

«Sir?»

«Colonel Easterbrook. General Stillwell's son-in-law. Isn't he kin?»

«Not so far as I know, sir,» Easterbrook said seriously.

«What have you got for me, Bobby?» Pickering asked.

Damn, I did it again. He's a Marine officer, and you shouldn't call a Marine officer Bobby. Unless he's six feet three, weighs two hundred twenty pounds, and comes from Alabama.

I must be tired. Of course I'm tired.

Easterbrook opened his buttoned-to-the-collar overcoat, reached inside, and produced a manila envelope. He handed it to General Pickering, who tore the envelope open and read it.

T O P S E C R E T

FROM ACTING STACHIEF OSS HAWAII

1210 GREENWICH 7 APRIL 1943

VIA SPECIAL CHANNEL

DUPLICATION FORBIDDEN

TO BRIGGEN FLEMING PICKERING USMCR

OSS DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR PACIFIC OPERATIONS

THRU: US MILITARY MISSION TO CHINA CHUNGKING

SUBJECT: PROGRESS REPORT

1. SIMULATED RENDEZVOUS REFUELING OPERATION USING PT BOAT AND ONE AIRCRAFT SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED 6 APR 43.

2. PROBLEMS REVEALED BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN RESOLVED. A SECOND SIMULATION USING PT BOAT AND BOTH AIRCRAFT WILL TAKE PLACE 10 APR. THE VOLUNTEER PILOTS ARE NOT REPEAT NOT YET AVAILABLE, BUT IT IS BELIEVED THEY WILL BE AVAILABLE IN TIME FOR THE DRY RUN WHICH WILL INVOLVE THE SUN-FISH.

3. POTENTIAL PROBLEMS BEYOND OUR CONTROL FOLLOW:

(A) THE POSSIBILITY OF INABILITY OF AIRCRAFT TO EFFECT RENDEZVOUS WITH SUNFISH BECAUSE OF RADIO NAVIGATION AND OR WEATHER PROBLEMS.

(B) POSSIBLE ROUGH SEAS AT RENDEZVOUS POINT WHICH MAY MAKE LANDING AND ESPECIALLY TAKE OFF OF HEAVY LADEN AIRCRAFT IMPOSSIBLE.

(C) ADMIRAL WAGAM POINTS OUT THAT IF CONDITION OF SEAS PROHIBITS LANDING, AIRCRAFT WILL NOT REPEAT NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT FUEL REMAINING TO DIVERT. THE NECESSARY ABANDONMENT OF AIRCRAFT AT RENDEZVOUS SITE WILL POSE GREAT HAZARDS TO AIRCREWS, AS WATER TEMPERATURE WILL LIKELY CAUSE DEATH BY HYPOTHERMIA WITHIN MINUTES OF PERSONNEL ENTERING WATER.

(D) AN ABSOLUTE MINIMUM OF FORTY FIVE (45) MINUTES WILL BE REQUIRED TO TRANSFER FUEL, PERSONNEL AND CARGO. THIS PRESUMES SMOOTH SEAS. CONDITION OF SEAS MAY DOUBLE THE TIME REQUIRED. THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF DETECTION BY ENEMY VESSELS OR AIRCRAFT. ADMIRAL WAGAM HAS DIRECTED THE CAPTAIN OF THE SUNFISH, IN SUCH AN EVENT, TO DESTROY THE AIRCRAFT, MAKE EVERY REASONABLE EFFORT TO TAKE THE AIRCREWS ABOARD BEFORE SUBMERGING, THEN RETURN TO PEARL HARBOR.

(E) A SECOND RENDEZVOUS ATTEMPT WILL NOT BE POSSIBLE UNTIL TWO REPLACEMENT CATALINAS CAN BE MODIFIED (MINIMUM ESTIMATED WORK TIME SIX DAYS), REPLACEMENT METEOROLOGICAL EQUIPMENT CAN BE OBTAINED AND TRANSPORTED FROM MAINLAND US TO PEARL HARBOR, AND SUNFISH CAN RETURN TO PEARL HARBOR TO TAKE METEOROLOGICAL EQUIPMENT ABOARD AND RETURN TO RENDEZVOUS SITE.

HOMER C. DILLON

MAJOR, USMCR

T O P S E C R E T

Pickering handed it to Colonel Waterson.

«Pass it around, please, Jack,» he said, «when you've finished.»

«To Colonel Platt, too, sir?»

«Uh-huh,» Pickering said. «Platt, that message deals with refueling a Catalina at sea, from a submarine. Did Washington get into that with you?»

«Only in a general sense, sir.»

«Well, until we come up with a better idea, that's how we're going to go. This was good news. The first dry run they had, with a submarine, was a disaster. They've apparently got it working now. Jake Dillon recruited a Seabee chief petty officer he knew in the movie business to help, and he's apparently fixed the problems.»

Colonel Richard C. Platt looked mystified at the reference to a Seabee and the movie business.

Banning chuckled.

«I don't believe. General,» he said, «that Colonel Platt knows Major Dillon.»

«Of course, he doesn't,» Pickering said. «How could he? Well, I'll leave that to you, Ed. I'm too bushed to tell Jake Dillon stories tonight, much less to get into the implications of that Special Channel, or listening to Platt's ideas on Operation Gobi. We can have all of it first thing in the morning. What I need now is some sleep.»

He got up and walked to the door. Everyone stood up.

Pickering turned.

«Make sure Colonel Platt has a good idea of everything, Ed.»

«Aye, aye, sir.»

Colonel Platt looked pleased.

As if

Pickering thought,

he was just told he can play with the big boys after all

.

«Good evening, gentlemen,» Pickering said and, with Hart trailing him, left the bar.

note 76

OSS Station

Chungking, China

0715 8 April 1943

Brigadier General Fleming Pickering, USMCR, lay in his bed and wondered if he was about to become sick. He would not be at all surprised. He was wide awake— had been for fifteen minutes—but did not seem able to muster enough energy to sit up and drag himself out of the bed. Simply being awake was itself surprising. He'd barely been able to keep his eyes open before he went to bed, and would have bet he'd sleep for at least twelve hours.

«There are obviously

some

drawbacks to the miracle of faster-than-a-speeding-bullet transoceanic flights,» he said aloud, and then added, «Okay, stop feeling sorry for yourself, you old bastard, haul your ass out of bed and get to work.»

«Sir?» Second Lieutenant George F. Hart, USMCR, asked. A moment later, his face appeared from behind a screen in one corner of the room.

I

didn't know that he was in there

.

«I was talking to myself, George, something that old men tend to do,» Pickering said. «Sorry to wake you.»

«I thought I'd sleep into next week when I went to bed last night,» Hart said. «But I've been wide awake for thirty minutes.» He walked into the room, wearing his uniform, except for the tunic.

Pickering pushed himself up and swung his legs out of the bed. Then he pushed himself to his feet and reached for his trousers. «And you are presumably bursting with energy, eager to face the challenges of the new day?» he asked.

«Actually, sir, my ass is really dragging. I really didn't want to get out of bed.»

«I'm glad to hear you say that, George,» Pickering said. «I feel exactly the same way. I thought maybe I was getting sick.»

«We spent a lot of time on those airplanes, General.»

«Where did you sleep, George?»

«There's a little alcove behind the screen, General. I had them get me a cot.»

«Have we got a phone number for Banning?» Pickering asked. «I want to know if he's located McCoy.»

«We do, sir,» Hart said. «But he said, last night, that he would be here about seven. He's probably on his way by now.»

«I want to talk to Albright, too,» Pickering said, as much to himself as to Hart. «Let's find ourselves some breakfast. I need a cup of coffee. Give me a minute to finish dressing.»

«Yes, sir.»

Captain Jerry Sampson, the one who'd been at Harvard with «Malcolm,» was standing by a double sliding door off the foyer of the house. He was wearing what Pickering thought of as «a white hunter's jacket.»

He came to attention. «Good morning, General,» he said.

«Good morning,» Pickering said, smiling at him.

«Ah-ten-HUT!» Sampson bellowed in Pickering's ear, startling him.

There was the sound of scraping chairs and six officers sitting around a large table got to their feet and came to attention.

«Good morning, gentlemen,» Pickering said. «Please take your seats.» He turned to Sampson. «That was very nice. Captain, but we'll dispense with that in the future. And we will also dispense with anybody waiting for me to show up to eat.»

«Yes, sir,» Captain Sampson said.

The table was set for breakfast. There was even a rack of toast before an empty place—where Pickering knew he was expected to sit—at the head of the table. Colonel John J. Waterson remained standing at the position to the right, Lieutenant Colonel Richard C. Platt remained standing to the left.