by Unknown
denn ihr Herz ist voller Süßigkeit, zarter Duft entströmt dem Blütenkleid.
Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein und das heißt: Erika.”
(On the heath, there blooms a little flower and it's called Erika.
Eagerly a hundred thousand little bees, swarm around Erika.
For her heart is full of sweetness, a tender scent escapes her blossom-gown.
On the heath, there blooms a little flower and it's called Erika.)
The old marching song had been sung by everyone in the old Wehrmacht. It was not a Nazi song, just a song about the girl back home. Hammond placed his hand on the old man’s shoulder. Looking down in his tear strained eyes he said, “Wir treffen wieder, meine camarade.” (We shall meet again, my comrade.)
The old man got to his feet and took Hammond’s hand. His face broke into a grin. “Maybe better than Herr Rommel,” he said with a sly grin.
Throughout all this, General Moynahan sat and watched in amazement. Not only had it been an amazing evening, but he was discovering a lot of what got Hammond his job. The languages impressed him, but he had a natural way of getting people to like him and do what he wished. He was now even bonding with some old German soldier. To be a part of it all was inspiring.
The bill was paid, but as Hammond left, the old man sprang to attention and clicked his heels together in the old way. The rest of the people in the restaurant saw him and got out of their seats and stood out of respect. They began to applaud. Hammond waved them down. “Please, thank you for letting me have a wonderful evening with you,” he said. They applauded again and didn’t stop until he got in his car and drove away.
Sergeant Erich Straub of the old Waffen SS watched Hammond leave. He was 98 years old, yet still felt the love for his Germany like the old days. He wondered if the young German soldiers felt like he did when he went into the SS in 1942. This Admiral Hammond had made him feel young again. He chuckled to himself. I wonder if he knows the Horst Wessel, he thought.
USS America
The ship had been underway for a week and the group had been able to play together for five of the days. They almost never got to have the whole band there. Watches took priority and sometimes, if a member had the mid-watch, you just had to get a couple of hours in the bag. In the end it made no difference. The group got together to play simply because it was fun. Jeffers had been pleased that there was so much talent in the group. All the basics were there and if someone didn’t know the tune, they picked it up quickly enough.
The surprise came on the second day underway when a young medical corpsman came up carrying a square case.
“Would you fellas mind if I tagged along?” the young woman asked in a Southern drawl.
One of the Chiefs looked over at her. “What’s that you got in the case?”
“It’s a little something my grandma passed down to me a few years back. Love playing the thing,” she exclaimed. Flipping up the latches, she pulled out a well-worn autoharp. Everyone could tell the thing had years of use and the way she handled it they could tell she cared for the instrument.
“That ought to fill in some parts real well,” said Chambers as he played a couple of notes on his guitar. “Hope you’re good with that thing,” he said.
“Pretty fair. I heard you fellas playing the other day and so I dragged it out,” she said as she laid the instrument in her lap and pulled out two finger picks and put one on her thumb and the other on her index finger. “What would you fellas like to play?” she asked.
Jeffers spoke up. “Why not play Wildwood Flower. That is perfect for the autoharp,” he said.
The young woman got a twinkle in her eye. “You’re my kind of man,” she joked as she lifted the instrument and placed the back of it against her chest.
She wasn’t good, she was perfect. The music flowed from the harp-like instrument as she used one hand to play the melody and accompaniment on the strings while the other pressed the appropriate keys. The men looked at each other and grinned. In just a few bars, they had joined in. Then she opened her mouth.
“I will twine, I will mingle my raven black hair,
With the roses so red and the lilies so fair,
And the myrtle so bright with its emerald hue,
The pale and the leader and eyes look like blue.
I will dance, I will sing and my laugh shall be gay,
I will charm every heart, in his crown I will sway,
When I awoke from my dreaming my idol was clay,
All portion of love had all flown away.
Oh he taught me to love him and promised to love,
And to cherish me over all others above,
How my heart is now wondering no misery can tell,
He's left with no warning, no word of farewell.
Oh, he taught me to love him and called me his flower,
That was blooming to cheer him through life's dreary hour,
Oh, I long to see him and regret the dark hour,
He's one that neglected this pale wildwood flower.”
In between stanzas, other members of the group played a small refrain, shaping the music and sound throughout the piece. In the end, she gave a nod and everyone slowed to a stop. As usual, everyone expressed their pleasure at the outcome.
Jeffers asked, “What’s your name?”
The young woman blushed slightly. Her name patch had been covered up.
“My name is Angie Carter,” she said.
Jeffers and Chambers sat up. “You wouldn’t happen to be a member of the Carter Family?” asked Chambers.
She smiled. “Yes,” she said sheepishly. “This autoharp belonged to my great-great grandma Maybelle.”
“Dear Lord,” exclaimed Chambers. “I guess that means you can stay,” he said with a smile. Everyone around the area laughed since they all knew about the Carter Family. They were country music legends.
Jeffers started playing the banjo part for Nashville Blues and Chambers picked up. Like always, the others fell in. Even Carter was strumming along on the autoharp. A number of others were sitting around the group, tapping their feet and just enjoying the music.
The group was about to finish up the piece when a booming voice shattered the calm. “What the hell is going on in here?” yelled Captain Donner. The music immediately stopped and everyone jumped to their feet. “Who gave you permission to bring this redneck crap aboard my ship?” he demanded.
“Just playing a few tunes after hours, Captain,” said Chambers.
“Not on my ship. If you have time to do this, you can have time for more work. And I’m not sure I like officers and enlisted doing things together. This is to end at once,” he shouted before turning to Jeffers. “And who the hell are you?”
“Lieutenant Commander Jeffers, sir. I’m on the Admiral’s staff,” explained Jeffers.
“Well, Lieutenant Commander, you just keep your redneck hillbilly crap off my ship. You stay up with your people and leave my people alone!” he growled pointing his finger at Jeffers. “If I ever see you down here with my people again….”
“Attention on deck!” someone shouted.
Admiral Hustvedt walked casually up to the group. “Please be at ease. I just wanted to congratulate you on this fine band here, Captain,” said Hustvedt. “I’ve been listening from across the way and really enjoyed their playing,” he said as he turned to Petty Officer Carter. “And you play that autoharp superbly. Haven’t heard such good music in a long time.” He then turned to Donner. “Good idea having a group like this playing on your ship. You recall Hammond had one on his ship. It was probably another reason he got his star,” Hustvedt said jovially. “You people keep up the good work,” he said as he turned to leave. Then he stopped and motioned for Donner to follow him. “One other thing,” Hustvedt said more quietly and he pulled Donner in close when away from the others. “If I ever hear you berating one of my officers or any other in front of their troops, I will personally see to it that you are shipped back home, and the only thing
you will command is a detachment in Diego Garcia,” Hustvedt almost spat. “Such displays of cruelty are counter to good order and discipline and can lead to the loss of a ship and good people. I need you and your ship, but I will not abide a bully. So you keep that in mind. Do you understand?”
Donner gulped. “Yes, sir,” he choked out.
Hustvedt looked at him hard. “Good. Now I think I will go back and listen to some more of that good old American Bluegrass,” he said as he turned and walked back toward the group. Within a few minutes another song was being played.
Donner made his way back to his sea cabin behind the bridge. He didn’t have to listen to that crap. By the time he got to his quarters he had already determined to give Chambers and the chiefs some extra duties. That would teach then not to mess with their commanding officer.
After a few more songs, the group broke up and headed toward their racks. Jeffers said goodbye to his friend and joined the Admiral who was waiting.
“You okay?” Hustvedt asked.
Jeffers smiled. “Oh, I’m fine, but I wouldn’t give much for the rest of the guys. Over the past couple of days I’ve seen the Captain go off on several people. From what I’m seeing, everybody is scared to death of him,” he confided.
Hustvedt nodded. “I’ve heard the same thing. I caught a glimpse of him heading your way and decided to keep my ears open. I’m hoping this will cause him to calm down a bit. I’m sorry he was taking out his anger on you.”
“I can handle those kinds of things, but did you see Seaman Carter? She looked like she would faint,” said Jeffers.
“I saw it. That’s why I said something nice to her. I never have been able to take a bully. He may be the worst I have ever seen. But that’s my problem. I’ll keep my ears open, and if you see anything, let me know,” Hustvedt said seriously. Then his face turned into a grin. “Boy, you sure do know how to pick that banjo,” he said with a smile.
The two talked together as they walked down the hanger deck toward the door that led back to their quarters.
USS Iowa
FM: SHAEF
TO: USS IOWA (BB-61)
INFO: CTF 55.1
CINCLANTFLT
COMNAVSURFLANT
CINCUSNAVEUR
SUBJ: REQUEST PRAYER
BT///SECRET//
SCAEF REQUESTS CHAPLAIN FATHER JAMES DANNER PREPARE A PRAYER TO BE SHARED WITH ALL FORCES UPON COMMENCEMENT OF OPERATIONS. PRAYER SHOULD BE RECEIVED NLT 24 HRS PRIOR FOR DIST.
PERGRA TO BREAK EMCON TO TRANSMIT VIA SATELLITE ONLY.
IF DANNER NOT ABOARD, NOTIFY IMMEDIATELY.
HAMMOND SENDS.
BT
Captain Rhodes looked at the message and smiled. Danner would get a kick out of this. He would also get a kick out of Hammond knowing he was aboard. Danner and the then Captain Hammond got along famously when he was aboard. It never dawned on Rhodes that Hammond knew that Danner would never have allowed himself to be away from his flock.
It was dark on the bridge. The ship gently rolled in the swells and the stars lit up the night sky almost as if it were daylight. Only dark shapes marred the sea’s surface. No lights could be seen. Yet there was no escaping the mighty forces transiting together. On one side of Iowa was the North Carolina. Further out was the carrier Nimitz and her escorts. Even further away was the Enterprise and Gerald Ford. Unseen were the transports, cruise liners, car carriers and other ships carrying several divisions of troops to go into battle. In the center of it all was the America with Admiral Hustvedt leading them. The sheer size of the force was far larger than anything Rhodes had ever seen.
Rhodes watched as his Junior Officer of the Deck walked to the window and lifted a stadimeter. Since there were no radars operating, it was the only way to make sure of the distance between ships. Seeing his officers reverting to the old ways of station keeping made him feel good. Doing it at night with relatively little light was remarkable.
A small gust of wind blew through the bridge as the outer door was opened and shut. Rhodes heard Danner request permission to say the evening prayer. Rhodes was glad it was Danner and not Mahew, the protestant chaplain. Mahew was from a denomination that still thumped Bibles and probably even used snakes. He had been a last minute addition before the ship left San Pedro. So far, none of the crew went to his services. Unlike Danner who drew in both protestant and catholic.
As expected, the prayer was short and Rhodes called Danner up. “Father Danner, it seems you are a highly sought after man,” he joked as he handed over the message.
Danner looked at the message under the red light of the Captain’s flashlight. Rhodes could see the chaplain’s face brighten as he read it.
“Wow. Isn’t this something. Maybe I should do a weather prayer kind of like Patton did at the Battle of the Bulge,” Danner said with a grin. “Or maybe the old Sheppard prayer, “Lord, don’t let me screw this up.”
Rhodes chuckled. “Either way, you might just make or break this effort.”
Danner rubbed his chin. “Hmmmm. I guess I better put on my prayer cap and churn something out,” he said as he folded the message and put it in his shirt pocket. “Goodnight Captain.”
“Good night Jim.”
USS America
General Claire Richardson was tired of going over the invasion plans. She knew them by heart. She just wanted all her staff and commanders to do the same. Only a couple of things had come up at the late staff meeting. One was a recommendation from a company sergeant to bring on a piece of equipment which really wasn’t needed, and the second was a concern about the noise the LCACs would make and how close they might need to be to the beach for a launch. No changes were made, but Richardson liked that they were getting input from all areas and levels of command. It told her they were ready and that they were a part of the plan, 100 percent. That could make or break any amphibious landing.
Needing some fresh air, she made her way to the flight deck and walked out into the cold breeze. The icy wind almost cut right through her heavy jacket, but it felt invigorating. Making her way to the opposite side of the island, the breeze was cut off by the island structure and she found several people standing and sitting along the deck. They were joking around and just watching the waves go by. Trying not to be noticed, she listened in.
“How many more days?”
“Maybe another week. For some reason these squids think they can only go at around ten knots. Not that I mind, but I’d just as soon get going. This waiting around is for shit.”
“Tell me about it. I really don’t like being on these ships. Too much brass and too many squids. Hell, just yesterday the Captain of this boat told Hogsworth that as far as he was concerned all us grunts could just stay in our compartments. Talk about welcome aboard.”
“Yea, he’s a walking turd. Always yelling at somebody and making people’s lives miserable. Makes me glad I’m a Marine.”
“Yea, I bet Richardson wouldn’t give people that kind of shit. She’s nothing but Marine, and Marines take care of their own.”
“No shit.”
“You hear the stories about her from Korea? Damn! Talk about kicking ass and taking names.”
“Yea, and that’s just what we’re going to do when we hit the beach.”
Nearby a door opened and a crewman came on deck. He walked over to the group. “Excuse me, guys, but the CO doesn’t really like people on the flight deck at night. Too easy to fall off. I don’t want to break anything up, but I know a place that’s safer and a whole hell of a lot warmer.”
One of the Marines spoke up. “The CO doesn’t like it, huh.”
“Probably throw a fit.”
“No problem, man. We’ve seen some of his fits. Where is this place you are talking about?”
“Follow me.”
The sailor led the group through the door and down a passageway headed aft toward the fantail. Going down a few ladders the group emptied onto the hangar deck and made their way to a refueling station on the starboard side. A
set of vents from the ship’s interior brought a little heat to the area, making it quite pleasant. All the way under the dim red lights, Richardson stayed back so the Marines couldn’t see her. Only the last two recognized her, but she smiled and placed her index finger to her lips. They nodded and kept going.
When the door to the outside was opened, the lights in the passageway went off. Everyone went out onto the refueling station.
“Thanks, man. We appreciate it,” one of the Marines said.
“No problem. Saves us all a chewing,” said the sailor as he turned and went back inside.
“Nice guy,” said one.
“Yea, not bad for a swabbie,” joked another. They all settled down on pieces of equipment as they had before, but this time, another of the Marines saw Richardson and called out, “Attention on deck.” All the Marines jumped to their feet.
Saddened that she had been found out, Richardson motioned them down. “Have a seat guys, don’t mind me. I came out for the same reason you did,” she said.
“Sorry we didn’t see you before, Ma’am,” said one.
Richardson chuckled. “I didn’t really want you to. People tend to clam up whenever a general is around. I’d rather just sit and talk a while. What’s been going on?” she asked.
“Bored as hell, Ma’am,” said one. “I’d rather we were somewhere getting shot at than this.”
“Yea, the Gunny said it would get bad, but I never thought it would be this bad.”
“Yea, I guess we’re all a little anxious to get there and get going,” said Richardson. “For me, there’s only so many times you can go over things. I was hoping the Navy would do a few gunshoots in between for us to watch, but there won’t be but one unrep between now and hitting the beach, so I guess we just have to hang in there,” she said.
“Now that would have been cool. I’d love to see one of those battlewagons torch off. I’m told it’s impressive as hell,” said a younger man.
“Bud, you have no idea. In Korea, those things patrolled up and down the peninsula and cleared a path all the way north. I told them this time I wouldn’t go unless they came along,” she joked.
