Going Home (Soldier Up Book 3)

by Steven Linde

  After the nights rest, they boarded the aircraft at 0545 as the sun was rising and headed north. During the night, General Watkins had received a message from Admiral Walcom which he gave to Admiral Meyer. It was really his problem now. The message read, ‘The USS Midway had been secured they found the former ship’s mates holding the ship. Even repelling the Mexicans when they tried to board her.’ “Damn!” said Admiral Meyer. “I should have thought of that before I left.”

  “No, no Admiral not really. I’ve also ordered them to secure all of the museums in Balboa Park and the train depot in downtown. We know what to look for keep in mind most of this stuff we stumbled on ourselves it took us a while. Now when we move into a new area we know what to go after first. It’s really as simple as that.”

  “Thanks for the save General, of course you’re right. This is going to take some getting used too. When do I take it all over?”

  “Now,” laughed General Watkins. “It’s your baby now. Don’t worry, we aren’t throwing you to the wolves you have ourselves and staff at your call day and night. As smooth as I hope this goes at Lewis-McChord it can all go to hell quick. John is ever the optimistic, as you’re going to find out most of not all of this is his brain-child. I would encourage you to use him primarily because if you don’t he’s going to do it himself.” General Watkins shot Colonel Clayton a sharp glance. “Well yeah…” was Colonel Clayton’s response.

  The Cessna circled airfield at McChord prior to landing, and they were a bit nervous as they weren’t able to raise any type of flight control in this case 1st Special Forces. After circling the field for ten minutes, flight control finally came on the air and directed them to land at a specific runway, where they would be met by Colonel Eaton. They came in on approach and landed, then taxied up to a group of vehicles with personnel standing next to them in uniform. Once they were about twenty-five yards away, the aircraft halted and the engines were cut.

  Colonel Clayton opened the aircraft’s door and dropped the stairs, then exited the aircraft where he met Colonel Eaton. They shook hands. After Colonel Clayton came, Lieutenant General Watkins and Full Admiral Meyer. Colonel Eaton called everyone to attention and saluted. “Sir’s welcome to Lewis-McChord!”

  Admiral Meyer returned the salute then said, “As you were.”

  Colonel Clayton made the introductions and then Colonel Eaton suggested they adjourn to 1st Groups HQ conference room where they could all talk. Many of the other commanders were there waiting. Admiral Meyers agreed, and they all loaded into the vehicles for the twenty minute ride. At this point Colonel Eaton didn’t care if General Cummings and his minions were aware of something going on over at 1st Groups AO because he now had two officers who outranked him.

  As they entered the conference room, Colonel Eaton entered first and called the room to attention, and then Admiral Meyer walked in. “Carry on,” he said. Following the Admiral was General Watkins. He took out a laptop and projector, and both on batteries which would run for about three hours. He was going to give a presentation, which surprised everyone in the room. No one had seen a professional military presentation like this in over a year.

  Once everyone was seated they went around the room and introductions were made. Eighty percent of the active duty unit commanders from Fort Lewis and McChord AFB were present, and they all knew changes were coming. After introductions, Admiral Meyer instructed Colonel Clayton to begin, and for the next hour and a half he made his presentation with regards to current known status of the United States after the event, current military status which included personnel strengths, vehicles and other equipment. Following that he discussed civilian security forces, oil refineries, fuel from said refineries, food, water and progress establishing some sort of electrical grid. Every commander in the room realized they were far behind and would need some guidance from Camp Parks to move forward.

  There were lots of questions from the audience, especially how they were going to deal with the more radical of the tree huggers. Admiral Meyer looked at General Watkins for guidance on that. “If they want a fight we’ll give them a fight, period.” said General Watkins. “Washington State is part of the United States, and not a sovereign nation, they will abide by its laws or there will be consequences.”

  It was good for the men and women in the room to see some strong leadership, finally. After Colonel Clayton’s presentation Colonel Eaton thanked him and then stood and spoke about the current plan to speak to General Cummings with Admiral Meyer and General Watkins present. He wanted to be upfront that it might mean that General Cummings would have to be arrested and prosecuted. No one had a problem with it. The Provost Marshall was present and asked him if there would be any problems on his side. The Provost Marshall answered no problems at all and that he had MPs currently at I Corps HQ and General Cummings was in his office. He had been told that he was to remain in place and that company was coming.

  The Provost Marshall Colonel Jacobs did tell him that he met with several of the Generals staff, and gave them a heads up and asked them not to interfere. That being the case, it was possible that when they left here and traveled to I Corps HQ they could be intercepted by I Corps Soldiers. At that point, the commander of 2nd Battalion, Ranger Regiment, told them it wasn’t going to be a problem and that he had ordered his Rangers to secure the corridor and to assist the MPs in securing I Corps HQ. Colonel Clayton wondered to himself, ‘yeah nothing could go wrong with all of this.’

  Admiral Meyer wrapped up the meeting and told them there was no time like the present to meet with General Cummings. He asked for everyone to return to their units and prepare for new orders once everything was cleared up. He asked for Colonel Eaton to remain behind and to join them in their meeting with General Cummings. Colonel Eaton told the Admiral he would be more than happy recognizing that he didn’t really have a choice.

  The four men exited the building, got into the vehicles and were driven over to I Corps HQ, General Cummings Office. Both General Watkins and Colonel Clayton had been through similar showdowns with various other officers in different locations. They had a pretty good idea what to expect, and it was going to be a real eye-opener for Admiral Meyer, and to an extent Colonel Eaton. Neither General Watkins nor Colonel Clayton actually believed that General Cummings was going to go quietly into the night.

  The vehicles pulled up to the front the building, MPs were out front and immediately came to attention as Admiral Meyer and General Watkins exited the vehicles and walked past them. Inside the building were more MPs and Soldiers from the Ranger Battalion. The men marched to the General’s office, and outside the office I Corps Sergeant Major was waiting for them. The SGM was in shock to see four stars walking his way and this put a large dent in his plan. He had planned to confront anyone coming to see the General and turn them back. When the four stars showed up, followed by an Army three stars, his plan went to shit and out the door. He came to attention as the men passed; Admiral Meyer stared down the SGM as he passed him. The SGM quickly exited the area, he had a strong feeling that things were going to be changing very soon. He only hoped he was going to hold his own command.

  Admiral Meyer walked right past the General assistant and into the General’s office. The General looked up and screamed, “What’s the meaning of this? You can’t barge into my Office!” he then saw it was a Navy officer and that officer had four stars, and standing behind him was an Army Officer and he was wearing three stars. Even in General Cummings mind, he knew this couldn’t be good. He stood there staring at the men. “Excuse me General, the last time I checked my four stars outranked your two. You will come to attention, is that clear?” said Admiral Meyer.

  General Cummings was flustered as it had been a year since anyone attempted to dress him down. He immediately came to attention. “I’m sorry sir it’s…it’s been a long time since I’ve seen that many stars. I was caught off guard.”

  “At ease General.” said Admiral Meyer. Admiral Meyer reached for his credential pa
ck and handed it to General Cummings, and he opened it and examined it then handed it back. If there was any doubt in his mind that the four stars might be fake that was snuffed out. General Watkins also gave General Cummings his credential pack, and General Cummings took it and examined it, then handed it back. Colonel Clayton handed over his, General Cummings examined it. “Are you the same Clayton from Delta?”

  “Yes sir, I Am.” responded Colonel Clayton.

  General Cummings handed his credentials back to him. “How can I help you gentlemen today?”

  “General, why don’t you come over here and have a seat with us we need to talk.” said General Watkins.

  General Cummings nodded and walked around his desk. They all moved over to the seating area in his office. Admiral Meyers asked Colonel Clayton to set up his laptop and projector again and to please run through the presentation. Colonel Clayton wasn’t prepared to do the presentation again and hoped he had enough battery power left, but an order was an order so he complied.

  The presentation took forty-five minutes, and since it was just the five of them, by the time it was done General Cummings was sunk deep into his seat. He knew what was coming now. He realized the mistake he had made in handing over Lewis-McChord to civilians, and at that point General Watkins took over the conversations. He told General Cummings that up to about a month ago he was the OIC of all US Forces in the United States—that is until they could establish communications with the Joint Chiefs. He explained that when Southern California was finally retaken from the Mexican Army, they found Admiral Meyer at North Island in San Diego, which now made him the senior officer and placed him in charge of all US Forces, and that he had relinquished his command to him. When that happened, the Admiral made General Watkins commander of all US Army Forces which meant that General Cummings, a Major General, worked for him and Admiral Meyer. “Do you see where I’m going with this General Cummings?” asked General Watkins.

  “Yes sir, I do. Can I say something?” asked General Cummings.

  “Yes of course.” said Admiral Meyer.

  “I see that I made a mistake in turning over the Fort and Air Force Base to the civilian government. My purpose at least in my mind was to work with them to ensure we were all able to move forward together. I recognized several weeks ago that I had lost control of the situation when the civilians were demanding we disarm and turn over all of our arms to them. I did refuse that, but I didn’t kick them off post as I should have, I made a mistake.”

  “What in your mind was the mistake?” asked General Watkins.

  “I should have kicked them all off post and asserted military authority until things could have been straightened out and a more moderate government installed.” Replied General Cummings.

  “Why didn’t you?” asked Colonel Clayton.

  “No excuse Colonel. I’m an infantry officer, not civil affairs, and civilian politics has never been my strong suit. I’m not trying to make excuses, I’m stating the facts.”

  The admission by General Cummings surprised Colonel Eaton the General was human after all. Each man in the room could respect a man or woman that could admit their mistakes and take responsibility for their actions. “OK General.” said Admiral Meyer. “We’re here to help you. What can we do?”

  “Sir I would like to order both posts locked down and all civilian personnel escorted off post now to start with.”

  “Sounds good, but what if they won’t leave?” asked General Watkins.

  “My orders to the Provost Marshall will be to get them off my post by any means necessary.”

  “It’s a good start General. Get it done.” said the Admiral.

  General Cummings called his assistant in and told him to get the Sergeant Major in here now. The Sergeant Major hustled his way into the office and came to attention, “Yes sir!” said the Sergeant Major.

  “Lockdown the post, no one comes on post or I want all of the civilians escorted off both bases. They aren’t to leave with any of our equipment and if they refused to comply I don’t care! Get them off my post. Once you get that done I want a staff meeting for all commanders and senior NCOs at the theater at 1500. You got all that Sergeant Major? Also, the meeting is mandatory and if I don’t see them there will be repercussions.”

  “Yes sir, I’ve got it,” said the Sergeant Major, with that he came to attention and did an about face and marched out of the office.

  “What’s with the 1500 meeting?” asked Admiral Meyer.

  “Well sir, I’d like for Colonel Clayton to give that presentation again to them and introduce all of you.”

  “If I may sir,” said Colonel Clayton. “I would need to be able to charge my laptop and projector before I give another presentation. Also, the meeting is a good idea, not meaning any disrespect General Cummings, but the meeting and his introductions would hold him accountable. The commanders would know they have a chain of command outside of the base.”

  “I agree with the Colonel,” said General Cummings.

  “You can charge your stuff over at 1st Group,” said Colonel Eaton.

  “Alight, it sounds like a plan let’s make it happen,” said the Admiral.

  Chapter Forty

  Colonel Tekana and his men surrendered without incident they were marched to a secluded part of post. As the arrived the Mexican Soldiers found old World War Two buildings, the area commonly referred to as splinter village by the Marines. The Marines had quickly surrounded the buildings with a dozen of rows of concertina wire stacked row upon row. They had also created a hasty minefield in front of that, while in front of that were machine gun emplacements. They wanted to make sure the Mexican Soldiers weren’t going any place, at least for the time being.

  Colonel Tekana and General Garcia were also housed with their Soldiers but not near each other, that would have caused a great deal of conflict. Colonel Parker used the Marines under his command to guard the POW’s while the Marines under Colonel Bennett left the lines they had been holding for months and moved back to their barracks. Those with families on post were allowed to return to them and given several days off to reconnect with them. The Marines that lived in the barracks were also given time off too but since they were in the barracks they still had to pull various duties.

  General Charkin toured the POW camp and met privately with General Garcia and Colonel Tekana. He spoke with each man at length and came away with two extremely different opinions of the men. He felt General Garcia was a bigot, even against his own people, not only that the man was certifiably crazy. Colonel Tekana was a professional Soldier that believed in his mission, it wasn’t based so much off of that he hated the United States as he was in returning land that he thought was unfairly taken from Mexico. He knew that both men would be harshly judged in Mexico City by the real President of Mexico and the military junta there it wasn’t going to be pretty for them.

  General Charkin had already set the plan in motion for all of the Mexicans to be returned to Mexico. By the end of the week the same B-17’s that were used to bomb the Mexicans were going to be used to fly them to Mexico City. It would have a take a half dozen B-17’s several trips to return everyone Mexico City had argued for returning the NCO’s and lower Soldiers to Tijuana. The United States current position was they didn’t want any Mexican military on the border for now, it was a deal breaker and might be a cause for the bombings to continue. Mexico tried to take an aggressive stance over that as well but Admiral Meyer reminded them that they are the ones the invaded the US not the other way around. Mexico backed down eventually and agreed to the terms Admiral Meyer assured Mexico City that their security was assured by the treaty.

  Back in the POW camp Navy Corpsman, Doctors and Nurses were making rounds and checking out the Mexican Soldiers making sure they were healthy. There were wounded Soldiers and those that couldn’t be treated were sent, under guard, to a field hospital nearby. A mess hall was set up and the Soldiers fed three times a day, three hot’s and a cot, as the Marines and Soldiers
put it. They asked if they would cook their own food in the mess and were given permission. The barracks although old had bunks with mattresses with sheets, blankets and pillows the Mexican NCO’s were held responsible for keeping them clean and their bunks made. All-in-all the Mexican Soldiers felt they hadn’t had it this good in a very long time.

  Many of the Mexican Soldiers liked what they saw in the Marines several had approached the Marine guards and asked them if there was any way they could join the United States Marines or Army. The Marines laughed and thought it was a joke the Mexican Soldiers assured them they weren’t joking. The Marines told them they would have to get back to them it was funny to them and those getting off guard duty recounted the stories to their fellow Marines and they all had a good laugh.

  Eventually those stories reached the Marine Commanders; at first they thought they were funny too. Upon further reflection it wouldn’t be the first time the United States Military accepted fighters from another Army. At the end of World War Two there were many German Soldiers that once vetted joined the United States Military. The story was passed all the way up to General Charkin he saw value in it and passed it back down the chain-of-command to set up an enlistment station at the POW camp. They would have to make it clear they may have to go through Army or Marine training programs if they joined the Army they may not return to Mexico for a long time. If they joined the Marines they would have to endure sea duty and again not returning to Mexico for a long time.

  Once they enlisted they would be removed from the camp immediately and moved to a processing station. Mexican Officers and senior NCO’s that wanted to sign-up were removed even quicker. Three days prior to the date they were told they were being returned to Mexico US Army and Marine recruiting services showed up from Camp Parks setting up booths within the camp, the lines were long.