Stalin and the Soviet system, however, usually had a different outcome. If you could destroy the people you disliked, you did so. Certain Soviet leaders had this ability and used it on the order of twenty million times.
Gentle Giant
Richard Gardner Post was a large man. He stood 6’4” and weighed 225 lbs. He was a competitive swimmer in high school and held many records in state meets. He was very, very strong. He looked like the perfect soldier. His corporal and then his sergeant soon found out that he lacked something, something that was essential in a soldier. That something was hate.
The brothers Richard and Phil Post were raised not to hate. Richard, in particular, could not be coerced into hating the enemy enough to kill. He saw all people for what they were. They were neither good nor bad because of the way they dressed or the color of their skin or shape of their eyes. He was not some kind of imbecile and knew when he was being taken advantage of. In fact, he was a very good businessman with a thriving construction business that he had to leave when he was drafted. He built homes, businesses and schools. He did the work of three normal men. He was quick and sure in his movements and choices. He hated no one.
Sometimes things just work out and for Richard, all of his stars seemed to be in alignment for once. The corporal talked to the sergeant who talked to the lieutenant, who talked to the captain who got Richard transferred to an all colored unit that was assisting the Seabees or Construction Battalions. The Seabees were specialized units the Navy created. The Navy expressly sought highly skilled recruits from the construction and building trades. Many times the units were made up of more experienced men. The average age of a Seabee unit was 37, far older than other units.
Richard had never seen a Negro until he was drafted into the army. He came from northern Wisconsin, which did not have many opportunities for interracial interaction. His new squad mates knew right off how special Richard was and Richard knew how lucky he was to be in their company. It was mutual admiration and a real kind of conjoint regard from the very first. Richard was one happy man.
Richard’s unit was assigned to follow the naval Seabee unit that was right behind the lead combat units of the VIII Corps. The colored unit’s mission was to assist the Seabees in building airfields in as short a time as possible.
The Seabees had extensive experience in the Pacific theater during the Second World War in setting up air fields quickly while under fire. In the landings in Leyte, Philippines they had an airfield ready within hours of landing. America’s Ace of Aces, Richard Bong almost beat General McArthur in his return to the Philippines; the field was built so quickly. At Guadalcanal, the Seabees helped defend the air field from attack. At Wake Island the Seabees were captured and forced to complete the construction project. In the end, the Japanese summarily executed the Seabees.
The Seabee’s first assignment was an airfield in Postjona. The Yugoslavian military spent a day trying to destroy their own airbase. The Seabees and Richard’s battalion had it up and running in five hours. USAAF P-80 Shooting Stars were landing on hour six and taking off for missions on hour eight. The whole First Army’s success depended upon air superiority in a 600-mile-wide corridor running from Trieste to Vienna and the Seabees were on track to meet that objective.
Richard’s unit was commanded by a white officer. Experience had shown that officers from the south were not the proper choice for this job. Walter Wingate was from Vermont, and was indeed the correct choice for commanding this unusual unit.
The first time a group of soldiers from another company had tried to get Richard’s goat for eating and sleeping with “niggers," they had been severely disciplined by Captain Wingate. Richard did not respond to their taunts and racial name-calling. His demeanor impressed Wingate.
Richard’s extraordinary construction skills and strength were great assets to the company. However, one of his most valuable traits was his genial manner. People just naturally gravitated to Richard. In this time of unimaginable horror, it was comforting to know that such a gentle giant still existed and that all men were not natural-born killers controlled by hatred alone.
Reporter – Reporting
Marvin Cranston had a ringside seat to Operation Kydoimos. This was a bribe for being held prisoner without charges by the US Army when he stumbled upon a dress rehearsal in Maine for this very operation and the invasion of Trieste.
When he was released, he was offered a berth on an assault ship and unfettered access. He was allowed on the bridge of the flag ship and had observed the unusually reserved interactions between the very famous Nimitz and the new guy Walker. Both seemed, distant and cold towards each other, yet when they had to communicate they did so very effectively. He was pretty sure that the censors would cut that part out of his story, but he had to try anyway.
From Marvin’s limited knowledge of amphibious operations, things seemed to be going well and was remarkably similar to the exercise he observed in Maine before being “captured” by General McNarney. It had indeed been payback by the General, but maybe his Pulitzer was still waiting after this exclusive access to the first NATO counter attack of the war. He may ultimately get his revenge on McNarney
It’s not like he was locked up during his month-long hiatus with the Army paratroopers. He actually had some good stories to tell about their training and such. They were an interesting group of men who jump out of planes for a living. He was confined to a base in the middle of nowhere without access to a phone.
Eventually, he was allowed one phone call and chose his editor who then informed anyone who cared. There were not many he assumed. He was allowed day-old newspapers and his disappearance never made it into print. Kind of disconcerting to be a prominent reporter for the New York Times, go missing and no one seemed to care. Clearly, he needed to work on his interpersonal skills.
He agreed not to mention where he had been, what he had seen, and the circumstances he was being held. In return, he gained freedom and exclusive access to this first US operation.
After walking the bridge and taking notes, Marvin was allowed to go ashore on the third wave. The resistance was minimal, with not a Soviet to be found, only Tito’s Yugoslav minions. The Yugoslavian fightersYugoslav reputation, but not when it came to conventional warfare. They were easily defeated by the American combination of superior arms and combat knowledge. The Yugoslavs were brave but lacked modern command, control and weapons. He was surprised by the number of women fighters.
He was just pulling into the city of Gratz. He was trying to track down two Privates whose actions have caused the rumor mill to kick into overdrive. According to the rumors, the Privates have done some amazing things that make Audi Murphy look like a piker, and that was saying a lot.
Command did not provide him with a driver and vehicle. He guessed the Army’s guilt or fear of charges did not extend that far. He had just got off hitching a ride on a DUKW when he heard firing ahead. It turned out not to be the Privates and was another fire fight with some locals.
He noticed that there were a number of locals that were flying the American flag from their windows. He put that in his mental “to-do list." do list”. Are the local citizens of Yugoslavia ready to throw off the Tito regime? Nice angle he thought.
He asked around and got a line on the Privates. They were in the lead of the whole army and doing their magic in a town called Guntrans. This town was not on any maps he had. Based on the description he was given, the likely location seemed be by a major river crossing. As he looked at a very detailed topo map, he was impressed by all the possible defensive positions that faced both east and west. Someone did an excellent job of planning this operation.
He still didn’t understand what NATO was going to accomplish here. He had learned that the First Army was going to take Vienna and then defend it and a 100-mile-wide corridor back to Trieste, but why? Either no one really knew or this was one of the tightest lipped group of troops he had ever encountered.
The next day he got to G
untrans, but the Privates had long gone. It seems they were given a bunch of jeeps and those new armored cars. Most importantly, their company had been given the freedom to do whatever it took to move as rapidly as possible towards Vienna. He had to catch up to these two mythical Privates and fast.
He did run into one of the Private’s brothers. He was a big man working with an all colored unit on the construction site of an airfield in Wiener Neustadt, Austria. His name was Richard Post and his brother Phil was one of the mythical Privates. Richard was a nice guy, but was of no real help. He loved his brother and was worried about him, but had no knowledge of his brother’s combat deeds. In fact, Richard was kind of mystified by the whole thing.
It seems that Phil was an artist and was going to become an art teacher. Their mother had raised them to be pacifists. That is why Richard was in this construction unit. He didn’t want to kill anyone and couldn’t imagine his brother doing so either.
This story was getting juicier by the minute. Headline” Pacifist Artist Becomes Killer." He had to catch up with these guys.
Curiously, he couldn’t get anyone to talk about the other Private, Warren Johnson. Everyone that knew Warren was kind of nervous about talking about him. He must be some intimidating guy; Marvin thought. I mean these combat hardened veterans seemed to be afraid of this guy. Headline” Killer Terrifies All." He just had to catch up to these two. Shit, he hadn’t filed a story in three days since he started following the Privates.
A reporter who doesn’t report loses his job. A very crude American flag caught his attention and he had an idea for a quick bullshit story that would shut his editor up. He’d have to write some story about American flags flying from the windows of captured buildings and how the locals were embracing the NATO forces as liberators. His thought train was interrupted by a bullet striking near his foot.
He jumped or more accurately fell, into a ditch full of water. He was not a combat reporter and all this shooting and blowing up of things was new to him. He was not used to people literally trying to kill him. He wasn’t afraid, just surprised that someone would want to shoot him personally.
Someone threw a grenade into a building and that was the end of the sniping. He noticed that the crude American flag was missing from the window and started to write.
Waving the Flag
Binasa Litvin had made the Yankee flag hours before the Americans appeared in town. She had no idea what the Yankees were doing so far into the Yugoslavian countryside. The flag had stayed in her window until that idiot Gafur shot at the Yankee soldier long after the first set of troops had left town. What was Gafur thinking? Was he trying to impress the local communist leaders? No good could come of it, that was for sure. So, she took down her Yankee flag just to be safe and not draw attention to herself.
What did she care whether it was the Yankees, Soviets, Germans or Tito who took her pride? Men were men, and she was a widower who had had sex with many men since “he” died. She could not bring herself to say his name. “He” was short of stature but long on wisdom and love. Oh how she loved “Him."
It did no good to dwell in the past. After Gafur’s shot, the Yankees would be going door to door so she had to prepare. She wanted to appear demur and reluctant, yet available to the right baby faced virgin she spotted. They were always the best and were easy to make them fall in love with you.
She looked in the mirror and liked what she saw, full bodied, yet attractive. She always had a pretty face and that had saved her life a number of times. Unfairly, like so many, she was forced to use her body to survive.
She reflected on life under the Tito regime. It was hard to get food, but no one was starving. Everyone got along in their mutual misery, Muslims, Croats, etc. You had certain freedoms, yet everyone but a few were very poor with no hope of a better life.
Perhaps these Yankees would bring prosperity. She had heard that they had lots of pretty things to give to willing women. That was probably the biggest difference she expected. The Yankees felt the need to give you things in return for sex. They needed to feel it was a business deal and nothing more. From what she had heard few rapes could be expected from the Americans. There might be unwanted attention, sex and degradation, but not the extreme violence of the Russians or the cursed Germans.
She took a quick sponge bath, put on her best dress, pinched her cheeks and walked through the doorway to seek out a baby-faced soldier that would protect her for a few days or perhaps a week or two.
Perhaps, she could seek out the soldier who had been shot at and clean him up after he had fallen into the ditch. It would be a way to gain his confidence and get him aroused. Having a woman take care of you always seemed to work. She hoped he was not a virgin. She hated virgins, too much fumbling and needing assistance.
Perhaps she should put the Yankee flag out again. She found the soldier. He was not far from where he had fallen and of all the odd things… he was writing, furiously writing like his life depended on it. She put her hand on his shoulder and the age-old dance began.
***
Melvin Cranston returned to Yugoslavia, married Binasa Litvin and had three children, two of which were his own.
***
Eye Witness Report -
USAAF vs VVS – Ganz, Austria
7 May 1946
By Captain Morgan Ferguson
1. At about 0655, numerous enemy planes were picked up by our instruments as coming towards the Ganz Area from the East, distance about 255 miles. Four Squadrons of fighters were ordered to intercept.
2. At about 0657, the entire Combat Air Patrol was ordered out in different formations to intercept and engage the enemy planes closing in on us.
3. This was the first major air combat to take place in Operation Kydoimos between the Soviet Air force and NATO forces. Approximately 40 aircraft took part in the action.
15 USAAF P-80 Shooting Stars
12 VVS TU-2 Bats
12 Mig-9 Fargos
were vectored in by USAAF radar air. I claim one Tu-2 Bat shot down.
6. observed three more severely damaged enemy aircraft of the Tu-2 Bat type and one of the Mig-9 Fargo. I also observed a collision of a Shooting Star and a Fargo (later identified as Lieutenant Cummings) with both planes being destroyed in mid-air.
7. The tempo of the engagement and the maneuver of the two forces turned into a dogfight with both forces scoring hits.
8. Observation: The Tu-2 Bat medium bomber did not stay in formation and fought and maneuvered similarly to a fighter squadron. They were very nimble for a bomber and avoided most high speed attacks rather easily by out turning our planes.
The Mig-9 Fargo was slower than the P-80 Shooting Star but more maneuverable. Suggest using energy tactics and using high speed passes. Do not get into a turning fight with either aircraft.
9. Using energy maneuvers and keeping high speed we were able to down three more Bats and four more Fargos.
10. We lost five aircraft:
One to a flameout
Two to enemy gunfire from the Bat’s tail gunners.
One from Fargo gunfire..
One from a collision with an enemy Fargo.
11. Strategic observations of the mission:
- The enemy aircraft were forced to turn back.
- The enemy seemed prepared and trained for high speed jet combat.
- New tactics must be developed to accomplish an air superiority mission.
- Rookie USAAF personnel were up to the task of jet combat due to our superior training programs.
- The 50 cal machine guns of the Shooting Star proved to be an effective weapon against the Fargo and Bat.
- Radar air control is vital to a successful mission outcome.
Sergo Loses Control
Sergo learned that a decision had been made without his counsel regarding the future of the Stalin’s Fire Missile. Admiral of the Red Fleet, Nikolay Kuznetsov, had convinced the Stavka and then Stalin that they needed to employ the guided missiles for t
heir original purpose, which was to sink ships.
Kuznetsov had argued that the Amerikosi had one great advantage over the forces of the USSR and that was their control of the seas. The Babushka mini-sub had only a marginal effect on the western power’s navies. Turn the Stalin’s Fire Missile into an anti-ship weapon and you have a very powerful threat to the enemy’s control of the world’s oceans.
The Admiral had secretly developed a long-range, anti-ship missile that traded altitude and speed for greater reach. The redesigned missiles now had a range that far out distanced even the largest naval guns and rivaled the range of carrier-based airplanes.
The Red Navy’s engineers had added larger control surfaces that significantly reduced the missiles' speed. Extreme speed was unnecessary in this application, as ships were essentially stationary targets to a rocket. The engine was made more efficient and the rocket was longer due to an added fuel container. The final version was slower and larger with a range of 200 miles and a speed of 725 mph.
The redesigned missile was still faster than the speed of sound, and any jet fighter by over 100 mph. The operational plan was to fire the rocket in the direction of an enemy fleet. The avian pilots were prevented from guiding the rocket by retractable shutters over the viewing window and contact plate. Until the shutters open the missile would be guided by a system similar to the V2 rocket.
This initial guidance system consisted of two free gyroscopes (horizontal and vertical) for stabilization. At timed intervals, both shutters would open then three Columba Livia or pigeons, would take control of the rocket. The course and possible target would be chosen by two of the three operators.
World War Three 1946 Series Boxed Set: Stalin Strikes First Page 111
