"Ghosts of the Past" Author: Hugo "Animal" Chikamori E-mail: hchikamori@yahoo.com Rating: G Classification: Harm/Mac R; Meg/Animal R Spoilers: Much of it is like "Above and Beyond" Summary: The Medal of Honor Ceremony commemorating Animal's heroism in a altercation with hostile forces has come through. But Animal is not sure that he deserves the Medal of Honor. Disclaimers: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., AJ Chegwidden, et al. belong in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended. Author's Note: The requirements states that a recipient receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor have the citation read..."For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty, in action involving actual conflict with an opposing armed force." You have seen my fictional character with the Medal of Honor around his neck. What happened behind the story... ******************************************************************* THE CHIKAMORI HOME FALLS CHURCH, VA 0200 EST Meg was asleep, blissfully unconscious about what was going on in her husband's mind. Animal on the other hand, was having a nightmare. He could see the whole thing over again in his mind. What was happening was like it was right in front of his eyes. Animal's shout of "NO!!!"...woke Meg as she turned to see her husband jolt up, hyperventilating. Meg's look was sympathetic as she calmed her husband."It's all right ....it's all right...honey..." "Oh, god...Meg...it just seemed so real..." he said. He wasn't about to get any sleep that night. "Was it that nightmare again?" Meg asked,"Is it that Medal of Honor ceremony that's worrying you again?" "Maybe...I don't know..." Animal said, looking at her, embracing her. The look of despair in his eyes, brought tears to Meg's own eyes. Her husband was in pain, and he stoicly held it. He was much like their dear friend "Mac", Harm's Marine Major, partner and friend. "It...it didn't happen that way...but the last round...it jammed and...the NK, he turned and fired..." His eyes looked haunted. "But...it didn't happen that way, you are here...now because he did get shot and you clubbed the last guy in hand-to-hand combat..." Meg said, her voice shaking."And...this is..." she caressed his face,"It's not helping you to have these nightmares..." she said. "But what can I do...to make them stop?" Her husband turned to look at her with those eyes that she loved so much. It hurt her so much that she couldn't think of anything to say, that would make his pain go away. "Maybe I should go ask LCDR Parker...to have a session with you..." Meg said. "But above all, you think that what happened was your fault. Honey, That's why I think these nightmares keep happening. Sweetie, it's not your fault." "I know, but, I just can't..." His voice was hollow and cracking, he was near tears. Meg embraced him as he collapsed into her arms. She knew what it was that caused it. 5 years ago, his friend and he were flying a combat mission just off the coast of North Korea... FLASHBACK (5 years earlier) END FLASHBACK CHIKAMORI RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA 0500 EST The ringing alarm clock woke both Meg and Animal up from a disturbed sleep. Animal looked horrible. He looked like he was still asleep. "I think I'd better let Lieutenant Commander Dulles take the squadron on that hop today..." he muttered,"I'm in no condition to fly." Meg looked sourly at him,"But that Dulles is such an arrogant asshole. honey, he's doing everything possible to oust you from your command. Give him half an..." Animal interrupted her,"Thanks, hon, but in the condition, I'm in, better, I downchit myself, then get up there and pancake." He picked up the phone,"Lieutenant Commander Dulles in?"...he listened to the response..."Guess what, Mike, you're taking the squadron up today." "Look, I don't know...I don't feel like I've got an upchit. Something disturbed my sleep last night...Look, Mike, I'll explain it when I get to the base...Any other questions, save it..." Animal hung up. JAG HEADQUARTERS FALLS CHURCH, VA 0845 EST "Lieutenant Commander Rabb, Major Mackenzie, in my office..." RADM AJ Chegwidden said as he entered the office, interrupting the yeoman's yell of "Admiral on deck," "Yes, sir..." Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb Jr. and Major Sarah 'Mac' Mackenzie looked at each other. When the two had assembled themselves in his office and Harm had shut the door. Rear Admiral Albert Jethro Chegwidden looked up at his two officers. "You know that our friend, Commander Hugo Chikamori or as you two know him, 'Animal' has been nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor for events that happened five years ago in a land called North Korea. This was a strictly clandestine operation, sent in to get two fallen Navy Aviators out. But the upshot of this is that the Department of Defense knew that the two Navy aviators were up with Animal when they got shot down. Animal when returning to base, set it up with a NAVY SEAL TEAM to go in and get his buddies out. When they got to them, the two buddies were engaged in a fire- fight with a platoon of North Koreans. The SEALS engaged. The Extract Helo that was supposed to extract them out, was painted by a SAM held by a NK platoon member. The NK was then shot by Lieutenant Commander Troy Anderson, deceased, who was shot and killed by the other NK platoon members. Animal, the crazy nutcase, charged the platoon with an M-16 and 6 clips of ammo and single-handedly destroyed that platoon, first with a cooked grenade and then with his M-16 and finally in hand-to-hand combat." AJ's tone sounded impress- ed. "The Department of Defense wants to give both men a Congressional Medal of Honor, the deceased LCDR Troy Anderson as well as CDR Chikamori. I want you to interview the men involved in the mission as well as the SEAL team that went with them. Find out everything that was involved and I want this to come to an expedient conclusion." AJ said,"Animal deserves that medal and I feel that his friend deserves it too." *******To Be Continued******* "Ghosts of the Past" Author: Hugo "Animal" Chikamori E-mail: hchikamori@yahoo.com Rating: G Classification: Harm/Mac R; Meg/Animal R Spoilers: Much of it is like "Above and Beyond" Summary: The Medal of Honor Ceremony commemorating Animal's heroism in a altercation with hostile forces has come through. But Animal is not sure that he deserves the Medal of Honor. Disclaimers: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., AJ Chegwidden, et al. belong in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended. Author's Note: The requirements states that a recipient receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor have the citation read..."For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty, in action involving actual conflict with an opposing armed force." You have seen my fictional character with the Medal of Honor around his neck. What happened behind the story... ******************************************************************* Part 2/???? NAS OCEANA VIRGINIA BEACH, VA 1042 EST The yeoman stood at the front of Animal's office as he was sitting there contemplating the situation and looking over some FitReps. "Can I help you with something, Henson?" "Ah, sorry, sir, I was just wondering the same thing." "Well, I don't need any help just yet, but thanks for asking." Animal said as he returned his attention to the reports on his desk. The yeoman returned to his seat. NAS OCEANA VIRGINIA BEACH, VA 1057 EST Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb Jr. and Major Sarah "Mac" Mackenzie pulled up to the gate guard at NAS Oceana. "Good afternoon, Sergeant..." Harm said, pulling out his JAG ID and waving it at the Sergeant. "Thank you, sir, you can go right through..." the sergeant said. 'Squids were funny that way' the Marine Sergeant thought,'They thought that it was cute to wave things but that Marine major was hot looking..." Harm pulled his corvette up to the main building and got out. The lieutenant commander elicited a few looks from the female navy officers that were walking past. When the Marine major got out of the other side of the vehicle, they resumed looking in the direction where they were going. "Amazing what a Marine uniform can do..." grinned Mac as she stepped into the main building. "Hi, I'm Major Sarah Mackenzie, with the Judge Advocate General Corps. I'd like to talk to Lieutenant Commander Burrows and to Lieutenant Commander Doerksen." Mac said to the female yeoman at the desk, just as Harm had joined her at the front desk. "I'd also would like a word with Lieutenant Commander Peter Mitchell. "And you, sir?" the yeoman asked Harm. Harm shrugged his shoulders, indicated Mac... And said,"I'm with her..." SEQUESTERED IN A SQUADRON READY ROOM NAS OCEANA VIRGINIA BEACH, VA 1120 EST Lieutenant Commander Philip "Metalman" Burrows sat there listening to Harm and Mac reiterate about the importance of the situation regarding the Medal of Honor. "We want to make sure that we get the stories to corroborate." Mac stated. "Major, with all due respect..." Metalman stated firmly,"I know about the Medal of Honor...and what is required to get it. You want facts, I'll give you the facts." FLASHBACK SEQUESTERED IN A SQUADRON READY ROOM NAS OCEANA VIRGINIA BEACH, VA 1120 EST "Well, ma'am, I was falling...and I ended up in NK territory..." the pilot said as he ran his fingers through his short-clipped hair. "My RIO and I were separated by 6 miles of terrain. My only thought was to make sure I survived..." "Did you search for your RIO." Harm asked. The pilots' cardinal rule was never leave your buddy behind. Metalman looked sharply at him. That was a question that usually would get someone's head knocked off, but he answered it. "Yeah, I searched for my RIO. And I found him..." FLASHBACK SEQUESTERED IN A SQUADRON READY ROOM NAS OCEANA VIRGINIA BEACH, VA 1135 EST "And my RIO was hit...two shots. One exited out his shoulder, the other through his chest area, through the lung. It was real bad." Metalman said,"But he sacrificed his life to save the helo-crew. And he deserves the Medal of Honor..." "Did you see Commander Chikamori attack the North Korean platoon?" Mac asked. "Yes, I did. As I was putting the field dressing on LCDR Anderson, I saw Animal go after the platoon with an M-16 in one hand, and a fragmen- tation grenade in the other. He kept it in his hand for at least 3 seconds after he pulled the pin and then threw it at the North Korean platoon. It exploded, killed at least half the platoon, then he waded in with M-16 on full auto and killed 5 of them then he clubbed the last NK to death with the rifle butt of his M-16." the lieutenant commander said eyeing Mac with a firm countenance that spoke volumes that he was telling the truth. "And what were the SEALs doing? Did they help in any way?" "Major, the SEALs were getting their wounded on the helo. If we had stayed any longer the entire place would have been over-run by NKs." the pilot said,"You're lookin' for a loophole?" his tone was accusatory. "No, we're just trying to uncover the facts." Harm said. "Well, understand this, Lieutenant Commander...the men went in and did their job. If it was the State Department, we'd still be out there. Animal saved our asses out there. Divebomb saved the helo-crew and I'm damn lucky to be alive because my buddy went ape-shit on the NK crew and blew them all to hell..." Metalman said, his voice cold. "I don't believe in hatred or any thing like that but if it had to happen all over again. I'd still wish the North Korean bastards dead." "OK, thanks for your time, Commander." Major Sarah Mackenzie said." I think we've got enough from you to write up a report. We need to interview a few other people first and then we'll finish up our findings." Metalman nodded and exited the room. "Looks like we got two bonafide winners here..." Harm said as he looked over at the displays on the wall of the squadron ready-room. Mac sighed as she looked at the dossiers. "Yep, but no matter whether these guys are friends or not, they seem to protect their own." "Yeah," Harm said,"If you can't rely on your buddies to protect your six, you're as good as gone." Mac nodded somberly. *************To Be Continued************* "Ghosts of the Past" Author: Hugo "Animal" Chikamori E-mail: hchikamori@yahoo.com Rating: G Classification: Harm/Mac R; Meg/Animal R Spoilers: Much of it is like "Above and Beyond" Summary: The Medal of Honor Ceremony commemorating Animal's heroism in a altercation with hostile forces has come through. But Animal is not sure that he deserves the Medal of Honor. Disclaimers: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., AJ Chegwidden, et al. belong in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended. Author's Note: The requirements states that a recipient receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor have the citation read..."For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty, in action involving actual conflict with an opposing armed force." You have seen my fictional character with the Medal of Honor around his neck. What happened behind the story... ******************************************************************* Part 3/???? SEQUESTERED IN A SQUADRON READY ROOM NAS OCEANA VIRGINIA BEACH, VA 1245 EST Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb Jr. and Major Sarah "Mac" Mackenzie, grabbed their lunches and came back into the ready room. They met up with Lieutenant Commander Doerksen. Lieutenant Commander Doerksen, couldn't tell them much aside from what had happened in the aircraft, since he was not a part of the recovery squad. But he did mention that he had suggested to Animal that he had to go back and try and find them. FLASHBACK <"Shit, Maverick, I can't see a flare." Animal said, his voice trying hard not to betray his worry. " He could be down in enemy territory." Maverick said, " If he shot off a flare, it'd attract NKs like flies." " We can't do much more...I'm almost bingo fuel. Let's hold for ten more minutes." Animal said. " Do we have enough to get back?" Maverick asked, clicking his oxygen mask to his face. "Animal, we need to get those guys out, but we don't have enough fuel ....We're just three minutes short of bingo fuel..." said Scooter. "I don't know if those guys will hang on much longer..." "We're staying for as long as we can. If we can, we'll try and remain on station a little after bingo...Because most of us know they build in a reserve." Animal decided to radio back in... " Mustang, this is Fast Eagle 212, remaining ten minutes on station, past bingo, is there a fix on that SAM site that fired?" " Mustang to Fast Eagle 212, that's a negative, RTB immediately, We have a negative fix on SAM site..." " Fuck..." swore Animal as he said to Maverick, " Shit...I don't want to leave Metalman out here alone." " He's a naval aviator, he'll know what to do..." Maverick said, "I'll tell you something...though. After we deplane, I'll let you in on it...Meet me at the mess..." SEQUESTERED IN A SQUADRON READY ROOM NAS OCEANA VIRGINIA BEACH, VA 1255 EST "Thanks, LCDR Doerksen...that just about wraps up this part of the interview..." Harm said,"Was there anything else?" "Nope, I just ride the backseat and play with the switches..." Scooter replied,"Wish I could tell you more, but I've told you all I know..." "You enjoy flying with the commander?" Mac asked. "You're asking me if I like the commander?" Scooter said,"Listen, Major, I grew up with the commander. We used to play at each other's house. We used to fantasize about what it would be like to serve in the Navy. You are damn right that I like the commander, because not only is he the best damn stick in the Navy, he's also the best friend, I've got." "Thanks..." Mac said,"He's my friend too...thank you for your time... Commander..." Harm nodded after Scooter left,"Well, that went over well..." "I don't know...Harm, do I have a talent of ticking these guys off or something?" "No...I don't think so...It's a pretty uncomfortable topic. One of their own died and most guys have a tough time trying to cope with that. Pilots block it out. Because, if you think too much, you lose your edge. If you lose your edge, it's only a matter of time before you either snap or you lose it in the air and pancake yourself and a $30,000,000 plane into the ground and possibly a RIO as well." Harm looked uncomfortable himself. "I still remember Mace...just like it was yesterday..." he said, half to himself. Mac listened carefully. Harm hardly ever talked about the RIO who died that night that Harm had crashed on the carrier deck. "He and I were inseparable. You know, much like Maverick..." "Maverick and Goose..." Mac replied... "Yeah...Goose..." said another voice. A man dressed in khakis had walked in..."Goose was my RIO." Mac looked up. She had heard about Maverick, but hadn't seen him. He looked like the spitting image of Tom Cruise the actor. "That was seven years ago. It was a stupid accident. I pushed it too hard. Went into the jet wash of my classmate's Tomcat, my starboard engine flamed out and the plane coupled up and went into a flat spin. Tried to eject but the G-forces were too damn great." Maverick sat down, "We tried for the loops at 40, at 20 and finally Goose managed to grab the loops as we descended past Angels 6. But the canopy...it hovered above us...and Goose, slammed into the canopy...broke his neck...killed on impact. We ended up in the water and I found him. He was dead..." "Lieutenant Commander..." Mac said, touched by the fact that this man had told them his most personal event. "We're here...to find out about..." "I know why you're here...Major..." Lieutenant Commander Peter Mitchell replied. "What happened that night was an operational foul-up...it never should have happened...never should have..." he said, running his fingers through his hair. "Some smart guy on the PriFly thought that he could save the ready 5 by sending Metalman aloft that night, when his element wing ended up down for maintenance chits on the number one catapult." He said,"You never...never do something that stupid...because by the time Animal and me, we were five minutes out. If Metalman used burners to try and make up some time, he would've eaten into his bingo fuel. He would have flamed out trying to recover aboard." "As it was, things were so damned fucked up, it didn't matter anyways. Metalman was trailing us 5 minutes back when the SAM painted him. They set off a SA-9...which at our altitude we were in the prime target zone and set three radars out to try and outfox us...they did...that night..." "So, what you're trying to tell us is that Animal wasn't a part of the pre-flight planning procedures..." Harm asked Maverick. "Yes, he was...Lieutenant Commander, but once you're in the cockpit. Someone else makes the decisions on the Pri-Fly and that guy screwed the pooch." "So...you think he deserves the medal?" Mac asked the pilot sitting in the ready room chair. "You bet. Animal saved all of our skins. We got NATO spy satellite footage from our intel and we found out that we were surrounded on all sides by enemy troops. Why they didn't engage was because of the surrounding terrain. They didn't stand a chance in hell of engaging before the fire- fight was long finished." Maverick looked at the Marine major firmly. "So...what do you feel about the fact that Lieutenant Commander Troy Anderson is also nominated for the Medal of Honor." "He deserved it..." Maverick said shortly,"He gave his life in support of the SEAL team extract unit. He could have held his fire, protected his own six, but he chose to expose himself to enemy fire and return fire, eliminating the threat. Isn't that what it states, in the requirements?" he said, his voice betraying a hint of bitterness at the loss of his old friend. 'For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity...at the risk of life and limb, above and beyond the call of duty?'. I'll tell you, Major, he earned it..." the pilot stood up looking both Harm and Mac in the face,"He earned it at the cost of his life." he paused..."And one more thing, Major, Lieutenant Commander, I'll tell you, this thing is 5 years too late...It's eating Animal up. The best thing that this country could do is put his ghosts to rest and at least give Lieutenant Commander Anderson's family the hope that he didn't die...for Nothing...thank you for your time, Commander, Major... now if you'll excuse me..." Maverick turned on his heels and left the ready room. "Well, that's three of three over at Oceana..." Mac said,"Looks like this is a slam-dunk." "Yeah..." Harm said, his mind on his friend, he knew that with the nation's highest award, there was always some modicum of doubt, but this was an assured award. There was nothing on Animal's file nor on LCDR Anderson's file that would dictate the refusal of awarding them the Medal of Honor. But that wasn't what worried Harm and Mac, it was the fact that the ghosts kept coming back to haunt their friend. And they just found out that from another source. Animal's FITREPS were always excellent but he had one week of downchits in a row for unspecified causes. This always spoke ill for the selection boards. But what could they do? Harm sighed as he thought, maybe the award would do best to lay all the ghosts to rest. Their next stop would be the East Coast Special Teams Base. JAG HEADQUARTERS FALLS CHURCH, VA 1445 EST Rear Admiral Chegwidden looked over at the reports. "So, three out of three have stated that they are in full agreement as to the events of that day?" "Yes, sir...One, LCDR Chikamori's RIO was not included in the extract sortie, that night." Mac stated. "Yes..." RADM Chegwidden nodded. "I know..." "Sir?" the two officers said, questioning? "Suffice it to say, that you will have one more interview to conduct after you return from the Special Teams Base in Little Creek, Virginia." The Admiral sighed as he continued,"Dismissed." "Yes, sir..." the two officers replied as they about-faced and exited the admiral's office. HARM'S OFFICE JAG HEADQUARTERS FALLS CHURCH, VA 1450 EST "Whatever could the admiral mean by saying that we have one more interview after coming back from Little Creek?" Mac said, pondering over the statement that the admiral had made. "I don't have a clue..." remarked Harm as he pondered that piece of information. The case was more than a simple open and shut award invest- igation. "Well, I'll have Harriet find out if Lieutenant Dale Hawkins is currently assigned to NAB Little Creek." "Great...then tomorrow morning, we'll head down to Norfolk." Harm responded. CHIKAMORI RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA 2000 EST "Are you sure, you're all right?" Meg Austin-Chikamori asked her husband as he wearily rubbed his forehead. "Yeah, hon, I'm fine." he said."I guess, it's just this award thing that's getting to me..." Meg knew that was a lie. The nightmares had been intermittent and they hadn't affected his work before, but ever since the Medal of Honor award investigation had started, the dreams had been coming back with a vengeance. It had grown from one a week to now practically every night. It was hard on her as well getting woken up out of a sound sleep, but she was more concerned about the health of her husband. He wasn't getting a good sleep and he showed it in his weariness, the slump of his shoulders and most disturbingly, in the haunted expression in his eyes. She was worried, and frightened, and worst of all, she didn't know how she could make it better. *******To Be Continued******* "Ghosts of the Past" Author: Hugo "Animal" Chikamori E-mail: hchikamori@yahoo.com Rating: G Classification: Harm/Mac R; Meg/Animal R Spoilers: Much of it is like "Above and Beyond"; parts of With Intent to Die Summary: The Medal of Honor Ceremony commemorating Animal's heroism in a altercation with hostile forces has come through. But Animal is not sure that he deserves the Medal of Honor. Disclaimers: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., AJ Chegwidden, et al. belong in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended. Author's Note: The requirements states that a recipient receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor have the citation read..."For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty, in action involving actual conflict with an opposing armed force." You have seen my fictional character with the Medal of Honor around his neck. What happened behind the story... ******************************************************************* Part 4/???? CHIKAMORI RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA 0335 EST The scene switched into someplace else... Animal was sweating as he woke up with a start..."Goddamn..." he breathed hard. "Find, SEAL, Answer? Shit, am I going nuts?" He looked over, at least he hadn't awakened his wife. This was hard on her as it was. He sighed thinking that he was not going to get any more sleep that night. He ended up watching the clock until he fell into a disturbed dream- less sleep. NAVAL AMPHIBIOUS BASE LITTLE CREEK NORFOLK, VA 1045 EST "Ma'am, your security clearance checks out..." the black-fatigue clad yeoman replied. Almost all the men and women in the Amphibious base wore the SEAL trident, or if they didn't, they wore the UDT insignia. This was definitely a Special Warfare base. Mac and Harm both sat and waited for the SEAL team leader to show up. "Hi, Major, Lieutenant Commander, sorry to keep you both waiting." the young SEAL commander stated as he shook hands. This was Lieutenant Commander Dale Hawkins, Commander of Seal Team 4. The same SEAL team that had retrieved the two fallen airmen. Harm and Mac were motioned to a private room. "So, Lieutenant Commander Hawkins, what can you tell us about the incidents of May 19th, 1993." "Well, I'll try and tell you what I do know..." LCDR Hawkins drawled. FLASHBACK " Hey, Mav..." a fellow down by the SH-60 Seahawk waved. " We're over here." When Animal and Maverick got up closer to the fellow, Animal's jaw nearly dropped open. This fellow was nearly a splitting image of Charlie Sheen. The Charlie Sheen clone extended his hand, " Hi, I'm Lieutenant Dale Hawkins, leader of Seal Team 4. So, you're the guy that's a friend of this downed aviator, huh?" " Yeah, Lieutenant Commander Hugo Chikamori," Animal said, as he extended a hand to shake Lt. Hawkins' hand. " Pleasure to meet you, sir." he was respectful. " I know Lieutenant Mitchell. He and I went to OCS together. Great guy, better friend you could never have..." " That's great..." Animal replied. " So, what's the deal, here..." " Well, we have two heavy MGs, a couple of small arms and a few explosives. All in all we can raise some serious shit with these NKs. Keep the bad guys off our guys so that we can make the pick-up. sir. We can really confuse the shit out of the NKs. " Animal looked at him, square in the face," So, what would you like Maverick and myself to carry. " " Well, sir, you've probably handled this baby..." he picked out two M-16s. " The clip is pretty easy to handle and the A2's a lot better than the A-1; less likely to jam and can take a lot more abuse. We got five guys carrying HK5MKs. Solid looking weapon, not likely to jam. Our two MG's are a single M60 and a M82 Light 50. The light 50 takes care of snipers behind cement walls. Blows a foot diameter hole through 6 inch thick concrete and slightly smaller through thicker. No sniper can get away from that weapon." And he picked up his weapon. " I carry the Stoner...stitch-machine. This baby will single-fire, triple-shot, and full-auto, rock n'roll." Animal said," So, how many guys are there. " " We've got twelve guys in total, and you two, so that makes fourteen. We'll be heading out in half an hour. So just grab that gear over there and put it on and we'll have ourselves a real fun time, sir..." Animal looked toward a pile of black BDUs, and some black neoprene scuba-gear. " Put the scuba gear over the BDU's. " Yep. It's a dry suit, so no problems, sir...Your BDUs won't get wet and the suit will dry out in air." " OK, sounds good to me." Animal grinned as he and Maverick started putting things on." Animal said, " Do you guys have Berettas, because, I forgot to bring my pistol." " Yep...sir, we got them...they're in the equipment bag. We'll be swimming into the area where they were dropped and then humping ten miles inland. " Lt. Hawkins grinned..." Up for some hiking today...sir?" " Only because it's my friends who are in trouble. Lieutenant." " Well, let's go get them... sir." (2 hours down the road) Animal and Maverick and Seal Team 4 were dropped off just 1/2 mile from shore. The water was cool, but not cold as they swam towards shore. Once on shore, they buried their dry-suits and put on black BDUs, Grabbing weapons, and hooking grenades onto their utility belts, they calmly spread out. Animal gave a sign saying that he picked up a trail. There were three prints along the ground in his night-vision scope. They gradually grew warmer as they followed the trail. Then Animal saw the NK soldier, he had an AK74. Animal slowly took a knife from his scabbard. It was a serrated knife and he motioned that he would take the soldier. " Are you sure about this?" whispered Lt. Hawkins..." I can have some- one else do it..." " Swift, Silent and Deadly...No worries..." Animal seemed to blend into the night. Then as Maverick watched a dark form rose up behind the NK, yanked his neck back and a quick motion was made as something dark spurted from the NK's neck. The North Korean was dead even before he hit the ground. " Man, he's good..." asserted Lt. Hawkins. He was impressed. " He's like a fucking ninja." " He's got a black belt in Karate and Judo." Maverick grinned, " I've never seen it used though to kill..." " Well, this is a dangerous situation we're in. Mav, people die on these missions." Lt. Hawkins said. " The job's to get your boys out, we're the ticket." The dark shape motioned them over. " Let's go..." Animal said," The trail's getting cold." They hustled onwards. They finally came to the same clearing that the two pilots had been in before. There was a dead soldier in the guard house. Metalman had managed to kill the guy and take his weapons. " Good work..." Animal muttered approvingly. " Better him, than you..." (Seal Team 4) Lt. Dale Hawkins grinned at Animal. The clearing was visible from the location, it was about 2200 meters away and SW. They could see the location. The sun would be rising in 2 hours and it would be light. They would have to extract before then. " Let's hope they stay in that location." Animal nodded an affirmative. They headed out. (Seal Team 4) They were 500 yards from the clearing when a bunch of shots broke out. The deep staccato bark of the AK74s blending in with the crisp crack of a Beretta pistol. The Seal Team figured, " Damn, a firefight..." Abandoning all semblence of stealth, they unsheathed their rifles and headed at a run towards the firefight. " Extract helo, extract point at point Alpha Bravo Six. Confirmation code 32Alpha Zulu Mike... We need an extract ASAP, serious firefight." Lieutenant Hawkins barked into his com. " Roger, inbound ETA 15 minutes..." " Expedite Extract, Expedite..." The lead SEALs reaching the fire- fight, unleashed a devastating fire from their HK5KRs on the NK platoon. There were sixteen North Koreans and 12 SEALs. Animal unleashed a barrage of 5.56 rounds from his M-16 cutting down two NKs who were trying to stealthily creep up on Divebomb. Metalman fired a AK74 round back at the NKs who fired back full-force. They could hear a helo inbound. One of the door-gunners in the SH-60 fired a M-60 back, 5 NKs fell mortally wounded. A NK stood up with a SAM aiming for the helo. The NKs laid down a barrage of fire to keep the heads down of the rescuers and SEAL team. " Shit..." Divebomb said..." He aimed his Desert Eagle .50 at the NK holding the SAM, standing up, his index finger tightening around the trigger to fire three rounds at the NK, who was hit, dropping the SA-7 launcher. The NKs fired back at Divebomb. A round tore through Divebomb's shoulder spinning him around, and a second tore through his chest and out his back. Divebomb fell heavily to the ground, as Animal in a seething rage, pulled the pin out of a grenade, cooked it and threw it at the NKs. As it exploded, Animal charged the NKs, his M-16 at full automatic, the rifle bucking in his hands. A NK stood to try and stop the charge with an AK74 and Animal jammed the M-16 in the NKs chest and fired three rounds, tearing out a chunk out of the NK's chest. There was a faint scream as Animal finally running out of ammo, clubbed the last NK soldier in the head with a major league home-run hit with the butt of his M-16. The last NK collapsed in a heap, as Animal, a crazed expression on his face, pulled out his serrated combat knife and jammed it through the North Korean soldier's heart. The SH-60 landed and two combat medics jumped out, as the helo extraction site had been secured." NAVAL AMPHIBIOUS BASE LITTLE CREEK NORFOLK, VA 1120 EST "So, Animal charged the North Korean platoon..." Mac asked Lieutenant Commander Dale Hawkins. "Yes, Major, that's what I saw." LCDR Dale Hawkins replied. "He single- handedly took out the entire platoon. Never seen anything like it. It was like he was possessed, some sort of raging monster in him unleashed." "And you saw Lieutenant Commander Troy Anderson fire on the SAM wield- ing North Korean, and then be hit twice by return fire." "Yes, ma'am..." LCDR Hawkins stated." It was the best show of courage I've seen anyone make, to take hits in order to save someone else's life." "So, you feel that these men deserved this medal..." Mac asked. "Ma'am, if I may speak frankly. A lot of men got medals from this mission. Except for the two who deserved it most. The helo crew won three Purple Hearts, Two Distinguished Flying Crosses, and three Navy Crosses. LCDR Burrows won the Navy DSM, and Lieutenant Commander Mitchell won the Bronze Star with Valor. But the two men who deserved medals most never got anything, until now. If you're asking me that they deserve the Medal of Honor for their actions, yes, I am behind that one hundred percent." LCDR Dale Hawkins replied as he looked at both Major Sarah Mackenzie and LCDR Harmon Rabb Jr. "Thank you, Lieutenant Commander..." replied Harm."I think we have all that we need to finalize this report. Lieutenant Commander Dale Hawkins nodded and said,"Lieutenant Freeley will escort you to your vehicles. Thanks for dropping by...By the way, when is the ceremony?" "Well, when the report is finalized, they should be setting a date." Mac replied. "Let me know...I owe a lot to Animal...I'd like to be there..." was the calm statement as the lieutenant commander turned on his heels and exited the room. "Well, one more interview and it looks like this is in the bag." said Harm. Mac nodded...but something in the pit of her stomach indicated that something was not right and she wanted to get right to the bottom of it. *********TO BE CONTINUED********* "Ghosts of the Past" Author: Hugo "Animal" Chikamori E-mail: hchikamori@yahoo.com Rating: G Classification: Harm/Mac R; Meg/Animal R Spoilers: Much of it is like "Above and Beyond"; parts of With Intent to Die possibly a bit of something like Deathwatch...without the romance. Summary: The Medal of Honor Ceremony commemorating Animal's heroism in a altercation with hostile forces has come through. But Animal is not sure that he deserves the Medal of Honor. Disclaimers: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., AJ Chegwidden, et al. belong in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended. Author's Note: The requirements states that a recipient receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor have the citation read..."For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty, in action involving actual conflict with an opposing armed force." You have seen my fictional character with the Medal of Honor around his neck. What happened behind the story... ******************************************************************* Part 5/???? On the bridge of the USS Harry S. Truman Entering the Norfolk Harbor 1320 EST "Helmsman, all engines reverse, two thirds power. set your course to 094 degrees. How's our depth." the captain yelled out as the carrier passed under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. "600 meters, sir..." the Lieutenant yelled out..."Our keel is clear." Captain Barry Harrison, United States Navy grinned 'Ah, it's a day to be happy about.' The United States Ship Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) the newest aircraft carrier and the Pride of the East Coast Fleet. Going through her workups, the carrier had performed well on her shake-down cruise. 'Ah, I can't believe that she's all mine...' the captain mused as he looked out the bridge. The pilot was standing at the head of the bridge looking out and making sure that the carrier did not run aground on any sand-bars. Actually, Capt. Harrison was lucky. After receiving a reprimand letter in his personnel jacket, he was very lucky to even have this command. The CINCLANT had vetoed his request for a Carrier Air Wing and had given the Air Wing to someone else. But there was no one more qualified to take command of the newest aircraft carrier in the fleet and so it had gone to him. 'Well, it proves that ghosts do eventually go away.' he thought to him- self as he docked the carrier by the pier at Newport News. Now the final touches on his report and the carrier would be all set in 3 months to set sail for it's first operational cruise. A career aviator, Capt. Barry David Harrison had been selected from the Naval Academy and had gone to flight school in Pensacola. He had graduated third out of a class of 189 student-aviators. Then he had served in Panama and in Haiti and the Gulf War well as the Somalia incident and Korea. The Korean incident where two aircraft had been shot down had been the nadir of his career. He had mistakenly sent out an aircraft when its wingman had been scrubbed for a maintenance downchit. He had thought that it would have been alright. Normally a mistake like that would have been sent under investigation, but a few words in the right direction had kept things under wraps. Even so, the CAG had to put a letter in his personnel folder. He had been the operations officer. A commander at the time, he had effectively rammed his chances at promotion down the tubes, but his promotion had come and he had achieved his command. It had taken a long time. Five years when he was on the top of the selection board list, when that particular incident had happened. But, getting to the top in the Navy involved influence, and that meant searching for support in the logical heirarchy. It was not a matter of what you do, but who you know, that got you the gold braid and shoulder boards of an admiral. And Harrison wanted to be an admiral. He was willing to do whatever it took. Ambition was a prime emotion for Captain Barry Harrison, and he knew that he was destined to the top rung of the Navy, even if there were detractors. And he also knew that there were ways of dealing with the detractors. Tie up of the USS Harry S. Truman went as planned, there were no de- tails other than the usual signing off of the ship to the Newport News crew that were to do the maintenance on the ship. Now it would be time to get together with his wife of 16 years. After 25 years in the service, he was just about ready to be on the list for the next round of flag rank selection. CHIKAMORI RESIDENCE FALLS CHURCH, VA 1830 EST "Honey, you've been moody and depressed all day. This entire invest- igation is what's getting you down, isn't it?" Meg said as she held Animal's arm. "I don't know..." he said,"Do you think that once this entire thing is over, the nightmares will go away?" "I don't know...sweetie, I'm not a psychologist..." she said as she reached over and touched his face. Animal sighed,"Yeah...well, I just sort of wish this whole thing would disappear." JAG HEADQUARTERS FALLS CHURCH, VA 1845 EST "Harm, I've got something..." Mac said,"I've got it..." she snapped her fingers. "We have to get down to the Research Library and find the crew list and the officer Pri-Fly rotation for that day. Then we'll know who was on the bridge at the time of the incident." "Good work, Major..." Harm replied. "I'll get on it." "Say, do you need some company...We'll go and grab a burger...and..." She giggled seeing Harm's expression. "Not a Beltway Burger..." he groaned. "Hey, don't knock it, stick-boy..." Mac replied snidely,"Better than the rabbit food that you're used too." "Better than rabbit food? I'll have you know that stuff is healthy for you." Harm replied with a grin. "I hate healthy..." Mac grinned back,"First they tell me, mad cow disease, then they tell me oil is hard on the cholesterol, then ice-cream is not good for you. Chocolate is fattening...and to top it all off. I can't even enjoy cheese without feeling guilty? Nobody...and I mean...nobody..." Mac growled,"gets between me and my cheeseburger..." "I think I'll go now..." Harm said, over-exaggeratedly sneaking out of Mac's office. "Hey, flyboy...Wait up..." Mac said, grabbing her jacket."Don't want to miss the dinner special at Beltway Burgers. 2 for the price of 1." "UGH!!" NAVAL MARITIME RECORDS DEPOSITORY OUTSKIRTS OF WASHINGTON DC 2125 EST "BINGO!!!" Mac shouted eliciting several looks from the two re- searchers over at the next table. "What is it, Mac?" Harm asked. "I've got it." Mac said triumphantly,"It's Commander Barry Harrison, who was the officer on the Pri-Fly at the time making him the senior officer and the one making the decisions at the time." "Whew!!!" Harm said,"He was a pretty high-ranking senior officer to be doing Pri-Fly, usually, it's a hinge-head's post." "Hinge-head?" was Mac's curious reply. "Well, when I was serving on board the SEAHAWK, I was a lieutenant and they used to say that when 0-3's were promoted to 0-4's, they got a frontal lobotomy and they used to put hinges in the back of the skull so that they could either give them back half their brain or take the rest out." "Oh...that explains it..." Mac gave him a look of disbelief."But I guess they forgot to take your brain out." "Well, I'm a staff officer. Usually, they take the whole brain out for them." Harm said as he looked at his lieutenant commander's oak leaves as Mac laughed. "But, I guess they never followed up on me." "OK, Calling Dr. Ryan, we need a Frontal Lobotomy..." teased Mac as she went to photocopy the crew postings for that particular day in question on the USS Theodore Roosevelt. "Very funny, Mac, very funny..." Harm said dourly. "Well, I thought it was..." JAG HEADQUARTERS FALLS CHURCH, VA 0930 EST "Excuse me, sir..." Lieutenant JG Bud Roberts said,"The dossier on Captain Barry Harrison came in from the Navy Records at BuPers." "Great...did you say Captain?" Harm stopped for minute looking over at Bud. "Yes, sir...Didn't you know that he's now commanding the USS Harry S. Truman?" Bud said. "No, I didn't..." Harm looked at the dossier, 'sure enough' he muttered as he saw this. "Well, isn't this a case of unwarranted giving of a command position?" Harm said,"I'm going to love prosecuting this case." "What did he do, sir?" asked Bud, who noticed his superior officer talking to himself. "What he did, Bud, is strictly for the books. It's been slammed so tightly shut, that it's going to take some doing to get it open. It's ten different ways classified." He muttered,"At least I know who I can ask to get it open again." Office of the Special Assistant for the UnderSecretary of State. WASHINGTON DC 1000 EST "ARE YOU CRAZY, RABB!!!! THAT IS COMPLETELY OUT OF THE QUESTION." the man yelled. "THIS IS COMPLETELY INSANE..." "But, if you don't open up this file, someone is going to get away with a problem that shouldn't have been slid under the carpet. Besides our friend deserves that Medal, don't you figure?" "Geez, Rabb, you do have to get personal, don't you?" Clayton Webb visibly soured as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Shit..." "Look, sure as heck, Webb, this guy caused the death of a Naval Flight Officer...I wanna prosecute on this...And I want this guy's court-martial." "But that file has been locked up tighter than Fort Knox...You know how many favors I'm going to have to call up to get this Navy Captain's file open again?" "Well, do the right thing...Webb..." The phone clicked and Webb got a dialtone in his ear... "Geez...He sure knows how to drive me nuts...sometimes." Clayton Webb got on the phone..."Hey, John...can you try and see if you can get me the OK to resurface the Harrison file? I need a favor..." JAG HEADQUARTERS FALLS CHURCH, VA 1300 EST "Well, well...well...if it isn't the Special Assistant to the Under- Secretary of State walking through the door." RADM AJ Chegwidden glowered at Clayton Webb who was just walking through with a large manila envelope in hand. "Thanks Admiral..." he said,"Glad to know that I'm welcome here, as always." "Yes, now that you're here...so what is going on..." AJ said eyeing the envelope."What is that..." "Strictly classified, Admiral." Webb replied,"You don't need to know other than it bears significant bearing on the Commander Chikamori Medal of Honor investigation. That's all I'm cleared to tell you, Admiral, and it wouldn't be good for your career to keep asking." "One of these days, Webb...you and I are going to have a talk..." AJ crossed his arms and they were big arms. Webb wasn't so easily cowed and he smiled just as he walked into LCDR Rabb's office. "Here...and believe me, now you've just owed me until the end of the next millenium." Webb replied. "Well, favors certainly don't come cheap, now do they?" Harm said. "No, they don't..." "Well, looks like you probably won't be alive to collect it..." Harm riposted. "Neither will you to pay it..." Webb returned the ripost. "Let's just hope that this does some good." "I'm sure it will. You coming to the ceremony?" "Yeah...of course." Webb said. "So, how is Sandy?" Harm grinned as he looked over at Webb who gave him a look of warning. "Oh, she's enjoying her new job at the NIS, they work closely with the CIA..." he said. "So she gets to see a lot of you..." Harm said. "I never said that..." Webb said. "I'm not CIA..." "O...Kay...whatever you say...Webb..." "Well, I've done my good deed for the day, so I'm leaving now..." "Thanks, Webb..." "Don't mention it..." Webb turned, leaving the office and the JAG building. JAG HEADQUARTERS FALLS CHURCH, VA 1400 EST "Well, it says here that he has been rated as a pretty good stick." Harm said,"But here his command judgement has been brought into question on a number of times. His tactical judgement is not up there. And that's critical of someone in command. They have to be constantly on the ball." "And the incident on that day. All it is a one sentence mention in a letter on his file. Looks like we have some digging to do. But it looks like Animal will get his Medal of Honor and so will Lieutenant Commander Anderson." Mac said. "But they won't clear it until everything is completely brought to the surface. Looks like we'll have to go and interview this Captain Middleton and his Commander Harrison, where-ever they are now." Harm said. *******TO BE CONTINUED******* "Ghosts of the Past" Author: Hugo "Animal" Chikamori E-mail: hchikamori@yahoo.com Rating: G Classification: Harm/Mac R; Meg/Animal R Spoilers: Much of it is like "Above and Beyond"; parts of With Intent to Die possibly a bit of something like Deathwatch...without the romance. Summary: The Medal of Honor Ceremony commemorating Animal's heroism in a altercation with hostile forces has come through. But Animal is not sure that he deserves the Medal of Honor. Disclaimers: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., AJ Chegwidden, et al. belong in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended. Author's Note: The requirements states that a recipient receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor have the citation read..."For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty, in action involving actual conflict with an opposing armed force." You have seen my fictional character with the Medal of Honor around his neck. What happened behind the story... ******************************************************************* Part 6/???? NAVAL STATION NORFOLK NORFOLK, VA 1325 EST "Captain Harrison, sir...there are two JAG officers to see you, sir." the yeoman said. "Tell them that I'm busy..." the captain barked. "Well, sir. They say that they are on official business. And that if you do not co-operate, they will be forced to take you into JAG head- quarters." the yeoman said. "What?!!!" the captain growled,"They are threatening me with arrest?" "That is correct, sir..." Harm stated as he and Sarah Mackenzie step- ped into the office. "And who the hell are you?!" barked the captain,"You can't walk in here and take me into custody without a reason?" "Well, sir...for starters. Dereliction of duty, violation of Standard Operating Procedures, and Conspiracy to hide a violation." Mac said."I think those are pretty good reasons." Captain Harrison seemed to deflate,"I thought I had..." "Had sidestepped them, sir?" Harm asked,"Or did you just hide them under a carpet, hoping that they would go away?" "You certainly had us fooled, sir..." Mac said,"But not the State Dept. nor the CIA, nor Captain Middleton...sir..." Mac finished, her voice telling how much she thought of this United States Naval Captain, which was not much. "Because you see," Harm said,"Captain Middleton, who had barely a month left to go til his rear admiral's frocking, told us the situation, then he abruptly turned in his resignation to BuPers. Frankly, sir, it was the only thing that he could do in this situation." "Captain Hank Middleton was a good man..." Captain Harrison stated,"He shouldn't have had to fall for this..." the navy captain said. "Yes, he shouldn't have. But because the person who instigated this entire mess, didn't step forward, the axe had to fall on someone, and it fell on Captain Middleton." Mac said. "Now, are you going to let a man's sacrifice fall in vain. Or are you going to tell us the truth, Captain." there was no more, 'sir'. That indicated that Mac had made her decision about this Captain. JAG HEADQUARTERS FALLS CHURCH, VA 1535 EST "Sir..." LCDR Harmon Rabb Jr. stated,"We've finished with the case, sir. Captain Harrison has admitted to the charges and we have him in custody." "Good work...Lieutenant Commander, Major...Now, I want to tell you my side of it." the admiral stated as he motioned them to sit down." This might take awhile. And furthermore, none of this goes out of the room. This is strictly classified, the highest clearance." "I was the SEAL team's co-ordinating officer, that night. The rank of Rear-Admiral (one-star), just to be safe so that no-one would be able to countermand any of the orders. It wasn't just a mission to rescue the fallen airmen, it was a mission to seek and disrupt the operations of a military base so that the DoD could ascertain the NK's readiness. It was a dark ops. Nobody knew anything about it, no-one was stating anything. The patrols were just a cover. DoD and the CIA didn't think anything would go wrong that night, but it did. And the CIA covered it's tracks as usual and left good men to hang for it's mistakes." The major and the lieutenant commander looked at each other. That definitely explained the admiral's intolerance of Webb. They understood the admiral's reluctance to say anything about it because it would enrage Animal against the admiral. One of Animal's friends had died that night and they knew that Animal would look for pay-back if it came right down to it. "Well, sir, you couldn't have known that it would turn out this way." Mac said. "It's not that, Major, it's the fact that we used the fighter squadron. Someone died so the CIA could make their annual report on foreign hostile forces readiness. It wasn't right." AJ said rubbing his forehead. "So, is the report ready?" he asked. "Yes, sir...I think it is very favorable." Harm replied. THREE WEEKS LATER WHITE HOUSE LAWN 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVE. 1300 EST "We have all come to realize, the actions of these two men in the field of combat, has exemplified the true meaning of the term 'hero'." The President of the United States stated as he stood looking into the faces of the high-ranking officers. Mac, Harm, and Meg stood behind Animal as he stood there along with the parents of Lieutenant Commander Troy Anderson. His squadron-mates were lining up beside the high-ranking officers to wait in line for their friend who was being honored that day. "The term hero is used so loosely nowadays, for sportspeople, for the good-samaritan that helps a person across a street, that we truly forget the sacrifice of these fine young individuals. The horrors that they have to go through. And what do we have to thank these fine young men and women who serve with honor, integrity, and in some cases have given their lives for us. Perhaps a medal, a piece of paper. We have asked them to sacrifice their lives, their hopes, their dreams for our nation's security. And at what cost? One fine young individual is here alive today, another is in a cold dark grave. We have brought these individuals here today to honor them with our nation's highest honor, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty, in action involving actual conflict with an opposing armed force." the President paused. "These men distinguished themselves in actual combat, Commander Chikamori, single- handedly thwarted an enemy platoon in hand-to-hand combat, first with his M-16, then with his bare hands, thus enabling the SEAL team to secure the landing site for an extraction helicopter thus saving lives. Lieutenant Commander Anderson (deceased) gave his life in order to save the lives of those in the extraction helicopter so that they could accomplish their mission. These are actions that exemplify the high ideals of the United States Naval Service. And it is with deepest gratitude, and pride that the United States of America offers these two men, the nation's highest military honor, the Congressional Medal of Honor." Applause came from the audience as the President receiving the Navy Medal of Honor, the plain gold star, used for 120 years on a sky blue ribbon, put it around Mr. Anderson's neck, as his son was not alive to accept it. Then he came over to Animal, and as before, Animal bowed forward so the President could reach around and place the medal around his neck. Animal saluted the President of the United States with a crisp sharp military salute uttering, "Thank-you, Mr. President." The flag-ranking officers all stood up in a wave and started clapping. The Marine Corps Band, the President's Own, started playing, "Anchor's Aweigh" as the crowd disbanded. "Our nation thanks you, Commander" the President said, nodding away the Secret Service agent's worried glances."I'm sorry, that it was 5 years late...we should have given it to you sooner." "Thank you, Mr. President...but I'm just happy to be alive..." Animal said. "We all are, Commander, we all are..." The President did something that was highly unusual, by clasping the young Navy commander's shoulder," You just might be getting that fourth stripe pretty soon." he stated, knowingly. "Good luck, Commander." "Thank you, Mr. President." Animal said. The President joined his Secret Service entourage as they left the dais. Animal turned to the most important person in his life and embraced her. Meg Austin-Chikamori had tears of pride in her eyes as she returned the embrace. They followed the Anderson family down to the Arlington Cemetary where Lieutenant Commander Anderson was laid to rest. The military personnel stood beside the Anderson family and calmly watched as the Andersons symbol- ically laid the Medal of Honor on their son's grave. Animal's squadron saluted as did Harm, Mac, Meg, Bud and Harriet. Clay quietly stood watching, head bowed in respect. AJ stood off to the side quietly as he watched the main entourage. He didn't know what to say. He knew that he would have to come clean regarding his role in the entire fiasco, but he had to still have doubts about Animal's reaction to the whole thing. They all left the grave except for Animal. He still stood there. Silent, dark, brooding. Meg turned to go get him, but was stopped by Mac. "He's just saying his final good-byes." Mac whispered, touched by the feelings that Animal was showing by standing there alone. Animal stood there silent, but still thinking to himself and then quietly said,"I'm sorry, Divebomb. Maybe if I was a little faster, maybe if I had done something...I don't know. Maybe you'd still be alive and accepting this medal." He looked away. Almost as if there was a light at the end of the tunnel, he looked back, it was strange as if there was some- one there. He looked. Divebomb was sitting there in his flight-suit. "Hey, bud, what are you doing kicking yourself for? Huh? You got a pretty wife, a budding career, probably gonna hit flag-rank pretty soon." "Is that you?" Animal looked almost shocked. "Hey, is that a stupid question to ask or what? Does it look like me?" The apparition asked. "Yeah, it does, but it could be the bad Beltway burger I ate last week. " Animal said. "Hey, it is me, buddy, I'm dead, but I just wanted to tell you, that I don't want you kicking yourself for what happened, I made the choice to fire my Desert Eagle at the NK. Not you, not Metalman...so stop kickin' yourself and live a little. Or I might have to come back from the dead and start kickin' you." Animal snorted,"Yeah, like you could beat me..." "Let me give you a bit of advice...from a friend up there...Forgive yourself. I don't blame you, but you blame yourself. So allow yourself to forgive yourself. You've always been a hot-stick. You can get the edge back. Now go...go home to your wife. Quit hanging around my white tomb- stone, you're just gonna get it dirty." Divebomb grinned as he disappeared. His voice filtered back,"Hey, and thanks for the Medal of Honor...Love it..." Animal couldn't stop grinning as he caught that flippant remark. "Now, beat it!!!" was the last parting shot. "I'm going, I'm going..." Animal riposted back to dead air as he returned to his wife."Geez, am I going nuts or what? Now a ghost starts talking back to me." He shook his head as he walked back to where his friends were standing. Meg asked, "Are you feeling better?" "Yeah, a lot better..." Animal said as he embraced Meg. AJ stepped up to him."Animal..." "Yes, sir." "Can we walk a bit." "Yes, Admiral..." Animal said. Meg dropped back with Mac and Harm as the commander and the admiral walked ahead alone. "Animal, I have to tell you, about that night..." "Yes..." Animal said, his tone calm. He knew that he was going to get answers to his questions. "That mission that you flew..." AJ paused a moment and looked Animal straight in the eye. "This is top secret classified, but I thought that you should know." "It won't go any farther, admiral." Animal said as he looked down at the sleeves of his dress blues. "You were flying a decoy mission. The SEALs that went into rescue your friends were actually slated for an enemy response test." Animal's blood went cold. They had been hanging their asses out as bait. "I understand, admiral...keep going...sir." Animal said. "I know this, because, I was senior special operations controller for that night. We were slated to test the enemy forces response to a dropped in insurgence team." AJ paused,"And then your men got hit and we ended up getting a real first-hand experience as to what would actually happen in a real response situation. We miscalculated our assets." "Yes, it definitely looked that way from where I was sitting." Animal said,"Admiral, normally, I'd be pissed, very pissed, to the highest degree of pissedivity that I could get, about this, but a friend of mine told me that the best way to get through life is not to hold a grudge." he replied extending a hand."Admiral. I know intuitively that the CIA was behind all this. We all were pawns in a high-stakes game. A game that cost someone a life. There's no point in revenge. A life was lost, one life too many. Why should revenge take more?" "So you're not going to hold a grudge..." AJ asked. "I know I would have." "Admiral, you'll find that there are many things more worthwhile than holding a grudge." Animal smiled grimly. "Pardon me for taking the license of giving advice to a rear admiral and a superior officer, but I'm just be- ginning to learn how to 'live life' over again. There are many more things that I want to do than to hold grudges." "Thank you, Commander." RADM Chegwidden said and holding to the time- honored tradition of flag-rank officers having to salute Congressional Medal of Honor winners, AJ snapped off a crisp salute and held it. Animal returned the salute. "Congratulations on the Medal of Honor, Commander." RADM Chegwidden said. "Thank you, sir." AJ turned and headed back to his friends, their friends. Animal walked back slowly, his heart feeling much lighter than before. He still had his career and the path looked much brighter than it did before. Meg stood waiting for him. "So, Did you find the answers that you wanted?" she whispered as she hugged him and gave him a kiss. Mac sighed as she put her arm around Harm ignoring the rules about the Public Displays of Affection. Harm looked over at Meg and Animal who were still in an embrace. "I've buried my ghosts..." Animal said quietly to Meg. "My hero returns..." Meg said to her husband. "Well, not exactly..." Animal replied. "Why not a hero?" asked Meg as she embraced her husband. "I'm just lucky..." Animal said as he paused looking over the Arlington cemetary that housed so many of the soldiers killed in the wars, fought, and how many had died in the police actions. "I'm just lucky to be alive..." *********THE END*********