BRAT and the Kids of Warriors

by Michael Joseph Lyons

  “Holy cow, you’re right!” admitted Queenie, shocked when she saw a whale’s head come launching out of the foam, with his giant mouth wide open.

  The captain leaned down on the gunnel next to the girls. “Instead of teeth, the right whale has that mustache-looking thing, which he uses to strain tiny fish and other sea life from the water for his food.”

  “Amazing—and they have no teeth?” asked Queenie.

  “None. They swallow the tiny sea life whole.”

  Rabbit tugged on one of the captain’s sleeves, intent on getting his attention away from Queenie.

  Turning, he looked down at the little wreck of a girl, hair flying every which way, blouse un-tucked, socks falling down. Lord only knows what he thought of that ragamuffin. She innocently looked up at him and asked, “Why do they call this ship the Upshur? Is it like up sure? I mean like being sure to keep this ship up so we don’t drown?”

  Jack looked at Alex and Queenie, horrified, wordlessly shouting, “Doesn’t she know how disrespectful that sounds?

  Jack cautiously tried to get a read off the captain’s face, desperate to know how he’d react. He’d never thought she’d blab to an adult how they’d made fun of the name, much less to the captain of the ship. The longer the captain didn’t react, the more panicked he became. The last thing they needed was to be reported by the captain for having inappropriate behavior.

  Fortunately for Rabbit, and for them, the captain started to laugh. Only Rabbit could have gotten away with a question like that.

  He leaned down in his crisp, ultra-white uniform, with all its gold braiding and ribbons, and in a kind, tolerant voice, said to Rabbit, “Young lady, that’s a pretty interesting way to think about this ship’s name. Because, you know, we do work pretty hard to make sure she stays upright.”

  He looked at all the kids, and asked, “Do any of you know why we call her the Upshur?”

  When it became obvious no one knew the reason or would venture one, the captain said, “I’ll tell you the story of how this ship got her name. Shall I do that?”

  “Yes, please,” said Rabbit, eyes full of curiosity.

  “Well, she’s named in honor of a war hero and winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor.”

  All the captain had to do was mention the words Medal of Honor and everyone within earshot halted their conversations and began to listen. The Medal of Honor is the highest award any American soldier, sailor, or airman can receive. And everyone on deck knew the words, “at risk to his own life, above and beyond the call of duty.”

  “The ship is named for Major General William P. Upshur, United States Marine Corp. You see, in October of 1915, just before we entered World War I, the US Armed Forces were involved in a conflict down on the island of Haiti. The problem was with Haitian rebels who were called the Cacos. At the time, Upshur was a young captain with 15th Company of Marines. Here’s what happened: He and his men took off on a six-day reconnaissance patrol from Fort-Liberté. That means they were out on horseback, scouting for the Cacos rebels.

  “And let me tell you, it took some doing, but they finally ran into them. After dark on the evening of the twenty-fourth, his detachment of Marines were crossing a river in a deep ravine and suddenly were attacked on three sides by over four hundred Cacos. They shot up the Marines badly, but Captain Upshur and what men he had left fought their way forward toward the enemy. They finally managed to cross the river and get onto higher ground, where they dug in.

  “The Cacos fired on them all night long. At daybreak, instead of staying pinned down by enemy fire, Captain Upshur attacked with the three squads he had left. And he attacked not just in one, but three, different directions. He and his few Marines, in a hail of gunfire, with people being killed all around them, managed to surprise and scatter the Cacos. That became known as the Battle of Grande Riviere. And Captain Upshur and his men didn’t stop there. Pushing on, they successfully aided in the capture of the nearby Fort Dipitie.”

  The captain paused for his listeners to reflect on the story. “We named this ship after Upshur because he showed us what it means to never give up, never retreat, and never stop attacking.”

  When he was finished, the kids were far from laughing at the ship’s name, and they probably never would again. It had become a name of honor.

  With a quiet smile, the captain said, “So, how are those whales doing?”

  The kids moved back to the rail for another look. The whales were following even closer, as if they, too, had been listening to the story. The captain thanked Jack and Alex for spotting the great whales. Leaving, he said he’d let others know to come out and see their amazing find.

  It didn’t take long for more sailors, and even passengers, to start appearing on the ship’s small rear deck. As the crowds grew, Jack and Alex decided it was time to ditch the girls and scram.

  With nothing much to do, Jack and Alex just wandered the ship. Eventually, they plopped down in two easy chairs in a small, out-of-the-way reading room. It was an okay spot because there was no one else around.

  Alex looked at Jack and said, “So you’re an Army brat?”

  “Yup. And you’re a Navy brat?”

  “Yup. So what are Army brats like?”

  “We’re the smartest, sharpest looking, best behaved children on the planet.” Jack spread his arms as if welcoming applause from an audience. Then he cocked his head toward Alex. “What about Navy brats?”

  Alex gave him a slow smile. “That’s easy. We are the bravest, most honest, hardest working, sincerest kids who ever lived.”

  Jack pretended to have a new thought. “Oh, and we’re the sneakiest, most devious, cleverest children on the planet. We know how to get in and out of any situation.” He smirked. “What can you Navy brats do?”

  “Well, we never get caught at anything, and even if we do, we figure a way out of it.”

  “That’s what I thought.” Jack liked this kid.

  Alex said, “So where you been?”

  Jack ran down the list. “Oh, Monterey, California. You know, Fort Ord. That’s where I was born. Then we did a year in Colorado, while my dad was in Korea. My grandparents live in Colorado near the Rocky Mountains. Later we were in Yokohama, Japan, for a few years, then Fort Sill, Oklahoma. This time we moved from Fort Hood, Texas. You know the drill—my ol’ man came home one night about a month ago and yelled, ‘Saddle up. We’re movin’ out,’ and, of course, we all knew what that meant. Next day he left for Germany and my mom went out and got about a million boxes, and we all started packing.”

  “Oh, yeah, I know that drill.”

  “So, where you been?” asked Jack.

  “Naval Base, San Diego. Then Rota, Spain. Then Washington, DC. Then we went to the P.I.”

  “Where?” asked Jack.

  “You know. The Philippine Islands. Subic Bay.”

  “Oh.” Jack was fairly sure Alex could tell he knew nothing about the Philippine Islands, but he didn’t want to slow Alex down.

  “Next we moved to Great Lakes Naval Training Center, near Chicago. Then, same old routine. My old man comes home a few weeks ago and starts yelling, ‘Prepare to ship out, swab jockeys!’ So, now we’re headed for Germany, just like you.”

  Jack said, “Tell me about the P.I.”

  “It’s the greatest. We were there three whole years. My best friend was John Jawarski, but everyone just calls him Ski. We did everything together. There’s this huge bay right where we lived. In fact, there’s ocean surrounding the whole place. See, Subic Bay has got to be the biggest Navy base in the whole world. And they don’t just have big ships there, they also have submarines. Ski and I’d ride our bikes down to the docks and sneak around so we could see the subs. Once we even saw the atomic submarine Seawolf when she was brand new.”

  “What’s an atomic sub?”

  “You know, like the atomic bo
mb.”

  Jack must have looked confused, because Alex went on, “Ya know, those giant bombs they dropped on Japan to end the war. Man, they’re the biggest, most powerful bombs the world’s ever seen. One atomic bomb can kill thousands and thousands of people, maybe even a million.”

  “Gee . . .” For the first time, it dawned on Jack just how destructive an atomic bomb was.

  “Now even the Commies have ’em.”

  “Who’re the Commies?”

  “I dunno, really. I just know they’re the bad guys.”

  “I don’t get it. Why would they make a submarine out of a bomb?”

  “It’s not a bomb, it just uses atomic power. And don’t ask me what that is, ’cause I can’t really explain it, except to say it’s the latest and greatest. Biggest, fastest, and most powerful.”

  “And you saw one.”

  “That was the best. My dad got Ski and me onto a sub, but it wasn’t the Seawolf. Subs are way bigger than you’d think when you see them up close, but inside, not so much. When you’re inside, everything seems real small. This ship’s corridors might seem narrow to you, but they’re huge compared to the alleyways on a sub. The crew sleep in tiny hammocks stacked on top of each other. Much smaller than the bunks sailors use on this ship. The guy on top has to climb over everyone. And there are no portals, so you can never see where you’re going when you’re submerged.”

  “So how can they get anywhere?”

  “Charts that map the bottom of the ocean help. But today we saw the sub’s best friend.”

  “Sonar.” Jack shuddered. “I don’t know, man. Subs are cool and all, but not being able to see where we’re going . . .”

  “I know,” said Alex. “I’d rather be on aircraft carriers, like my dad.”

  “They must really be something.”

  “Oh, they are, my man. They have big guns, rockets, missiles, and definitely jets. And you want to talk about big? There are over five thousand sailors and Marines on an aircraft carrier. They make the Upshur look like a rowboat.”

  This was the kind of talk Jack loved. But then he heard himself asking one of the few questions brats never, ever ask. “So, do you think you’ll ever see Ski again?”

  Alex just sat there, studying him. Jack knew he’d been stupid, stupid, stupid.

  Finally, Alex seemed to force himself to say, “Don’t know.”

  Jack was miserable. Here was a great guy who could be a very good friend, and he might have just gone and blown it all up.

  Then, for some unknown reason, Alex started talking. “I miss him. At first, when we moved to Chicago, it was really hard. I’ll tell you about that move in a minute. Anyway, I think about Ski sometimes even now—in fact the best thing is when I see him in my dreams. Those are my best dreams. I wake up, and it feels like we were back together. Also, it feels okay when I tell stories about him to other kids. It kinda makes me feel like he isn’t completely gone.”

  Jack swallowed to control his insane sense of relief. “So, tell me some Ski stories.”

  As Alex settled in to tell him more about his old buddy Ski, Jack’s brain couldn’t help going into analysis mode. I’d never have asked that question to any of my friends in Texas or Yokohama or Fort Sill. Why did I ask Alex? Why is he answering?

  Jack began sorting out the difference between Alex and the other guys he knew. He gets the whole brat thing, but so do my other friends. It’s more than that. There’s just something about Alex . . . That grid-search stuff and everything about subs. I can learn from him. And besides, serious stuff happens when we’re together, like the whole whale thing.

  “You okay?” Alex asked.

  “Absolutely,” Jack said. “Come on, tell me about him.”

  “Well, a couple of times Ski’s dad took us out on Subic Bay in a small motorboat. We went to this really big island where they were moving a mountain.”

  “They were what?” Jack’s look said he thought Alex was full of it.

  “I’m not kidding. The Seabees were out there with these big bulldozers, and they were scooping away this mountain.”

  “Seabees?”

  “Navy combat engineers. They had tons of dynamite and kept using it to blow the top off the mountain. Afterward, they’d come in with giant bulldozers and push the dirt and rocks and trees over the sides of the mountain. The Seabees just kept chopping that mountain down, one layer at a time.”

  “But why?”

  “Airplanes don’t land well on mountain tops,” Alex said, grinning. “But if the Navy could remake that island into a huge, flat airbase, they could control the oceans for a thousand miles in all directions. Naturally, everyone said it couldn’t be done. But the Seabees said, ‘That’s a load of crap. Give us the job and that mountain’s gone.’”

  Jack admired that kind of can-do attitude.

  “The Seabees like to say, ‘The difficult we do at once. The impossible takes a bit longer.’”

  “That I have to remember.”

  Alex said, “The Seabees, with all their equipment, a boatload of dynamite, and hundreds of bulldozers, came in and just started pushing that mountain into the ocean. They also used a lot of the rubble to create this massive runway for the jets. Every so often, we’d go out there in Ski’s boat to see the progress. My favorite part was watching them set off the dynamite and blow up part of the mountain.”

  “Then what happened?” asked Jack.

  Alex grimaced. “We moved to Chicago, so I didn’t get to see. But later my dad told me it got finished. He called Subic Bay Naval Air Station the biggest land-based aircraft carrier in the world.”

  Jack sat for a while enjoying that thought. Then he said, “What about fights in the P.I.?”

  “Brats are brats, so some were trouble. The local kids were tough because they trained in judo and tae kwon do, but they didn’t tend to pick fights. In fact, most of the locals were nice. Our nanny, Maria, took us to play with her cousins. We rode our bikes all over the place, like to the beach. They knew some great places to swim. We’d also go to these big outdoor markets where they had all kinds of odd fruit, strange fish, and amazing shells you never found on the beach.”

  Alex asked, “Did you have a nanny in Yokohama?”

  Jack nodded. “Kazako. I really miss her. She didn’t speak a word of English, so we learned to speak to her in Japanese.”

  “Was it hard to learn Japanese?”

  “Dunno. It’s not like we took lessons or anything. I was kinda young, and . . . well, she was with us all the time, so pretty soon we figured out what she was saying, and how to say stuff back to her.”

  “Say something in Japanese.”

  “Ko-ni-chi-wa, kyo-wa doe-de-su? Da-ka-ra wa-rei-wa-rei wa nah-ni soo-roo tsu-mo-ri-de-su-ka?”

  “That’s ‘Hello, how you doing? So what are we gonna do?’ I must have said that to her every single day.”

  Jack and Alex sat there for hours, swapping stories and getting a feel for each other, their lives, and their families. When Alex was talking about the P.I., Jack felt like he’d been there. And when Jack talked about Japan, somehow that became part of Alex’s life.

  “I really like that part about seeing Ski in your dreams, even if he’s not really there. I’m gonna remember that.” Jack had picked up a solid-gold nugget worth keeping.

  Something made Jack’s inner clock go off. He glanced down at his watch: 5:54.

  “Rats! I’m late!” Jack shot out of his chair, yelling as he ran, “I’ll see you at dinner.”

  Alex bolted a split second behind him. Obviously, the home-by-six rule applied in the Knox family, too.

  They’d had a couple of adventures together that morning and one long conversation that afternoon. By dinner, they were best friends.

  4

  Jean-Sébastien

  Jack entered the cabin at six o’cl
ock on the dot.

  “You cut that pretty close, Jack,” his mom said, a no-nonsense look on her face. The girls were already getting dressed.

  “That’s ’cause he was off running around with his new friend, Alexander Knox,” sneered Queenie from the bathroom.

  “Shut up, Queenie!” Jack yelled back.

  “Watch yourself, Jack McMasters.” His mom sounded very quiet, very controlled. “One more word out of you, and you’ll never see this Alexander Knox again.”

  Jack was no fool. He clamped his mouth shut and started washing up.

  When their mom wasn’t looking, Queenie stuck her tongue out at him. Jack’s eyes flashed at her and his fists tightened. She was taunting him, trying to get him to come after her. But he knew better than to risk getting banned from playing with Alex.

  Queenie always knew when she could push it and just how far. But Jack was doing an excellent job of staying quiet on the outside, even though he was raging on the inside. She is such a royal pain. Oh, yeah, this chick really knows how to get me going. Why is she messing with me and Alex, anyway?

  He’d just finished getting his clothes changed for dinner when, out of nowhere, Queenie burst into tears. No matter what Mrs. McMasters did or said, Queenie just kept screaming and crying about Janie.

  Janie Hunter had been Queenie’s best friend back in Texas at Fort Hood. Now that Jack thought about it, he realized Queenie had been upset for days, probably because they were moving again. This must be about having to leave the very best friend she’d ever had. Queenie was smart enough to know there was no hope they’d ever see each other again.

  As Jack laced this shoes, he strategized how to stay out of Queenie’s way till the storm blew over. But it was strange. All of a sudden he wasn’t ticked at her anymore. She only wanted what he had: a new best friend.

  It took a bit, but his mom and Queenie finally came out of the bathroom, and they all headed for dinner. On the way, Jack tried to lighten things up by telling his mom about their whale sighting. She just gave him an absent nod. It was clear she was preoccupied with other things.