“I suppose you’re right,” she replied. “We don’t want to seem rude now, do we?”
He rose to his feet without using the cane for support. “The leg, Jock…I can tell it’s getting stronger every day. You’ll be running track and field again before you know it.”
“I’d be the first guy with a limp to ever do that.”
“Give it time, Yank. Give it some bloody time.”
She slipped her hand into his and they walked toward the jeep. He felt the cool, unyielding touch of the thin gold band she wore on her ring finger as their hands laced together. He wore one, too, on the hand clutching the cane. They had wed as soon as they arrived in Port Moresby, he still in his hospital bed, she in the one dress she took from that unclaimed wardrobe at Buna’s Government House. An Australian magistrate had performed the brief ceremony, with Trevor Shaw and Ginny Beech as witnesses. So Jock wouldn’t feel like the lone Yank in a mob of Aussies, two US Army nurses volunteered to be bridesmaids. He’d half expected the magistrate to say, Jillian Forbes, do you take this bloody Yank…
So far, though, their marriage had done nothing but make public a bond so obvious it needed no publicity. They knew the risks of a hasty wartime marriage at the outset, and those risks had raised an administrative snag right off the bat: the US Army was refusing to recognize the marriage.
“You’ve filed the appeal?” she asked.
“Yeah…but bear in mind it’s not going to be the most pressing issue on the G1’s desk, Jill. This process is going to take a while…a long while.”
Even if the Army did eventually come around while the war still raged, it would be a year, maybe two, before she would be allowed to emigrate to the US as an officer’s spouse.
“Of course,” she said, “once this bloody war ends, the travel restrictions will be lifted and I’ll buy my own bloody ticket to America. The hell with your Army.”
And when that time finally comes, Jill, I pray you’ll still want to buy that ticket.
They both knew this war was nowhere near over, though…and the assumption the Allies would win it was still anything but a certainty.
“Let me drive, Jill,” he said. “I think my leg is up to working the pedals. It’ll be just our luck we’ll get pulled over by some MP without a sense of humor about a civilian woman driving government property.”
With one last, lingering look toward the harbor, she surrendered the driver’s seat to him.
When they pulled into the drive of Trevor Shaw’s villa, they were surprised to find another jeep parked there. Jillian asked, “You don’t suppose MacArthur’s moving back in, do you?”
“No…I don’t see any of his palace guard. He wouldn’t be here without them.”
As they drove closer, Jock could read the unit identifiers on the jeep’s bumper. “That’s a Fifth Air Force jeep,” he said. “What the hell are they doing here?”
Trevor Shaw stepped from the house onto the veranda, followed by Ginny Beech and an Air Force colonel Jock recognized instantly, the silver pilot’s wings on his chest glistening in the late afternoon sun. “I know that guy,” he said. “That’s Buck Ziminski. He was in the hospital here in Port Moresby with me for a spell. Appendicitis, of all things. We dogfaces get bullet and shrapnel wounds…flyers get appendicitis and athlete’s foot.”
Jillian failed to see the humor, adding, “Or they crash…and if they’re not killed outright, they get their heads cut off in a POW camp.”
Trevor Shaw introduced Jillian to Colonel Ziminski. “Man oh man,” the colonel said, his eyes gleaming. “Now I get to see for myself the woman Jock Miles just couldn’t stop talking about. It’s truly a pleasure to meet you, ma’am.”
As Ginny served up cold beers, the conversation quickly got down to business. “Jock, old boy,” Ziminski said, “I hear you’re looking for work.”
Those words were like throwing gasoline on a dying fire. Jock and Jillian couldn’t help themselves; the flicker of hope in their souls was suddenly a blazing inferno.
“Yeah,” Jock replied, wondering if he was dreaming. “I sure am, sir…but a job here? In this theater?”
“Damn right it is,” Ziminski replied. “Right here in Port Moresby…for the time being, that is, until we move to Tokyo. General Kenney is getting damn sick and tired of listening to you ground-pounders and cannon-cockers complaining about the maps and aerial photos we provide you guys…not enough detail, you say. Too many surprises, relief not worth a shit…pardon my French, ladies.”
Ginny and Jillian exchanged amused looks. Jock expected one of them to say No fucking problem, sport, but the women folded their hands in their laps, held their tongues, and tried like hell not to smile like Christmas had come very, very early this year.
“So I was thinking,” Ziminski continued, “I met this Infantry-type who knows his terrain inside out, from up in the air and down on the ground…and he doesn’t get airsick, I’m told.” He pointed to the cane leaning against Jock’s chair, adding, “And this Infantry-type could sure use a relaxing job where he didn’t need to be slogging through that damn jungle.”
Jock thought his heart would melt when he saw the glow of relief on Jillian’s face. He knew what she was thinking: You’re not leaving…and you’ll be safe, too.
Colonel Ziminski wasn’t finished with his pitch. “Now, Jock, maybe you had your heart set on going home, but—”
“Begging your pardon for interrupting, sir,” Jock said, “but I only need to know one thing…where do I sign?”
***
About The Author
History is a parade of chance outcomes, influenced by any number of natural forces and human whims. As a lifelong student of history and lover of alternative historical fiction, William Peter Grasso’s novels explore the concept change one thing…and watch what happens. The results are works of fiction in which the actual people and historical events are weaved into a seamless and entertaining narrative with the imagined.
Focusing on the WW2 era, Grasso’s novels have spent several years in the Amazon Top 100 for Alternative History and War.
Retired from the aircraft maintenance industry, Grasso is a veteran of the US Army and served in Operation Desert Storm as a flight crew member with the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF). These days, he confines his aviation activities to building and flying radio-controlled model aircraft.
Contact the Author Online:
Email: William Peter Grasso
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https://www.facebook.com/AuthorWilliamPeterGrasso
More Novels by William Peter Grasso
Moon Above, Moon Below
A Moon Brothers WW2 Adventure
France, August 1944. In this alternate history WW2 adventure, American and British forces struggle to trap and destroy the still-potent German armies defending Normandy. But the Allies face another formidable obstacle of their own making: a seething rivalry between generals leads to a high-level disregard for orders that puts the entire campaign in the Falaise Pocket at risk of devastating failure—or spectacular success. That campaign unfolds through the eyes of two American brothers—one an idealistic pilot, the other a fatalistic tanker—as they plunge headlong into the confusion and indiscriminant slaughter of war.
Operation Fishwrapper
Book 5
Jock Miles WW2 Adventure Series
June 1944: A recon flight is shot down over the Japanese-held island of Biak, soon to be the next jump in MacArthur’s leapfrogging across New Guinea. Major Jock Miles, US Army—the crashed plane’s intelligence officer—must lead the handful of survivors to safety. It’s a tall order for a man barely recovered from a near-crippling leg wound. Gaining the grudging help of a Dutch planter who has evaded the Japanese since the war began, Jock discovers just how little MacArthur’s staff knows about the terrain and defenses of the island they’re about to invade.
The American invasion of Biak promptly bogs down, and the GIs rename the debacle Operation Fishwrappe
r, a joking reference to their worthless maps. The infantry battalion Jock once led quickly suffers the back-to-back deaths of two commanders, so he steps into the job once again, ignoring the growing difficulties with his leg. When his Aussie wife Jillian tracks down the refugee mapmaker who can refine those fishwrappers into something of military value, the tide of battle finally turns in favor of the Americans. But for Jock, the victory imparts a life-changing blow.
Operation Blind Spot
Book 4
Jock Miles WW2 Adventure Series
After surviving a deadly plane crash, Jock Miles is handed a new mission: neutralize a mountaintop observation post on Japanese-held Manus Island so MacArthur’s invasion fleet en route to Hollandia, New Guinea, can arrive undetected. Jock’s team seizes and holds the observation post with the help of a clever deception. But when they learn of a POW camp deep in the island’s treacherous jungle, it opens old wounds for Jock and his men: the disappearance—and presumed death—of Jillian Forbes at Buna a year before. There’s only one risky way to find out if she’s a prisoner there…and doing so puts their entire mission in serious jeopardy.
Operation Easy Street
Book 3
Jock Miles WW2 Adventure Series
Port Moresby was bad. Buna was worse.
The WW2 alternative history adventure of Jock Miles continues as MacArthur orders American and Australian forces to seize Buna in Papua New Guinea. Once again, the Allied high command underestimates the Japanese defenders, plunging Jock and his men into a battle they’re not equipped to win. Worse, jungle diseases, treacherous terrain, and the tactical fantasies of deluded generals become adversaries every bit as deadly as the Japanese. Sick, exhausted, and outgunned, Jock’s battalion is ordered to spearhead an amphibious assault against the well-entrenched enemy. It’s a suicide mission—but with ingenious help from an unexpected source, there might be a way to avoid the certain slaughter and take Buna. For Jock, though, victory comes at a dreadful price.
Operation Long Jump
Book 2
Jock Miles WW2 Adventure Series
Alternative history takes center stage as Operation Long Jump, the second book in the Jock Miles World War 2 adventure series, plunges us into the horrors of combat in the rainforests of Papua New Guinea. As a prelude to the Allied invasion, Jock Miles and his men seize the Japanese observation post on the mountain overlooking Port Moresby. The main invasion that follows quickly degenerates to a bloody stalemate, as the inexperienced, demoralized, and poorly led GIs struggle against the stubborn enemy.
Seeking a way to crack the impenetrable Japanese defenses, infantry officer Jock finds himself in a new role—aerial observer. He’s teamed with rookie pilot John Worth, in a prequel to his role as hero of Grasso’s East Wind Returns. Together, they struggle to expose the Japanese defenses—while highly exposed themselves—in their slow and vulnerable spotter plane. The enemy is not the only thing troubling Jock: his Australian lover, Jillian Forbes, has found a new and dangerous way to contribute to the war effort.
Long Walk to the Sun
Book 1
Jock Miles WW2 Adventure Series
In this alternate history adventure set in WW2’s early days, a crippled US military struggles to defend vulnerable Australia against the unstoppable Japanese forces. When a Japanese regiment lands on Australia’s desolate and undefended Cape York Peninsula, Jock Miles, a US Army captain disgraced despite heroic actions at Pearl Harbor, is ordered to locate the enemy’s elusive command post.
Conceived in politics rather than sound tactics, the futile mission is a “show of faith” by the American war leaders meant to do little more than bolster their flagging Australian ally. For Jock Miles and the men of his patrol, it’s a death sentence: their enemy is superior in men, material, firepower, and combat experience. Even if the Japanese don’t kill them, the vast distances they must cover on foot in the treacherous natural realm of Cape York just might. When Jock joins forces with Jillian Forbes, an indomitable woman with her own checkered past who refused to evacuate in the face of the Japanese threat, the dim prospects of the Allied war effort begin to brighten in surprising ways.
Unpunished
Congressman. Presidential candidate. Murderer. Leonard Pilcher is all of these things.
As an American pilot interned in Sweden during WWII, he kills one of his own crewmen and gets away with it. Two people have witnessed the murder—American airman Joe Gelardi and his secret Swedish lover, Pola Nilsson-MacLeish—but they cannot speak out without paying a devastating price. Tormented by their guilt and separated by a vast ocean after the war, Joe and Pola maintain the silence that haunts them both...until 1960, when Congressman Pilcher’s campaign for his party’s nomination for president gains momentum. As he dons the guise of war hero, one female reporter, anxious to break into the “boy’s club” of TV news, fights to uncover the truth against the far-reaching power of the Pilcher family’s wealth, power that can do any wrong it chooses—even kill—and remain unpunished. Just as the nomination seems within Pilcher’s grasp, Pola reappears to enlist Joe’s help in finally exposing Pilcher for the criminal he really is. As the passion of their wartime romance rekindles, they must struggle to bring Pilcher down before becoming his next victims.
East Wind Returns
A young but veteran photo recon pilot in WWII finds the fate of the greatest invasion in history--and the life of the nurse he loves--resting perilously on his shoulders.
“East Wind Returns” is a story of World War II set in July-November 1945 which explores a very different road to that conflict's historic conclusion. The American war leaders grapple with a crippling setback: Their secret atomic bomb does not work. The invasion of Japan seems the only option to bring the war to a close. When those leaders suppress intelligence of a Japanese atomic weapon poised against the invasion forces, it falls to photo reconnaissance pilot John Worth to find the Japanese device. Political intrigue is mixed with passionate romance and exciting aerial action--the terror of enemy fighters, anti-aircraft fire, mechanical malfunctions, deadly weather, and the Kamikaze. When shot down by friendly fire over southern Japan during the American invasion, Worth leads the desperate mission that seeks to deactivate the device.
Operation Blind Spot (Jock Miles WW2 Adventure Series Book 4) Page 24