by Steven Linde
As they exited the Chapel, they were met by another group of Soldier in their best dress. They were standing on either side of the exit with weapons at shoulder arms. An NCO called them to attention, the Soldiers now shifting their weapons, and then the NCO called out “Salute ARMS!” and the Soldiers again changed the positions to Salute Mel as she passed by them. Once the procession had passed, the NCO barked out, “Order ARMS!” The Soldiers maneuvered their weapons back to the position of attention.
The Soldier pallbearers moved to place the coffin onto the back of the carriage. Once it was secure the Officer moved to tighten in place by turning the locking mechanism at the rear of the carriage. Once it was secure the Officer stepped back and barked more orders to the men, they came to attention and move to either side of the horses that were pulling the cart. Towards the front of the horses was a lone rider-less horse being led by a Soldier. The carriage pulled away from the chapel and all of the mourners fell in behind it and walked to the gravesite.
It was a ten minute walk to the site, and once at the site the Soldier repeated what they had done earlier but in reverse. John and the kids moved to the seats that were set up for them in the front row. To her credit, there were hundreds more people at the gravesite than at the chapel. She was going to be missed. The Soldiers maneuvered her coffin over the grave and then moved away from it. Once everyone was seated and the honor guard secured, the chaplain moved in and began to speak.
The chaplain spoke for fifteen minutes singing the praises of Mel and her family and how she had suffered for so long. The cancer had taken its toll on her and she was in God’s hands now. After the chaplain spoke, there was a 21 gun salute which is generally reserved for senior members of government or senior members of the military. Then the Honor Guard moved back in each squad on either side of the coffin, with the Officer quietly ordering them to move to the flag where they folded it. The Honor Guard Officer took the flag and marched it over to Colonel March; they exchanged the flag between the two of them. Colonel March turned and smartly stepped towards Colonel Clayton, he knelt down in front of the family, looked at the kids and then at John. “I’m truly sorry for your loss.” Colonel March looked directly into Colonel Clayton’s eyes as he said it.
Colonel March then stood and saluted slowly. He then slowly retracted the salute, did an about face and marched back to where he was originally standing. John looked down at the flag then pulled it to his chest closing his eyes. He always thought it was going to be Mel getting this flag from him being KIA. He never thought he would outlive his wife; he passed the flag to Kai. Kai took the flag and ran his hands over it, caressing it. You could tell he was lost in thought. He then handed it to Morgan. Morgan, with tears streaming down her face, hugged and held tight to the flag as though it was her mother. She gripped it tight, both her father and Kai noticed that Morgan wasn’t going to let the flag go any time soon, and it was OK with them.
The Chaplain returned to the podium and led them all through a final prayer. After that there was a long line of well-wishers expressing their condolences. It wasn’t something that John and the kids really wanted to do, the pain of what they had gone through for the day was enough, they wanted to go home where it was safe. After the funeral ended and everyone got their chance to speak with the family, they returned home to a small wake that composed of very close friends and colleagues. It was nice because they got the opportunity to unwind a bit and relax, and these were their people and they could be themselves. They also knew that each and everyone here would be there and take care of them over the next several weeks. The Army takes care of its own.
Chapter Twenty-Two
At 2000 the Marine Force Recon team Charlie-23 jumped into El Segundo. They were three miles east of the Air Force Base and once on the ground they would bury the chutes and proceed carefully to the base, find a spot where they could conceal themselves and observe. At 2230 an aircraft would circle overhead and the Marines could report to the aircraft what their observations were and what their plans were on how they were going to proceed. The aircraft would relay that information back to oncoming Marine forces that would eventually arrive at the base.
The team was being led by SSG Harold G. Kamanski. His second was SGT. Alfred Who. Once on the ground they humped the three miles in just over an hour, which may seem like a long time but they had hundred pound rucks and weapons, not to mention they had to be on the lookout for bad guys. There were homes close enough to the base that they could get into, clear, occupy, and observe. Ideally they needed a two story home that sat on the edge of a housing development, which would give them a clear view.
One of the things caused by the event was that there were no more street lights, which meant it was dark outside and gave the Marines great cover. They found a two story home that was about five hundred yards away from the base with a clear view from one of the bedrooms. One of the things they noticed right off the bat was the base was lit up like a Christmas tree and there was a lot of activity that was easy to see. Lots of activity on base didn’t necessarily mean it was Air Force, it could be the HLA and word could have reached them about the invasion. The team needed to see and verify the activity on base and who it was. Shouldn’t be too hard to determine that.
Once they cleared the house, they set up their OP and set up security. Security was internal, only they couldn’t take the chance of anyone seeing the moving around outside. The Marines blockaded the door and covered the window enough so they could see out them, and with that the internal workings of the operation were concealed.
An escape route was set up and verified by two of the team members. As soon as they were done setting security and the OP, SSG Kamanski heard from Corporal Stanley. “Staff Sergeant we have a problem coming down the street.” SSG Kumanski hustled down the stairs to Corporal Stanley’s position.
“Whatcha got?” asked the SSG.
“Looks like an Air Force patrol coming our way?” said Corporal Stanley.
SSG Kamanski looked out the window, although it was dark outside and difficult to see, the patrol was a hundred yards away at most. They wore typical US Military load bearing equipment, with M’4’s and he could see they were wearing Air Force ABU’s. The SSG stepped back for a moment thinking whether or not to make contact. He made a quick decision. He didn’t want to jeopardize the rest of the team. He would take Stanley and go out the back and come up from behind the Airmen while his team covered them. If it all still looked kosher he would make contact with the Air Force patrol.
SSG Kamanski and Corporal Stanley exited the back of the house using their escape egress route to get out. They moved slowly, keeping low to get behind the Air Force patrol, which wasn’t proving too difficult, after all they were Air Force and not trained ground combat troops. It took them about twelve minutes to maneuver behind the Air Force patrol. They got fairly close to them, and once close they studied the patrol. They looked for professionalism—how they conducted the patrol, if the uniforms fit and were correct from top to bottom, if they were clean shaven (or within regs) and had correct military bearing. Even the Air Force followed these rules and regulations, and if SGG Kamanski felt they were close he would approach them leaving Corporal Stanley to cover him.
Everything looked like it fit to both SSG Kamanski and Corporal Stanley, and it was agreed that they would approach the patrol, but how to do that without getting anyone killed was another issue altogether. SSG Kamanski decided the simplest approach to be the best, and Corporal Stanley moved to a better position where he could cover the SSG. Once that was done, the Corporal silently signaled the SSG to go ahead. SSG Kamanski yelled at the top of his lungs, “UNITED STATES MARINES! UNITED STATES MARINES!” The Air Force halted weapons up searching for the location of the yelling came. Then SSG Kamanski stepped out from the shadows with his arms in the air.
The Air Force patrol went into a frenzy yelling at him to get to disarm and get down, but SSG Kamanski stood there and didn’t move or respond to thei
r orders. The Airmen spread out encircling the SSG, but all of a sudden two of the Airmen went missing, then a third one. The Airmen when encircling the SSG had stepped a bit too far into the shadows and were taken by the other Marines, the reason was to ensure the SSG safety.
The Airmen quickly realizing that something else was going on beyond their control yelled as the SSG. “Who are you? What do you want?” The Airmen were very nervous. The three men went missing without a shot being fired or a sound heard.
“I’m Staff Sergeant Kamanski, United States Marines,” said the SSG.
The Airmen looked at him skeptically studying him; he certainly looked like a Marine, they thought. Then senior Airman Technical Sergeant Grant stepped forward. “Where are my men?”
“Safe for now,” said the SSG. “It all depends on who you are and what happens next, so tread lightly.”
The Tech Sergeant and the other Airmen looked around while still holding their M-4’s on the SSG. “I’m Technical Sergeant Grant from the base down the road; we’re running daily patrols in and around the base for security purposes. Your turn.”
SSG Kamanski thought best how to approach this. “You have ID’s I can see?”
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” smiled the Tech Sergeant. He reached back into his back pocket pulling out his wallet, took out his Military ID card and handed it to the SSG. In turn SSG Kamanki reached into his cargo pocket and fished out a small wallet that had special credentials, including his ID and orders from General Watkins giving him authorization to do whatever needed to be done to accomplish his mission—anything. He handed them over to the tech sergeant.
Tech Sergeant Grant whistled at seeing the credentials and handed them back to the SSG and in turn the SSG handed back the Tech Sergeant’s. The Tech Sergeant signaled for his men to lower his weapons, and SSG Kamanski gave the rally point signal. This was the agreed upon signal that would release the captured Airmen and bring the other out of hiding. As soon as the signal was given, the three Airmen appeared and five more heavily armed Marines appeared out of nowhere. The Airmen were a bit overwhelmed, even though they outnumbered the Marines two-to-one they were sure they wouldn’t be able to take them.
“What can we do for you, Staff Sergeant?” asked Tech Sergeant Grant.
“I need to talk to the most senior officer you got now! The shit is about to hit the fan and a big way. We didn’t know if the base had been compromised, overrun, abandoned or what. Right now there are several thousand pissed off Marines headed this way, and I want to make sure no one gets hurt on either side.”
“Shit. Well lets the get hell out of here. I know the General will be happy to see you and hear we’re still in the game.”
The two squads headed back to the Air Force base. To say the Air Force security forces at the gate were surprised by seeing the Marines was an understatement. The Marines were quickly surrounded by Air Force security forces which in turn caused the Marines to react aggressively in taking down several of the Airmen with their weapons up. “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” said Tech Sergeant Grant. “We’re all on the same side. Get General Shelton now!”
The OIC looked over the Marines and then at Tech Sergeant Grant. He then spoke to the Sergeant of the Guard, “Call the General and inform her we have half dozen Marines at the gate here, and what would she like us to do with them?”
“Within minutes the Marines were being escorted to the Generals HQ. She was getting ready to leave when she was told there were Marines here. “US Marines?” which in turned garnered the response from her Executive Officer. “Really.” The General knew she had let out a stupid response when she said US Marines, but it was too late to take it back. What she saw made her smile from ear-to-ear, that these were Marines in all their glory: rough, tough and looking to kill something. She could almost cry, they weren’t alone anymore, she just knew it.
Brigadier General Sharon Shelton welcomed the Marines with open arms. SSG Kamanski and SGT Who entered her office, but not before the SSG ordered his other men to wait outside and remain vigilant.
“It’s good to see you men.”
“Thank you ma’am.” The two Marines answered in unison.
She told them they could drop their gear over there in the corner if they wanted to. Then her assistant brought in some coffee for them, it was the Air Force after all. She told the assistant to please make sure the other men got anything they asked for. Her assistant nodded, turned and left the room. The General then led them over to a large seating area in her office which composed of several very nice chairs and a large couch. “What can I do for the Marine Corps today?” asked General Shelton.
“Thank you for seeing us ma’am, we appreciate it.” said SSG Kamanski. “We’re here to determine the status of the air base for oncoming Marine forces.”
“I’m sorry,” said the General. “Oncoming Marine forces?”
“Yes ma’am.” said the SSG. “Several thousand that I expect to be here within the next several hours. Our job was to determine the overall status of the base and report back. If it was abandoned we were to clear it and hold it, and if it was occupied by enemy combatants we were to observe and report back all necessary information, and if occupied by friendly forces we were to make contact and offer to help in any way possible.”
“Let me ask you Staff Sergeant, how are you to report?”
“Ma’am we have aircraft onsite at ten minutes to report to, which by the way we need to. If we fail to report they will assume the worst and prepare for an all-out assault on the base.”
This caught the attention of the General, “By all means SSG report in, report in! What do you need from me?”
“Ma’am we need your name, rank, and social so they can verify with the Air Force.”
“There still an Air Force?”
SSG Kamanski and SGT Who chuckled at that. “Yes ma’am the Air Force is alive and well. The current Headquarters is Travis.”
General Shelton was in heaven at hearing her Air Force had survived. She had so many questions but first she needed to let them do their jobs and report. It would ruin everyone’s day on base if the Marines leveled before breakfast.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Marines came streaming out of every avenue of approach to the Air Force Base carrying or pulling every type of conceivable weapon. There was a collective sigh of relief throughout the base by the Air Force as the Marines pushed through, and they knew then what they did by holding the base was the right thing. Many if not most felt this day was never coming again and it was good to see that they weren’t forgotten.
Brigadier General Sharon Shelton was front and center to greet as many of the Marines passing by as possible. As she stood there out of the front gate a Humvee pulled up and parked. Out of it jumped Brigadier General Stefan Blamey, short and stocky, a real hard charger. He stalked his way over to General Shelton, and she stood there standing at this man, reached out to shake his hand. He looked down at her hand, thought for a moment and then shook it. “It’s about time you got here General,” said General Shelton. “What took you so long? You’re late…”
General Blamey stood there with a surprised look on his face, they then both broke out laughing. The two officers actually knew each other as they had attended several of the joint military schools throughout their careers. General Blamey had been on the Tripoli and when it was reported that there was a General Shelton at the Air Force Base, Admiral Walcom put out a request throughout the fleet asking if anyone knew her.
General Blamey stepped up and told the Admiral he did and asked why. Admiral Walcom immediately ordered the General to get his ass off the ship into a Humvee and to the Air Force Base ASAP, and once there report back if it was actually General Shelton. She invited him to her office for some coffee and breakfast. General Blamey readily accepted and they both got into his Humvee went to her office. Many of the Air Force personnel were still in awe of any Marines they saw, and now a Marine General with General Shelton.
“Thank you Harry it’s good to see you too! Needless to say I was surprised.”
“Harry what the hell is going on? We’ve been cooped up on this base for over a year fighting off those crazies that call themselves the Hispanic Liberation Army.”
For the next hour Harry recounted the events after the event and how Camp Parks led the way. He recommended that if she got the chance to visit the area then she could see what can be done. He also brought her up to speed regarding combat operations against the Islamic Army in the Midwest. She was amazed at what had happened over the last year and how the United States Military had been able to step in and restore some order. She was also happy to hear that the HLA for the most part had been cleared and destroyed, although there was still the threat the split factions would reform into smaller gangs.
He told her that he had to move on; they were headed to Pendleton because apparently the Mexican government had decided to take back the American West. He would leave a company of Marines, a platoon of LAV’s and the Abrams to help with security. They were also bringing up a shortwave radio. “The radios aren’t working,” said Sharon.
“These radios are tube-centric, with no modern crap in them, they work. We’ve been delivering them to all the installations. I would have thought with the brain trust you have here y’all would have realized the old tech stuff is working fine or needs some work to get working.”
Sharon thought for a moment, “You’re right Harry, we didn’t that I recall. My primary concern was securing the base, base personnel and families first. But yeah I would have thought the civilian engineers would have been all over it now that you mention it. I’ll have to take the ping on that as a failure on leadership.