Sharon smiles at the other two and leads them out in front of the divider. She begins: "The Fourth of July was a few days ago and at this time of year our thoughts turn to 1776 and the War of Independence, led by General Washington with his valiant group of men. We take you now to 1776 and the army as it was then."
Wendy as an aide comes up to Sharon: "General Washington, the new AOB class has arrived."
Sharon playing Washington asks: "What's an AOB class?"
Wendy the aide replies: "AMATEUR Officers Basic – very basic."
The three meet back behind the divider. Then they all go out in front again, signaling a new scene.
Donna faces Sharon and Wendy: "Now, men, here are forms 2031 and 1023. All married men whose wives accompanied them fill out form 2031 in quadruplicate and form 1023 in triplicate. All single officers fill out forms 2031 in triplicate and form 1023 in quadruplicate. All married men whose wives did not accompany them but who will join them here fill out both forms 2031 and 203 in duplicate. Married men whose wives won't be joining them fill out only form 2031 in triplicate and disregard 1023. Correction: Married men whose wives are here and were married under the harvest moon …"
Sharon and Wendy hum the opening words to the song "Harvest Moon."
Donna frowns: "Order, please. As I was saying, fill out form 2031 in triplicate. Class dismissed."
Sharon and Wendy run back behind the divider. Wendy comes out wearing the doctor's white coat. She examines Donna. "Type blood – red. Heart – beating. Lungs – breathing. You're in good shape." Donna collapses onto the floor.
Sharon as Benjamin Franklin comes out from behind the divider. "Men, here are your manuals, hot from my printing press." She reads from her copy: "Oiling a Flintlock; Trading with the Indians; How to Spot a Redcoat; Assembly and Disassembly of the Fire – M1; Care and Feeding of the Horse; Crossing Rivers, Delaware, Potomac, Etc.; Hiding Behind Trees; Horse Recovery."
Sharon disappears behind the divider while Donna and Wendy stand at attention for inspection. Sharon reappears and says to Wendy: "You there, get a wig. We don't want any short-haired soldiers in this outfit."
Donna opens a manual and reads: "Maintenance of the Horse – The horse's left foot is on his left side. The left side of the horse is the side where the left foot is on. Which side is the left foot on?" She looks up from the manual. "The right?"
Sharon appears with Wendy wearing an apron over her fatigues.
"$140 a month for that tent! Forget it!" Sharon says.
"Let's try the Muldraugh Wagon Court," Wendy says.
Wendy reappears from behind the divider with a green bag on her face. Donna and Sharon walk past her.
"There goes an AOB class member," Donna says.
"How do you know?" Sharon says.
"He's a green lieutenant."
Back behind the divider again. Then Sharon appears out front wearing the MP helmet. She says "Halt!" to Donna riding on a stick horse.
"I was only trotting," Donna says.
"May I see your horse license please?" Sharon says.
"What license?"
"That will be five nights at horse driving school for you."
Sharon dumps the MP helmet behind the divider, then reappears talking to Donna: "AOB? OMO. TDY? PCS! RA? USAR. MI? MP. EDCSA? 0-1-28."
Wendy walks over to listen. "I must be in the wrong company. They don't speak English here."
Now Sharon addresses Donna and Wendy. "Vol indef will give you 12 to 18 months in Boston. And, gentlemen, if you don't go vol indef, we'll send you straight to Valley Forge."
Donna holds up a sign saying "To Valley Forge" and Wendy holds up an "AOB Graduation Diploma." All three of them bow to signal the end.
From behind the divider they can hear barely any applause. "Maybe they didn't get it," Sharon says.
"Or maybe they were disappointed not to have a fashion show," Donna says.
"It was great," Wendy says. "I'm glad we did this."
They change back into their dresses and reemerge from behind the divider, taking their seats with the other women. The woman in the blue dress smiles at all of them. "Thank you for your presentation," she says.
"And now we have another special treat. We have diplomas for all of you for graduating this course on how to be an officer's wife."
She calls up the AOB class wives one-by-one by name. Sharon reads her diploma as she walks back to her seat.
The certificate reads "U.S. Army Armor School" at the top. Under the words "United Students Wives" are the words "check book, cook book, baby care." Then comes the formal "To all who shall see these presents greetings." The next words crack Sharon up:
Be it known that Sharon Gold having successfully completed and survived the required course in the feeding, care, and coddling of her husband in
The U.S. Army Armor School
In testimony Whereof, and by authority vested in us, we do declare her a
GRADUMATE
Given at Fort Knox, Kentucky, this 10th day of July 1970
And it's signed by a brigadier general, a major general, and a lieutenant colonel!
Sharon would love to have shared a laugh with Kim over this silly diploma.
DONNA – VI – July 16
House rejects without debate move to endorse the Senate-passed Cooper-Church amendment to curb U.S. military action in Cambodia ... July 9, 1970
“After retreat and early evening, wear a cocktail type dress, shoulders covered, and gloves – but no hat.” Mrs. Lieutenant booklet
Donna closes the suitcase. She's ready to leave for Ft. Holabird. In the bathroom Jerry inspects himself in his Class A uniform. In a few minutes they'll drive to the post for the graduation ceremony and their farewells.
How often will she see Sharon while they are both at Ft. Holabird? As she understands it, available rental housing is spread out all over Baltimore. She and Sharon may live far away from each other.
Donna's mother has promised to come to Baltimore on the way back from a visit to Puerto Rico, bringing green bananas for Donna's favorite treat. Donna and Jerry can have a party when her mother visits. Invite people over for fried green bananas. Sharon and Robert will come then.
Donna looks at the suitcase. If only those packed clothes were becoming tight on her! If only she would soon need the maternity clothes her mother started to make!
The doctor explained it was for the best. "The fetus may have been unviable. Or you may have had the German measles without knowing it. Sometimes adults don't even notice a slight fever," he said. "Even such a slight case can badly affect a fetus."
Jerry brought her home from the hospital the next morning. He threw her diaphragm in the trash. "We'll make lots of babies," he said.
"We can't have sex until the bleeding stops."
Jerry kissed her. "We can wait a week to start our family."
She asked him again, that night, when they were lying side by side in their bed. "Did you mean what you said about taking the exemption?"
"I understand how important it is to you,” he said. “I'm giving my time to the army. I don't have to give my life when you need me so much."
She kissed him. She didn't want to excite him, but she couldn't restrain her happiness. Even Miguel's face, hovering above Jerry, couldn't squash it.
She isn't superstitious, doesn't believe that Miguel's ghost caused the miscarriage. There will be other pregnancies, successful ones. She knows it.
WENDY – VII – July 16
For the second time in 16 days, Senate votes to repeal 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution cited by Johnson administration as authorization to expand the Vietnam War ... July 10, 1970
“For receptions held later in the evening, a dinner dress is suitable.” Mrs. Lieutenant booklet
Wendy studies the interior of the trailer. The bare Formica surfaces stare back at her, absent of any indication that she and Nelson have lived here.
Everything is now packed in the car. They will leave for Ft. Hood immedia
tely after this morning's graduation ceremony. She's pleased about going to Texas. Although it isn't as good as going back home, it'll be somewhat familiar.
The phone rings.
"Mrs. Johnson, this is Mrs. Donovan."
Mrs. Donovan!
"I just called to thank you for your wonderful work at the hospital. The men have told me how much they enjoyed your visits. They'll miss you and the committee will miss you."
The other officer's wives! Wow!
She remembers her own manners. "Thank you, Mrs. Donovan, for calling. I really appreciate having the opportunity to help out."
"Good luck at your next post. You'll be able to help out there too in some capacity."
Incredible. A senior officer's wife calling just to say thank you. Maybe Nelson is right that army etiquette can make life easier for them.
Nelson comes back into the trailer from checking the car. "Are you ready?"
In the car Nelson flips on the radio and catches the end of "Smile a Little Smile for Me" sung by the Flying Machine. The song reminds her of the drive home with Kim – watching for a sign that Kim was okay.
Will Kim ever be okay? Donna remarried soon after her first husband's death. Yet Kim seems so much more fragile than Donna. Can Kim ever risk loving someone again after Jim?
Wendy shakes her head. She won't allow herself to think about Jim, about Donna's first husband. About Nelson going to Vietnam. She'll think only of settling into Ft. Hood, joining the officers' wives club there, making new friends. She'll call her parents as soon as they reach Ft. Hood, assure them that she and Nelson are fine. And they will try to stay just fine. Please God.
SHARON – XVII – July 16
House Armed Services subcommittee report on the Songmy incident concludes mass killing did occur and was covered up by military and State Department officials in South Vietnam ... July 15, 1970
“Note that gloves are usually worn while proceeding through the receiving line.” Mrs. Lieutenant booklet
The United States flag limps in the humid air. Sharon sits in the viewing stand with Donna and Wendy while their husbands in their Class A uniforms go through their paces. The AOB graduation ceremony flies by. The senior officers must be as affected as everyone else by the heat.
If only Kim could be sitting next to the women now and Jim out on the parade ground with Robert, Nelson and Jerry. If only, if only …
"It's certainly hot out here," Donna whispers.
"Hot enough to melt," Wendy says.
Her friends. Sharon has come a long way from the person who arrived here – scared of an alien culture, convinced she would be all alone among people so different from herself.
For this ceremony Sharon wears the red felt hat that her sorority sister brought her from Florence. It's the only nice hat she has. And she can see there's a practical reason for wearing hats at outdoor official ceremonies – protection from the sun.
Out on the parade ground the men step up in turn to receive their graduation diplomas. Surely not as goofy as the wives' diplomas.
Now, the ceremony over, the men march off the parade ground. The women rush forward to kiss their husbands. It's time to say goodbye.
"Let's take a picture of all of us in front of the gold. So we can prove we were at Ft. Knox," Sharon says.
"Gold for the Golds," Jerry says.
She asks another AOB class member to use her camera. The six of them stand together for the last time: Donna and Jerry, Wendy and Nelson, Sharon and Robert.
"Say Mickey Mouse AOB," the cameraman says. They all smile.
The men wish each other luck and kiss the wives. The wives kiss each other. "Drive safely," they say.
Then Robert salutes Jerry and Nelson. They salute him back. "At ease," he says. They all laugh.
Sharon climbs into the passenger side of the Fiat. Her journal, new the first week in May, is now filled with her experiences here. And her friendships.
Robert drives the Fiat out of Ft. Knox and back onto Dixie Highway. They drive north, on their way to Ft. Holabird – one step closer to Vietnam.
EPILOGUE
SHARON – XVIII – April 1994
President Nixon dies at age 81 ... April 22, 1994
“The receiving line should normally be formed from right to left, although sometimes, due to the physical being of a room, this may not be practical and necessitate the opposite.” Mrs. Lieutenant booklet
From a distance the grass appears unmarred, stretching in a straight line from the front of the Lincoln Memorial to the reflecting pond, then rising slightly to the Washington Monument and on to the Capitol building. Only as Sharon reaches the actual location in Constitution Gardens can she see the cutout in the ground for the memorial wall designed by Maya Ying Lin for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
The wall can be viewed by taking a downward sloping path from either the east or west end. The first black granite panel is a sliver on Sharon’s left as she starts down the path. The panels grow in height from both ends, until at the bottom of the path the two sides meet as tall wall panels.
The names of the dead cover the surfaces of the panels, name after name in continuous flowing lines.
A man parks his wheelchair in front of a panel. Sharon glances at his face. He's about the right age. Is he remembering his buddies?
And who has left the box of Cracker Jacks at the base of another panel? It's out of place surrounded by flower wreaths and miniature American flags, even a cap with the slogan "Reenlist."
A woman bends towards one panel, her left hand pressing a sheet of paper against a name, her right hand rubbing a pencil over the paper's surface. A rubbing. Like the rubbing of a tombstone.
An older woman leans on the arm of her middle-aged daughter, both their faces damp. Is the older woman here to honor her son or the middle-aged woman her husband? Or both?
"It was a difficult decision," Sharon hears a young man – probably in his twenties, too young to know firsthand – say to his companion. "Whether to go."
Two teenage boys turn to their mother. "Thanks for taking us, Mom," they say.
An African-American family is on the path in front of Sharon. The man pushes a stroller with a sleeping baby while his wife holds the hands of twin girls. Sharon flashes to Donna Lautenberg’s description of the black woman standing in the clinic line at Ft. Knox feeding bread to her young son. The woman had been eight months pregnant with this son when her husband was killed in Vietnam. Is this man here to show his children his father's name on the wall, the father he never knew?
Ahead of Sharon appears the spot where the two sides of the wall meet. At the bottom of the last west panel is the date 1975 – the last year of casualties – with the inscription:
Our nation honors the courage, sacrifice and devotion to duty and country of its Vietnam veterans. This memorial was built with private contributions from the American people. November 11, 1982
At the top of the first east panel appears the date 1959 – the first year of casualties – with the inscription:
In honor of the men and women of the armed forces of the United States who served in the Vietnam War. The names of those who gave their lives and of those who remain missing are inscribed in the order they were taken from us.
"In the order they were taken from us."
How eerie to be walking this path now. Richard Nixon, the president who escalated and then ended the Vietnam War, has just died at the age of 81. Many of the Vietnam War dead lived less than one-fourth of that time.
Sharon stops at a panel and randomly counts the minuscule round indentations representing 10 lines of names. She is not looking for any specific name.
Above her at ground level Robert is checking the directory – the directory that will give the panel location of Kenneth’s inscribed name. Sharon does not want to look in the directory for the names of Nelson Johnson or Mark Williamson. She prays their names aren’t there, but she can’t bring herself to find out.
Sharon reflects th
at clerks probably compiled the names of the dead for this memorial. And it is an unknown clerk who changed Robert’s life. In October 1969 Robert was due to report to Ft. Benning, Georgia, for Infantry Officers Basic at the end of that month. He called the army personnel office in St. Louis and told the civilian clerk, “I haven’t yet heard about my branch transfer request.” She said, “Don’t go. I’ll put your orders on hold until you hear.” A few months later the transfer to MI came through with orders to report to Ft. Knox in early May for Armor Officers Basic before MI training. The army clerk’s delay by six months of Robert starting active duty coupled with Nixon withdrawing troops from Vietnam are probably what saved Robert’s life.
Because, as it turned out, Robert had been right in the spring of 1970 at Ft. Knox during the AOB class members’ discussions of whether to go voluntary indefinite. Robert had said then that, if Nixon wanted to be re-elected to a second term, he’d have to end the war in Vietnam. And indeed in the fall of 1971 the army began bringing home troops from Vietnam. Due to that troop drawdown Robert never went to Vietnam.
Sharon’s fingers trace the chiseled lettering of the unknown name in front of her eyes.
What were all the American deaths in Vietnam for?
She flashes on the chaotic images of the American embassy at the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, captured on news footage: The last American helicopters lift off from the roof, desperate South Vietnamese civilians trying to cling to the helicopter skids. And in the embassy compound below, watching their last chance take off, are the masses of South Vietnamese who will become fodder for the brutality of the victorious Communists.
Rivulets of tears splash down Sharon’s cheeks, blurring the names on the panel in front of her.
The perspiration drips down his face, oozing into his eyes and sliding over his mouth. He swipes at the beads dripping from his nose with the arm of his filthy fatigue shirt. "This heat is unbearable," the army officer says to the 19-year-old enlisted man quivering besides him inside the tank. "How do the Vietnamese survive?"
Mrs. Lieutenant: A Sharon Gold Novel Page 29