Casualties of War: The Advocate Trilgy

by Bill Mesce

  “Even though it sounds like he was just as lippy and insolent after the court–martial as he was before.”

  “Well, a little smart–mouthing hardly compares to – ”

  “Major, did any other man in the battalion ever fall victim to the same indulgence as the lieutenant?”

  “Indulgence, Sir?”

  “We heard testimony – from Colonel Bright, no less – that every one of those Italian households had a stash of booze in the basement.”

  “That might be something of an exaggeration – ”

  “Well, let’s leave it that, when it came to spirits, there was no real availability problem.”

  Another set of grins about the court, including one from Joyce himself. “That would be fair to say, yes, Sir,” the major said.

  “So, with that much alcohol around, did you have to deal with any other cases similar to Dominick Sisto’s?”

  “It’s always possible other men in the battalion may have acted improperly – ”

  “But there’s nothing you have any direct knowledge about.”

  “Yes, correct, Sir.”

  “If another such incident had come up, would you have pressed charges?”

  “If the circumstances were the same…the same exercise of bad judgement, the same failure of responsibility, the same circumstance of it occurring in an operational area – ”

  “That’s a lot of ‘if’s, Major. See, I’m getting a feeling – and correct me if I’m wrong – that, essentially, Lieutenant Sisto was busted because he was the only one you caught.”

  “I think that’s an oversimplification. We did have occasional incidences of individual drunkenness – ”

  “You caught these other men?”

  “I can’t recall every bit of minor misconduct – ”

  “Minor misconduct? The incident cost Dominick Sisto his sergeant’s stripes.”

  “As a squad leader, Dominick Sisto’s act was considered to be of a more serious degree. These other incidents were minor enough that they were not referred for court–martial; they did not come before the battalion commander. In an individual occasion of drunkenness, the major and I would have left disposition of such a case to the immediate superior. We may not even have known about them until they appeared in the daily reports.”

  “‘Individual occasion of drunkenness.’ Major, has any other officer in the battalion ever been court–martialed for disobedience or insubordination?”

  “Court–martialed? No, Sir, I don’t believe so.”

  “Reprimanded?”

  “Yes, Sir, but every unit – ”

  “Yes, Major, into each life a little rain must fall. But Dominick Sisto – first in Italy, and if you’d had your way after the Rapido River, and now here – he’s the only officer – ”

  “That’s it!” Courie declared, rising. But before he could object –

  “I’m already there, Captain,” Ryan said turning a rather inhospitable stare on Harry. “Colonel Voss, pardon my bluntness, but what the hell is this all about? You’ve had the captain under cross–examination for a good while now and not once have I heard you refer to the act that’s being contested here!”

  “I’m looking to establish a foundation, Sir,” Harry said with a blitheness that I’m sure was calculated to get Ryan’s goat as much as Courie’s.

  “Foundation for what?” Courie demanded.

  “I want to know how come two officers committed the same act on the same day during the same battle, but only one of them wound up under arrest?”

  “What’re you talking about?” Ryan asked, looking almost dizzy. “What other – ”

  “Lieutenant Tully.” Ricks explained.

  “Are you accusing Major Joyce of bias?” Courie asked, incredulous. “There hasn’t been one bit of testimony that’s come into this courtroom that’s even hinted there might be something personal between these two men!”

  Again, Harry maintained his unflappable, matter–of–fact–ness. “I’m not accusing the major of anything. I didn’t say it was personal. I didn’t say there was a bias. That’s why I’m trying to set a foundation; so I can explore the possibility.”

  “And you’re wrong, Captain,” Ricks put in. “There has been testimony that raises the question. The testimony about Lieutenant Tully.”

  Pietrowski raised his hand. “Colonel Ryan, don’t you think we’d save a lot of time without all this waltzing around if Colonel Voss just asks the question outright?”

  “I was just trying to set up a proper framework, Sir,” Harry said.

  “You were trying to do a hell of a lot more than that!” Courie retorted snidely. “You’re practically conducting a smear – ”

  Ryan silenced them all with his gavel. “Captain Courie! You’re getting on thin ice yourself with that kind of remark!”

  “Colonel Ryan, even if the defense somehow substantiates a claim of bias, that doesn’t mitigate the case of the defendant. If two men disobey an order and I only charge one, that may make me an unfair s.o.b., but that doesn’t invalidate the charge.”

  Ryan thought a moment, and seemed to resent that both counsel had been demanding so many thoughtful moments of him. “It may not invalidate the charge, Captain, but it does raise some questions about it. Colonel Voss, ask the question so we can move on!”

  “Fine.” Harry turned to Joyce. “Major, you ordered Lieutenant Tully to take his men across the firebreak.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “He refused.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “You threatened to relieve him of his command and press charges.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “You didn’t. Why?”

  “Lieutenant Tully was killed.”

  “A bit later. Why didn’t you relieve him right then and there?”

  “Sir, we were in the middle of a fight; a damned nasty one as I’m sure you’re aware!”

  “Lieutenant Tully’s men were not in that fight, Major. They were dug in inside the woodsline. Command could have passed smoothly to the next–senior. Why didn’t you relieve Tully?”

  The young major could not hide his temper: “I suppose I had a hell of a lot on my mind just then! Sir!”

  “The situation was crazy. Chaotic.”

  “Yes, Sir!”

  “You’d deal with it later.”

  “Yes, Sir!”

  As increasingly heated as Joyce’s responses had grown, Harry had maintained a conversational tone. “Relax, Major, that’s all I wanted. An explanation. You provided one. Thank you.” Then, so innocuously asked as to be sinister: “But when Lieutenant Sisto was brought to you, once he reported that Colonel Porter was dead, you did relieve him on the spot, didn’t you?”

  “The fight was over by that time! The battalion was off the hill!” Joyce seemed perturbed that Harry could not see the obviousness of it.

  “Yes, the battalion was off the hill. Had Tully’s men been withdrawn from the woodsline position, and the battalion survivors redeployed in the woods at that time?”

  “Not yet – ”

  “Weren’t the medics and some of Lieutenant Sisto’s and Lieutenant Tully’s men still bringing in wounded from the firebreak?”

  “There were a few stragglers – ”

  “Was the battalion still taking fire?”

  “Artillery was always falling on the woods – ”

  “The battalion was taking fire?” Harry pressed in his quiet way.

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Had Lieutenant Sisto seen at all to his men? Did he even have a headcount for you?”

  Joyce fumbled for words.

  “I’ll answer for you, Major. No. No, because he never had the time. You had him brought to you immediately, you relieved him immediately, you dragged him off to the battalion area immediately. Lieutenant Tully’s men were safely dug in, but you didn’t relieve him. There were still a lot of things Lieutenant Sisto needed to see to, but him you placed under arrest. Did you inform the next–senior
that the lieutenant had been relieved before you left for the battalion area?”

  “I, um…”

  “No. You were in such a hurry to get the lieutenant back to the battalion CP – ”

  “I felt it was a priority to report the failure of the attack to Division, and the loss of Colonel Porter.”

  “And the arrest of Lieutenant Sisto.”

  “Since I felt – and still feel – he’d cost us the opportunity to take the hill, yes, Sir, I did feel that was a significant priority!”

  The exchange had re–stoked the heat in Whitcomb Joyce’s face. Harry took a moment to let the tension in the chamber ease. He turned away from the major, left the younger man to recompose himself, take another drink of his water. When Harry returned to the questioning, he was shaking his head sadly. “The shame of it is I would’ve thought you and Dominick Sisto would’ve hit it off from the start.”

  “Sir?”

  “I mean you both have a lot in common, though I don’t think anybody’d guess it to listen to the two of you. You’re more well–spoken, better educated, but both of you – ”

  “Objection,” Courie said, annoyed. “I don’t know where the colonel’s going with all this pal–o’–mine stuff – I don’t know where he’s been going for quite some time, he’s been all over the map – but wherever it is, it’s hard for me to imagine this has anything to do with this case. It sounds like he’s setting them up for a date more than anything else!”

  Which brought a few more grins on the jury panel; grins quickly extinguished, this time, by a harrumph from Colonel Pietrowski.

  Ryan turned to Harry expectantly.

  “As Major Joyce is the officer who initiated charges, he’s presumed to be hostile – ” Harry turned toward Joyce, an apologetic look on his face. “No offense, Major. I’m afraid that’s the lexicon of the trade. You know what I mean by ‘lexicon,’ don’t you?”

  The suspicious cock of the head. “Yes,” Joyce replied warily, “I know what lexicon means.”

  Harry returned to Ryan. “As such, defense usually enjoys a certain latitude in its examination.”

  “There’s latitude and there’s latitude!” Courie opined. “Right about now the defense is just west of Fiji!”

  “Colonel Voss, the Judge Advocate makes the point with a certain flair, but he is on point,” Ryan noted. “I’ll let you go for a bit more, but this has been going on for a while and I’m having trouble seeing the relevance of a lot of this testimony.” His look was one of warning that Harry was getting himself into a position where Ryan not only would be unable to help him, but unwilling. His tolerance, along with Courie’s, was waning.

  Harry nodded without showing much concern, and returned to Joyce. “Major, all I was trying to point out is that you’re both from working class families. That’s what you’d call them, right? I mean, I see from your records that your father – ”

  “Yes,” Joyce interrupted, “I suppose that’s what you’d say.” He said it with his eyes toward the floor.

  “That’s nothing to be ashamed of, Major,” Harry said, with apparent earnest sympathy.

  Joyce brought his head up. “I’m not ashamed of it, Colonel.”

  “Good!” Harry smiled. “You should be proud! You’ve obviously done quite well for yourself!”

  Courie theatrically cleared his throat, warning that another objection to the line of questioning was not far off.

  “I see here,” Harry continued, “where you had tried to get into West Point – ”

  “I couldn’t manage the Congressional appointment.”

  Harry nodded sympathetically. “University of Connecticut, degree in business, class of ‘41. ROTC. Yes, you’ve done quite well for yourself even without making The Point.”

  “Thank you, Sir.”

  Courie shook his head. “What’s next? A trip back to the womb?” Ryan rapped his gavel for order, but Courie did not restrain himself. “I’m sorry, Colonel,” he said, rising to his feet, “but enough’s enough! What has any of Major Joyce’s biography – ”

  “Goes to credibility,” Harry said quietly. “The major filed the charges. The jury should have the right to gauge the character and caliber of the officer who’s responsible for us all being here.”

  “That sounds very nice,” Ryan said skeptically, “but I’m telling you, Colonel Voss, if I don’t see a more direct connection between your questions and the Judge Advocate’s examination of this witness, whatever line you’re following will be over! Understood?”

  Harry looked as if he couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about, nodded casually. He returned to his table, set down the deck of cards that had been his reference. Again, he quickly conferred with Ricks before picking up the second stack of note cards and turning back to Whitcomb Joyce. Harry began to speak, halted himself, and turned back to Ryan. “Is it allowable that I ask the major about his previous military assignments?”

  “Yes, Colonel,” Ryan answered with clearly fraying temper, “that is allowable. Just don’t beat it to death.”

  “Thank you.” Back to Joyce. “Major, before you came to the battalion, where were you? What did the Army have you doing?”

  “I, um, was in Washington.”

  “Doing?”

  Joyce fidgeted. “I was attached to the Quartermaster Corps. I liaised with manufacturers to arrange production schedules and shipments of goods contracted for by the Army.”

  “That business degree sort of damned you.”

  Joyce smiled sheepishly. “I’m afraid so, Sir.”

  “So, you what? Weren’t satisfied with that?”

  “I thought I had more to contribute than what I was doing.”

  Harry nodded as if to commend the notion. “And that’s when you were assigned as executive officer to the 3rd Battalion?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “So, your entire military career before coming to the battalion was with the QM?”

  The major’s smile faded. He took a sip of his water. “Yes, Sir.”

  “You had never had a combat command prior?”

  “Correct, Sir.”

  “No experience at the platoon or company level? In the field?”

  Courie stood: “Objection. Asked and answered.”

  Ryan: “Colonel, I warned you about belaboring – ”

  “Sorry, Sir. Major Joyce, that being the case, you must have been gratified at serving under Colonel Porter. We heard that, before coming to the battalion, he had been posted to Ft. Benning. I understand there’s a major infantry training school there. The colonel must have known his business.”

  A little smug, now: “Colonel Porter had been at Benning, but only in an administrative capacity. He didn’t have much more combat experience than I did when I was assigned to the battalion.”

  “Didn’t you ever feel out of your depth, Major? I mean here you were, executive officer of an infantry battalion – ”

  From Courie: “Objection! Argumentative!”

  Harry plodded on: “ – but you yourself had never had the experience of leading men into battle?”

  “Neither has Eisenhower!” Joyce quipped.

  Harry smiled. “Touché.” He turned to Courie. “Major Joyce did just fine without your help, Captain.”

  “I’m still going to sustain,” Ryan said. “Strike the last question and answer. And that remark about General Eisenhower. Let’s not drag everybody into this.”

  “Let’s talk a little bit about Colonel Porter,” Harry went on.

  A moan from Courie, a silencing look from Ryan. As Ryan turned from Courie to Harry, the look transformed to something transmitting the message, Would you please get on with it?

  “You said you had a fairly good working relationship with the colonel. Did you like him?”

  “Colonel Ryan!” Courie began wearily. “Is the defense going to take us through another one of these popularity contests??”

  “I think we’ve already settled the need to discuss Colonel Porter�
�s role in these events,” Harry returned.

  “I’m afraid we did,” Ryan said glumly and nodded for Harry to proceed.

  “I was asking if you liked him, Major,” Harry asked. “You served together about a year. Did you ever have a drink together? Sit around and swap lies, as they say?”

  Joyce fretted over a proper description. “We were not…unfriendly – ”

  “Cordial.”

  “Yes, but I wouldn’t say we were good friends.”

  “Major, it seems you’ve spent most of your time in the battalion keeping company with yourself.”

  “Objection!” Courie said. “We don’t need that kind of remark, do we, Colonel?”

  “Sustained.”

  “You’re right, Captain Courie,” Harry said with a bow. “My apologies. I didn’t mean anything by it, Major Joyce.”

  Joyce nodded with a cool graciousness.

  “You said you had a good working relationship,” Harry went on, “but I can’t imagine you were completely happy serving under him.”

  Joyce shook his head, unsure of what Harry was asking.

  “You seemed to have had two entirely different schools of thought on managing the battalion. On discipline, he was unwilling to confront the men, while you felt…’obligated’…?”

  Joyce shrugged noncommittally.

  “…to be more stern. On tactics, he was more tentative. Not a risk–taker, am I right? And there were times when you would think it was time to take a chance; roll the dice. Am I being fair?”

  “In a broad way, Sir. I had a good deal of respect for Colonel Porter. I would not want my attitudes to be construed as denigrating – ”

  “Please, Major, you can’t say you didn’t like the way he ran his show and then say you’re not being critical! I can appreciate your not wanting to speak ill of the man. I’ll put it to you another way. If you had been given command of the battalion, would you have run it the same way Colonel Porter had?”

  A deep breath, then a commitment: “No, Sir, I would not.”

  “Thank you, Major. The honesty is refreshing, isn’t it? It must have been very frustrating for you to serve under him, then.”

  “Frustrating?”

  “You did hope to get command of the battalion at some future point, didn’t you?”