“I understand. Good luck, Captain.”
“The same to you, mam,” he said and backed up two steps and turned away.
Her eyes followed him for a moment. “I’m glad I met him, Nautaung. I wish I could have known them all.”
“They were something to know,” the old man said proudly.
The men had begun to file into the church now. And Nautaung saw Gus waddle up and whisper something to Ringa. The young American smiled. Then Gus took him by the arm and led him up the chapel steps.
Soon everyone but Nautaung and Carla were inside. “It is time,” Nautaung said.
She removed her shawl and ran her fingers through her long hair loosening it. She breathed deeply, a precious breath and looked up through the trees.
She put the shawl back on and looked at Nautaung. She took his arm and patted his old wrinkled hand and smiled tenderly.
They started up the walk, up the chapel steps.
And there was a great sorrow in Nautaung’s heart.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
If I had had any idea of what went into the writing of a book I doubt if I ever would have started. This book would never have been written had I not read James Jones’s From Here to Eternity which above all books gave me an almost fanatic possession to become a writer. Jim’s subsequent aid, his highly valued friendship have been a great part of my incentive. To Harry Handy of Robinson, Illinois, I am indebted for it was Harry’s material selflessness that provided the necessary funds and locale that gave other writers as well as myself the opportunity to write. To Ned Brown of Music Corporation of America for his encouragement. To Bill Barley who was always considerate and encouraging. And to Burroughs Mitchell, of Charles Scribner’s Sons, not only for his fine editing but for his personal encouragement and his unique sense of fairness in his criticism.
The subsequent and belated realization that without all these people this book would never have been written came as quite a shock to the author, yet it cannot be denied.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in 1924, Tom T. Chamales graduated from St. John’s Military Academy in Delafield, Wisconsin, in 1942, at the age of eighteen and immediately joined the army. Chamales attended basic training, Officer Candidates’ School, and the Infantry School at Ft. Benning, Georgia.
He was the youngest officer to serve in Merrill’s Marauders and OSS Detachment 101. (The OSS was the precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the US Army Special Forces, commonly known as the “Green Berets,” trace their roots to Merrill’s Marauders.)
At the age of twenty-one, he was a captain and stationed in Burma, where he commanded the 3rd Battalion of American Kachin Rangers. He was also the tactical commander when the main Kachin forces were joined (a force of about two thousand guerilla troops). He served the entire Burma campaign through the Lashio victory, and also took part in the invasion of Rangoon serving nearly two years behind Japanese lines. For his service, the Kachin people bestowed on him the title “Duakaba,” which means “high leader.” Col.Aaron Bank, the founder of Special Forces, wrote a personal inscription to Chamales on the inside cover of his copy of Never So Few, commemorating Chamales’s early contributions to Special Forces.
In civilian life, Chamales had a variety of occupations including hotel manager, horse book operator, fishing guide, and manager of a fashionable restaurant in Newport, Rhode Island. Chamales tragically passed away in a fire on March 20, 1960 at the age of thirty-five.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1957 by Tom T. Chamales
Cover design by Mauricio Díaz
ISBN: 978-1-5040-4597-1
This edition published in 2017 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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Never So Few Page 71