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"I'll look into that myself, General, and personally bring it to the attention of the G-l."
"I couldn't ask for more than that, could I? Thank you, Colonel."
"No thanks necessary, Sir," Wilson said. "You said there were two things?"
"And-to repeat-both a little delicate," General Stewart said.
"Perhaps I can help, Sir."
"I mentioned Major Dillon," General Stewart said.
"Yes, Sir?"
"I don't know if you know this or not, Colonel, but Major Dillon has been placed on temporary duty with the Office of Management Analysis."
"The Office of Management Analysis, Sir?"
"Don't be embarrassed. I had to ask a lot of questions before I found anyone who even knows it exists," General Stewart said. "But I think it can be safely said that it deals with classified matters."
"I see," Colonel Wilson said solemnly.
"The thing is, Colonel, I'm carrying Major Dillon on my ma
"Yes, Sir."
"Do you think you could have him transferred, taken off my man-ning table?"
"I will bring that to the attention of the G-l, Sir. And if anything can be done, I'm sure the General will see that it is."
"Splendid!" General Stewart said as he stood up and put out his hand. "Colonel, I really appreciate your cooperation."
"Anything for the good of the Corps, Sir."
"Indeed! Thank you, Colonel. And if there's ever any way in which Public Affairs can be of service..."
"That's very good of you, Sir. I almost certainly will take you up on that."
[THREE]
Anacostia Naval Air Station
Washington, D.C.
2055 Hours 16 October 1942
As the B-25 was taxiing from the runway to the Transient Aircraft Ramp, the pilot came out of the cockpit and walked back to Ba
"A car's going to meet you where we park," he said.
"Thank you," Ba
He had a headache. His mouth was dry. He'd been sleeping fitfully until his ears popped painfully as they made their descent and approach.
They'd stopped at St. Louis for fuel. And he had a fried-egg sand-wich and a cup of coffee there. The mayo
He belched painfully.
It was raining, steadily, and a chilling wind was blowing across the field. And there was no car in sight. He'd just about decided that the pilot had the wrong information, or that the plane was parked in the wrong place, when a 1940 Buick convertible sedan rolled up. The Buick was preceded by a pickup truck painted in a checkerboard pattern and flying a checkered flag.
The rear door of the Buick opened.
"Will the Major please get in so the Captain will not get drowned?" a voice called.
Ba
"How are you, Ed?" he said. "Good to see you."
"Take us to the hotel, Jerry," Captain Edward Sessions, USMC, ordered, and then turned to Ba
"I didn't want to get my best uniform soaked," he went on. "There's a good chance I will be in the very presence of the Secretary of the Navy himself.
"We will be."
"Tonight?" Ba
"Very possibly. The Colonel's at the hotel; that's where we're going. He should know by the time we get there."
"What hotel?"
"The Foster Lafayette," Sessions said. "Your hotel, Sir. By order of General Pickering. He sent a radio from Pearl Harbor." He made a gesture with his hand. "The car, too. He said we were to give you the keys."
"Jesus," Ba
"And this, I thought, would give you a laugh," Sessions said, and thrust a newspaper at Ba
A pair of lights came on, providing just enough illumination to read the newspaper. It was The Washington Star.
"What am I looking at?"
Sessions pointed at a photograph of a Marine officer in dress blues. He was standing at a microphone mounted on a lectern on a stage somewhere.
There was a headline over the photograph:
PACIFIC HEROES COMPLETE WAR BOND TOUR;
'BACK TO THE JOB WE HAVE TO DO' SAYS
PURPLE HEART HERO OF GUADALCANAL.
"So?" Ba
"Take a good look at the hero," Session said. "Macklin! I'll be damned." "I thought that would amuse you," Sessions said. "Nauseate me is the word you're looking for," Ba
NAVY SECRETARY KNOX 'EXPECTS
GUADALCANAL CAN BE HELD'
By Charles E. Whaley
Washington Oct 16 - Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, at a press conference this afternoon, responded with guarded optimism to the question, by this reporter, "Can Guadalcanal be held?"
"I certainly hope so," the Secretary said. "I expect so. I don't want to make any predictions, but every man out there, ashore or afloat, will give a good account of himself."
The response called to mind the classic phrase, "England expects every man to do his duty," but could not be interpreted as more than a hope on Knox's part.
One highly placed and knowledgeable military expert has, on condition of anonymity, told this reporter that the "odds that we can stay on Guadalcanal are no better than fifty-fifty." He cited the great difficulty of supplying the twenty-odd thousand Marines on the island, which is not only far from U.S. Bases, but very close to Japanese bases from which air and naval attacks can be launched on both the troops and on the vessels and aircraft attempting to provide them with war materiel.
"What are you reading?"