Retreat, Hell! Part 38

Kennedy knew what he was doing, signaling the operators of the crane and winch operators on the ship as they prepared to load a vehicle aboard. Two things annoyed Colonel Kennedy: first, that an ordinary seaman, rather than an officer, was supervising the operation, and second, that the vehicle about to be loaded aboard the Captain J.C. Buffett Captain J.C. Buffett was a heavy-duty wrecker. was a heavy-duty wrecker.

He didn't have the revised on-/off-loading schedule yet, but the chief of staff had made it very clear that the first vehicles he wanted unloaded at Wonsan were heavy-duty wreckers and tank retriever vehicles. That meant they would have to be loaded last, so they could be unloaded first.

He walked up to the seaman on the wharf who was directing the boom and winch operators.

"Excuse me," he said.

"Not now, buddy. Can't you see I'm working?"

With slow and gentle, even graceful, movements the seaman signaled the winch operators on the deck of the Captain J.C. Buffett Captain J.C. Buffett to begin to to begin to very slowly very slowly haul aboard what the White Manufacturing Company called a Wrecker, Special, Heavy Duty and the U.S. Army called a Vehicle, Heavy Vehicle Recovery 6 6 Mark III A2. haul aboard what the White Manufacturing Company called a Wrecker, Special, Heavy Duty and the U.S. Army called a Vehicle, Heavy Vehicle Recovery 6 6 Mark III A2.

The Army and the White Manufacturing Company were agreed that the truck was heavy. It had been heavy when built for civilian use, designed to be able to pick up a broken-down tractor for eighteen-wheeler rigs. The Army had demanded a number of modifications to the basic design. The front (steering) wheels of the basic model had not been powered. The Army demanded that their version have all-wheel drive. The frame and body had been reinforced to take both the weight of the more powerful lifting arm and the additional weight it was intended to lift. And there were lifting hooks welded to the frame in places determined to be the best places to put them so the weight would be evenly distributed when it had to be loaded aboard a ship.

There was the whining hum of an electric motor and the limp cables attached to the lifting hooks on the front of the wrecker grew taut, and then the hum of another electric motor and the cables attached three quarters of the way down the frame began to draw taut.

Well, screw you, Colonel Kennedy thought, Colonel Kennedy thought, just as soon as you get that wrecker loaded aboard, at least just as soon as I can have a word with the captain, you'll just have to take it back off. just as soon as you get that wrecker loaded aboard, at least just as soon as I can have a word with the captain, you'll just have to take it back off.

Kennedy saw Captain Francis P. MacNamara, commanding officer of the 8023d Transportation Company (Depot, Forward), standing by his jeep on the other side of the seaman supervising the loading and walked over to him.

MacNamara saluted.

"Good afternoon, sir," he said.

"How are you, MacNamara?" Kennedy replied.

"We've just started to load, sir," MacNamara said. "I thought it best to arrange the vehicles so they could be loaded according to the last on/first off schedule before we actually started the procedure."

"Good thinking, MacNamara," Kennedy said. "There's been some changes to that schedule. I'll want to talk to you about them, but I think we might as well wait until we can talk to the captain at the same time."

"Yes, sir."

There was a screeching sound of unknown origin, which lasted about fifteen seconds, then the sound of the seaman's voice.

"Jesus H. f.u.c.king Christ!"

He sounded disgusted, or frustrated, or both.

The Vehicle, Heavy Vehicle Recovery 6 6 Mark III A2 was now suspended five feet in the air, swinging slowly back and forth.

"I said slowly, you dumb sonofab.i.t.c.h!" the seaman called to someone on deck. His voice did not need amplification.

The seaman then made very small, very gentle upward movements of his hands. There was another electric motor hum, and, just perceptibly, the Vehicle, Heavy Vehicle Recovery 6 6 Mark III A2 began to inch upward again.

Then there was another screeching noise, this time lasting no more than ten seconds.

The wrecker continued to rise very slowly until it was about level with the deck.

The seaman made a cutting motion across his throat.

The wrecker stopped rising and swung back and forth on the cables.

Very slowly the seaman, the palms of his hands now vertical, made a pushing motion with his left hand. There was the sound of an electric motor, and very slowly the boom holding the rear of the wrecker moved inward. When the wrecker was perpendicular to the wharf, the seaman made a cutting motion with his left hand and then a pushing motion with his right. The boom holding the cables attached to the front of the wrecker began to swing inward. After thirty seconds-which seemed longer-the truck was completely inboard and again aligned with the keel of the Captain J.C. Buffett. Captain J.C. Buffett.

"Okay!" the seaman shouted. "For the love of Christ, don't let that heavy sonofab.i.t.c.h get away from you! Slowly, f.u.c.king slowly f.u.c.king slowly!"

Very slowly, the wrecker began to descend into a hold of the Captain J.C. Buffett. Captain J.C. Buffett. In thirty seconds or so it was out of sight, but the seaman continued to stand on the wharf, his hands on his hips, looking upward until the hum of the electric motors died. In thirty seconds or so it was out of sight, but the seaman continued to stand on the wharf, his hands on his hips, looking upward until the hum of the electric motors died.

A moment after that there was another electrical hum, a lesser sound this time. And then one of the booms swung outward.

Colonel Kennedy and Captain MacNamara were both surprised to see another seaman standing on the hook at the end of the cable being lowered to the wharf. The seaman stepped casually off the hook, then engaged in a short conversation with the seaman in charge of the operation.

Both shook their heads, and then the seaman who had ridden down on the hook shrugged, as the seaman who'd been on the wharf threw up his hands in a gesture of resignation, or frustration, or both.

The seaman who had been on the hook stepped back onto it, made a take me up take me up gesture with his hand, and immediately began to rise into the air. gesture with his hand, and immediately began to rise into the air.

It reminded Colonel Kennedy of how a circus high-wire performer rises to the high wire.

The seaman walked over to Colonel Kennedy and Captain MacNamara. He addressed Captain MacNamara.

"That's it, pal," he announced. "That's the last of the big f.u.c.kers I'm going to try to take aboard."

"I beg your pardon?" Colonel Kennedy said.

"I said that's the last of those heavy f.u.c.king trucks that goes aboard the Captain J.C. Buffett. Captain J.C. Buffett."

"That's simply not acceptable," Colonel Kennedy said.

" 'Acceptable' ?" the seaman parroted. "Who the f.u.c.k are you to tell me what goes aboard the Captain J.C. Buffett Captain J.C. Buffett?"

"I think I had better discuss this with one of the ship's officers," Kennedy said. "Preferably with her captain. Presumably I can find him aboard?"

"You are discussing this with her captain," the seaman said. "Who the f.u.c.k did you think you were talking to?"

"You're the captain?"

"Captain John F. X. Moran at your service, Colonel."

"Captain, obviously I owe you an apology-"

"Not yet," Captain Moran interrupted.

"Thank you," Kennedy said. "Captain, the vehicles we're trying to load aboard your ship are essential to an operation. . . ."

"Putting the X Corps ash.o.r.e at Wonsan," Moran offered helpfully.

Colonel Kennedy found that helpfulness disturbing. For one thing, that the invasion force was headed for Wonsan was cla.s.sified Top Secret. Colonel Kennedy wasn't at all sure that Captain Moran had that kind of a security clearance, much less the Need to Know, at this point, the destination. He was sure that he was not supposed to casually introduce it into conversation the way he had.

"Wonsan?" Kennedy asked. "Who said anything about Wonsan?"

"Jesus Christ!" Moran said disgustedly. "If you really don't know about Wonsan, Colonel, what's going on here is the reloading of X Corps, which will then be transported around to the other side of the Korean Peninsula and landed at Wonsan."

Colonel Kennedy decided not to respond directly.

"The X Corps Operations Officer sent me here to see that the heavy vehicles, such as the wrecker you just loaded aboard, were loaded aboard last, so they may be unloaded first when you reach your destination."

"Colonel, let me try to explain this to you. When I off-loaded those vehicles when we came here, I just about completely f.u.c.ked up the motors, booms, winches, and other equipment aboard. I knew it would. My gear is not designed to handle such heavy loads. But I figured, what the h.e.l.l, the important thing is to get these vehicles ash.o.r.e-I can get the gear repaired when I'm back in San Diego. But now I'm told I'm going to Wonsan, not 'Diego, and I have to load all this stuff back aboard, and then unload it again at Wonsan- where I understand there will be no functioning sh.o.r.eside equipment to unload me." He paused, then went on: "Still with me, Colonel?"

Colonel Kennedy nodded and said, "Go on, please."

"What I can do, Colonel," Moran went on, "is use the ship's gear to load the lighter stuff-the jeeps, three-quarter -ton ammo carriers, and the six-by-sixes. I can also probably unload them in Wonsan, presuming I don't f.u.c.k up my gear any more than it's already f.u.c.ked up by loading the heavy stuff." He paused, and went on: "Am I getting through to you, Colonel?"

"Yes, you are," Colonel Kennedy said. "There's absolutely no chance-"

"Not a f.u.c.king chance. Now, do I start to see how much of the light stuff I can get aboard before the f.u.c.king tide starts going down and leaves me stranded in the f.u.c.king mud? Or what?"

"Under the circ.u.mstances, I think it would be best to start loading the lighter vehicles," Colonel Kennedy said.

"Believe it or not, I'm sorry as h.e.l.l about this," Captain Moran said, and then walked back to where he had originally been standing.

He looked up at the ship.

"Okay, get those f.u.c.king lines down here," he called. "We're now going to start loading the light stuff."

Colonel Kennedy turned to Captain MacNamara.

"It looks as if we have a problem, Captain," he said. "What I suppose I'm going to have to do is see the Port Master, and see if these heavy vehicles can be loaded aboard another vessel."

"Yes, sir," MacNamara said. "Colonel, can I make a suggestion?"

"Absolutely."

"Let me take them overland, across the peninsula," MacNamara said.

"I don't think I follow you," Kennedy admitted.

"Colonel, maybe I jumped the gun a little, but when Captain Moran told me that X Corps was going to be re-landed at Wonsan, I looked at the maps."

"And?"

"Excuse me, sir, I have to get the line moving," MacNamara said, and trotted toward the lines of vehicles ready to be loaded. He jumped up on the running board of a GMC 6 6, and a moment later Kennedy saw a soldier appear behind the wheel. He started the 6 6's engine and drove down the wharf toward where Captain Moran was impatiently waiting for the truck with MacNamara still on the running board.

MacNamara dropped nimbly off the truck as it pa.s.sed Kennedy.

"Sorry, sir. That man was asleep," MacNamara said, as if he considered that a personal insult.

"You were saying something, Captain, about moving the heavy vehicles overland?" Kennedy asked.

"Yes, sir. Colonel, I've got a map in my jeep. Can I show you what I think?"

"Why not?" Kennedy said.

[FIVE].

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF STAFF HEADQUARTERS X U.S. CORPS SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA 1720 11 OCTOBER 1950.

"Kennedy," the chief of staff said, "this was not what I expected to hear from you when I told you to report on your progress."

"I know," Colonel Kennedy said. "I wish it were otherwise. "

"Well, what do you want to do about it?"

"If we could get an LST . . ."

"Fine. See the Port Captain, and tell him I want these heavy vehicles available as soon as possible at Wonsan."

"Sir, I did that. He says there is no s.p.a.ce on the available LSTs. They can't carry all the tanks we want to move as it is."

"Jesus Christ! Kennedy, we've got to do something!"

"Captain MacNamara has an off-the-wall idea-"

"Who's he?"

"He commands the vehicle exchange unit."

"Let's hear it."

"He suggests moving the wreckers and the tank retrieval vehicles by road."

Kennedy was surprised when the chief of staff did not frown, snort derisively, or say "Jesus Christ!" disgustedly, as he was wont to do when presented with a wild and/or stupid idea. In fact, the chief of staff was apparently giving the idea some thought.

The chief of staff snorted, but thoughtfully, not derisively.

"Think of it as a chess game, Kennedy," he said. "As we move pieces around the board-in this case the landing beaches at Wonsan."

"Okay," Kennedy said agreeably.

"First the landing craft go in."

"Right."

"And right on the heels of the landing craft-sometimes right with them-come the LSTs."

"Right."

"And what happens to the LSTs after they land the tanks? They get out of the way, right?"

"That's true."