Kombat Kids - 48. The Hell You Can't

Matt stared at the letter for a minute then re-read it. Placing the beer bottles on a tray, he went back into the lounge, but instead of handing the beer to everyone; he placed the tray on a coffee table and sat down. Keener saw the shocked expression on his lover’s face and became concerned;"Matt, you okay? What's the matter with you, you look like someone shot your dog?"

Matt handed the letter to Keener and then got up and went to the computer room. Closing the door, Matt picked up the telephone handset and punched in Jap's home phone number.

Jap's father answered the phone on the second ring;"Good evening Steve, can I speak to Jap please? . . . . Isn't it kind of early for him to be in bed? . . . . Look Steve, I'm worried about him, he left me a letter on the kitchen table that said he was quitting the Unit. . . . He got his ass chewed out by the Gunny this afternoon for flipping some shit to General Stanton in front of the doggie Colonel. . . . No, it was nothing the Gunny hasn't said to him or any of the other boys when they mess up. . . . Okay. . . . Look, do me a favor. . . . Keep your eye on him; I'm worried about the little guy. . . . Okay thanks, goodnight."

Returning to the lounge, Matt sat down and stared at the TV, the turned off TV. The Gunny broke the silence;"What did Jap have to say?"

Matt shook his head;"I talked to Steve, Jap had already gone to bed. Steve said he was down when they got home and that he was tired and just wanted to go to bed. Steve didn't think anything about it after Jap was up most of the last two nights."

Matt stood up and excused himself, leaving the lounge; he hurried down the stairs to the Cavern. As he moved over to the Supply Room, he could already see a large pile of gear and a black bag sitting in front of the door. When he arrived at the door, he found another envelope sitting on top of the material. Matt opened it and read quickly. "FUCK!!!!" Was all he could think to say.

Matt left the Cavern and hit the stairs running. Entering the lounge he loudly announced;"I'm gonna kill the little redheaded sum bitch."

Sitting down, he handed the letter to Keener.

Dear Phil

I turned in my resignation to Matt Sunday night. Here is all the stuff that was issued to me, hang on to it, maybe someone my size will join and can use it. I packed all the clothing in the bag and all the equipment in the ruck. Well almost everything, I kept the cammies that Matt got us for the ambush. I figured no one would want them anyhow.

I know I'll see you around, but how about telling they guys that I'll miss them and for them to keep kickin ass.

Thanks for being my friend, I'm going to miss the Unit, but it’s best this way.

Your friend

Jap

Keener exhaled and said;"Jesus." He handed the letter to the Gunny and wiped his eyes with the heel of his hands. The letter made the rounds of all the adults present.

Just as the Gunny was finishing the letter, the front gate chimed. Matt got up and looked at the gate monitor and saw the Ambulance waiting to be admitted. After opening the gate he moved over to James and hugged him. Jesse picked up his gun bag and started pushing James toward the front door, with Matt following him closely. As they opened the front door, the ambulance pulled to a stop and the two attendants got out and waited for James to be rolled over to the back of the rig. Before getting in the ambulance, James looked at Matt;"Get him back, we need him more than he needs us. Do what you gotta do to get him back."

Matt nodded and kissed his older brother on the cheek just before he climbed in the back of the ambulance.

As the ambulance drove down the driveway Jesse turned to Matt;"I need to call my dad to come out and get me."

Matt gave Jesse a small smile;"No you don't, come with me. Jesse followed Matt as he walked over to the Traumahawk, understanding hitting him like a baseball bat. The Pilot and Co-Pilot were standing by the right side of the helicopter, watching them approach. Matt said;"Good evening guys, you got the paper work I need to sign for your time?"

The pilot nodded and handed him a clipboard;"Sign all of the copies and put in our release time on the front sheet if you would Mr. Bateman."

As Matt was signing the paperwork, he asked;"Can I get you guys to do me a favor"

The pilot responded;"Sure, if we can."

"Jesse here needs a ride home, can you drop him at Medford High, he just lives across the street from the school. His dad is still recovering from some medical problems and I don't like having him driving all the way out here."

"Gee Mr. Bateman; I don't think we can do that."

"I've seen helicopters land there before, I wouldn't ask, but I've got some major problems I have to attend to and can't leave here."

Matt held out his hand to the pilot;"I'm not asking you to do it for nothing, here, this should cover you for gas and your time."

Looking at the money Matt handed him, all he saw was hundred dollar bills, lots of them.

Glancing at his co-pilot, and then back at Matt;"Sure thing Mr. Bateman, no problem."

Jesse looked at Matt and smiled;"Thanks Matt."

Matt smiled back and said;"No Jesse, thank you. You did an outstanding job taking care of my brother and I really appreciate it. If I can ever do anything for you, all you have to do is ask. Now get your skinny ass on board and let these men get back to their homes too."

Matt moved to the front door and listened as the French built jet-turbine engines spooled up. Soon the rotors started turning and shortly the pilot pulled pitch and the sleek air-ambulance lifted off.

When he could no longer see the helicopter, Matt turned and entered the house. Moving to the lounge he found the Gunny talking on the speaker phone . . . . "So he didn't say anything to you about quitting the Unit?" Matt then heard Jacky's voice;"No sir, the last time I saw him was at the range. He was pretty broken up about embarrassing you in front of the General and Colonel Dalton. He left me there and ran to the house, I was going to go after him, but Bill told me to leave him be for a while. When I finally returned to the house, he had already left." Jacky was silent for a moment;"What are we going to do Gunny?"

The Gunny looked like he was ready to cry;"Don't you worry none Jacky, that little redheaded dirt bag ain't going to get away from us. You just take it easy and don't worry. When you see him at school tomorrow, tell him to give me a call. You take care now, don't worry and get some sleep; I promise you everything will be okay."

The men discussed Jap for another three hours, with the current information, they couldn't figure out a plan of action. Finally at 23:00, the men gave up and went to bed.

The next day, the Marines and Army personnel boarded the bus and headed for the coast. Justin and Ted Stanton boarded the bus with their father, as with Moreland, their school started the following day and they had to get back. Matt and Keener went to the hospital to check on James and found Thompson Gettrick sitting by his bed. Matt and Keener told them what they found out, which wasn't much, after James was taken back to the hospital. Thompson was unhappy about Jap's quitting the Unit; he had really gotten to like the fiery little redhead. Time passed. The men of Unit One waited for Jap to contact them, no call was forthcoming.

Tuesday night after bringing James home, the men talked to Mitch, Shane and Justin T. and after finding out that Jap hadn't been in school, a call was placed to the Hoffman residence.

Using the speaker phone in the kitchen they listened to the phone ring;"Hello?"

"Bill, this is Matt Bateman, is Jacky home?"

"Yeah Matt, hang on I'll get him."

"Hello?"

"Hi Jacky, have you talked to Jap since Sunday?"

The worry could be heard in the teenager's voice;"No sir, he hasn't been in school at all this week. When I call his house, I either get the answering machine or his mom or dad. They tell him I'm on the phone, but he refuses to talk with me. Matt, I'm scared, I don't know what to do to help him and he won't talk to me."

Matt tried to reassure him;"Look Jacky relax, he's still thinking he fucked up over the weekend. I think he just needs some time to sort things out. I promise you, if he hasn't got his shit straight by Saturday, by God we'll straighten it for him. You just take it easy and if he goes to school tomorrow, tell him I need to talk to him ASAP. Goodnight and don't worry."

"Goodnight Matt and thanks."

After hanging up, the men and boys sitting around the kitchen table were silent, each mulling over their own thoughts. After a couple of minutes James broke the uneasy silence;"Matt, call Jap's house, see if he'll talk with me."

Matt hit the speed dial, when the phone started ringing everyone was relieved when it was answered on the third ring;"Hello?"

"Steve, James here, can I speak to Jap?"

Steve Peterson sounded worried;"James, I'll try to get him on the phone, but he's been depressed ever since Sunday when I brought him home. Hang on a minute."

After thirty seconds of listening to clothes rustling and footsteps, they heard Steve knock on a door.

"Joshua? Josh, James Bateman's on the phone and wants to talk to you." They heard the sound of Jap's voice, but were unable to understand what he said. "Come on Jap, James' worried about you, just talk to him." More mumbling.

Steve came back on the line;"I'm sorry James, he doesn't want to talk to you. I don't know what to do other than dragging him bodily from his room and sticking the phone to his ear."

"I understand Steve, listen, if he does pull out of his funk, ask him to please give me a call."

"You know I will, and listen James. Thanks for being his friend."

"Always Steve, good night."

Once again the men and boys talked about Jap, as before, no one could come up with a solution. Wednesday came and went; Mitch, Shane and Justin reported that Jap still hadn't started school yet. Thursday the three boys entered the house like a tornado;"Hey everyone we got some good news, well kinda good news."

James looked up at the boys from the recliner he was sitting in;"What's up guys, why so excited?"

Shane spoke first;"Jap was in school today, he finally came to school."

"Did any of you talk to him, did he say anything?" asked Matt

Mitch looked crestfallen;"No, nothing. Everytime we spoke to him he'd turn away and walk off."

"Okay, I have a plan." Looking at his watch he asked;"Please, no questions, I've been working on it since last night, how about everyone come with me?" The men and boys looked at each other with quizzical expression on their faces and rose as Matt headed to the garage. The Gunny pushed James in his wheel chair; even though he was making progress with his 'Leg' he had learned to pace himself. When the group arrived in the garage, Matt already had the door opening and was climbing into one of the HUMVEE's. James, George and the Gunny rode with him while Keener and the boys followed in one of the other HUMVEE's. Matt seemed follow some invisible trail to the southwestern part of the property. He stopped his vehicle on a small ridge overlooking the construction site. Justin recognized their location as being the same place he had positioned GhostRyder 25 for the ambush they had pulled on the Marine Recon Unit a couple of weeks before. Wondering what was going on, he de-assed the vehicle along with the others. Matt was standing apart from the others and speaking into a hand held radio. Turning back to the group, he walked over to James and squatted down alongside his brother’s wheelchair. "James, I was going to hold off on showing you this, but I think we can use it to bring a certain little redheaded fucker back into the fold."

The sound started low, and then grew in volume. The men and boys searched for the source of the noise, Shane was the first to find it. Pointing to southwest, he yelled out;"Holy Shit, look at them, they look like they're gonna crash."

Looking in the direction he was pointing, they all saw two huge aircraft heading for what they all now recognized as a runway. As the two got planes got closer, the men identified them as C-130's. The adults all realized that the two lumbering aircraft were making a 'Combat Insertion.' To the boys, it looked like the huge aircraft were going to smear themselves across the new concrete runway.

As the C-130's reached 175 to 200 meters above ground, they started their terminal maneuver. The big planes lifted their noses, dirtied up their control surfaces and flared out over the western end of the runway. The pilots Matt had hired were consummate artists, setting the lumbering giants down on the concrete with barely a squeal of the tires. Matt gestured for everyone to get back in the vehicles and they headed to the hangers on the south side of the runway.

James studied his brother all the way to the hangers. Once Matt had parked the vehicle and turned off the engine James turned to him and asked;"What . . . ?"

Matt smiled;"It's just a little present I wanted to give you. You've done so much for me our whole lives; I wanted to give you something that I knew would please you. Please, just accept it as my gift to you."

James, not trusting himself to speak, just nodded and struggled his way out of the vehicle. The Gunny was waiting with his chair by the time he closed the HUMVEE's door. The group moved to the right side of the nearest camouflaged aircraft. Instead of the typical woodland or desert camouflage pattern, the aircraft was pained using the desert MarCam paint scheme. Just aft of the nose, in eight inch high gothic script, the name 'GhostRyder 16' was painted. A depiction of the Grim Reaper holding a firing Gatling gun riding atop a C-130 resided directly beneath it.

Mitch was the first to break the silence;"Are these ours, I mean yours Matt?"

Matt turned to the boy;"Actually, their James' I figured that since he missed out on the only HALO jump made so far, he needed a platform to use for the next one." Matt smiled;"Besides, I almost came in my jump suit when we went out the back of Spooky 09."

When everyone stopped laughing, Matt looked up and waved at the cockpit signaling the crew to disembark the aircraft. Shortly, the personnel door on the right side of airframe just forward of the wing opened and three men climbed down. The men lined up and along side the plane and waited for the group to move in front of them.

Matt moved to the crew and turned back to James;"James, I'd like you to meet the crew of One Six; this is Jeff Forsyth, he's ex-Army and has 3,500 hours as a command pilot in C-130's."

James saw a middle aged man with short cropped black hair, about 5' 7" in height and 140 pounds in weight. The pilot looked James in the eye and smiled;"Good to finally meet you Sir, Matt's told us a lot about you."

James smiled at the pilot;"Thank you Jeff, please call me James or Jim. We're very informal here and I look forward to getting to know you."

Matt pointed to the next man in line;"James, this is Mike Tims; he's the Co-Pilot for 16 and has over 2,000 hours in the 130's as Pilot and Co-Pilot."

Tims was a good looking man, about 5' 7" or 5' 8" around 140 pounds with blonde hair and blue eyes. Tims looked like he was in his mid 20's and in very good condition. Matt introduced the Crew Chief of the aircraft next; Cody Martindale, 6' 2" or so and around 190 pounds. Cody had brown hair and soft brown eyes, when he smiled, the whole area lit up.

As Matt completed the introductions of the crew of GhostRyder 16, the three member crew of GhostRyder 17 rounded the nose of One Six. James gasped out loud; the crew of One Seven was the most eclectic group of people he had ever encountered.

As Matt introduced them, he had to stop himself from asking Matt which freak show he found them in.

The first to be introduced was the Command Pilot, Fred Brown; a rotund little man, who couldn't be over 5' 4" tall, but must have weighed in at around 170 to 180 pounds. He seemed to be almost as wide as he was tall, causing his flight suit to be skintight. His most startling feature though was his blue hair that almost perfectly matched the color of his eyes.

After being introduced and talking to him for a moment or two Matt introduced him to James as 'Gus' Grissom. Gus was a typical example of a military pilot. Six foot tall and around a 160 pounds he had blonde hair and brown eyes, he had a quiet strength about him that he wore like a cloak. He looked like the kind of a man who would be steady in an emergency, the kind of man you'd want at your back in a fight.

The last man even made Matt smile. Bill Carson was not the type of guy you ran in to every day. At 6' 6" and 230 pounds, he was a giant of a man. He was also blatantly gay and a total flamer. His blonde hair, cut short, did nothing to hide the fact that he was gay. Neither did the pink silk scarf he had around his neck or the 'Rainbow Triangle’ he had sewn to the left shoulder of his flight suit. All in all, he could have been the poster child for the gay community. But. But the look in his eyes told anyone who cared to see that he was no one to fuck with.

James welcomed them all to the Unit and told them that he hoped they would be happy working with the men and boys of Unit One. James then requested the crew of GhostRyder 16 to give him a tour of the aircraft. Two and a half hours later, Matt told them where they could find the flight line 'Mules,' the low slung, powerful vehicles used to tow aircraft and had them push the planes into the first two hangers. While they were in the process of securing the aircraft, the men and boys drove back to the house. When everyone got out of the vehicles, Matt signaled Mitch and his brother Shane to him.

"Mitch, I want you and Shane to head back to the airfield and bring the flight crews to the house. That won't be a problem will it?"

Mitch and Shane smiled up at Matt;"No sir, not a bit, you know we love driving these rigs." With big shit eating grins on their faces, the two boys started the HUMVEE's up and drove quickly off.

James' had sent the others into the house so he could be alone with Matt. Standing up from his wheel chair, he wrapped his right arm and the stump of his left around his brother’s shoulders and pulled him tight to him. "Thanks Bro, I can't believe you'd do something like this for me. Thanks."

Matt smiled at him as he gently pushed on James' shoulders, causing him to sit in the chair. Grabbing the handles he started pushing towards the house;"Oh, by the way, did I tell you about the destroyer I found?"

James snapped his head around and saw Matt laughing at him. All Matt would say was;"Gotcha."

Fifteen minutes later, Mitch and Shane led the two flight crews into the lounge. Matt told the Airedales to have a seat and had the boys get everyone something to drink, beer for the adults and soft drinks for the boys. After spending thirty minutes explaining his plan and another two hours having it tweaked by everyone present, it was agreed upon.

Early Friday morning, James, Matt and the Gunny started burning up the telephone lines, making one call after another. At 17:00 that afternoon, two Marine Corps buses entered the Bateman property through the front gate. The first to disembark the lead bus was General Stanton, then a Master Gunnery Sergeant none of the Unit One cadre recognized except Gunny Mcnaughten. Then came Colonel Dalton followed by the first A-team to go against the Unit. After them came 50 Recon Marines, also past participants of Unit One exercises. As the first bus was emptying, men started getting off the second bus, Seals and more Marines. All told, One hundred and thirty five Soldiers, Sailors and Marines disembarked the two buses. Oh yes and two teenage boys, can't forget them. The General, Colonel Dalton and Senior Chief Bailey walked up to James and Matt, after greetings were exchanged, Matt turned to James and said;"You haven't met Chief Bailey yet, Greg this is my brother James Bateman, James this is Senior Chief Greg Bailey."

The Senior chief shook hands with James;"It's a great pleasure to finally meet you sir, I've heard a lot about you from the Gunny and Matt."

James smiled;"Thank you Chief, I appreciate you and your men coming over on such short notice. It means a great deal to us that you guys are willing to help. As the men were talking, the parking lot started to fill up with cars, pickups and vans belonging to the Unit One members and their families. By 18:00, all of the Squadies and the fathers who participated in the Unit's activities were in the Cavern along with the active duty personnel.

As the General, Colonel Dalton and the Bateman brothers entered the Cavern, Gunny Mcnaughten yelled out;"Attention on deck." The Cavern echoed to the sound of over 240 pairs of boots slamming together. Once at the podium, the General ordered;"As you were, be seated."

Looking around the Cavern for a minute or so he thought about what he was going to say;"A very brave young boy, a boy that each and every one of you have come in contact with, is having some deep emotional problems. After saving at least four people’s lives three weeks ago, this young man has descended in to a well of depression. Nothing that has been tried by his friends or family has been successful in pulling him from the depths of that depression. With your help, we think we have the means to do that tomorrow. I personally want to thank each and every one of you for agreeing to help." Turning to Matt, he asked;"Matt please brief the men on what's going to happen tomorrow."

Using a laptop computer and a computer projection system, Matt spent the next three hours going over the sequence of events that would take place the next day.

At 07:00 that Saturday morning, Steve Peterson knocked on Jap's bedroom door. After waiting for thirty seconds and getting no answer, he knocked again, harder this time. He heard movement and then Jap opened the door;"Yes sir?"

"Time to get up, I want you dressed and down stairs in fifteen minutes. You no longer have a reason for not helping with the yard so I want you to get breakfast and start cutting. After you do the front yard, I want the bushes along the back property line trimmed." Steve ordered.

Jap nodded his head and closed the door. Steve sure hoped Matt's plan would work. For the last week Jap had moped around the house and had to be forced into attending school with threats of going to see his analyst and possibly being admitted to the psychiatric care unit. The change in Jap almost made Steve cry. His bubbly, fun loving hard charging little bundle of energy had turned in to a depressed sad little man. Steve didn't know how much more he could take before he needed help.

As the temperatures were still in the upper eighties to the lower nineties during the day, Jap dressed in cross trainers, gym shorts and a T-shirt. After moping his way through breakfast, he got the John Deere riding lawnmower from the garage and started cutting the front yard.

Looking out the front window, Steve saw that Jap wasn't wearing eye and ear protection. Grabbing a set of 'Mickey Mouse Ears' and a pair of safety glasses from the garage, Steve had Jap stop the lawn mower and chewed his ass out for not wearing his protective equipment. Jap took the ass chewing the same way he had everything else his dad, or for that mater anyone else said to him during the last week. All he said was;"Yes sir." With a dull look in his eyes he then took the glasses and ears, donned them and started cutting the lawn again.

The Peterson's lived south of Badger Mountain in the Casa Verde Estates. Jap's parents had purchased a ten acre lot and built their home when Jap was six years old, just after the family moved in to the area. The Casa Verde Estates were made up of five and ten acre plots of desert and were called 'Ranchettes.' The front lawn was close to an acre and a half of land, which took Jap close to three hours to cut and then trim with a weedeater.

At 11:00 Jap pulled the John Deere into the garage and turned it off. After checking the oil level of the engine, he refueled it, then went into the house and cleaned up for lunch. As had been the case over the previous week, Jap ate sparingly. After working in the heat and sun for the last three hours, Jap was still over heated and a little tired. Going out the back door, he pulled off his cross trainers and T-shirt and dove in to the family swimming pool. After swimming a few laps he floated on his back, staring at the top of Badger Mountain, missing his lover, missing the camaraderie of the Unit. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he thought about how he fucked everything up, how he ruined the best thing he ever had. Rolling on his stomach, he dove to the bottom of the pool and then surfaced.

Climbing out of the pool, he re-dressed and walked back into the garage to get the electric hedge trimmers and a hundred foot heavy duty extension cord. Putting his brain back in neutral, he mounted the lawn mower and after backing out of the garage he drove around the side of the house to the northern property line. When he reached the rose bushes, he turned off the engine and just sat on the mower's seat, staring at the bushes. Sighing deeply, he got off the mower and pulled the trimmers and cord out of the basket attached to the back of the mower. When his parents had the house built, they installed an underground sprinkler system and placed weatherproof electrical outlets at strategic locations around the property. After plugging in the extension cord and connecting the trimmer to it he started to trim the bushes.

At 14:30 or so, he was two thirds of the way finished trimming the 100 meter length of bushes. The Peterson property was at the base of the southern side of Badger Mountain. The slope of the mountain was too steep to allow the construction of houses without a huge increase in construction costs. So from their property line to the top of the hill known as Badger Mountain, there was nothing but scrubland and tumbleweeds. Jap, his brain still in neutral and with the noise of the trimmers, didn't hear the sound at first. The next thing he knew, two huge aircraft crested the top of the 2,500 foot (800 meters) high Badger Mountain and plummeted towards him, finally leveling out at about 1,000 ft (300 meters). The aircraft continued due south in an echelon left formation and soon disappeared on the other side of the Horse Heaven Hills. Jap realized the aircraft were C-130's and wondered what the fuck they were doing flying nape of the earth over a residential area. Jap sat down in the shade of one of the eight apple trees planted near the edge of their back yard, letting his heart slow down after having the shit scared out of him. After calming down, he went back to work, not noticing the contrails from the two 130's off to the west of him.

Five minutes after resuming his trimming, the electric cutters stopped working. Jap released the trigger and pulled it several times, nothing. The next thing he knew, something blocked out the sun and then he was enveloped by what seemed to be a silk shroud that cut off his view of everything. As he struggled to free himself, he could hear the faint sound of quick release catches being opened. As he started to panic, he continued to struggle, then felt someone helping to free him from the cloth prison he had found himself in.

When he finally broke free, he saw that what had been covering him was an olive drab parachute. The small figure pulling the chute in to a ball looked at his face, but Jap could only see his eyes through his clear goggles. Jap started to register movement beyond the parachutist, looking past him; he saw what seemed like hundreds of men on the ground or about to land on the seven or eight acres making up his back yard. As he pulled off his safety glasses and ears, the sounds of large diesel engines and smaller gas powered ones moving toward him could be heard. Turning away from the guy standing directly in front of him he looked to see what was making the noise. Looking to the west, he saw GhostRyder 25 and 26, followed by three HUMVEE's and seven FAV's. Looking to the east, he saw another three HUMVEE's, seven FAV's and all fourteen of the Unit's Quad-runners heading towards him. Spinning around, he saw the last jumper touch down and immediately start removing his harness and then start rolling up his chute.

To say the least, Jap was in shock. He had no idea what was going on other than some of the people were from the Unit. Who the others were, was a total mystery.

As he was staring at the men, they were in the process of forming up into ranks, and then the same roar from the C-130's that he had heard before came again. Spinning around once again, he saw the two 130's diving on him and felt like falling to the ground and covering his head. As before, the two aircraft leveled out at about 1,000 feet AAGL (Above Actual Ground Level) and flew south.

Jap mind was spinning now, after the past week with very little sleep, unable to eat and suffering from depression, Jap could handle no more. When out of the corner of his eye he registered movement on the side of the hill as man and boy sized lumps broke free from the hillside he lost it completely.

The next thing Jap was aware of was the acrid aroma of ammonia from the smelling salts being held under his nose by Jesse Stevens. Shaking his head, trying to get away from the smell assaulting his nostrils, he realized that someone was holding him. No, not holding him, grasping him with such force that he had a hard time breathing. Then the tears, he felt the tears falling on the side of his face and looked into the eyes of his lover. He tried to talk, but his throat seemed to be clogged and he was unable to speak.

Jacky spoke to him for the first time in close to a week;"You stupid fuck, what the fuck am I gonna do with you. I love you so much and then you run away from me, why Jap, why?"

Jap finally got control of himself and started to stand up, as he tried to get his feet under him, his right hand was grasped and he was pulled to his feet. He looked up and saw that the person who helped him up was General Stanton. Jap quickly looked away and started blushing;"Thank you sir." Was all that he could think of to say.

Matt was standing next to the General, speaking softly he said;"I believe these are yours Squadie Peterson. In the future please refrain from leaving crap like this lying around."

Jap looked at the letters he had left at the Bateman house for Matt and Phil. Shaking his head, he tried to explain;"I . . . . I can't, I- -can't. I don't belong in the Unit, I'm sorry Matt."

Tears running down his cheeks, Jap started to run for this house. Barely able to see because of the tears in his eyes, he blundered into the first rank of men that had formed up after landing. Turning he tried to run to his right and ran into another man. Backing away from the front ranks of the Soldiers, Sailors and Marines, he ran into Matt. Swiping the tears from his eyes he turned in a circle, looking for a way he run away from these men, so he could go back into hiding. He was completely encircled by the military personnel and the adults and the boys from the Unit. Falling to his knees he buried his face in his hands and wept, great soul racking sobs could be heard by all the men and boys surrounding him.

As he continued to cry, he sensed someone kneeling by him. Sobbing not knowing what to do he suddenly felt something rubbing his back gently, what it was he did not know.

"Jap . . . Jap . . . Listen to me Jap, its okay Jap we love you. Didn't you tell me the same thing that day in the hospital? You remember the day I'm talking about. The day all I wanted to do was die. You and the rest of the members brought me back from the edge, you and the other boys of the Unit wouldn't let me go." James paused and took a deep breath before continuing;"Jap, now it's my turn to join the other boys. No, not just the boys. If you look around, you'll see that everyone of the men here have come to know you in one way or another over the past few months. Whether you pissed them off, made them laugh or just impressed them with your indomitable attitude, that's why they’re here, because they heard you were in trouble and needed help. Please don't turn your back on us, please let us help."

Jap shook his head;"You can't help, you just can't. All I ever do is fuck up, no matter what I do, I end up hurting somebody. Can't you see that James, don't you understand, I always end up hurting someone."

"Bullshit." Said a deep voice from behind him. "Who have ya hurt kid, sure you pissed me off, but that was my own fault for being an asshole. It took me a while to figure that out, but it's the truth."

Looking up over his shoulder, he saw Staff Sergeant Baldwin standing there. The big Sergeant smiled down at him;"After what you did to me on the range last week, I found out I wasn't as good as I thought I was. Sure my pride was hurt, so was my feelings, but that was my problem not yours."

Mitch yelled at him;"Yeah asshole, you hurt my feelings last week too. You also saved my life when those fucks tried to kill me at the Prince cabin."

"Get over it Jap, we ain't letting you quit the Unit." Phil Martin yelled.

In a soft gentle voice the Gunny spoke to Jap;"Look son, you fucked up, you got hammered, get over it and drive on."

Colonel Dalton held out his hand and dropped the large brass coin that Jap had asked Matt to return to him. "I didn't give this coin to a loser, I gave it to a young man who impressed me with his guts and intelligence. Don't make a liar out of me."

Jacky knelt before him;"Jap if you quit, I'm going to quit too. As much as I love the Unit, I love you more and I won't let it come between us."

General Stanton knelt beside Jap and whispered a question in his ear; only Jacky was close enough to hear what he asked. "Jap, are you still taking the medication Eric put you on?"

Still not looking at anyone, Jap shook his head no.

"How long has it been since you've stopped?"

Still staring at the ground, Jap sniffed and replied;"I stopped taking them about two weeks ago."

The General sighed;"Listen to me Jap, Matt, James and I have talked about your resignation, the Unit. I and every one of these people standing around you refuse to accept it. Do you understand me Squadie?"

Jap shook his head;"No sir I can't be in the Unit . . ."

The General interrupted him with a very loud;"Fuck that noise." Standing up he looked at the little redhead and ordered;"Master Gunnery Sergeant Mcnaughten."

The Gunny came to a rigid attention;"Sir!"

"I want this person transported to the Unit and placed in uniform; he will then be delivered to the Unit Corpsman who will dispense certain medications to him. Squadie Peterson will then consume said medications and will receive a daily allocation of the same medication from Senior Corpsman Stevens until such time as he is told to do otherwise. Questions"

The Gunny responded;"No Sir."

Jap looked at the General;"Sir I can't, I don't belo . . . ."

James took over;"The Hell you can't, after the ration of shit you gave me in the hospital, I, we, refuse to let you go. You will do this, if not for yourself than for the Unit." Then in a softer voice James said;"If not for yourself . . . . Then for me."