Memories In Ink

Chapter Twelve: Home

          August 21st, 1945. I stood there as the rays of the sun filled my one good eye. A small hand grasped my shoulder as the noose from the tree came slowly into view, swaying in the morning air. Another soldier placed a wooden stool directly under the noose, motioning me forward. I refused to move, planting my feet hard into the dirt. The soldier grabbed the collar of my shirt and began to pull me forcefully next to the stool. "Get up!" The soldier screamed in broken English, emitting the smell of raw fish into my nose. Without hesitation, I spit directly into the soldiers eye. The soldier grabbed me by the neck, his small hands forcing me to choke. He pulled me up onto the stool as I gasped for air. As he looped the noose around my neck I gave him an evil stare. I looked at him with an overwhelming amount of anger. So much anger, that my sight began to fade. The rope's frays irritated my exposed skin as the lead line was being held by one of the soldiers. The soldier looked at me and grinned, exposing his yellow teeth into the sunlight. "Goodbye American!" The soldier yelled in perfect English. The soldier kicked the stool out from under my feet, allowing me to drop several inches. I kicked and squirmed with all of my might as my throat was completely closed shut. I gasped desperately, only able to let out a slight croak each time. The sound of evil laughter taunted me as my vision began to fade smaller and smaller. I flopped as hard as I could, trying anything to break free. My heart-rate  slowly began to decrease as my right eye's vision dimmed. The laughter echoing throughout the camp became dim as a loud ringing took its place. As I blinked, there she was: Sarah. She looked at me and smiled. "I love you Everett, I always will!" My body suddenly hit the ground hard, stirring up dust around me as my vision, and hearing began to come back. As I eased my head up, two gunshots rang out from the west, knocking two soldiers on the ground dead. I slowly rolled over, grabbing one of the soldiers pistols. The rays of the sun blinded me as I was catching my breath, hearing more gun shots. As I eased my torso up, a soldier came running directly at me with his bayonet aimed directly at me. I aimed down the sights and squeezed the trigger of the revolver. The bullet went through his shoulder as he kept running, screaming more. I struggled to see him as the dust was closing in all around me. The soldier quickly sat on top of me, pinning me down. I pushed against the barrel of the gun with all of my might, kicking and screaming as the bayonet came inches from my right eye. A gun shot rang out, as the soldier fell limp onto me. I eased him off of me as a familiar hand came into view. I slowly looked up, while blood and sweat trickled from my dirt ridden face. As the dust cleared, I could see a familiar, yellow smile, along with a tall, lanky frame. I knew the goofy looking individual, almost as if I grew up with him, though I couldn't place who it was.
          "Come on Everett! Let's get the hell out of here!" The man said as I grabbed his hand. He pulled me up as I grunted and strained. He patted my shoulder, pushing the dust out of the cloth and into our faces. I looked at the man, as hard as I could, with pure concentration in my eye. The man's grin slowly fell into a face of concern. "Y-you don't remember me do you?" The man asked. "I-I don't." I replied with remorse. "It's me! Garry! We went to school together! How do you not remember me?!" He asked frantically as he pulled my hair back to reveal a series of dark purple bruises. "My god." Garry exclaimed as he ran his hand across the bruises. "What did they do to you?!" He asked. The loud blare of the security sirens interrupted our conversation accompanied with gunshots and yelling. "Let's get the hell outta Japan brother!" Garry yelled as he motioned me along.
          The gunshots rang out as we ran through the grass, the wind whipping right past us. Garry took cover behind the back of the hangar as he caught his breath. "I've got a plane, we need to get in it, and get the hell out of here." He said as he desperately tried to focus. "We've got to get out of here before the bomb gets dropped." He said as he began to turn the corner. I grabbed his arm to hold him. "What bomb?" I asked as my head pounded within itself. "I ordered an air strike on this place, it'll be the last camp to go." Garry said as we proceeded to the air strip. In the morning sunlight, sat a P-51 Mustang. A Japanese soldier came out of nowhere and pinned Garry against the wall of the hanger. Garry kicked and gasped for air as he struggled against the soldier. I used my shackles to knock him out, emitting a stream of blood from the back of his head. The soldier hit the ground hard as he groaned in pain. "How does it feel?!" I yelled as I began whaling on him with the shackles. Garry pulled me off as the soldiers blood stained my shackles. "We need to go now!" Garry yelled as he pulled me along. The sirens blare masked the screaming of the upcoming Japanese soldiers. Gunshots rang out as we took cover behind a stack of crates adjacent to the Mustang. Shots whizzed past us, throwing up splinters into the air. Garry eased his head up and squeezed the trigger on his Thompson, filling one soldier with lead. Garry hunkered back down while loading his Thompson. "We've got, exactly 10 minutes before the bomb hits. We need to go now!" He said as he stood up and ran to the plane. The plane's fuselage reflected the sun's blinding glare into our eyes as we approached the wing. Garry took his combat knife out and pried my chains apart. "Now let's get the hell out of-" a gunshot rang out of the trees. Garry leaned into me, coughing up blood all over my battledress. I quickly grabbed Garry's Thompson as he fell to the ground and aimed at the sniper. I squeezed the trigger, shooting him with one shot. I quickly threw down the Thompson and grabbed Garry. "Can you still fly this thing?" I asked him as I struggled to hold him up. "N-no. I'm losing a shit load of blood, there's no way!" He said as he clutched his gut. "What about George?!" I asked him. We have to go back for him! Garry, desperately trying to catch his breath, replied: Everett, George has been dead for six months. He didn't make it onto the beach." I stood in disbelief. The man who I thought was with me the whole time, my one glimpse of Hope, my one aid to remember every single day of who I was, was never in that cell. "We gotta go! You'll have to fly! I'll talk you through it!" Garry said as he climbed the wing. "No way! I can't even remember my name, how the hell am I going to fly this thing?!" I asked as I climbed onto the scorching hot wing. "Let's go!"Garry yelled as he sat in the jump seat in the rear of the cockpit. I climbed into the pilot's seat, trembling in fear as I stared at the dash in confusion. "Man, I don't think I can do this!" I said as I began to buckle in. "Everett, you're the smartest man I know, you can fix anything. You can fly this plane!" Garry said as I slid on my helmet with confidence. "Alright! The red handle in front of your crotch, it says pull, pull it! It'll release the hydraulic pressure of the landing gear!" I reached down in front of me and pulled the handle as the gauge below it dropped to zero. "Now, next to the red handle is the fuel tank selection, switch it to the left tank! If it's on the right tank the vent will overflow!" Garry said. The switch let out a metallic thump as I switched it to: "Left Tank." "Now, next to the selector switch is the fuel cutoff, turn the fuel on." I turned the fuel shutoff off, allowing fuel to flow. "Got it!" I replied. "Alright, to your left is a yellow handle, next to your thigh, pull it all the way up. "Got it! What's next?!" I replied as I flipped the lever. "Now, further up to the left is a round knob, that's your rudder, turn it six degrees to the right!" I turned the black knob. "Got it!" I replied. "Now above that is the nose pitch, put it just above nose height, then hit the master and generator switches in front of your right knee cap to the side!" He said as I adjusted the pitch. I reached to my right and flipped on the three switches as the plane emitted a monotonous whir. "Done!" I shouted. "Next, flip the booster and mag switches, then make sure the prop is full forward down to your left!" I reached in front of me and turned on the mag switches, and the booster pump switch. I then proceeded to push the prop all the way forward as the plane whirred. "Now hit the primer for five seconds, hold the starter switch, and put the red knob to your left into auto run rich!" Garry shouted as he strained to talk. I held the primer, selected the run type, and held down the starter switch. The plane's starter whirred as the motor hit. "Try again!" Garry said as I hit the switch again. The starters whir was interrupted by rhythmic hits of the Merlin engine. The engine backfired as it roared to life. "Yes! You got it Everett! I knew you could do it!" He screamed in joy as the Merlin engine slowly thumped. "Now look at your oil temperature on the right, it's got to be at least 40 degrees before you can take off!" I looked with my one good eye at the fogged over gauge. "It's only at 35!" I replied while sliding the hatch above me closed. "It'll have to work! Hit the throttle!" Garry said as I grabbed the black handle to my left and taxied the plane toward our exit. I quickly bumped the throttle to pick up speed. As we proceeded forward, the rough terrain of the makeshift runway shook the plane. "Not yet, not yet!" Garry said as I waited for the correct speed for liftoff. "Now! Pull back! pull back!" Garry shouted as the plane began to ease into the air. The cockpit eased into a smooth transition as we lifted off of the cursed Japanese soil. "That green button is your landing gear. Push it in!" Garry said tiredly as we banked to the left. I looked down to my left one last time at the camp, the building I was in had the door wide open, followed by Japanese soldiers frantically running around. As I looked down, the entire camp became an aurora of light as the bomb dropped dead center of the camp. I banked the plane to the right as we headed to the east. "Where's this carrier at?" I asked the man behind me as the planes drone kept me awake. "It's east, keep going east." He said while slowly falling back into his seat. "We really did it! Didn't we?" I asked him. "Yeah we-we ma-." The man's voice trailed off as his head fell limp onto the glass. "Hey! Are you okay?!" I asked him while looking into the rear view mirror in front of me. As I glanced with my eye, I could only see his slumped over body, as the floor of the cockpit began to fill up with his blood.
          In the dense morning fog, a small ship came into view just over the horizon. As I inched closer, I knew it was the aircraft carrier. With the man being dead, I had to do this on my own. I slowly eased the throttle speed down as I deployed the landing gear. I then looked around and found the flap lever, and switched it to land. As the carrier came more into view, I began to tip the nose slightly down. "You can do this!" I said to myself as I trembled in fear. The plane shuttered as the speed decreased in the air. I grabbed the joystick and pulled back as the landing gear made contact with the runway. As soon as the plane touched down I shut the engine off immediately, unsure of proper shut down procedures. The plane slowly came to a stop as soldiers came running to the rescue. I reached up and pulled the hatch to the cockpit open, letting sounds of the ocean rush in. "Hey! He's hurt!" I yelled to the soldiers as they grabbed me out of the plane. "I'm fine! He's the one that's hurt!" I said, pointing at the man slumped over in the back of the cockpit. The soldiers eased him out as they loaded him onto a gurney and rushed him to the infirmary. I stood there, taking in the sweet sounds of the ocean, smelling the salt in the air. I was free, a day I never thought I'd see. "Come on Everett! We need to get you checked out!" The captain said as he walked over to me.
          The blistering light of the flashlight beam blinded me as the doctor asked me several questions. "What's the last thing you remember son?" He asked. I squinted as I tried to think hard. "I-I was on a plane, and I jumped out, my parachute was, shot." I said as I studied my thoughts. "Did they beat you?" The doctor asked as the captain towered over him. "Yes, slammed my head against the wall several times." The doctor examined my head one last time. "Well son, it looks like you've got temporary amnesia. I'd say with the extent of the head trauma, your memory can come back, only a matter of when. Certain people, contact from a loved one, even a favorite flavor of ice cream can bring the mind back to it's original lucid state. "What about him?" I asked as I pointed to the man who saved me from the camp. "He's not gonna make it son, he died in the air plane I'm afraid." I bowed my head in disbelief. "Everett, Garry died doing what was most important to him, he saved your life. He searched for you days at a time, until he finally found you." The captain said as he puffed on his cigar. I slowly stood up and walked over to his mangled body. I grabbed his dog tags from his neck so I wouldn't forget his name. I held the dog tags in my hand as they glistened in the light of the infirmary. As I put the dog tags into my pocket, The doctor turned to me. "It seems as if your left eye is completely clouded over, most likely due to the head injuries, I'm afraid you'll never be able to see out of it again son." He said as he gathered his papers. "It's time you go home. We've got your papers, you're going to be medically discharged." The doctor said as he walked out of the room. "Captain, I- I can't remember where home is." I said as I slowly walked over to the door. "We will have two officers waiting for you as you get off of the train." He said as he patted my back. "You're a hero son, don't forget that." He said as I turned one last time to look at my best friends mangled, bloody corpse.
          The trees passed by as I stared out of the window of the train car. The trains constant
thumping along the tracks kept me alert as I scanned for familiar land marks. I lay my bruised forehead against the glass of the car as the station came into view. The locomotive screeched to a Halt as it pulled into the station. I stood up from the hard wood seat and grabbed my suitcase. The steam rushed into my face as I stepped off of the train and into the world I once knew. Two officers approached me as I eased through the crowd. "Are you Everett?" The men asked as I looked at them with strain. "Y-yes I am." I replied as I looked puzzled into
The distance.
          The two men escorted me out of the train station and down the steps of the building into the sunlight. As they escorted me, a familiar red sedan came into view, but I could not place it. As I approached closer, a beautiful, red haired woman opened the door to the sedan and smiled at me. The two men stopped me by the car and walked off. The woman stood there in sorrow, as she saw all of my bruises and marks on my wrists where the shackles had made indentions. "Everett! You're okay!" She said as I looked at her in a troubled way. "Everett? You do remember me, don't you?" She asked as her grin slowly faded away. "I-I" I struggled to speak as the woman began to bow her head and cry. "What did they do to you over there? You've got to remember me! You've just got to!" She said as she eased closer to me. She pulled her hand up to my cheek, brushing it with her soft skin. As her hand brushed my face, the memories came flooding back to me. Every single memory I had forgotten entered my mind all at once. I looked into Sarah's eyes and grabbed her hand. I bent down to meet her soft lips with mine, kissing her passionately. She pulled away as I hugged her tightly, tears running down my face and onto her dress. "Sarah! I-I never thought I'd see you again!" I cried as she held onto me tight. "You promised me you'd come back, remember?" Sarah said as she smiled through the tears. I nodded. "Come on, let's get you home." Sarah said as she eased down into the '38 sedan.
          The roar of the reliant six echoed through the trees as we eased down the familiar highway. "So you kept that little notebook all throughout your time in the prison?" She asked. "Yep." I said as I clinged onto the notebook. "Every time I couldn't remember, I would read what I wrote myself." I said as Sarah pushed in the clutch and put the car in third gear. The ruby red Ford eased its way up the driveway as my home came into view. I couldn't believe my own eyes, as my home sat there in front of me. Sarah eased the car beside the barn and killed the engine. Momma swung open the front door as she had something in her arms. I eased out of the car and was rushed by the scent of my home.
          Mother approached me with tears in her eyes. "Everett!" She said as I wrapped my arms around her. "Hey momma!" Mother pulled away and smiled. "There's someone here I want you to meet!" She said as the  crickets chirped in the distance. In her arms was a beautiful young boy. Sarah walked up behind me and placed her hand upon my shoulder. "I had him in March of '44.  He's just a little over one." She said as I reached out to grab him. "What's his name?" I asked Sarah. "Jeremiah." She replied. My eyes immediately began to tear up as I looked into my son's eyes. "I love it, thank you!" I said as I turned around and buried my head into her shoulder. "Now that's enough of all that!" Mother said as she walked toward the house. "Supper is ready y'all, come on!" She said as she turned around and went in the house. I stood there, admiring the beauty of the orange sun making its descent behind the trees. Sarah grabbed Jeremiah as she kissed my cheek. "We'll be waiting on you honey." She said as she walked off to the house. I reached into my pocket and pulled out Garrys dog tags while they glistened in the sunlight. I walked over to the barn, and hung them up on a rusted nail sticking out of the sheet metal. "Thank you brother." I said as I fought the tears back, slowly walking away, into the orange sky. Of all of the hardships I endured, of all the blood and tears I gave, I will never forget the true sacrifice we gave to this country in order to enjoy life. Though my mind may be sharp now, and my future bright, I will never forget my memories in ink.

-Dedicated to Haley, the love of my life.