𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 | ɪᴍᴀɢɪɴᴇ ʙᴏᴏᴋ

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐬 | 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐦 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫 | 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐫

𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐦 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐄𝐠𝐚𝐧

𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

...

"Alright, this is your stop!" the driver called out, voice rough from the road. The brakes screeched, and the whole bus lurched forward hard enough to send a lesser soul sprawling.

I caught myself quick—hat straight, pride unshaken. My duffel slid from the overhead rack with a dull thud, and I slung it over my shoulder before stepping into the cool breath of English fog.

The air smelled faintly of coal and rain. The countryside stretched wide and quiet, broken only by the distant hum of aircraft. I glanced up and saw nothing but clouds—thick, gray, and heavy, like the world was holding its breath.

A driver was supposed to meet me here two hours ago, but the road had stayed empty. Truth be told, I preferred it that way. A colored woman in uniform drew enough stares on her own—no need to give folks more reason to wonder.

My orders had come from Washington weeks back: report to the 301st and 302nd Fighter Squadrons—the Tuskegee Airmen. I'd been meant to join them long ago, but duty kept me in Norfolk, training a new class of Negro nurses in field medicine. The war had a way of stretching every promise thin.

When I first pinned that caduceus on my lapel, I never imagined I'd wear a majors oak leaf—or that I'd be tending to soldiers half a world from home. But war doesn't ask what you imagined. It only asks what you're made of.

Officially, my orders were simple: care for the wounded, serve the United States Army. But in my heart, my mission was something else entirely—to see that our boys, our Black boys, came home whole. To make sure somebody, somewhere, treated them like the heroes they were.

I adjusted my gloves, squared my shoulders, and started walking. There was work to do—and I'd waited long enough to do it.

As I stepped onto the deck, a sharp voice cut through the morning air.