Victory Collection-Book Two

Ship to Shore

Ship To Shore

Ship to shore communique: Urgent message for Sergeant Barry Smith, believed to be traveling somewhere in Germany. Father is critical and might not live through the night! Family requests your presence. The Red Cross had sent the message via the Coast Guard. It was an amazing form of communication, through shore stations and sometimes by satellite!

"But I need to meet the Selection Board as a nominee for 'Airman of the Year' (for all of the Armed Forces)" Barry reasoned. His father had been seriously ill on several other occasions and made it through. Perhaps the family had panicked. Perhaps it was another false alarm. Still, he wondered if it would be the last time he would see his father alive! He couldn't be sure. He had to go; Another trip across the ocean.

The Atlantic seemed extra wide this time, taking almost nine hours non-stop. But maybe it was the urgency and the fear of the unknown. The airplane crew had removed the cargo and installed the passenger seats backwards. If was strange to taxi and take off turned around. He waited for what seemed like an eternity for the runway to clear. Someone had dropped a glove that the pilot didn't want to suck up into the engine. It felt like endless delays, but it was only two. He was almost bumped off the flight by someone who outranked him. But because it was his emergency, they kept him on.

Barry was still in his uniform when he arrived. He looked so handsome in his Class A dress uniform, with all of his medals. He wore the formal uniform in case there would be a funeral. But he couldn't think about that now.

He was greeted at the door of his parent's home by his sister Marla. "How is dad?" he asked. "Hanging in there until you arrived" she said. "Does he know I'm here"? He inquired. But there was no answer. She just nodded in their father's direction. Barry tried to embrace his father, but Albert pushed him away. He grumbled something about how long it took his son to come. Barry tried again, to approach his dad, to explain that it takes several hours to cross the ocean. But it fell on deaf ears.

He remembered when his dad was well. Albert was a Justice of the Peace and performed the marriage ceremonies for two of his daughters. The mayor had helped him run for District Representative. Now, he seemed incapable of any of that. He had been a heavy smoker and was on oxygen, with a large green tank next to his bed. He had continued to smoke, which was dangerous for all of us. The doctor had limited him to half a cup of alcohol a day, since he also had the craving of an alcoholic.

Mama was beside herself with worry. But she felt they would reduce the fluid in his lungs again, and he would be fine. Marla wasn't so sure. Somehow, this time was different. Dad had become a little more cantankerous since the early onset of Alzheimer's. She tried to talk to him about the Lord, and being spiritually ready. But, he wouldn't hear of it. "He can't keep me from praying" she thought.

Like all of the families around them, they had a very large family, with only one set of twins. There was a 30-year span between the oldest and the youngest. Barry calculated that mother had been pregnant 12 ½ years of her life! They were all quite intelligent. Barry had a Bachelor's degree and a successful Air Force career, and Marla was a bio-chemist. Barry and his identical twin, Darin, were the track stars of their high school, never competing with each other. Barry excelled in the mile-run and Darin in the 60-yard dash.

Barry missed his wife, Yvette, but her message, concerning his dad, included an assurance that she was doing well. He knew what she had been through, with the mental breakdown, and that she needed a rest. Her cruise would take about a week, perhaps less time than he would be away. His father could linger for weeks or even recover.

The military was generous, with 30 days off per year. He hoped, of course, that this time would not be for a funeral. But if the whole family gathered, it would be the first time in 29 years. Barry wondered how much they had all changed.