Fortunate Sons

Chapter 49: There and Home Again

The days turned into a month and by mid-July, Taylor was still unsure as to whether or not Jay was able to get Sue's visas. Of course he had filled Jay in on their whereabouts, but still no word had come. He had begun to panic. What if he couldn't get them out? There was no way Taylor would be able to live with himself if they couldn't leave wherever they were.

Sonwha and her husband agreed to let Taylor stay for as long as he needed. Taylor had felt like a dirty moocher, but the Parks had no problem with him staying. "Should Sue and your daughter come, they too will be welcome." Sonwha assured him.

One sweltering July day, Taylor had gone out to walk around the city and explore some more. As he headed for home and passed by the embassy, he encountered Sonwha on her way to work. "Come with me," she said.

Taylor was curious to know what was going on as he followed her into the cool building. She led him towards Jay's office where he was still on the phone with someone, probably a worker from the U.S State Department.

"Are you sure......? Are you absolutely sure.....? Ok," he said. "Ok......thank you.....yes, yes I'll let him know......alright sir.....thank you."

"All well and right with the world Jay?" Sonwha asked once he had hung up.

"That was Ambassador Porter," Jay said as a victorious grin crawled across his face. "He sent word up the ranks to Washington and it reached Tom O'Donnell, the republican Senator from Montana, on Monday morning this week. O'Donnell gave the go ahead for us to do what we've got to do. Your girls are coming home with you Taylor."

Taylor couldn't believe it! It all had to be unreal.....some beautiful dream that he would wake from.....but it wasn't. "Oh my God...." He said in joyous disbelief. "Oh my God!"

Jay and Taylor both let out a wild laugh and embraced, overjoyed that everything had worked out perfectly. "I can't thank you guys enough for this," Taylor said.

"No need to," Jay assured him. "I mean, c'mon it's not like we don't deal with this sort of thing every day."

For the rest of the day, Taylor still couldn't believe his good fortune. Even on the bus ride home with Sonwha he still couldn't put it out of his mind. My girls are coming home.....my girls are coming home.....my girls are coming home!!!!

The night of August 8th, 1968 finally came. The night when Sue and Tri would step off the plane at Incheon and they would be a family again. Taylor, Sonwha, Park and Jay all waited with other families on the tarmac, nervously anticipating the arrival of their loved ones.

"Oh God I hope she made it," Taylor said.

"She'll make it," Park assured him as he steadied himself on his crutches. "Don't worry."

People stepped off the plane one by one with their coats and suitcases in hand, descending the steps to the tarmac below. After the fourth, maybe the fifth or sixth passenger, Taylor finally spotted Sue holding Tri's hand and her suitcase as they stepped off.

"Sue!!!" he called out. "Susan!!"

Sue looked his way and nearly screamed. Tri broke away from her and began running towards Taylor who scooped her right up off her feet and into his arms. He planted a kiss on the side of her head and snaked his arm around Sue who had tears in her eyes. Finally, after nearly two excruciating months, they were together again.

"You guys ok?" Taylor asked as they made their way through the busy terminals and out to the waiting cab next to the sidewalk.

"Better now that we're here," Sue told him. "You wouldn't believe what went on in the refugee camp. Dr. Pearlman and I kept a record of at least three or more people dying a week."

"Doc went with you?"

"He went because it was the only other place for him to go," Sue answered. "Colonel Swyft did too. He had a week of rest and he used it to see us safely to Saralam."

"He didn't have to do that," Taylor said.

"He said that if he didn't and we got killed he'd never be able to live with himself," Sue explained. "He said it had almost happened to his wife and he didn't want it to happen to us."

"What about Paulsson?" Taylor enquired. "Any word on him?"

"He went back to Long Binh as soon as we had left," Sue told him. "He recovered, but he wants to do everything to push the north back."

"How did you guys get out?"

"We caught a boat that was going up into Thailand on the river," Sue replied. "It was us and about a hundred other people all crammed onto a small river barge that went up into Laos. We ran into an old friend of Swyft's who helped get us up there."

"Who?"

"The man's name was Sgt. Song," Sue said. "He was a Hmong who lived in one of the fishing villages along the river. Believe me when I say that this man is Ho Chi Minh's worst nightmare. He can sniff out an enemy from a mile away and flush them from the tunnels in a snap."

"So Song helped you guys across the border?"

"Led us the entire way," Sue continued. "He acted as an interpreter too and even tracked the enemy whenever we had to walk."

"If I ever see him again I'll be sure to say thank you," Taylor said.

The ride back to the Park residence was as smooth as could be with Sue telling Taylor of everything she and the others had endured from the awful conditions of the camp to the day when she had received his letter. "I kept it with me every day until I got word that we would be coming to Korea," she told him.

Finally they were let off at their destination, exhausted and eager for rest. Sonwha and her husband stayed up a bit later while Taylor, Sue and Tri headed upstairs where they fell right into bed and drifted off into sleep with their arms around each other. That night, Taylor silently thanked God for seeing them safely to Korea and for seeing them out of harm's way.