"Towson."
"Good morning, General. Lustrous."
"What can I do for you, Fred?"
"Sir, I need about ten minutes of your time and some guidance. If there's a chopper available, I'd appreciate a ride. If not, I'll drive."
"Obviously, you don't want to talk about this on the phone."
"I'd rather not, sir."
"Personal matter, Fred?"
"No, sir. There's a personal element. I was just thinking: For the good of the service."
"Okay. You and I are on for lunch. A chopper will be there in thirty minutes. And you don't even have to change out of those oil-stained fatigues and illegal boots. Okay?"
"Thank you very much, General."
General Towson hung up without saying anything else.
"Okay," Lustrous said. "There will be a chopper here in thirty minutes. You, me, and Major Naylor. Locate Colonel Stevens and tell him I said I want him to come here and mind the store."
Lieutenant Colonel Charles D. Stevens was the executive officer of the Blackhorse.
"Yes, sir," Sergeant Major Dieter said.
[FOUR]
Office of the Commanding General
V Corps
The I.G. Farben Building
Frankfurt am Main, West Germany
1035 7 March 1981
"Sir, Colonel Lustrous is here," Sergeant Major Anthony J. Sanguenetti, a large, dark, almost entirely bald forty-five-year-old, said into the intercom on his desk.
"Is he alone?"
"No, sir, he has Major Naylor and a really ugly sergeant major with him."
"All of you come in, and tell Lownsdale no calls until I say so."
"Yes, sir," Sanguenetti said and looked up at Lustrous. "Sir, the Corps commander will see you, Major Naylor, and Ol' Whatsisname over there now."
Sergeant Major Dieter gave Sergeant Major Sanguenetti the finger as he walked past him to enter General Towson's office.
Lustrous, Naylor, and Dieter saluted crisply. Towson returned it with an almost casual wave of the hand.
"When Tony said ugly,' " he said, rising from his chair to offer his hand to Sergeant Major Dieter, "I knew it had to be you. How are you, Rupert? Too long a time no see."
"It's good to see you, too, sir."
"You look skinny," General Towson said. "He been overworking you?"
"Yes, sir. He has."
"So I guess you know what this is all about?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then you should, too, Tony," General Towson said. "Close the door."
Towson waited until the door was closed, then looked at Lustrous.
"One sentence, Fred," he said. "For the good of the service?"
"Sir, I think it's very probable that just before he went to Vietnam, where he earned a posthumous Medal of Honor, a young warrant officer impregnated a German girl to whom he was not married."
Towson looked at him for a long moment.
"That's one hell of a one-sentence summary, Fred," he said. "I was expecting to hear something like 'hanky-panky in dependent housing.' "
Lustrous didn't reply.
"You're sure of your facts?" Towson asked.
"No, sir, but I'd bet ten-to-one on what we think."
"Why did this come up now? The mother just found out the guy was a hero?"
"No, sir. The mother just found out she's dying-pancreatic cancer-and there is no other family here to take care of the boy, who is now twelve."
"Why do you think she's telling the truth?"
"I was a friend of her father's, sir. And she is not after money."
"How do you know that?"
"Because she has more than she needs. She's Frau Erika von und zu Gossinger, General. There's a brewery, three newspapers, and other properties."
"Related to the guy who wiped himself out on the autobahn?"
"That was her father, sir, and her brother."
"And how did this come to your attention?"
"She told Netty, General. Yesterday at lunch. I think she's telling the truth, sir."
"She probably is, but we can't take any chances," General Towson said. "Tony, get on the horn to Saint Louis, tell them to fax us: what's this fellow's name?"
"Warrant Officer Junior Grade Jorge Alejandro Castillo, sir," Sergeant Major Dieter furnished.
": Mr. Castillo's service record, and any other information they have about him right now, and to follow that up with Xeroxes of same sent by the most expeditious means. If they say they can't do it today, you tell them I said if they said they can't I'm going to route my request through the chief of staff. If they ask why, you don't know. Got it?" Yes, sir.
"Do that right now," Towson said. "Rupert can bring you up to speed about what we talk about now."
"Yes, sir," Sergeant Major Sanguenetti said and looked at Sergeant Major Dieter, who was writing Mr. Castillo's full name on a sheet of paper. When Dieter handed it to him, Sanguenetti left the office.
Towson looked at Lustrous.
"Getting records out of Saint Louis is like pulling teeth," he said. "I actually had to go to the chief of staff a couple of weeks ago. I hope they remember that." He paused thoughtfully and then went on. "Okay. Let's say you're right, Fred: and if Netty believes this woman, you probably are. Where do we go from here?"
Colonel Lustrous had served under General Towson twice and correctly suspected here that sentence was rhetorical and Towson did not expect an answer.
"If Mr. Castillo was married," Towson went on, "that's one situation. Death benefits and possibly a pension would have gone to his widow, benefits to which this German boy may be entitled. I'll have a talk with the judge advocate and get the details. If he wasn't married, that's another situation. Okay. We don't know enough now to make any kind of a decision. The only thing I can think of right now is to get a blood sample. A little coldheartedly, if there's a match it won't prove anything. If there's not, it would prove there was no parental relationship. So the only thing I can tell you to do, Fred, is to get a sample, a large sample, of the boy's blood, and make sure we can testify we were there when the sample was taken and that the blood never left our custody."
"Yes, sir," Lustrous said and looked at Major Naylor, who said, "Yes, sir."
"What did he do to get the Medal of Honor?" Towson asked.
"Sir, are you familiar with Operation Lam Son 719?"
Towson searched his memory, then nodded.
"Mr. Castillo was on his fifty-second rescue mission, picking up downed chopper crews, when he was hit and his Huey blew up."
"I know that story," Towson said. "He kicked his copilot and crew chief out of his bird, told them there was no sense all of them getting killed. That young man really had a large set of balls." He heard what he had said and added: "An unfortunate choice of words, right? I have an unfortunate tendency to do that."
[FIVE]
Headquarters
Eleventh Armored Cavalry Regiment
Downs Barracks
Fulda, Hesse, West Germany
1640 7 March 1981
"Sir, I have Frau von Gossinger on the line," Sergeant Major Dieter called from the outer office.
"That's Von und zu,' Dieter," Lustrous said, gestured for Major Naylor to pick up the extension on the conference table, and then picked up the telephone on his desk.
"Fred Lustrous here, Frau Erika," Lustrous said.
"Good afternoon, Colonel."
"There have been some developments in this situation," Lustrous said. "I'd really like to discuss them with you in person rather than over the telephone. Would that be possible?"
"Of course."
"When would that be convenient for you?"
"Whenever it is for you," she said. "Now, if you'd like."
"I thought I would bring Netty with me," Lustrous said, "and Elaine Naylor, and her husband, Major Naylor, who's going to help us with this."
"Of course."
"It will take me, say, thirty minutes to go home, pick up the ladies, and change out of my work uniform, and then forty-five minutes or so to drive up there. That would make it a little after six-thirty. Would that be all right?"