Chapter 82 Things are people, not the General Staff
What does that say, when you see your friend fail, you will be sad. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoYou will be sadder when you see your friends succeed. Although John was not jealous of Clark because of a small brigadier general, he was always a little uncomfortable at the thought that he had been busy for so long and that the biggest piece of cake had fallen into the mouth of the man.
But at this point, John can only comfort himself in his heart, fortunately Clark is his own person, if he is cheap to an unknown outsider, it will be really depressed.
"John, it's only 11 o'clock, are you going straight to dinner or to my office to sit?" Crawford asked.
"Let's go to the office, I haven't been here in months, I'll meet you first." After saying that, John suddenly discovered a problem, just now in the parking lot, he didn't see the mascot of the staff - the parking administrator, Sergeant Major Bryant.
"Where's old Bryant? Has the parking lot manager been replaced? John asked curiously.
"The old man is at Walter Reed (Army Hospital). Last week he was hit by a new captain in the west parking lot. ”
"Where's the injury? Is it serious? ”
"It's okay, it's just a broken tailbone. It is said that he was crouching on the ground to paint the parking line, and the captain did not see it, so he crashed into it. The loss is that the car is reversed, the speed is not fast, and the injury is not very serious. ”
"That's a lot to remember. What's the name of that unlucky guy? ”
Crawford, of course, knew that the unlucky guy John was talking about wouldn't be old Bryant, but the captain officer. Compared to the victim of a broken tailbone, the daredevils who caused the accident are the real unlucky guys.
You must know that Sergeant Major Bryant is not only a driver for General Pershing, but also the oldest super senior in the current General Staff. He joined the army in 1894 and fought in Cuba, Mexico, the Philippines and Europe, a qualification that was put on hold until after the Vietnam War, and he was definitely the best choice for the army's chief sergeant major.
Even today, when there is no establishment of the post of chief sergeant major (the US military has set up chief sergeant major in all branches of the military since 1966, this position is equivalent to the chairman of the soldiers' union, and the status is equivalent to that of the deputy chief of staff of the service), the elder Bryant is also the "grandpa Bryant" who is deeply loved by the staff department. Even Chief of Staff Marshall was respectful when he saw him, and generally took the initiative to signal that the other party did not need to salute.
This captain must have been unlucky to be so bad that he knocked this old man into the hospital shortly after he came to the General Staff. It is conceivable that this guy will definitely not have a good life in the future.
"It seems to be called Francis Dude, who just came back from the Philippines last month." Crawford said with a smile: "This guy is now famous in the staff department, and everyone calls him the Flashball (goalball term, which stops the ball in a predetermined position by impacting) kid. ”
John was happy, too, but soon he discovered something even more interesting. This "Flashtop Kid" named Francis Dude couldn't be the hapless commander who inspected the UN prisoner of war camp during the Geoje Island incident.
If it's the same person, then this guy's luck is really declining. In the Pacific Theater, he forgot about his life and death, was wounded several times, and finally managed to reach the position of chief of staff (brigadier general) of the Eighth Army near the end of the Korean War. As a result, when he visited the prisoner of war camp on Geoje Island, he was taken hostage by a group of Korean prisoners of war.
Although Dude was eventually released, he was immediately relieved of his command position and demoted to colonel because he was given a free victory in the North Korean propaganda war, and was ordered to retire the following year. In the end, it was his boss Van Vliet who remembered the old feelings and said good things for him, and the War Office restored his rank of brigadier general in 1977. But by that time, Dude had been depressed for more than four years.
John felt sympathy for the ill-fated hapless captain, but only sympathy. In the field of war, which is full of accidents, how many "famous generals" have died due to bad luck. Someone as unlucky as Francis Dude is not the first, and definitely will not be the last.
John didn't have that much of a bodhisattva's heart, and Dude was just an irrelevant stranger to him. He was just unlucky, John sighed at best, and had no intention of interfering to change his fate.
Going up to the fourth floor and into the office area of the Operations Planning Division, John was immediately surrounded enthusiastically by several old colleagues. In the past year, there has been a significant turnover in the personnel of the Operations Planning Service. Most of the old colleagues have been transferred, and the large office area is basically full of new faces. The few old men were very happy to see John, who had not been seen in the house for months.
Especially Pakarina, who has been thinking about the Washington Hotel dinner for a long time, gave a big hug to John as soon as she saw her. "I'm glad to see you, sir. By the way, what about Miller? Holding John's arm, Pakarina asked happily.
"He's not here this time, he's still in Louisiana." John has always liked Pakarina, a cool and fast-talking little beauty, so he naturally joked with her: "Are you interesting to him, how long have you been apart and missed him." ”
John originally thought that Pakarina would be embarrassed, but she sighed: "I'm leaving Washington next month, and I won't see him this time, and I don't know if I will have a chance to meet in the future." ”
"Leave? Where are you going? John asked, somewhat puzzled. Hasn't Pakarina been doing a good job in the battle planning department, and everyone in the department is quite satisfied with her, why should she leave?
"Our Pakarina is going to be promoted, and she will be Ensign Pakarina in the future." Crawford explained for her.
John forgot that Congress passed a bill last month to expand the size of the Army's Women's Auxiliary Corps to 25,000 in order to free more male soldiers from non-combatant civilian work and participate in combat. Pakarina is going to take advantage of the expansion of the Women's Auxiliary Corps and change from a non-commissioned officer to an officer.
"Congratulations, Pakarina. Have you decided on a place to go? John was genuinely happy for the little girl.
"Not yet. I also had to go to a training camp in Fort Des Moines (Iowa) for 6 weeks of basic training as an officer candidate before I could be assigned. However, I heard that most of our group will be assigned to various army groups, and the possibility of returning to the general staff is very small. I may not be able to see everyone in the future, and I am really reluctant to leave. Pakarina's eyes turned a little red as she spoke.
"Hey, hey, I'm going to be a second lieutenant soon, why are you still crying." John teased her: "Come on, do a good job, maybe you will be the first female general in the United States in the future!" ”
"Pure nonsense!" Pakarina said angrily: "I just became the first commander of the women's auxiliary team, and that is also the colonel, where did I come from a female general."
Thinking about it, although there are a lot of female generals in the U.S. Army in later generations, and there is more than one four-star general, there is really no precedent for a woman to become a general, and the highest military rank is colonel, Pakarina will naturally think that John is talking nonsense and make fun of her.
"Alright, don't be sad. Don't you just want to leave the battle planning department? You can rest assured to go to the training, and I will leave the rest to you. John patted his chest and made a promise.
He's not talking big. For one, the newly appointed commander of the Army's Women's Auxiliaries, Mrs. Ovita Hobie, is an old friend of the Vanderbilt family. The husband of the former Texas House of Representatives, the former director of the Women's Division of the War Department's Bureau of Public Relations, personally appointed by Stimson, is a Houston newspaper mogul and former Texas Governor William Petters-Hobby (a Republican, after whom the Houston airport is named).
So whether it's from Stimson's side or William's side, John can talk to Mrs. Hobie. Asking her to help arrange for a second lieutenant to return to his original department was not a big deal.
Second, Pakarina's Russian ancestry will still be useful in the battle planning department in the future. It was already the beginning of June, and in less than three weeks, Hitler was about to launch the Barbarossa Plan. When the time comes, there will be a civilian secretary who can speak Russian, who will be of great help to the work that will be carried out.
By the time Pakarina's training was over, John had already begun to negotiate material aid with the Soviet Union. When the time comes, maybe he doesn't have to do it, and the Battle Planning Department will take the initiative to invite a scarce talent like Pakarina back.