[A/N] After 4 seasons leading up to the mystery behind Harmon Rabb Sr., I felt cheated. Once Harm Senior's death in Russia was revealed, the elder Rabb was brushed aside. This story takes place well before Season 6, and the magical appearance of Harm's half-brother, Sergeant Sergei Zhukov.
The regulations dealing with MIAs are complex. My thanks to Melissa from the US Department of Defense, POW/MIA Accounting Agency, for her kind assistance. I'm sure that she had better things to do.
From A Grateful Nation
Chapter 1
Before leaving Moscow, CIA Chief of Station Ernie McGill informed all parties involved in the search for Harmon Rabb Sr. that they were not to discuss those events until properly debriefed by the Central Intelligence Agency.
The debriefs for Admiral A.J. Chegwidden and CIA Officer Clayton Webb each took under 90 minutes. The debrief for Major Sarah Mackenzie required 6 hours. At the conclusion of a 10 hour interview, Lt. Commander Harmon Rabb Jr. was instructed to return to Langley the following day.
Once back at JAG, Admiral Chegwidden instructed Petty Officer Tiner to shuffle the appropriate papers to cover the unexplained absences of Rabb and Sarah Mackenzie.
That presented no problem. By this time, Tiner had become quite proficient in that duty.
A.J. Chegwidden had been shot, stabbed, tortured and left for dead, but he'd come home from Vietnam. Harmon Rabb Sr. hadn't been so lucky. The Admiral felt he owed Harm Senior that much, and more.
8 October, 1998
1330 Kilo (Zulu -5)
CIA Headquarters
Langley, Virginia
During his first day at Langley, Harm found that the CIA was only interested in learning details of the Russian Federal Security Service- the newly styled KGB. No one cared about his father, Harmon Rabb Sr., who had been listed as MIA since 24 December, 1969.
After spending a second day in the office of the Directorate of Analysis, the analytical branch of the CIA, responsible for analyzing intelligence obtained from foreign sources, Harm reached his limit.
He demanded to speak to Clayton Webb, and was taken to Webb's office, which overlooked the Agency's north parking lot.
"I expected you to have a view of the Potomac," Harm told Webb.
"I'm hoping for better. What's on your mind, Harm?"
"You know damned well why I'm here. I've been spinning my wheels with the ODA for a day and a half and no one will give me a straight answer."
"Try me," said Webb.
"I need to tell my mother that I found my dad. I also need to inform the Department of the Navy that he's no longer MIA."
"I'm sorry, Harm, but you never found evidence of your father being in Russia."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"The Agency is going to contact the DoD and the Department of the Navy and provide them with conclusive evidence that your father died in Vietnam," Webb deadpanned.
"Damn you, Clay. I knew there would be a cover up. You've got your dirty little fingers all over this," Harm shot back.
"No, Harm. That came straight from the Director."
"This is bull shit," Harm declared.
"There are Mortuary Affairs teams active in Vietnam. They have been recovering evidence and confirming the deaths of MIA's for years. You must have been aware of that."
"What evidence did they find about my dad?" asked Harm.
"That information is above my pay grade," said Webb.
"Then tell me what you can," Harm demanded.
"We have photos of the wreckage of McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II, Serial Number 150052. Aircraft assigned to USN Squadron VF-111, deployed USS Ticonderoga, Tonkin Gulf. Aircraft call sign- Bad Man One. Aircraft shot down by SAM. Pilot and RIO ejected. Two good chutes observed. Aircraft crashed 17 miles NW of Huu San, Lạng Sơn Province, North Vietnam, 24 December, 1969. Crew status- Radar Intercept Officer- Lt. Gibson, Howard S.- Died on impact. Body recovered by USAF 3rd Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Group. Pilot- Lt. Rabb, Harmon D. Sr.- MIA."
"That information has been in my dad's file for 29 years. Show me the photos of the aircraft and the crash site," and Webb slid them across his desk.
What remained of the aircraft was clearly an F-4, and based on what Harm had learned about the Phantom, it could be the J variant. So what?
"These could be photos of any F-4J, and taken at a crash site anywhere in Vietnam."
"But they're not. A technical representative from Boeing, McDonnell Douglass' successor, accompanied the team and positively identified the wreckage using records from McDonnell Douglass' St. Louis factory. Harm, the aircraft in those photos is the one that your father was flying on Christmas Eve, 1969, and that is God's truth."
"His regular aircraft was 150229, but it was undergoing periodic maintenance. It's the reason he was flying this plane, instead of 'Sweet Sarah'."
"Sweet Sarah?" asked Webb.
"He named his aircraft after his mother- my grandmother, Sarah Harmon Rabb."
"I didn't know that," said Webb
"There's no reason that you should have. Sarah had brought him through some tough missions. I always wondered what would have happened if he'd been flying his own Phantom instead of another one?"
"It might have made a difference. There is no way that we'll ever know." Webb was beginning to feel remorse over what was being done to cover up Harm Senior's capture in Vietnam, and his imprisonment in Russia.
Harm slid the photos across the desk and back to Webb. "How long have you been sitting on this information?"
"Ever since you discovered that book inside the USS Hornet last year. My father was Chief of Station in Saigon. The Agency had heard rumors of the book's existence for quite a while."
"So you knew that there were MIAs being held in the Soviet Union," Harm said.
"We suspected it, but we had no evidence other than intel obtained from NVA prisoners under torture by the South Vietnamese police. That book would have confirmed it. But of course you lost the book to Sokol."
"He took it from me."
"Semantics. Without that book we had nothing concrete."
"And my father?"
"There was no reasonable expectation that he could still be alive, not after so many years."
"But you had a contingency plan. His wrecked F-4."
"No American had set foot at that crash site since your dad went down on Christmas Eve. It is in a mountainous area and not easily accessible. After you discovered the book, the Agency detailed a Mortuary Affairs team revisit the site last year."
"To give yourselves a cover story? What kinds of sick minds do you have working at Langley?"
"Your father's imprisonment in Russia can't be released to the public or to the Department of Defense. Harmon Rabb Sr. died in Lạng Sơn Province, in what is now Vietnam."
"More Agency lies," Harm spat.
"Of particular concern to you is that your father's status will be changed to Killed in Action. He will also be advanced in rank to captain."
"I could not care less about his promotion," said Harm.
"I understand your feelings, but he did earn it."
Because MIA's aren't considered dead, they are retained on the active duty rolls and remain eligible for regular promotions. In 1980, Harmon Rabb Senior was promoted to full commander and then retired from the US Navy after 20 years of service. Harm Senior's promotion to captain was justifiably known as a "tombstone promotion".
"Harm, you understand that the Russian's aren't thrilled that you managed to track down your father's whereabouts. You've raised quite a stink in their Ministry of Defence."
"Because I discovered their cover up?" said Harm.
"Because they got caught," explained Webb.
"If my dad was in Russia, it means that there may be others. It's time that they are accounted for."
Webb looked directly at Harm. "It dosen't work that way in Russia. Harm, if there were other POWs still alive, thanks to your little foray, they're dead now."
Webb's cavalier attitude angered Harm, but it also chilled him to the bone. "That was never my intention."
"Russia is pulling itself apart. The power struggle between Parlovsky and Sokol that you were caught up in is only one of hundreds that are taking place. Issues like nuclear and biological weapons proliferation hang in the balance."
"So where do we go from here?"
"Only Ed McGill in Moscow, Sarah, the Admiral, and you and I know what took place in Russia. The Agency wants to keep it that way."
"And if I choose not to abide by that tidy arrangement?" Harm asked in a sarcastic tone.
Webb leaned back in his chair. "The Russians are pissed off about that stolen MiG-29. They want your ass, as well as $11 million for the loss of the aircraft. They'll get the $11 million, the Agency will see to that. Whether or not they get you is entirely up to you."
"The Russians should be held accountable."
"Don't speak too fast on the subject of accountability. In 1893, the U.S. Senate ratified an extradition treaty with czarist Russia. The Russians have filed extradition papers based on that treaty. They have a laundry list of charges against you for crimes against the Russian people. One of those charges is terrorism. That's a death sentence, or at best, life in prison."
"Can I be extradited?"
"The Department of State says that the Russian treaty is no longer valid, but the treaty hasn't been formally abrogated. You don't want to be the one who puts that to the test."
Harm shook his head slowly back and forth. "I spent decades looking for answers about my father. Giving in to pressure now means that those years were wasted."
"You accomplished what you set out to do. I'm sorry that your father is dead- I really am, but what end is served by dragging this out any longer?"
"My dad deserves better than to have the final years of his life locked away in a file here in Langley."
"Harm, we both know that whatever life your dad lead in Russia was not the life that he wanted. If you have to stand trial in Russia, you'll face the same fate that he did. What would that do to your mother?"
"It would kill her." When Webb saw Harm wiping his eyes, he discretely slid a small package of tissue across the desk and then turned his head away for a few seconds. With his eyes dry, Harm said, "I want to make all of this go away."
"That's the smart move. Once declared offically dead, you can hold a memorial service for your dad. Lay his memory to rest at Arlington, and with full military honors. Harm, your father deserves that, and you can give it to him."
"If I agree, what happens next?"
"A revised copy of your dad's DD-214 and a Death Certificate will be placed in his permanent file. Copies of each of those documents will be in your hands before noon, tomorrow. I'll deliver them personally."
"And my mother?" asked Harm.
"Because your mother has remarried, you are the survivor of record. It will be up to you to inform her of the circumstances of your father's death."
Harm remembered when his mother had declared his father dead so that she could marry Frank Burnett. The declaration of death in absentia was a civil matter. As far as the DoD was concerned, Harmon Rabb Sr. remained MIA until a preponderance of evidence proved otherwise.
The CIA was going to provide that evidence, and the DoD would close his father's case with him listed as KIA.
"What story do I tell my mother about my trip to Russia?" Harm asked.
"Tell her that Russia was a wild goose chase. From what I understand, this was not your first."
"Webb, you're a miserable son of a bitch," Harm spat.
"Harm, I don't like this any more than you do, but the situation in Russia is fluid. Yeltsin appears to be on his way out. A new government may prove more receptive to a full disclosure of their records. If that happens, all bets are off."
"What will the story be then?"
"If further details come to light, we'll deal with them as they happen. That's why Mortuary Affairs reports include a codicil."
"In case you have to start backpedaling," said Harm.
"Harm, I served in the Army Adjutant General's Corps. You wanted all of this to go away. Well, I know how to deal with the paperwork."
Webb had painted Harm into a corner, and the worst part was that he knew it.
For almost thirty years, the uncertainty of his father's fate had been gnawing away at Harm. It had driven a wedge between himself and his stepfather, and his relationship with his mother had suffered because of it.
No matter where or how it had happened, his father was dead, and the time had arrived to move forward.
"I want this nightmare to be over, for everyone's sake," Harm said with finality.
"I'll put it into motion. It will all go smoothly. You have my word on that."
Harm was less than impressed with Webb's assurances, but what choice did he have?
"Several members of my dad's old squadron are still serving in the Navy, and are currently deployed. How much time will I have to arrange a service at Arlington?"
"Because there is no body, it must be a memorial service. There is no time limit on that." Webb reached into his desk and removed a single piece of paper. "This is the name and the phone number of the Arlington National Cemetery Funeral Resources Director. She can walk you through it all, step by step," said Webb.
"Remarried or not, I'll have to ask my mother what type of service she wants for my dad."
"Harm, my father spent over forty years serving this country, first in the Foreign Service, then in the OSS, and finally with the Agency. After he died, the only persons who attended his interment service were my mother and myself. That's the way that my mother wanted it. Your mother has remarried and moved on with her life, so give your dad the memorial service that you want him to have. Give your dad what my dad should have had," and now it was Webb's turn to reach for the tissues.
To be continued...