Mr. Nice Guy

Chapter 2

Richard Alexander Rodgers was born during one of New York City's most frigid cold spells right after Thanksgiving in 1971 in one of New York's famous hospitals,...Bellevue. He was conceived by two of the most loving parents, he was named after his maternal grandfather and with it being the coldest day here in the city when his mother had gotten him after he was cleaned up it looked like that his face could make anyone feel so warm even though it was so very cold out. But fate would step in and claim one of his parents and he would never know the loss of a parent, you see how can you actually miss what you never knew about. But as Richard moved ahead in his life he always thought he was missing out on something. His mother had made it very clear that even though he never had a father to guide him he was never alone in that respect. She would console him and tell him stories about how brave his father was.

James Rodgers was a Major in the U.S. Marines. Attached to Force Reconnaissance Company, 1st Marine Division based out of Camp Pendleton, CA. He was a career soldier and the Corps was his life. He had the respect of the men he commanded and they would follow him into any circumstance no matter what the mission. Since his unit had just concluded a very dangerous mission prior to Thanksgiving, the base commander had given them a 3 week furlough and were not needed to report until the 3 weeks had expired. His first order of business was to secure a MAC flight to Stewart ANGB in upstate New York. He was lucky to actually get a flight out of California on the 1st of November. It was s 6 hour flight back home but it would be worth it to see his wife Martha and to talk to his future son through her stomach.

The flight went off without a hitch and within an hour of him landing he was at his Chelsea apartment door, knocking gently at first but being way to impatient he knocked a lot louder. The hard knocking surprised Martha. She thought it was some sort of salesman and was going to give him a piece of her mind. Opening the door she stood there not believing who she was seeing in the doorway. Embracing in a deep hug being careful not to squeeze her too hard they stayed there for about 5 minuets just holding each other. She treasured the time that they spent and she really never wanted him to leave. "How long are you here for this time?" James was never one to hide his feelings when it came to Martha, he loved her so deeply. "I will be able to stay until after Thanksgiving" he told her and with that she kissed him so passionately until neither could breathe. Separating from each other Martha moved slowly to the kitchen to get dinner started making sure James watched her every move. After they had finished dinner he asked her if he could do it again, she looked at him and asked "are you serious about doing it again?" he had the most withdrawn look on his face and at that point she just melted into him. She sat down in the love seat and James knelt down beside her and got about a breath from her lower abdomen and started to talk to the yet unborn Richard Rodgers. He talked about everything from baseball to how beautiful his mom was. He loved this time so much, he knew it probably did not do anything to his son while he was in the womb but it made him feel so connected in so many ways.

James and Martha cherished the time they spent together knowing it could end at any second. So they did all the things that normal that couples do, walking through Central Park, walking over to Rockefeller Center and watch the people ice skate. Martha did not want this to end. So she hesitated in asking the question in her head and was trying to find a way to word it without getting James mad at her, so she just blurted it out at him "James I was really wondering if you would consider retiring from the Marines?" He stopped walking mid-step and simply looked at her, wondering why she would ask him such a question. "Do you know how important the work I do is, do the words honor and duty mean anything to you?" I can't believe that you would even think of asking me such a question. Martha turned away trying to hide tears that were most certainly falling down her cheeks now. They continued walking back to their apartment neither speaking. James was upset all the way home when he snapped at Martha, but when he actually thought about what she said it kinda made sense that they could have a normal life and actually retire he had been serving since the Korean War so he was eligible to do just that. But everything changed when they walked down the hallway to their apartment.

A coded message was slipped under the door at the Rodgers residence. James knew exactly what was inside of it. He was to report back to Camp Pendleton by 14NOV71 0600. Before he knew it Martha was sobbing quietly with her face resting in her hands and he tried to comfort her. He thought about what she asked him earlier and he told her "Martha I think that you had a good point earlier tonight when you asked me to retire" he had been a career soldier and he knew that it would be a big adjustment. She raised her head and met his eyes "I think it would be a great thing if I were here with you forever" Martha was speechless. "When I return back from this mission it will be my last and then we can start raising our son together." James reluctantly called up the MAC Commanding officer at Stewart ANGB and arranged a flight back to California. He had about 5 hours before his flight, the red-eye so he could spend more time with Martha and get some sleep on the way back. He needed to let his team know that they had just been activated and all leaves were to be terminated immediately. His team would be there waiting for him when he arrived back at base.

Martha Rodgers was the happiest woman on this planet, not only was she going to have a baby boy but her husband was going to be by her side to help her raise their baby. She had so much to get ready for both arrivals that she did not know where to start. The nursery was almost completed the only thing left to be done was painting the walls baby blue. So after they said their goodbyes she decided to just pick up the paint and tackle the job tomorrow. So after getting a great nights sleep one she really needed, she set out to cover the furniture with drop cloths and get started on the painting job at hand. About 3 hours into the job she stepped back to admire her almost completed work. "Not bad if I do say so myself" her mind started to wander and she imagined a room filled with a baby's laughter and it was not until she heard a very loud knock on her door then she was pulled back to reality. Racing to the front of the apartment thinking James forgot something she threw the door open, but to her surprise there stood a Marine Colonel, and a Navy Chaplin. Her heart immediately dropped. Mrs. Rodgers? She replied "yes" The Chaplin asked if they could enter the apartment she simply nodded. Each taking a seat after Martha was seated first Mrs Rodgers my name is Colonel Ramirez and we have some terrible news and we wanted to make sure that before we give you this news that you have someone here with you after we leave...Martha was reeling now she just wanted them to tell what the news was but all she could say was "My sister is about 5 minuets away I will give her a call" With the phone call placed they waited. They uniforms were sharp and it reminded her of her husbands dress blues. Since her sister was in the next door building her sister Anne arrived about 3 minuets later both women sat down and the Colonel started describing what had happened. "Mrs. Rodgers it is with a heavy heart that I must tell you your husband was killed in the line of duty." Martha gasped and waited for him to continue "His plane had encountered a massive lighting storm while flying over the northwest corner on New Mexico." Lighting had hit both jet engines simultaneously leaving no control for the pilot to safely land the aircraft. He told her that they had probably felt no pain because all personnel were killed when the plane crashed. Chaplin O'Riely and Colonel Ramirez had asked if they could do anything for her but she was not really putting together a thought in her head since they told her he was gone. Her sister thanked them and showed them to the door. Upon returning Martha was crying heavily with no sign of stopping.

About a week after she had gotten the news about James a liaison with the Marine Corps had arrived at Maratha's apartment, to her this sounded so odd "her apartment" because everything they did was always together and now that he was gone...her mind drifted. After the liaison called her name repeatedly she finally snapped back. He asked if they could talk and she invited him in. He was a second Lieutenant attached to DFAS (Defense Accounting and Finance) He started easily "Mrs Rodgers I am here to help you navigate through all of your husbands finances". Martha had no idea what he was speaking of James had sent all of his pay to her only keeping some spending money for himself. He started to explain everything to her. So after about 3 hours of hearing what he was telling her she was almost as lost as when they first met. So he explained it to her again...

"Since your husband James was a solider with a high risk assignment he was afforded a higher value life insurance policy by the Corps" After he died we had looked into all of his savings accounts and personal life insurance policies. His account balance in his checking was $2977.63. He had an additional life insurance policy so the breakdown is this, his Corps life insurance policy is valued at $750,000.00 dollars, his separate personal life insurance policy that has a face value of five million dollars. Since he was eligible for retirement at the time of his death you will receive 68% of his monthly salary for the next 20 years. All totaled you will receive two lump sum checks for five million dollars and a second check for $750,000.00. I will need to get your preference where you would like the monies deposited to. Martha was unable to speak. How did she not know about what James had done. She was about to tell the officer where she wanted to have the checks deposited, when he spoke first to her about the monthly amount she would receive. "For the next 20 years you will receive the amount of $501.20 bi-monthly starting on the 15December71. The retirement benefit will increase to match the cost of living. This will be automatically deposited into the same account where the life insurance benefits will be sent to".

Martha walked the Second Lieutenant over to the door thanking him for doing such a great job explaining all this to her. Martha had a lot to think over but first she needed to call Anne. While waiting for her sister, she thought to herself that she would give up all of what she was just told for a lifetime with James. Anne let herself in and Martha had the teapot heating up, tea always calmed her and since coffee was out of the question in her current condition, she poured two cups. Sitting down with her sister she explained everything she was just told by the U.S. Marine who just left not too long ago. Anne was shocked in what was laid out in front of her. She knew James was one to always look to their future but she never expected any of this. After going over most of the documents she raised her head and looked at Martha. She was met with a very ghostly looking sister, "Martha whats wrong?" she did not respond and Anne got seriously worried. She asked again and Martha looked defeated and fell to the kitchen table. Quickly getting to her feet Anne stepped over to her sister and noticed a lot of blood on the chair she was sitting in and all over the floor. Picking up the phone she called the police and explained what had happened...