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Chapter 7

Sirens started blaring. "Air raid!" someone shouted.

We stood frozen, petrified. Olsen ran into Hogan's office. "You need to get underground!" He hustled us out and towards the bunk entrance. The men in the barracks had run outside.

Olsen prodded us quickly down the ladder, into the radio room and under the table. He told us to stay there until the all-clear.

We were joined underneath by one of the medics. Chivalry wasn't dead in 1945 and women's lib was the furthest thing from my mind as the corporal protected us with his body.

A few moments later, we felt and heard the sound of war for the very first time. Explosions could be heard in the distance, as the ground began to shake. Dirt rained down from the ceiling of the tunnel.

The medic tried to console us. "This tunnel system hasn't collapsed in a while. We're probably safer in here than in the ditches."

"What do you mean it hasn't collapsed in…in… a while?" Ruth stammered.

"Months maybe. But not this section," the medic quickly added. "Anyway, all the prisoners have to leave the barracks during an air raid. We have ditches dug out in the back." (1)

The air raid seemed to last forever. Both Ruth and I were literally shaking. Intellectually, I knew that the bombers were going for industrial sites or railroads near the town, and were fully aware of the location of the POW camp. But that knowledge did not calm me down. Planes could be shot down; bombs could miss their mark. Ruth and I were so scared that we were unable to talk.

The medic, whose name was Joseph Malkin, tried to ask us some questions. "Tell me, ladies. Who's your favorite bandleader?"

"Um. Um." I wasn't having a senior moment. I was too terrified to think.

"Paul McCartney." Ruth grabbed hold of my hand so tightly she began to draw blood.

"I haven't heard of him. Is he new?" Malkin asked.

"Very," I managed to say. "Um. I like Glenn Miller."

"Do you have a favorite song, ma'am?"

This I knew. "Moonlight Serenade." I then sniffed, and wiped my eyes. At first I couldn't believe I was actually crying. Nah. I could believe it.

As I said this, I spied several men, dressed in black, heading back through the tunnel towards the outside entrance. They were obviously going out on a rescue mission.

A moment later, as the dust kept flying, the young medic began to sing.

I stand at your gate and the song that I sing is of moonlight.
I stand and I wait for the touch of your hand in the June night.
The roses are sighing a Moonlight Serenade.

"Do you know the words, ma'am?"

Sometimes, humor will somehow break through during the worst of circumstances. "No. Besides, Colonel Hogan gave me a direct order not to sing." I offered a small smile. I knew what this soldier was trying to do.

He continued.

The stars are aglow and tonight how their light sets me dreaming.
My love, do you know that your eyes are like stars brightly beaming?
I bring you and sing you a Moonlight Serenade.

Another nearby explosion brought down more dust. I may have whimpered.

Let us stray till break of day
in love's valley of dreams.
Just you and I, a summer sky,
a heavenly breeze kissing the trees.

So don't let me wait, come to me tenderly in the June night.
I stand at your gate and I sing you a song in the moonlight,
a love song, my darling, a Moonlight Serenade.

"Vous avez une belle voix." (You have a nice voice) Ruth was so scared she was thinking in French.

"Pardon?" Malkin shifted his weight away from us. "It's stopped."

Sure enough, there was silence.

We didn't hear an all-clear, but the prisoners who had stayed in the tunnels were obviously told that the air raid was over and it was safe. One came over to the table and helped us out. Miraculously, the lighting was still on and the tunnels were intact. I couldn't say the same for our emotional state. Ruth and I clung to each other and found an empty spot near a wall where we tried to regain our composure.

It us a while, but we eventually headed back to our nursing duties and were working for an hour or so, when we spied Colonel Hogan and Kinch coming towards us. We were ignored as the two headed over to the radio. We could tell Hogan was furious. Apparently, some of the bombs had fallen a little too close for comfort. We listened as Hogan complained to someone on the other end. He then began to pace back and forth.

I drew up some nerve and approached the colonel. "Excuse me. Do you have a minute?"

"Mrs. Rubinstein," he quickly replied. "Now isn't the best time. We're waiting for some men to get back."

I was persistent. "So, you didn't get a chance to speak with Klink about the…"

Hogan gave me a look. "Not now." He walked away.

"Don't take it personally, ma'am." Malkin handed me a thermometer. "Can you take temps?"

"Sure," I said dejectedly.

"They've been out longer than normal," Malkin continued. "He's antsy."

I was just about to take temps, when I realized I didn't have a watch. "Um, excuse me." I turned to look for one of the medics, when Wilson and Malkin left their charges and ran towards the tunnel entrance, while another medic headed towards the radio room, where Kinch and Hogan were impatiently waiting for their men to return.

"They're back," I heard the medic say.

They were indeed back. It was Carter, Olsen and Newkirk that had gone out, and they had brought back with them two injured men.

"Sorry it took so long, Colonel." Carter gently helped place one of the men onto a table. "We were trapped by a patrol."

It appeared that the two men had been hit by flak as they had parachuted out of their plane.

In addition to having to deal with the sick men in the tunnels, Ruth and I were now faced with actual blood. Neither of us handled this real-life introduction to Grey's Anatomy rather well, and we both backed away.

"Oh my God." I started taking some deep breaths, as I leaned up against a wall. Ruth was turning a nasty shade of pale. We both felt utterly helpless.

Someone had fetched Dr. Stein, and in addition to Wilson and Malkin, he began to work on the fliers.

The small makeshift emergency room turned into a scene of organized chaos. Colonel Hogan, who had regained his temper, hovered around the area. This was his sanctuary, and the two injured men were now under his command. His concern for them was etched on his face.

(1) I discovered this bit of information while doing research on POW's and the camps. More than one memoir mentioned this. Unfortunately, there was more than one instance of POW's killed by Allied bombing raids.

Moonlight Serenade copyright 1939 original music by Glenn Miller and subsequent lyrics by Mitchell Parish.