Chapter 9 Lieutenant Hanley
Unable to account for the extra American and needing to keep to a schedule the trucks were allowed to leave.
The Americans breathed a sigh of relief.
They were one step closer to home and their plan to hide Dietrich had worked.
Lieutenant Hanley was completely fed up with the war.
As much as he believed in what they were fighting for he'd seen enough incompetence, red tape and yes men to last him a lifetime.
He'd had his fill of ordering men to their deaths.
Sometimes in costly futile attacks on objectives deemed unimportant hours later.
The icing on the cake came for him when he got wind of two long range commandos returning with
word that members of King Company fell into SS hands.
Then they were taken by the Russians and trucked to an unknown destination.
Hanley tracked down the two men.
After questioning them closely he determined it was definitely Saunders, Kirby and Doc they described.
The men, Privates Hitchcock and Pettigrew were frustrated that no one was going after their sergeants.
Troy and Moffitt had chosen to stay with the sidetracked Americans instead of escaping.
The privates were planning on going AWOL to mount their own search and rescue attempt.
Hanley asked them to wait. He assured them he would do everything in his power to get their sergeants and the others back.
He stormed directly to his superior Captain Jampel's office demanding an explanation.
The Captain had no idea any of this was going on.
Hanley then suspected his men were about to be written off.
It was Saunders that helped him survive Omaha Beach so he could gain the experience to be a good officer.
He sure as hell wasn't going to leave him or any of the squad behind.
With Captain Jampel's help and some of Hanley's influential contacts including a U.S. Senator a deal was worked out to pick up the Americans by boat.
Lieutenant Hanley got himself assigned to the ship. His mission: To identify his men when they boarded.
It was a great concern at the time that Russian agents passing as American soldiers would Infiltrate the U.S. military.
The relationship with their Russian Allies began to sour when they showed no intention of leaving the territories they gained during the war.
Hadley stood on the gangplank of the ship in the port of Odessa with a couple of intelligence officers sent to debrief the returning Americans.
After a long wait trucks arrived and the Americans began to file up the ramp.
Their dog tags were checked, names taken and ship compartments assigned.
Hadley was relieved to see Saunders, Doc and Kirby in the line.
Saunders looked to have been wounded, at least it was over now. They were all going home.
When Saunders and his group made it to the checkpoint Hadley gave the three a robust handshake.
He let them know the rest of the squad made it back alright and were on their way home too.
Saunders spoke up. "You remember Private Smith," His weary blue eyes burning in earnest.
He gestured to Dietrich who stood unsure of what would happen next.
He saluted Hanley, hoping it wasn't in too German a fashion.
"Why it's nice to see you again Private Smith." Hanley said, smiling and patting Dietrich on the back in mock recognition.
He didn't know why Saunders wanted this man on the ship but he trusted him like a brother and wasn't going to question his reasons at this time.
"Private Smith" Looked worse for wear, had a bruised face and was coughing badly.
Hanley whispered the location of his cabin to Saunders while Troy and Moffitt ran interference with the intelligence agents.
They all found their way to Hanley's cabin.
Dietrich immediately fell asleep on one of the bunks.
Doc and Saunders went to the ship's infirmary to get Saunders wounds treated and Dietrich some medicine.
When Dietrich awoke Hanley had arrived and he caught the end of the discussion.
Once Troy and Moffitt explained the situation they were surprised at how quickly Hanley agreed to conceal the German.
Hanley had to judge many times if someone was infected with Nazi fanaticism.
From what these veteran soldiers described this man was definitely not.
He knew if the intelligence agents got ahold of him they would put him thru the mill, especially since he'd been in Russia.
Lieutenant Hanley just didn't think that was necessary. Best just to get the man home without complications.
"Any idea what this was all about?" Troy asked Hanley.
First he let them know they owed their rescue to Privates Hitchcock and Peddigrew.
They'd gotten word thru and given the last known location of the Americans.
The Russians had been unable to disavow knowledge of the missing Americans agreeing release their "guests."
Then Hanley told them. "I heard the Russians traded you for some Nazi collaborators and others that fled their advance.
The whole thing sounds like a pretty dirty deal to me."
Hanley knew the Russians paid a high price in the war. It was their cites destroyed, their population decimated.
Maybe they feel entitled to whatever they gained.
At least he was able to get his men out of there.
Since Dietrich could hardly move after being beaten the sergeants let Doc handle him.
They hadn't spoken much since they found him in the barracks.
Troy and Moffitt didn't want to exacerbate his injuries by bothering him.
He seemed to have a good rapport with Doc
Doc was a tall lanky Arkansas boy. His kind soulful blue eyes made him impossible not to trust.
He treated Dietrich with injections, strong cough syrup and lozenges.
The lieutenant fell back to sleep after having some broth.
The ship very comfortable. It was a former passenger liner converted for war.
The portholes painted black and extra bunks added for troops.
Officers quarters were lavish state rooms
They'd overestimated the number of men to be transported so there was plenty of empty rooms on the ship.
Hadley was able to move next door and they put a quarantine sigh on Dietrich's cabin.
It appeared as if an officer was convalescing with the flu.
Also explaining the coughing that came from the room.
Hanley then rounded up some clothes and toiletry kit for Dietrich.
For the first time in months Dietrich had the luxury of hot water, clean clothes and bedding.
Doc brought him generous meals but it was hard for Dietrich to eat much after enduring starvation.
The first few days he spent mostly sleeping due to all the medications.
The antibiotics Doc gave him were unavailable to the Germans so Dietrich's painful cough subsided quickly.
He enjoyed opening the porthole.
The salt air was refreshing after being around the smoke and dust of the war for so many years.
Faintly at times he could hear the enlisted men below playing the radio and at times raucously celebrating their victory.
Dietrich had nothing to celebrate.
He was on a ship full of his former enemy's traveling yet farther from his home.
Was he a prisoner? Guest?
Sgts. Troy and Moffitt promised to straighten everything out.
Dietrich was unsure about everything.
He was used to being responsible for hundreds of men.
It was wrenching that they were just gone, unaccounted for.
He felt truly alone.
Doc came daily to bring him meals and check his status.
He told Dietrich that for security reasons the boat was going directly to New York.
Even being refueled and supplied at sea.
He said Moffitt had been quite "miffed" about it but he had never seen New York before and thought it would be interesting.
Dietrich detected a Southern accent in Doc's speech pattern, similar to the Rat Patrol's Private Tully.
The medic was very polite and personable.
Dietrich studied the American Civil War in a military history class and was impressed and confused by it.
Becoming restless upon his recovery Dietrich cast about the cabin for something to relieve boredom.
He saw a stack of newspapers a week old that Hanley'd left.
Deciding to take a look, Dietrich got one and unfolded it.
The front page was a aerial photo of a major German city decimated by saturation bombing.
Surely nothing could have survived in that, Dietrich thought.
He'd been in Berlin while it was being bombed but had no idea the devastation could be so total.
The authorities had greatly downplayed the damage.
He turned the page to see maps of the front lines and how far Russians penetrated the German homeland.
Dietrich knew what vengeful soldiers were capable of.
What happened to all those civilians with no army left to defend them?
He turned the page again to see photos of stacked bodes and descriptions of the death camps.
It was all to much, overwhelmed he could not bear to look anymore.
He put the paper back where he found it.
Shaken to his soul he retreated to his bunk.
He never wanted to believe the rumors of what the SS were up to.
It just seemed too horrendous to be true.
That they could easily eliminate populations of entire towns.
Yet, after the carnage he had seen in Russia he knew it was all true.
So, He thought. This is what they were doing while we were out there fighting their dirty lying war.
They spent resources murdering innocent people while the army's were virtually abandoned in the field.
Because of those evil men, untold millions were dead.
Anything the nation might have achieved was stolen by their madness.
Would his beloved Germany be forever known as killers of helpless families?
It was like a knife through his heart.
He passed up his breakfast totally disheartened.
Hanley asked Doc to pick up some periodicals from his room. The men wanted some reading material.
When Doc reported Dietrich didn't eat and wouldn't talk Hanley saw the papers and guessed what happened.
The German probably hadn't known about the extent of damage to his homeland or the appalling war crimes.
Most Germans didn't know and Lieutenant Dietrich was out of the country at the front most of the time.
He had meant to speak to the German but was tied up with intelligence matters.
He wanted to give Dietrich time to recover, they must have a difficult conversation.
Hanley sympathized with the German lieutenant.
If he'd been born in the wrong country he could have been an officer in the losing army.
Where does loyalty to your nation end and morality begin?
What if you were artfully fed only lies?
How would he feel if he lost his men under those circumstances?
The Lieutenant lost his troops in their entirety three times if you count those surrendered in Africa and those he was busted over.
That afternoon Hanley took both their lunches to Dietrich's cabin.
"Lieutenant Dietrich, may I speak with you?" Hadley asked.
Dietrich, lying in his bunk turned around to see Hadley waiting at the table.
What can it be now? Dietrich thought.
They are finally going to turn me over for interrogation.
He knew Troy promised it wouldn't happen but he was only a sergeant. How much could he really do?
Resigned Dietrich sighed, got up to sat across from Hanley.
A newspaper lie between them.
A more recent issue, the headlines read "Allies rebuild Germany."
A photo spread showed the bustling activity of rubble removal and buildings being replaced.
Hanley spoke "I know you might have seen some old newspapers around here.
Things might look pretty bad right now but I want you to know there is hope.
Germany is being rebuilt and stories are coming out about the brave Germans that tried to stop all this.
I personally worked with German soldiers and civilians that joined resistance groups to stop the war.
Their stories need to be told too. Many Germans hadn't the opportunity to know the truth.
And you soldiers were lied to the most just to keep you fighting.
Now your country is going to need men like you to make sure this kind of thing never happens again."
"I do not wish to be cynical but would the Allies be doing all this if Russia was not becoming your adversary?" Dietrich asked.
Hanley gave it some thought. He was a highly educated man and had a good grasp of the complicated histories behind the World Wars.
" Well Germany was left in ruins by the first World War, maybe investing in it's future will ensure peace" he said hopefully.
"Do you think there will be war with the Russians" Dietrich asked.
"I surely hope not" Hanley replied.
Dietrich shared the concern that his unit was accused of crimes they were innocent of.
Also that his men were supposed sent to slave labor.
Hanley assured him "Sergeant's Moffitt and Troy filled me in on the whole thing.
If anything comes up about it your unit will be exonerated.
When we get to America we'll straighten out your paperwork and send you home.
We're also going to try to find out about your men."
Hanley had seen Nazi criminals escape justice by claiming knowledge of rocketry and
other subjects the British and American intelligence were interested in.
As far as he was concerned Dietrich aided Allied soldiers for humanitarian purposes and was deserving of their protection.
Dietrich felt somewhat better.
Hanley was obviously a fine officer and would be a man of his word.
They had lunch then before Hanley left he said, " Troy and Moffitt have been asking about you.
Would you object to a visit from them?"
"Certainly not!" Dietrich laghfed, "I am very grateful to the sergeants for everything.
Tell them to visit anytime."
Hadley left the cabin hoping he'd helped the German.
He didn't want to tell him he'd seen plenty of American officers that were abusive to the men under them.
Ones he suspected had executed prisoners that were "inconvenient."
The Allies hadn't come thru the war innocent of crimes either.
He'd gladly have testified against these perpetrators.
But with no evidence such incidents would be swept under the rug since the war was over.
He even had to defend his squad members against abusive officers as he was now.
The men had complained about the tone of of their debriefings.
The questioning had crossed over into harassment.
Something about the men having fallen into Soviet hands made the intelligence men aggressive.
It didn't help that Saunders and Kirby lost patients and started giving smart ass answers to their ridiculous questions.
Hanley confronted the agents shouting "These men have been through hell, I'll not have you questioning their patriotism!"
Hadley was from an influential family and had no intention of remaining in the military.
There was nothing they could do to intimidate him.
He was also well over six feet tall and could be menacing when angry. After his tirade they backed off.
The Rat Patrol sergeants reported directly to Washington by radio code and were exempt from questioning.
They did however pick the lock of the ships personnel office.
Using falsified documents they made it appear that Dietrich was aboard the ship from the outset of the journey.
He became an interpreter which would explain his accent if anyone should notice.
Troy and Moffitt were field intelligence commandos, much different from "Desk" agents.
The Sergeants could have hidden an elephant on the ship if they wished.
They visited Dietrich to inform him he could walk out on the deck now, as long as he kept to the cover story they fabricated for him.
They brought all their lunches, some items from the ship commissary and bottles of wine Hanley had given out.
Dietrich looked more like his old self cleaned up, accept wearing an American uniform.
He was was welcoming and glad for the company.
The men sat around the table eating their lunches.
When the silence became uncomfortable Troy decided to just cut to the chase.
"I'm really sorry I shot you, It all happened so fast."
Dietrich smiled sardonically.
"You should think nothing of it Sergeant Troy. Had you not shot me I would have most certainly run you down.
It would have left you with a much less survivable injury."
Dietrich never took being shot personally.
They had gone to maximum effort to kill one and other over those two years.
He couldn't explain to himself why he survived them or the Russians while so many others hadn't.
The three toasted the end of the war, glad the were no longer enemy's.
