Chapter 14---To Protect a Colonel
Kinch sat at the radio in the tunnel while Baker was asleep on the cot Kinch kept in the radio room when he was monitoring the radio at night. But this time, Kinch wasn't really paying much attention to the radio. His mind was somewhere else. Kinch removed the headset and threw it angrily on the table and pinched the bridge of his nose. He couldn't believe this was happening again to the Colonel. His commanding officer and friend.
He remembered the agony he endured when Hogan had been shot by Williams when he returned to Stalag 13 after escaping from an English prison. The Colonel escaped bleeding to death when one of two bullets narrowly missed severing his aorta. Then came the worse nightmare of all according to Kinch. The shooting and believed death of Hogan by Freitag. Kinch rubbed his eyes with both hands. He would never, ever forget that night as long as he lived.
He remembered watching through the window of Klink's office when Freitag gunned down the Colonel in cold blood and was about to put a bullet in his head when he was interrupted by his own aide. Kinch recalled painfully visiting Hogan in the hospital when the Colonel was in a coma with no guarantee of ever coming out of it. He couldn't go through anything like either of those two events again. Nor did he ever intend to see the Colonel suffer again like that or suffer the pain of his injuries. I'm sorry, Colonel, Kinch told himself, but I will not allow you to sacrifice yourself or possibly get killed over Metzger. I can't and I won't.
Getting up from his seat, Kinch shook Baker awake. A bit groggy, the young sergeant looked up at Kinch.
"Something wrong, Kinch?" he asked. "What's happened?" Baker sat up on the cot, yawning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"No problems, Baker," Kinch answered with a faint smile. "I just need you to monitor the radio for a few minutes. There's something I have to do."
Baker got to his feet. "Sure, no problem. Take your time." He sat down at the radio and put on the headset. He didn't pay attention when Kinch took off in the direction of where the men kept their cache of weapons.
LeBeau was in another part of the tunnel making repairs on one of the German uniforms that had been worn. He glanced at the three others still on the table awaiting repairs. After about two or three minutes, LeBeau stuck his sewing needle in the uniform jacket and tossed it onto the table. He leaned forward on the table and with one hand, drew imaginary circles on the tabletop. He couldn't concentrate. Not after Hogan's decision in which he himself would dispose of Metzger, possibly sacrificing himself in the process. A frown appeared on the little Frenchman's face.
"You cannot sacrifice yourself, mon Colonel," he said softly to the open air. "We need you. Nobody can replace you." He rubbed his eyes as tears began to form and his lower lip trembled as painful memories came back to him.
LeBeau recalled how it broke his heart when he and the others had witnessed the Colonel's shooting by Freitag that horrible night. They all believed the Colonel was dead. The last time LeBeau had felt his heart break as it did that night was when the Krauts had invaded his beloved homeland of France.
And then when they visited the Colonel in the hospital while he was in a coma, not knowing if he would ever come back to them. Then earlier, there was when Williams had escaped from an English prison and Hogan came close to dying after being shot by the former POW. It was only fortunate that both of Williams' shots narrowly missed vital organs. LeBeau was never so frightened for Hogan as he had been that night. So afraid he would lose the Colonel. Another casualty to be chalked up to the war.
"Filthy Bosche!!!" LeBeau spat as he slammed a fist down on the table. "I will not allow you to sacrifice yourself for us, mon Colonel," he said. Le Krauts degoutant a pris ma patrie. Je ne leur permettrai pas de vous prendre aussi (1), LeBeau told himself bitterly. It will not happen again! I will not allow it! We need you here!
LeBeau had decided what had to be done now. It would be up to him. He could be replaced if anything happened to him because of what he planned. But Colonel Hogan could not be replaced. He knew without Hogan there would be no operation and that if the Colonel was allowed to do what he planned, there would be nothing left. Pursing his lips, LeBeau got to his feet and headed in the direction of where he knew they kept their weapons. He paused when he saw Kinch leaving the same room and quickly ducked behind a wall before the radio man could see him. When Kinch was out of sight, LeBeau entered the weapons room.
Up in the barracks, Carter sat on his bunk with his legs drawn up, his arms wrapped around his legs. He was concerned. Concerned and frightened. Concerned about Colonel Hogan and also frightened about what might happen to him if he went through with his plan to kill Metzger. Carter leaned his head back against the bedposts as the memories came flooding back of past incidents.
Carter shuddered when he recalled one of his explosive devices going off in the tunnels nearly killing him and the Colonel. And while he escaped miraculously, the Colonel ended up being paralyzed below the waist. And it was only recently that the Colonel had regained the full use of his legs. And although the Colonel had explained to him that it wasn't his fault, there were still moments when Carter was a bit apprehensive when he made explosives, but he would never tell the Colonel. The Colonel depended on him and he wouldn't ever let him down. Not Colonel Hogan. Not the man he admired more than any man he had ever known in his entire life. And Carter didn't really know that many people being as shy as he was.
Carter recalled when he first was asked by Hogan to join his unit. He was so nervous and scared, especially of the American officer who was so cocky, so sure of himself and, Carter believed, could talk anybody out of anything with his golden tongue. Carter was in awe of how Hogan could manipulate Klink. But the American Colonel took the young sergeant under his wing, so to speak, and gave him the confidence Carter lacked and always encouraged him whenever necessary. Slowly, Carter began to feel like a part of Hogan's team and not just a 'third wheel.' He owed a lot to Hogan and would do anything for him and protect him. He felt he owed him.
The young sergeant remembered when Jack Williams escaped from England and returned to Germany, and ended up shooting the Colonel, nearly killing him. And then there was the incident with Freitag. Carter was positive the Colonel had been killed and it broke his heart. He never knew anything could be so painful. The pain he felt at that moment was even worse than when his girlfriend back home dumped him while he was a POW(2). Carter recalled how thrilled he was when they had found out the Colonel was still alive. But then came the news he was in a coma and nobody knew whether or not he would wake up. Carter had never been so frightened at that exact moment. So frightened they would lose the Colonel one way or the other.
I can't let that happen again, Colonel, Carter told himself. I can't let you get hurt again, or worse. I couldn't handle it if anything happened to you. We need you here. I need you. Making up his mind, Carter slowly got to his feet and walked over to his footlocker and knelt down in front of it. Opening it, he rummaged around inside until he found what he was looking for: a hardcover book. Opening the front cover he stared at the luger nestled inside where the pages had been cut out in the center. Carter removed the weapon and, making sure it was fully loaded, closed the book and dropped it back in his footlocker and closed it. He tucked the luger inside his inner jacket pocket.
Newkirk sat on the bench outside the barracks smoking a cigarette. He still couldn't get over what Colonel Hogan planned to do, much less that he would do it himself; especially after that incident with Freitag. Newkirk would never forget that night as long as he lived. He would never forget watching Freitag gun down the Colonel and then stand over him with his gun aimed at Hogan's head. Nor could he ever forget jack Williams returning to Stalag 13 and gunning down the Colonel in his attempt at getting revenge on Hogan. But the worst, Newkirk recalled, was after Freitag shooting the Colonel, that Hogan lingered for days in a coma with no assurances he would ever come out of it. Blimey, Gov'nor, you really had me scared then, Newkirk thought. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come back to us.
The Englander took a long drag on his cigarette as he gazed out over the compound. He recalled the explosion in the tunnel when one of Carter's detonation devices went off and both he and Hogan were buried. Carter somehow escaped with only a cut on his head fortunately. But Hogan ended up paraylzed below the waist. Newkirk remembered the fear that Hogan would be repatriated because of his condition. And without Hogan, the operation was as good as over according to Newkirk, because nobody could take the Colonel's place.
Newkirk chuckled. He recalled the first time he ever met the American officer. He had served under several officers and to Newkirk, not one of them was worth the price of admission to a movie. Besides, he had no use for officers. But Hogan proved to be different from the others. The Colonel was cocky, self-assured, definitely intelligent, and had a golden tongue. And his ability to think on his feet amazed the Englander. In less than two years, Hogan had created and organized their entire tunnel system and turned it into the success it now was. And he protected his men. They were important to him. Newkirk grew to like and respect Hogan and when he became a member of Hogan's unit, he swore he would always watch the Colonel's back. Without you, Gov'nor, there's no need to even continue the bloody operation. I don't know if I'd even want to. In fact, there is no operation without you, Colonel. And I'll be damned if I'm gonna let Metzger hurt you again or have you pay for killin' him. I should have killed that bloody bastard when I had the chance.
Getting to his feet, Newkirk tossed his cigarette on the ground and crushed it with his foot. He decided to go back inside the barracks. But before he did, he took one last look around the compound. When he was certain nobody was paying him any attention, Newkirk glanced inside his jacket at the pistol he had removed from the hidden compartment inside one of the wooden benches in the barracks after making certain it was fully loaded.
"Metzger won't hurt you again, Colonel," Newkirk said softly to the air around him. "I can promise you that. Not again he won't." He then opened the barracks door and went inside.
(1) "The filthy Krauts have taken my homeland. I will not allow them to take you too."
(2) Reference to Carter's girlfriend back home dumping him is from Season One entitled REQUEST PERMISSION TO ESCAPE.