A/N-I am start this chapter on a perfect day! Memorial Day! This chapter is written in honor of all those men and women who have died for us to have the freedom to sit down in front of a laptop and write 'Sherman reads Black Beauty' or whatever we want.

I am trying to be historically accurate as possible but if I make a mistake, please don't burn me at the stake. And after you read, please leave a note telling me what you think!

Sherman sat in front of the television set and he had the news on. You could see the reporter who sat behind a huge desk and he said, 'Yesterday, on January 27th, 1965 , General Khanh seized control of South Vietnam and on the same day, President Lyndon Johnson's aides, National Security advisor McGeorge Bundy and Defense Secretary, Robert McNamara; sent a memo to the President stating that limited military Implement is not succeeding, and that the United States has reached a fork in the road, we must either escalate in the war or withdraw. This is Jeffrey Daniels at CBS.'

Sherman clicks off the television set and sat back and looked out the window and the first thing he sees in the red, white and blue American flag flying majestically atop the twenty-foot pole. He watches the fluffy white clouds drifting by on that cold January day and he saw Margaret and Hawkeye coming up the walk with baby Sherman Daniel in a baby Moses woven basket. The baby has a thick blanket closely snuggled in over so the cold wind doesn't get to Daniel. Hawkeye than rang the doorbell and Mildred practically flew to the door and when she opened it, she squealed and Hawkeye hugs her and she hugs Margaret then takes the blanket off the baby, gently picks up the two month old baby then Misty and Kim come bounding in to see their baby "Cousin".

Mildred asked Misty if she wanted to hold the baby and Misty shook her head with enthusiasm then Margaret said, "I remember when people used to be excited to see us."

Mildred laughed and Sherman got up and went over and shook Hawkeye's hand then he said, "Let's go into the den. Let the women giggle and fawn while we talk." Hawkeye nodded his head then said as he followed Sherman into the den, "Did I tell you I got letter from B.J.?" Sherman turned his head and said, "No" then he opened the door and they went in the warm and handsome room then Hawkeye said, "Yes, he thinks he found a place to dry out his liver or hang out his liver, I never could read his writing; he writes like a doctor." Sherman chuckles then he motioned for Hawkeye to take the chair, then he sat down in the chair then he asked Hawkeye,

"I never did really ask you Hawkeye but what is the stuck in your gut like a claw on an eagle reason why you dislike the Army so?"

This catches Hawkeye's full attention and he sat up straighter and he said,

"It's not that I dislike, well, yes, I do; I feel the Army is intrusive , intrusive to people's live; those in the army and those who are not." Sherman nodded his head and stood up and walked over to the wooden bookcase on the wall and he asked Hawkeye a question, "Did I ever tell you why I got in the Army?" Hawkeye thinks on that then said, "No, I know you lied about your age to get into WW 1 so I assumed you just...stayed" Sherman chuckled again and he gets an aged, yellow envelope then went back to his chair and sat down then he asked, "You remember those fellows I once told you about that night in my tent when we had that mortgage burning party?"

Hawkeye smiled at the memory and he put his right ankle on his left knee than said, "Yes, that was a great night". Sherman nodded his head then said in a faraway voice, "Yes, Ryan, Herman, Mark and Steve...4 of the best friends..." Then almost as quickly as he remembered, he comes back to the present and he said, "They were my best friends but did I ever tell you about Ginger, the girl we rescued in the war ?" Hawk shakes his head no then Sherman continues,

"Well, we did...she was just wondering the streets, had run away from a physical abuse situation, she didn't have any family to speak of so we just sort of adopted her...I was beginning to wonder which one of us she would go home with after the war since she stayed with us like a newborn calf to its momma but then she got sick. We found a nun to come take care of us and she took Ginger to a orphanege..well, the war ended and we went home, minus Ryan. Well, we stayed in touch with Ginger through the years but then..."

Hawkeye notices the wistfulness in his voice and asked softly, "What?" Sherman looked at him then sat back and told him, "Most people think the war started on December 8, 1941 and that might have been the day we got involved but for Ginger the war really started before then..."

Sherman then goes back in time telling him, 'Evy was 9 years old and I was in my 8th year of practice, things were going good then one day in late October, Evy came home crying.

I heard the screen door open then the kitchen door and Mildred and I saw our little Evy standing there with streaks of tears down her little cheeks, Mildred, like any mother; goes over to her and wipes her cheeks with her pink apron with tiny white dots on it, I remember Mildred kissing the top of Evy's head like it was yesterday. I was sitting in my nice,comfortable chair and when I saw her crying, my blood just boiled over like hot water boiling chicken and I hopped up and Mildred asked, "What's wrong child?"

Evy sniffled some more and she had to catch her breath then she said, "You k-know how we are supposed to write about men who fought in the wars and, and I was going to write about Sgt. Major Ronald Butts?" I look at Mildred and she looked at me and then Evy went on, "Ernest Fields told me I couldn't do it since Major Butts was a ..." I could tell Evy was uncomfortable saying the word so I said it, "He was black?" Evy nodded her head then Mildred asked a question, "But he didn't say black did he?" Evy nodded her head with the tears still flowing and she put her arms around her mother and cried some more than I asked, "Did your teacher say you couldn't write about him?"

Mildred gave her one of my handkerchiefs for her to blow her nose and wipe her face then said, "No, she said that I could write about anybody." "Then you write about Sgt. Major Ronald Butts, he was a good man who did a lot of good for this state, your mom and I were there the day they buried him." Evy stopped crying for a moment and she looked up at the two most important people in her life and she asked, "You were?" Mildred nodded her head and I tell her, "Yes, and there was a lot of people there, black and white."

Just then the tears stopped and Evy jutted out her chin and she very plainly said, "I am going to write the best paper on Major Butts that I can! And NOBODY will tell me I can't do anything ever again!" Evy regroup her school books in her arms and she goes to her room, slamming the door and we didn't even mind, because we knew she was mad at Ernest and not us and her rage would come out in her school work."

Back in January of 1965-

Sherman stood up to go stock the fire in the little heater than Hawkeye leans forward and asks, "That was stupid of that boy , but that isn't what got you in the Army was it?" Sherman shook his head then said, "No but it got my gears going, I can tell you that."

1948-

Later that night, as we were getting ready for bed, I was putting on my pajamas and Mildred was sitting at her parlour and brushing her hair and she asked me, "Sherman, should we make her write that paper if the kids are going to make fun of her?" I shake my head and I told her, "We're not making her do anything baby, she's doing it all on her own like a colt leaving her momma and we have to teach her not to give into prejudice, this won't be the first time she'll face it. I've come across it in my life and just because I'm white doesn't mean it doesn't hurt when your friends face it." Mildred nodded her head and kissed me goodnight and we got in the bed and turned off the light and all I could see in the pitch darkness was my baby girl crying.

The next morning, I got up and ate breakfast and told Mildred I had to go run an errand before I went into the office, when in truth I went to Ernest Field Senior's hardware store..."

Hawkeye got a huge grin on his face that would equal a child on Christmas morning and he listens.

"I walked into that store with my spanking brand new grey pin stripe suit and a matching grey hat. I looked around, didn't see anybody behind the counter so I put my hand on that little bell people put by the cash register and made sure Ernest heard me. He came out and saw me all dapper up and he took a gulp but he came to me smiling just like a fresh penny. "What can I do for you Sherman?"

I looked at the man and sized him up, he was a small man really, about a good five inches than myself and I said in a authorize voice, "First thing is you can quit calling me Sherman, we ain't friends and we're not going to be as long as your boy keeps trying to bully my girl." Well, he started choking and gagging on his words and spitting and sputtering then he said in a weak voice,"Well, I don't know what you are talking about."

I just leaned in closer to him and I said, "OH, I think you do but if a bee didn't get in your ear, your boy told my girl that she couldn't write her little paper honoring a United States citizen in the Army; Sgt. Major Ronald Butts because he was in your sons terms, a 'nigger'. Now, first, that man did more for the whites and the blacks than you can count on your finger and in the second place, ain't nobody going to tell me, my wife or my girl what we can and can't do; that is not what I fought in the war for. Finally, if you or your son comes crawling around anything of mine, I'll strike back at you like a snake in the middle of a corn field, you understand?"

Fields just slowly shook his head and little beads of sweat popped out. I turned and left and saw Mrs. Drapper, a neighbor from down the street at that time, she told me later that after I left; Fields was muttering about what a nigger loving quack doctor I was..she said she just dropped the plunger she was holding and turned around and left. She and her husband were Field's best costumers but they never came back again.

Well, time went on and Evy did her paper and Mildred and I were proud as peacocks in full bloom. Well, we both kept getting letters in the meantime, She was getting letters from her sisters back in Hannibal telling her how bad her mother was getting, her health had been on a slow decline since Mildred's father died and I was getting letters from Ginger, her letters were getting more frequent and she was letting me know what was happening in Europe. Steve was telling me some things also since he lived in Scotland.

Hitler...Mussolini...Ginger was trying to keep moving around because of the threat from Hitler but it was hard in those days and Ginger was a jew, she had personally seen the horrors that her people had to endure Hawkeye and November 30, 1941 was the last letter I got from her in that time. At first I wasn't worried but being a former military guy I knew possibly what was going on but at that time I wasn't sure what I could do.

Well, we decided to go take a trip back home to check Mildred's mother and we were afraid of what we would find but it really wasn't that bad. We walked into the house and the first thing we saw was her mother holding a picture of her late husband, she was standing by the fireplace. Mildred's dad was in full World War One uniform, the flag was proudly standing in the background. Mildred and her mother looked at each other and hugged then her mother looked at the picture then asked, "Wasn't your father handsome in his uniform?"

Tears came to Mildred's eyes then she shook her head, Evy came running in and she said, "Grandma!" Granddaughter and Grandmother hugged then I did a shiver and asked, "Aren't you cold mother?" She nodded her head and said, "Yes, I am but I can't build a fire Sherman so I have to do what I can." Then I said, "One will be made quicker than you can scat!" Just then she said, "Sherman! Not in front of the child! My! Mildred, surely you don't let this man talk like this in front of the child!" I rolled my eyes then Mildred said, "Build the fire Sherman and watch your mouth." "Sigh...yes ma'am." I go to get the logs to start the fire feeling already defeated.

Back in 1965-

Hawkeye just rolls with laughter than Sherman locks his hands and chuckles then continues,

Back in the past

"Well, over the next few days, she told us a dozen handfuls of stories of her husband before World war I and his experiences in the war, had me swelling with pride at the thought of even knowing a man like him. Mildred's father was one of those rare men, he stood proud and strong and he had people listening to him even when he was just going through the ranks. He never did speak much but when he did, you listened. I certainly remembered him wearing his hat and seeing his eyes look at you up and down, sizing you up while you quivered with jelly, at least that's how I felt in those months courting Mildred. So we finally convinced mother to come back and live with us. Well, when we got home, I got letters and phone calls from my friends telling me more about the going ons of Europe then one night on December 8th, the worst thing happened to America, at that time. Pearl Harbor was invaded and nothing was the same. Well, with everything that had happened in the past few months, I went down to reenlist in the army and they were grateful to have me then when they found out I was a surgeon, they put a red carpet in front of me and I went in.

Mildred didn't say anything, she just smiled and put her arms around me and kissed me. Evy cried because her daddy was leaving and Mildred's mother never said a word but I was told that she bragged to everybody about her son-in-law in the Army. I think she was more proud of that than the fact I was a doctor.

I knew the chances were nil to nothing that I could ever help Ginger...you heard about Hitler, how he mutilated the Jews in so many ways...ovens, torture with dogs, gassed showers...the endless ways of murder...How did I not know she was in one of those camps? But I could do my best on my end to help.

Back in 1965-

Sherman then said to Hawkeye, "So if it wasn't for the Army, if we hadn't been 'intrusive' , who knows where we might be?" He silently gets up and puts the letter back in place on the bookcase while he leaves Hawkeye in his thoughts.

Sherman walks out into the hallway and starts to go to the living room when Misty comes up to him and she said, "Grandpa!"

He hugs her then she asked, "Can we go read Grandpa?" He smiles and said, "Sure, let's go."

A BIG SHOUT OUT to all our service men and women!

Sand n' Sable