Chapter 2
Corporal Langenscheidt led Hogan and Carter through the Kommandant's outer office and into the empty inner office. During the walk through the camp, Hogan noticed that the Corporal was silent. He did not attempt to converse with the prisoners as he normally would.
When they reached the Kommandant's office, Klink was seated behind his desk organizing some paperwork. He was wearing his uniform jacket, but Hogan could see that he had his pajamas on underneath. When they entered the room, Klink rose from his desk and with his riding crop motioned the prisoners to a spot in front of it.
"Hi Kommandant!" Hogan said brightly. "You're up late tonight." He was hoping that he could take control of this situation, and he and Carter could then go back to the barracks.
Klink met the greeting with an icy stare at the American officer. "For your information, Colonel Hogan, I was not planning to be up late," Klink replied. "And you know how much I dislike having my plans disrupted."
Hogan was about to make a comeback remark, but was cut off by Klink before he could open his mouth.
"Since you have already disturbed my sleep, maybe you would like to tell me what you were doing outside of the camp," Klink requested.
Hogan gave the commandant one of his boyish smiles. "It seemed like such a nice night for a walk," he replied.
Klink continued to give Hogan the icy stare. "I will warn you only this once that I am not in the mood for your sarcastic remarks," Klink responded. "Now, I see that you have brought us back a new prisoner for our collection." He turned to Carter and asked, "And what is your name?"
Carter was confused and looked over at Hogan. Hogan gave a slight shrug to show that he was just as confused.
When Carter didn't answer right away, Klink began to get impatient. "I asked you your name!" he said testily.
"Sergeant Carter sir," Carter replied. "You know that."
"How would I know that when you just arrived in my office," Klink replied frostily. "And maybe you would like to tell me just how you come to be in my office, with Colonel Hogan, at this time of night."
"I was out taking a walk with Colonel Hogan," Carter replied with a small smile. The ferocity of Klink's response wiped the smile from Carter's face.
"That will be quite enough!" Klink bellowed. "Sergeant Carter, you now find yourself a prisoner in Luft Stalag 13 which, for your information, is the toughest POW camp in all of Germany. There has never been a successful escape from this camp, and as long as I am in charge, there will never be one." Klink looked over at Hogan. "Colonel Hogan, I expected you to realize that by now."
Hogan resisted the urge to reply. He had been studying Klink as he had been talking to Carter. There was something different about Klink tonight, and he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Klink turned his attention back to Carter. "This will be your home for the duration of this war," Klink continued to explain. "You will do well to remember where you are."
"But if you forget, the old Bald Eagle of Stalag 13 will be sure to remind you," Hogan retorted. He still didn't know what was going on, but he was getting tired of simply being a spectator. He immediately regretted his remark.
Klink slammed his riding crop down on his desk so hard that the force of impact made Hogan physically jump backwards. "Enough!" shouted Klink. The Kommandant walked around the desk and stood in front of Hogan.
Hogan met Klink's stare with one of his own. What has gotten into Klink tonight? Sure, we were caught outside the fence, but he's never been this tough before. And what's with the new prisoner treatment of Carter? Klink knows that Carter has been in this camp for a while already. As Hogan stared at Klink, he could see none of the normal insecurities that he had always seen. This was the same man, but this was not the same Wilhelm Klink.
"Colonel Hogan, up to this point, I have only been contemplating punishment for you," Klink said coldly. "But if I hear one more remark like that from you, every man in your barracks will be punished. Do I make myself clear?"
Hogan took a nervous swallow. No, this was not the same Wilhelm Klink. "Yes sir," he replied. "Perfectly clear."
Klink returned his attention to Carter, who had been visibly shaken by the exchange between Klink and Hogan. "Now then Sergeant Carter," he said. "What unit were you with and where were you stationed?"
Carter gulped. He was as scared as he had been on the day he had been shot down. On that day, he did not know what to expect from his captors. Now, seeing how Klink had talked to Hogan, he no longer knew what to expect from his Kommandant. He straightened to attention. "Carter, Andrew J.," he began to recite. "Sergeant, United States Army Air Corps. Serial number …"
Klink waved him to silence. "Tonight is not the time for that," he said absently. "We will question you tomorrow." Klink returned to his chair and sat down. "Normally, you would be sent to a Dulag to be interrogated and processed and then shipped out to a Luft Stalag. But since you are here, and this is Stalag 13, I am sure that Berlin will have no objections to that being done here. You will spend tonight in the cooler and then be assigned to a barracks after you are processed in the morning."
Klink then turned his attention to Hogan. "And as for you, Colonel Hogan," he said. "You will spend the next five days in solitary where you will hopefully remember that no one ever escapes from Stalag 13."
Hogan was stunned. Sure, Klink was always threatening thirty days in the cooler for one thing or another. But Hogan had usually been able to talk him out of following through. But Klink had never before threatened solitary for a simple escape attempt – especially when there were no roll calls missed. Tonight, Hogan sensed that he had better not tempt fate by trying to talk Klink out of throwing him into solitary. He was likely to find himself locked up for ten days.
Klink stood. "Corporal, take Colonel Hogan to the solitary confinement cell," Klink said to Langenscheidt. "He is to be released in five days time. And take Sergeant Carter to the cooler for the night. Have Sergeant Schultz bring him to my office for questioning at 0800 hours tomorrow morning."
Langenscheidt snapped to attention and gave a crisp salute. "Jawohl!" he replied.
"Kommandant, request permission to be present when Sergeant Carter is questioned tomorrow," Hogan said. He didn't understand why Carter had to be questioned, but if Klink was going to play the game, then he was determined to also play.
"Request denied," Klink replied without looking up from his paperwork.
"But Kommandant, the Geneva Convention …" Hogan began.
"I said request denied!" Klink said loudly. "Corporal, take them away!"
Hogan blinked in disbelief. Klink had always relented when Hogan mentioned the Geneva Convention. But tonight, Klink seemed not to care.
Langenscheidt gave another salute, and opened the office door. He motioned Hogan and Carter out of the office and shut the door behind them.
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Carter was waiting when Schultz came to the cooler to escort him to Klink's office. He watched the sergeant walk up to the cell and immediately noticed a difference in his demeanor.
"You must be Sergeant Carter," Schultz said, sticking the key into the lock.
"Yeah, Schultzie," Carter replied. "It's me."
Schultz was opening the door when he heard Carter speak. He stopped and stared at Carter. "It is Sergeant Schultz to you," he replied. "And you should not forget that."
Carter was surprised at the way Schultz had answered him. As long as he had known the German sergeant, he had always been pleasant and jolly. "But Schultz," he began, then stopped and checked himself when he saw the glare from Schultz. "I mean Sergeant Schultz. I've always called you Schultzie as long as I have known you."
"Considering that we have known each other roughly thirty seconds, that is not surprising," Schultz commented. "But from this point onward, you will refer to me as Sergeant Schultz." Schultz put extra emphasis on his name, as if to drive his point home. "Now, you will come with me for a nice visit with our Kommandant." Schultz stopped Carter from leaving the cell and added, "And I would strongly suggest that you address him properly." Schultz moved away from the cell entrance and let Carter pass through.
Carter followed Schultz to the Kommandant's office and spent most of the morning there reciting his name, rank and serial number. Klink was very persistent in asking what unit he belonged to, where it was stationed and what their objective was when he was shot down. He was very confused by the whole ordeal. He couldn't figure out why both Klink and Schultz were acting as if they did not know him. He figured that it was some sort of a game to trick him into revealing information, but it was so unlike both of them to be that devious. He was determined to play along the best he could. Maybe Newkirk, Kinch or LeBeau would know what was going on.
Schultz appeared again to escort Carter to his barracks assignment. "You are being assigned to Barracks 2, Sergeant Carter," Schultz said as they left the Kommandant's office. "That is Colonel Hogan's barracks and I am the barracks guard. I would suggest that you do not cause any trouble."
"Why would I cause any trouble, Schultz?" Carter asked and then quickly added, "Sergeant Schultz."
"It has been my experience that new prisoners will cause trouble and think they might be able to escape from here," Schultz replied. "You must realize that there is a good reason why there has never been a successful escape from this camp."
"I'll say there is," Carter muttered under his breath. Out loud he said, "I can't wait to get back to the old barracks and see the rest of the gang."
Schultz looked over at Carter as they walked. "Why do you persist in talking as if you have been here before?" he asked. "If you had been here, I would know you and you wouldn't have been outside of the compound last night."
"Oh yeah," Carter said. It looks like Schultz is still playing this game, so I'd better watch what I say around him. "I keep forgetting," he said, hoping that would satisfy the German.
As they approached Barracks 2, Carter noticed Newkirk walking towards them from the side. Carter turned to greet him just as he brushed up against him. There was a moment of confusion as Newkirk mumbled apologies and Schultz turned to see what was going on. Before Schultz could get angry, Newkirk walked away, Carter stared after him. I can't believe it. Newkirk frisked me just as the does with all the newcomers. He was checking me out. What is going on around here!
When they entered the barracks, Carter looked around and saw Kinch and LeBeau sitting at the large table in the middle of the room. Newkirk had entered ahead of them and was climbing into his top bunk.
"Hi guys!" Carter said happily. "I'm back." He was greeted by silent stares from the men in the barracks.
Schultz walked up to Newkirk. "Corporal Newkirk, since Colonel Hogan is in solitary confinement for the next five days, I will deliver this new prisoner to you," he said. "This is Sergeant Andrew Carter. I leave it to you to make sure that I do not have any troubles form him."
"Yes, Sergeant Schultz," Newkirk replied. "I will see to it."
"That is good," Schultz replied crisply. Then he lowered his voice before continuing. "I think there is something wrong with him. He seems to want to believe that he has been here before." Carter saw Schultz take his finger and make circles next to his head. Schultz thinks I am crazy? This is whole situation is nuts!
As Schultz turned to leave the barracks, Newkirk jumped down from his bunk and walked over to Carter. "Greetings mate," he said, extending his hand. Carter took it and shook it automatically. "I'm Corporal Peter Newkirk of the R.A.F." Newkirk said.
Carter looked at his friend in disbelief. "Newkirk, it's me – Carter!" he exclaimed. "Quit kidding around!" He looked over at Kinch and LeBeau. Neither of them was smiling. He looked back at Newkirk and for the first time noticed that he did not see the mirth that was normally in his friends eyes. Whatever was going on here, Newkirk actually believed that he didn't know who Carter was.
Carter swallowed nervously. He was starting to get scared. Nothing was the way it was supposed to be, and the only person he could think of that might have a clue was locked up in solitary confinement. He decided that since everyone thought he was a new prisoner, he'd better act like one. "Sorry," he said timidly. "You remind me of someone that I had been stationed with before coming here."
Newkirk nodded, accepting his apology. "That's okay, mate," he replied. "Things are a little nerve racking when you first become a prisoner." Newkirk motioned over to the table. "This is Corporal Louis LeBeau. He's French, in case you couldn't tell from his name. And this is Sergeant James Kinchloe. He's one of you."
"He's a little light to me one of mine," Kinch replied from the table.
"I meant American," Newkirk corrected. He pointed over to the bottom bunk by the door. "That will be your bunk," he said.
Carter nodded. Of course it's my bunk. It has always been my bunk.
"Now, since you are new here, you will be very popular for a while," Newkirk continued. "After all, you have something that we all want." Seeing Carter's look of confusion, he added, "News, mate. You have news from the outside."
Carter quickly shook his head. "No, I don't know anything," he replied.
Newkirk's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean you don't know anything?" he asked suspiciously.
It took Carter a second to realize the implications of that question. Since he was newly captured, he was bound to know what was going on back in England. If he didn't know anything, they would suspect that he was a German plant.
Think fast Andrew. There's got to be some reason why you don't know what's going on. "What I mean is that I wasn't just shot down recently," he said as he sat down on his bunk. He felt all eyes in the barracks stare down at him. "I have been a prisoner in Stalag 17B for the past year until I escaped." He saw Newkirk's eyes widen, and wondered if he had made a mistake by selecting that camp number.
"You escaped from Stalag 17B?" Newkirk asked. Carter nodded tentatively.
"But that is all the way in Austria!" Kinch exclaimed.
"It is?" Carter asked. He knew he had heard of the camp before, but never was aware of its location "Oh, yes, it is."
"Why didn't you head towards Switzerland from there?" LeBeau asked.
Carter was beginning to sweat – his one lie was leading to a lot of questions that he had to answer or his friends would refuse to trust him. I have to keep this lie going until I can talk to Colonel Hogan. But what am I going to say? I'm going to have to make an entire escape story up. Forgive me Mom. I know you told me never to lie, but I think this would qualify for special circumstances.
"I did start towards Switzerland," Carter replied. "But I had to head north to avoid some German troops in the area. After that, I got lost and wandered around trying to remain undetected." Carter was relieved when the men seemed to accept that explanation.
"Don't let Kommandant Klink know that you escaped from another camp," LeBeau suggested. "He would put you in solitary just as a lesson not to try it here."
"I didn't tell Klink anything but my name, rank and serial number," Carter replied.
"And I have another bit of advice for you, mate," Newkirk said. "Always refer to him as Kommandant Klink, or just Kommandant. If you call him Klink, you will regret it."
Carter nodded solemnly.
For the rest of the day, Carter tried to fit in and act as a new prisoner would. He knew everyone in the barracks, and most everyone in the camp, but nobody acted as if they knew him. In addition, everyone acted very differently. The Germans acted tough, and the prisoners were not as happy as they were normally. It was as if they had resigned themselves to being locked in this camp until the end of the war.
After the noon roll call, Schultz returned to the barracks bringing Carter a blanket and Red Cross package. Newkirk warned Carter to hang onto the contents of the package because there would be only one per week. Newkirk then proceeded to try to coax him into a card game for his cigarettes.
It was a long day, and by the time lights-out rolled around, Carter had neither learned why nobody recognized him nor found out much about camp operations.
As he lay in his bunk, listening to the snores of the other prisoners in the barracks, Carter tried to make some sense of the situation he found himself in. It seemed that the entire world had changed after he and Colonel Hogan left the camp last night, and he was sure that he didn't like the changes. He tossed and turned restlessly and wondered what Colonel Hogan was thinking about in the solitary confinement cell. He wondered if the Colonel was as scared and confused as he was, or if he would even be able to make things go back to the way they were.
Carter also wondered if he could bear to remain in this camp as a normal prisoner. Then he did something that he had not done in a long time, he clasped his hands together and began to pray … Dear God. It's me Andrew. I know it's been a long time since I've talked to you, and I feel real bad about that. I could tell you that I've been too busy, but you will know that I am lying. I feel real bad about having to lie to the guys today, but for some reason they don't seem to know who I am. God – what is happening? Why have you changed things around? Is it something I did wrong? Is this payment for all of the things – and people – that I have destroyed while being a prisoner? I know that sometimes I get a little carried away with that, but I was only doing what I can to help put an end to the war. Carter gave a resigned sigh. God, I know you don't ever answer me back, but this is one time that I wish you could just tell me what is going on.
Carter rolled over and faced the outside wall of the barracks. He huddled up under the blanket and tried not to shiver. He was aware of his tears, but there was nothing he could do to stop them. Why? he thought as he drifted off to sleep.