[A/N] After 4 seasons leading up to the mystery behind Harmon Rabb Sr., I felt cheated. Once Harm Senior's death in Russia was revealed, the elder Rabb was brushed aside. This story takes place well before Season 6, and the magical appearance of Harm's half-brother, Sergeant Sergei Zhukov. There is a bigger story to tell, and along the way we will learn about the early lives of Harm's friends and his family. I hope you stick around.

The regulations dealing with MIAs are complex. My thanks to Melissa from the US Department of Defense, POW/MIA Accounting Agency, for her kind assistance. I'm sure that she had better things to do.


From A Grateful Nation

Chapter 1
A Room With A View

Before leaving Moscow, CIA Chief of Station Ernie McGill informed all parties involved in the search for Harmon Rabb Sr. that they were not to discuss those events until properly debriefed in the Central Intelligence Agency's headquarters in Langley, VA.

The debriefs for Admiral A.J. Chegwidden and CIA Officer Clayton Webb each took under 90 minutes. The debrief for Major Sarah Mackenzie required 6 hours.

At the conclusion of a 10 hour interview, Lt. Commander Harmon Rabb Jr. was instructed to return to Langley the following day.


Thursday. 8 October, 1998
1330 Kilo (Zulu -5)
CIA Headquarters
Langley, Virginia

After spending a second day in the office of the Directorate of Analysis, the analytical branch of the CIA responsible for analyzing intelligence obtained from foreign sources, Harm found that the CIA was only interested in learning details of the Russian Federal Security Service- the newly styled KGB.

No one at Langley gave a damn about his father, Harmon Rabb Sr., who had been listed as MIA since 24 December, 1969.

"To hell with this," announced Harmon Rabb Jr.

Harm reached his limit and demanded to speak to Clayton Webb, whose simple office with its single small window which overlooked the Agency's north parking lot.

Harm was underwhelmed. "I expected you to have a panoramic view of the Potomac," Harm told Webb.

"I'm hoping for better. What's on your mind, Harm?"

"You know damned well why I'm here. I've been spinning my wheels with the ODA for a day and a half and no one will give me a straight answer."

"Try me," said Webb.

"I need to tell my mother that I found my dad. I also need to inform the Department of the Navy that he's no longer MIA."

"I'm sorry, Harm, but you never found evidence of your father being in Russia."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"The Agency has already contacted the DoD and the Department of the Navy and provided them with conclusive evidence that your father died in Vietnam," Webb deadpanned.

"Damn you, Clay. I knew there would be a cover up. You've got your dirty little fingers all over this," Harm shot back.

"You're wrong. Those orders came straight from the Director."

"This is bullshit. You won't get away with it," Harm declared.

"We already have. There are Mortuary Affairs teams active in Vietnam which have been recovering evidence and confirming the deaths of MIA's for several years. You must be aware of that."

"What evidence did they find about my dad?" asked Harm.

"That information is above my pay grade," said Webb.

"Then tell me what you can," Harm demanded.

"We have photos of the wreckage of McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II, Serial Number 150052. Aircraft assigned to USN Squadron VF-111, deployed USS Ticonderoga, Tonkin Gulf. Aircraft call sign- Bad Man One. Aircraft shot down by Surface to Air Missile. Pilot and RIO ejected. Two good chutes observed. Aircraft crashed 17 miles NW of Huu San, Dạng Sơn Province, North Vietnam, 24 December, 1969. Crew status- Radar Intercept Officer: LTJG Gibson, Howard S... Died on impact. Body recovered by USAF 3rd Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Group. Pilot: Lt. Rabb, Harmon D. Sr... MIA."

"That information has been in my dad's file for 29 years. Show me the photos of the aircraft and the crash site."

Webb slid the photos across his desk. The aircraft was clearly an F-4, and based on what Harm had learned about the Phantom, what remained of it could be the J variant.

"These could be photos of any F-4J taken at a crash site anywhere in Vietnam," Harm told Webb.

"But they are not. A technical representative from Boeing, which is McDonnell Douglass successor company, accompanied the Mortuary Affairs team into Vietnam. The Boeing tech-rep positively identified the wreckage using records from McDonnell Douglass' St. Louis factory. The aircraft in those photos is the same one that your father was flying on Christmas Eve, 1969." Webb looked Harm directly in the eye. "That is God's truth."

"My dad's regular aircraft was 150229, but it was undergoing periodic maintenance which was the delayed by the Bob Hope troop visiting the ship on Christmas Eve. That's the reason he was 052 instead of 'Sweet Sarah'."

"Sweet Sarah?" asked Webb.

"My dad named his aircraft after his mother- my grandmother, Sarah Harmon Rabb."

"Well, now I know where the name Harmon came from. I had sometimes wondered about that," said Webb.

"I've wondered where the name Clayton came from," Harm replied.

"Keep right on guessing," said Webb.

"Sarah, my dad's Phantom, brought him through some tough missions. If he'd been flying his own plane that day he would have made it home."

"It might have made a difference. There is no way that we'll ever know," said Webb, who was feeling remorse over what was being done to cover up Harm Senior's capture in Vietnam, and his imprisonment in Russia.

Harm slid the photos across the desk and back to Webb. "How long have you been sitting on this information?"

"From the time that you discovered that book inside USS Hornet last year. The Agency had heard rumors of the book's existence for quite a while."

"So you knew that there were MIAs being held in the Soviet Union," Harm said.

"We had suspicions, but there was no evidence other than intel obtained from NVA prisoners while under interrogation by the Cãnh Sát Dã Chiến. That was the South Vietnamese National Police Field Force, which operated closely with the Agency."

"Which means that they did the torturing for the CIA."

"That's the way that business was done in SE Asia. I grew up in Vietnam, Harm. My father was Chief of Station in Saigon. I saw how things worked first hand."

"That could explain a lot about you."

"It hardly matters. What does matter is that you lost the book to Sokol."

"He took it from me."

"Semantics. Without that book we had nothing concrete."

"And my father?"

"There was no reasonable expectation that he could still be alive after so many years."

"But you had a contingency plan. His wrecked F-4."

"No American had set foot at that crash site since your dad went down on Christmas Eve. It is in a mountainous area and not easily accessible."

"I know. I went to that area of Vietnam when I was 16 and looking for my dad."

"We have a file on that trip," Webb deadpanned.

"I'll just bet that you do," Harm snarled.

Webb couldn't resist. "Tell me, Harm. Does Sarah know about Bian? the Vietnamese girl who served as your guide...and what happened to her?"

"Mac knows none of the details about that trip."

"Really? I thought that you and Sarah had no secrets from each other."

"Oh, you're a smug little bastard."

Webb paid no attention to the insult. "Getting back on point. After you discovered the book, the Agency detailed a Mortuary Affairs team to investigate the crash site."

"What you mean is that they were sent in to compile a cover story. What kinds of sick minds do you have working here at Langley?"

"Attacking the Agency gains you nothing. Your father's imprisonment in Russia can't be released to the public, or to the Department of Defense. So far as the world in concerned, Harmon Rabb Sr. died on 24 December, 1969 in what is now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam."

"More Agency lies," Harm spat.

"Of particular interest to you is that your father's status will be changed from MIA to Killed in Action, and he will be advanced in rank to captain."

Because MIA's aren't considered dead, they are retained on the active duty rolls and remain eligible for regular promotions. While still MIA, Harmon Rabb Senior was promoted to Lieutenant commander and then to full commander, before being retired from the US Navy after 20 years of service.

"I could not care less about his promotion," said Harm, whose father's advancing to captain was justifiably known as a "tombstone promotion."

"I understand your feelings, but your dad earned it. I've told that your dad was being groomed for command of a carrier and would have reached flag rank."

"He would have had a great career. It is time for people to know what happened to him."

Webb frowned and shook his head. "Harm, must you understand that the Russian's aren't thrilled that you managed to track down your father's whereabouts. You raised quite a stink in their Ministry of Defense."

"Because I discovered their cover up?" said Harm.

"No, it's because they got caught. Russians have no qualms about lying, but they hate getting caught. It really upsets them."

"If my dad was in Russia, it means that there may be others. Some of them may still be alive. It's time that they are accounted for."

Webb gave Harm a cold stare. "Russians don't leave trails. Thanks to your little foray, if there were any other POWs still alive in Russia, they're now dead."

Webb's cavalier attitude angered Harm, but it also chilled him to the bone. "That was never my intention."

"Russia is pulling itself apart. The power struggle that you were caught up in between Parlovsky and Sokol is one of hundreds that are taking place. Issues like nuclear and biological weapons proliferation hang in the balance."

"So, where do we go from here?"

"Only Sarah, the Admiral, Ed McGill in Moscow, and you and I know what actually took place in Russia. The Agency wants to keep it that way."

"And if I choose not to abide by that tidy arrangement?" Harm asked in a sarcastic tone.

Webb leaned back in his chair. "The Russians are pissed about that stolen MiG-29. They want your ass on a plate, as well as $11 million for the loss of the aircraft. They'll get the $11 million, the Agency is going to see to that. Whether or not they get you is entirely up to you."

"The Russians should be held accountable."

"Don't speak too fast on the subject of accountability. The Russians have compiled a laundry list of charges against you, including crimes against the Russian people and the state. Harm, one of those charges is terrorism. That carries a death sentence in Russia, or life in prison at hard labor, which in Russia is worse than a death sentence."

"Can I be extradited?"

"The U.S. Senate ratified an extradition treaty with czarist Russia in 1893. The Russians have filed extradition papers based on that treaty."

"Is that treaty valid?"

"The Department of State says no, but the treaty has never been formally abrogated. You don't want to be the one who puts it to the test."

Harm slowly shook his head back and forth. "Clay, I spent decades looking for answers about my father. Giving into pressure now means that those years were wasted."

"You found your father, Harm. That means that you accomplished what you'd set out to do."

"Not in my mind."

"I'm sorry that your father is dead- I really am, but we both know that whatever life your dad lead in Russia was not the life that he wanted. What end is served by dragging this out?"

"My dad deserves better than to have the final years of his life locked away in a file cabinet. I need to speak out for him."

"Where? inside of a closed Russian courtroom? My god, Harm, the only press inside that courtroom will be Russian, and the only news that will be released is that you were convicted of terrorism and will spend what's left of your life in prison. What would that do to your mother?"

"It would kill her." Harm admitted.

Webb discretely slid a small package of tissue across the desk and diverted his eyes for a few seconds.

His eyes now dry, Harm said, "I want to make all of this go away."

"That's the smart move. Once your dad is declared officially dead you can hold a memorial service for him. Lay his memory to rest at Arlington, and with full military honors. Your father deserves that, and you can give it to him."

"If I agree, what happens next?"

"A revised copy of your dad's DD-214 and a Death Certificate will be placed in his permanent file. Copies of each of those documents will be in your hands before noon tomorrow. I will hand deliver them to you at JAG."

"And my mother?"

"Because your mother declared your father dead and then remarried, you are the survivor of record. It will be up to you to inform her of the circumstances of his death."

The declaration of death in absentia was a civil matter which had allowed Patricia Rabb to marry Frank Burnett. As far as the DoD was concerned, Harmon Rabb Sr. remained MIA until a preponderance of evidence proved otherwise. The CIA was going to provide that evidence. Once they did, the DoD would close the case and list Harmon Rabb Senior as Killed In Action.

"What story do I tell my mother about my trip to Russia?" Harm asked.

"Tell her that Russia was a wild goose chase. After all, this wasn't your first."

"Webb, you're a miserable son of a bitch," Harm spat.

"Harm, I don't like this any more than you do, but the situation in Russia is fluid. Yeltsin appears to be on his way out. A new government may prove more receptive to a full disclosure of their records. If that happens, all bets are off."

"What will the story be then?"

"If further details come to light, we'll deal with them as they happen. That's why Mortuary Affairs reports include a codicil."

"In case you have to start backpedaling," said Harm.

"Let's not worry about what might happen down the road and remain focused on what is happening right now. You wanted all of this to go away. I served in the Army Adjutant General's Corps, which means that I know how to deal with the paperwork." Webb looked Harm straight in the eye. "What will it be?"

For almost thirty years the uncertainty of his father's fate had been gnawing away at Harm. It had driven a wedge between himself and Frank, his stepfather, and Harm's relationship with his mother had suffered because of it.

No matter where or how it had happened, Harm knew as fact that his father was dead. The time had arrived for him to move forward.

"I want this nightmare to be over, for everyone's sake," Harm said with finality.

"I'll put it into motion. It will all go smoothly. You have my word on that."

Harm was less than impressed with Webb's assurances, but what choice did he have? Harm had been painted into a corner.

"Several members of my dad's old squadron are still serving in the Navy and are currently deployed. How much time will I have to arrange a service at Arlington?"

"Because there is no body, it must be a memorial service. There is no time limit on that." Webb reached into his desk and removed a single piece of paper. "This is the name and the phone number of the Arlington National Cemetery Funeral Resources Director. She can walk you through it all, step by step."

"Remarried or not, I'll have to ask my mother what type of service she wants for my dad."

Webb shook his head. "My father spent over forty years serving our country, first as a commissioned officer in the Foreign Service, then as an officer in the OSS, and finally with the Agency. My dad was one of the most highly decorated officers in the CIA. He received the Distinguished Intelligence Cross, the highest decoration awarded by the Agency, and one of the rarest awards for valor in the United States. Even so, when he died the only persons attending his interment service were my mother and myself."

"Why?" asked Harm.

"That was the way that my mother wanted it...but it wasn't the way that I wanted it. Harm, give your dad the memorial service that you want him to have. Give your dad what my dad should have had."

Now it was Webb's turn to reach for the tissues.