CHAPTER 4

Once inside Hogan with Heidi, Kinch, Carter, LeBeau and Newkirk are greeted by two Generals; one American and one British. The American General is Albert Butler and the British General is Alfred Wembley. Both are familiar with the Unsung Heroes and have all the security clearance to talk to them about their clandestine operation, as they are the ones who sanctioned most of them. Wembley comes forward with his outstretched hand in greeting and takes it back, shocked at seeing his young protégé with a bandage covering his eyes.

He asks a bit anxious „What happened to you, Robert?"

With his usual sarcasm at work, Hogan replies "Just an accident of war, what else."

He shrugs his shoulders to emphasize his words. Alfred shakes his head and turns to his men, hoping to get a more definite answer from one of them.

"Can one of you tell me what happened to Colonel Hogan?"

Newkirk volunteers and steps forward to greet the General and starts telling the story of what happened a few days ago, injuring their commanding officer and leaving him blind. Shocked gasps of other allied personal standing close by can be heard in unison.

Newkirk adds bitingly "You see Sirs, it was your damn ruddy fault what happened to the Gov'ner. You should have postponed the air raid, instead of going through with it. You knew about the meeting and its exact location, so why did you allow your bombers to fly out that night? The Gov'ner could have been killed; by his own side no less! His injuries and their results lay on your shoulders alone. I hope you are ruddy content with yourselves, Sirs and what you have done to a good man. He is the best commanding officer any enlisted man can ever ask for and more, he is our friend."

As if to undermine Newkirk's words, Heidi sits in front of Hogan and growls low in warning to those who are not nice to her human friend.

Nodding to Newkirk's words, Kinch, Carter and LeBeau step forward and are forming a circle around their commander, showing everyone around them, that they are more than ready to protect their commanding officer from any possible harm. Feeling his men close, Hogan has to smile brightly.

"Thanks, fellas. But I think from here on out, I have to find my own way around here. So you can take your leave and enjoy the downtime, meet some beautiful lasses and have a few drinks on me. And stop worrying about me, like a bunch of overprotective mother hens. You know how much I hate to be coddled. I'm no little kid anymore. I'm a full Colonel and therefore I think I'm more than capable of doing things on my own."

Smiling at those words from their beloved Colonel, Hogan's men either clap him on his back or lay a hand on his shoulder, showing their affection for their CO openly. LeBeau goes even a step further. He stands on his tiptoes, grabs the Colonel's face and kisses him on each cheek, a typical French custom, which makes the good Colonel blush like a school boy. The two older Generals smile too at seeing how close-knit those men are and how much their commanding officer obviously means to them.

Clearing their throats, the Generals put an end to this show of affection. Having the attention of everyone again, General Butler orders them to follow him and General Wembley. Hogan and his men do so, keeping their CO and his canine friend in their midst, leading him through the narrow passages effortlessly.

Finally they reach their destination. Butler opens a door and ushers them all inside. It is big open room with a huge map taking up one side of the place, showing continental Europe with flags for the positions of their troops. A long table is in the middle, surrounded by comfy chairs and on the opposite wall there is a sideboard holding drinks and refreshments. Other than that the room is empty. Wembley tells Hogan and his men to take a seat, while Butler goes over to the sideboard, opens a drawer and takes out a small box as well as an official letter.

With both items in hand he returns to the table. LeBeau has taken the liberty of handing out drinks to his mates and some of the refreshments. With drink and something to eat, the men wait what is to happen next. Butler hands the letter to Hogan.

"This is for you Robert. You should have gotten this after you have returned from your last bombing mission over Hamburg. But alas that was not what happened, so we hand this to you now. Maybe one of your men can read this out to you, or do you like me to do it?"

Hogan takes the offered letter and hands it over to Newkirk who sits to his left. "Peter, would you please read this letter for me?"

Newkirk feels honored to be allowed to read such an official document and does so with gusto, using one of his altered voices to make it sound even better. When he has reached the end of the letter, Hogan's men clap their hands and whistle, showing how happy they are for their CO.

Hogan himself can't believe that unofficially he has already been a Brigadier General for over a year now. But on the other hand, he is glad that he has been shot down over Hamburg in June '42, allowing him to still fight in the war actively, even if it was on a complete other level than as a bomber pilot. Being in command of the underground around the Hammelburg area gave him a new perspective and he thrived in it, becoming the best agent that the allies had in Germany, becoming widely known as Papa Bear. Absentmindedly he strokes Heidi behind her ears, while she sits loyally by his side.

If had he managed to return from his Hamburg mission, he would have been promoted and grounded, being forced at the age of only 38, to already fight the war from behind a desk. That would have been a nightmare for such an active man like Robert Hogan, so he thanks his lucky stars that it all turned out differently. His time as a POW in Stalag 13 was not a walk in the park, but to him it was still the best time he had so far in his still young military career. He had never served with a bunch of better men than those he came to know in the Stalag. They became a close-knit group like a family, with him being the big daddy to all of the men; hence his code name Papa Bear really suited him perfectly.

General Butler opens the small box and shows it to Hogan's men. They look in awe at the brightly shining stars lying inside. Carter only says one word "Wow!"

Hogan looks up at this and wanders what is going on. Butler walks up to him and orders him to stand up and to come to attention. Hogan is doing so, still asking himself what this is all about. As they are all wearing their dress uniforms, it is easier for Butler and Wembley to do what they plan to do next.

Butler declares „Colonel Robert Edward Hogan, you are hereby promoted to - Major General."

While he says those words, he and Wembley take off the silver eagles and replace them with two stars on each shoulder.

Then they step back, sharply salute and say "Congratulations, Major General Hogan. You deserve this promotion more than any other. So give those pencil pushers hell, Robert."

The room is now filled with clapping, loud shouts and whistles from Hogan's men and the happy whuffs from Heidi. One by one they move over to him and congratulate him personally. They all bypass the rules and just take their commanding officer in a big hug, clapping him heartily on the back. Finding no words, Hogan just returns the heartfelt hugs and smiles all the time. The only thing putting a hamper on the cheery mood is the bandage around his eyes. But he somehow got used to it and just accepts that his world may have turned black forever. He remembers the words from Dr. Hausner before they left Stalag 13 in a rush, that in about two days, he will have a final diagnosis, regarding his eyesight.

For now he enjoys the celebration with his men, drinking some wine and just having a good time. He even starts making jokes again, getting even the Generals to laugh heartily.

When the celebration comes to an end, they are escorted outside and being driven back to the base where they have their quarters, or in their case, a big room for all together. Only Hogan has a room to himself, the privilege of rank. But to the astonishment of their escort, the young Lieutenant, Hogan declines the use of his own room and decides to bunk with his men, just like he has done a few times in the POW camp; somehow he doesn't wish to be separated from them.

Their escort accepts the decision and gets the Generals things to take them into common room, where his men are bunked in. And again, Heidi takes her place right in front of his bunk, watching faithfully over him while he sleeps.

Two days later another medical exam is on the agenda for Hogan. Grumbling he allows Newkirk and LeBeau to help him get ready. While Newkirk helps him to get into his Class A dress uniform, LeBeau takes over the grooming, shaving his CO and combing his jet black hair, smoothing it out with his hand as a last touch.

Satisfied with their efforts they let him know he is now ready to face the day. Looking to Newkirk, he asks softly "Peter, would you escort me to the infirmary for my medical exam? Seems as I don't have a stick to find my way around, like other blind people, I have the need of an escort all the time."

Newkirk steps over to his CO "Honored to be your escort, Gov'ner."

Taking hold of the General's arm, he leads him out of their room and into the hallway. Heidi accompanies them; hold by a leash in Hogan's right hand. Then they make their way to the infirmary. Reaching it, they walk inside.

A nice elderly nurse is already expecting them. "Please follow me, General. The doctor is waiting for you."

With a nod, they follow the nurse into an adjoining room, which looks more like an office than an exam room. The nurse leaves and the doctor, an elderly grey haired man with a friendly face, introduces himself to Hogan.

"Good day to you, General Hogan. I'm Doctor Henderson. If you would just take a seat over there, I can start your examination."

Newkirk helps Hogan over to the comfy leather chair that the doctor had indicated to with a wink. Once seated, Hogan just says "Let's just get this over with, Doctor. The sooner this is done; the better it will be for me. I want out of here as soon as possible."

Understanding his patient's impatience, Dr. Henderson asks Newkirk to wait outside with the dog while he conducts the exam.

"Be right back with you, Gov'ner", Newkirk says and exits the room and waits outside. But Heidi refuses to move from Hogan's side. The doctor relents and allows the dog to stay, as long as he or she doesn't get in the way.

Hogan assures him that Heidi is only trying to protect him and won't do anything, unless provoked. Dr. Henderson starts his examination, speaking to both his patient and his dog to let both know what is happening.

After about half an hour the door to the doctor's office opens and the first person to step out of the room is the doctor. His expression doesn't give away a thing and Newkirk starts to get nervous, anxious for his CO. But those fears are stopped, as soon as the second person exits the doctor's office with his faithful dog at his side. With a big boyish smile on his face and a twinkle in his expressive brown eyes, Hogan strides forward to Newkirk and claps him on the shoulder "How about we go out of here and pay a visit to your lovely sister Mavis in Stepney, eh Newkirk? I always wanted to meet her after everything you told us about her."

Completely taken aback, Newkirk tries to find his voice and starts to stutter "Go..gov'ner is everything alright? I mean, I can see your eyes, but, but...", unable to finish his sentence, Newkirk stops himself.

Hogan knowing exactly what his man wanted to say puts him out of his misery. "Yes, Newkirk; everything is alright. They are even better than alright. My eyesight is back a 100 %. No lasting after effects from the head trauma. I'm fully healed and the good doc has cleared me for full active duty again. I am even allowed to fly again!"

Now smiling brightly at his commanding officer, Newkirk announces "That calls for a celebration, Gov'ner. We all head to a nice pub have a few drinks and then we head over to my sister's place. She'd be more than happy to finally meet the man I wrote so much about to her. Now let's head out, Gov', get the guys and have a jolly good time."

With their arms around each other's shoulders the two men and their dog leave the medical area and go back to the housing area where their mates are waiting. Together they head out for a celebration, meet Newkirk's sister and afterwards head back to the base.

And after many debriefings and a short stay in London, Hogan finally sits in a plane that takes him and his dog Heidi back to the States and to his family in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The pilot of the C-47 allows Hogan to take over for him, knowing that normally Generals aren't allowed to fly anymore.

Over exited Hogan takes his rightful place in the pilot's seat, grabs the headphones, adjusts to the right radio frequency and grabs the controls, grinning like a kid in a candy store. He is finally back where he belongs, in control of a plane, piloting it.

His men Kinch, Carter, LeBeau and Newkirk are just happy for their CO and can't wait to meet his family and later on to meet their new colleagues in the Pentagon, where Hogan will work from now on. Heidi is sitting between LeBeau and Newkirk, content to be with his other human friends.

Everything else is forgotten. The war is finally behind them and they can still serve under their beloved CO, General Hogan. His rank may have changed, but never the man himself and his faithful, loyal men know this for certain. They have the privilege to serve under the best commanding officer ever and they are very proud to do so. Hogan used his rank this time to ensure his team is not taken apart and he has been successful. Together they will serve as long as the US military will allow them to do so. But that lays in the future, which for now looks bright for all of them.

The E N D