Chapter 8:

Burkhalter and Hochstetter were at Stalag 13 and in Klink's office by dinnertime. And while Burkhalter made several phone calls and discussed the details of Hogan's kidnapping with Hochstetter, everyone anxiously waited for some news in silence. Hogan's men and Kalina stood in one corner gathered together and giving one another positive thoughts and optimism that their commander and best friend would soon be found and brought back to camp. Hochstetter stood near the door quietly as the general made calls going from Gestapo Headquarters to a top notch private investigator back in Berlin. Schultz stood guard at the office entryway, and Klink was more restless than a flock of chickens. The kommandant could hardly sit still for even a minute and either spent his time furiously tapping his foot or pacing aimlessly around his office. Until Hogan was found safe and brought back to Stalag 13, no one would be able to sit still.

"I don't care if you have to recruit POWs to get the job done!" Burkhalter shouted over the phone. "Find Colonel Hogan before the next person to go missing is you!" The general almost slammed the phone back onto the cradle and turned to Klink, who paused in his step and made his attention to his commanding officer. Burkhalter let out a heavy sigh, and a grim expression formed on his face. "That was Colonel Bamberg from Gestapo Headquarters. There's no update on Hogan's whereabouts, and he's scattering to find more men to stretch the search area out further."

"What did the private investigator in Berlin say?" Klink asked nervously, putting his fist near his mouth.

"Nothing, at the moment. I'm waiting to hear back from his secretary on how soon he can get to Hammelburg. As of now, we're nothing more than sitting ducks."

"But who would want to kidnap a POW? What good would that do for anybody?"

"Other escaping POWs, Klink," Hochstetter said, coming to a theory. "POWs unfamiliar with leadership and navigation, POWs searching for someone to take command and get them to safety. What better man for the job than an American colonel."

"Impossible, Major. Colonel would never leave us behind," Kinch answered calmly, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"It was one of the filthy bosche. I know it was." LeBeau added, with an affirmative sneer.

Before Burkhalter got a chance to open his mouth in rebuttal, Klink's phone began to ring. The general turned to the communication device, picked up the receiver, and placed it to his ear. "General Burkhalter, Heil Hitler," he said, then listened briefly to whoever was on the other end. "Colonel Bamberg, what is the news?" As he continued to listen to what the colonel had to say, Burkhalter's color gradually faded from his face, almost forgetting to breathe every so often. He kept his usual calm demeanor, but his eyes seemed to scream with horror at whatever Bamberg was saying. "Mein Gott, es kann nicht sein," he gasped. "Are you certain of it?" (1)

As Bamberg responded, Hogan's men and Kalina again turned to exchange glances with one another, shaking with fear at whatever the Gestapo officer was telling Burkhalter. Was it good? Bad? Worse than bad? Little Kalina was biting her finger as her eyes glistened with forming tears, Newkirk holding her close for comfort. Carter and LeBeau both looked at each other, swallowed the large knots forming in their throats, then turned to Kinch, who merely gazed at them from the corner of his eyes before setting his attention back on Burkhalter.

The burly general let out a heavy sigh and gave what appeared to be a disappointed nod. "Ja, I understand, Herr Oberst...Danke, Herr Oberst...Heil Hitler." Burkhalter hung up the phone and slowly lifted his eyes to everyone before him; watching him in silence like a hawk about to go in for its prey.

When Burkhalter continued to remain quiet, it was Klink who asked the question for everyone. "What did Colonel Bamberg have to say, Herr General? Was it about Colonel Hogan? Did they find him?"

Burkhalter let out another heavy breath of air, then finally answered in a low voice, "They found him."

"They found him! Schultz, do you hear that?" Klink cried, with glee. "What time will they bring him back here?"

"He won't be coming back, Klink," Burkhalter said. "He's dead."

The large bubble inside the kommandant bursted into nothing, and the air was sucked out of his lungs. The color from Klink's face drained completely, and it took all his strength to keep himself from collapsing to the ground. "What?" He quivered.

"Colonel Bamberg was able to track down an abandoned car belonging to a Captain Höcker of the Gestapo alongside the road nine miles away from here. They tracked both Höcker and Hogan to an abandoned railroad warehouse that had gone up in flames. After firefighters put the fire out, they went inside to check if either man was alive. Höcker had been burned so badly that his dog tags were the only thing able to identify him, and Hogan was nothing more than ashes...there was a pool of blood near where they found him...Bamberg speculates Höcker shot Hogan twice shortly before the fire broke out."

"Fire, what do you mean fire? What caused a fire at an abandoned railroad warehouse?" A baffled Hochstetter prodded, putting a hand on his hip.

"They could smell gasoline while searching the inside of the warehouse. The Gestapo is declaring an arson attack due to purposeful spilling of several gasoline tanks around the building." Burkhalter clarified.

"But are they sure it was Hogan, Herr General?" Klink asked, begging God that what he heard was not true. "Perhaps they made a mistake when identifying…"

"There was no mistake, Klink. The only thing belonging to Hogan that survived was his crush cap. Someone is bringing it over later tonight for Hogan's men to reclaim." The general's voice had become soft, almost sympathetic like. He may have despised the annoying American, but not once did he ever wish for him to die. Certainly not in such a gruesome manner as this. He could not even imagine how Hogan's men and Kalina were feeling at that very moment. In fact, he was surprised to see they were still standing at all.

"Please, General," Newkirk croaked, unshed tears flooding his eyes. "Please, tell me it's a sick joke!"

A long frown came to Burkhalter's face, and he could only shake his head. "I'm sorry, Corporal," he said. "I'm afraid Colonel Hogan is gone."

Little Kalina shook her head, her eyes flooding with tears. Her heart felt like someone had just torn it out of her and stabbed it a thousand times, her lungs feeling as if they were being squished by a 200 pound weight. "No," she wept. "No, no, no, no, no!" Kalina began to fall to the ground, but her father was quick on his feet and caught her before she went down. She gripped onto Klink with all her might, buried her face into his chest, and began to scream and cry for Hogan, sounding as if she were in actual physical pain.

Klink hugged her as tight as he possibly could, gently rocking her from side to side as he closed his eyes and let tears of his own fall down his cheeks. Both from the agonizing cries his daughter made and from knowing that Hogan would never set foot into his office again. That he would never hear his voice again or get to have another game of chess or glass of brandy with him. The man that Klink had considered as his only friend was now gone. Hogan was gone. That realization hurt him more than any gunshot wound would ever cause. He buried his face into the top of Kalina's head and began to silently weep himself.

Carter felt hot tears stream down his cheeks as he turned to Kinch for comfort. "I don't want Colonel Hogan dead," he cried. "I don't want him dead!" He buried his face into the radioman's shoulder, while Kinch wrapped an arm around the young man and gently pat his shoulder as tears fell down his own face.

LeBeau could see nothing but blurs, doing all he could to fight back from crying in front of Burkhalter. Unfortunately, the loss of his commanding officer and best friend proved to be much stronger, and he buried his face into his hand as he turned towards Klink's filing cabinet, leaned his forehead against the side, and began to sob uncontrollably.

Newkirk gripped his blue cap tightly in his hands as he bowed his head. His body wracked with grief as he sniffled and wept softly. He shook his head, blaming himself for starting the fight he had earlier with Carter on the work detail. Had they never started a ruckus. Had they never had caused Schultz to call Kalina over and abandon Hogan, maybe he would still be there standing with them. And it was all his fault.

"Aw Gov'nor," he croaked. "Oh, Gov'nor…"

Burkhalter closed his eyes and hung his head in silence, while Hochstetter stood there with his mouth hanging ajar. The major could not believe it. Hogan was gone. He would never be heard from again. His worst nemesis was out of his life forever. Hochstetter did not know if he should shout for joy or be furious that someone else had had the satisfaction of doing his job for him. The shock had not completely worn off yet. But he was certain of one thing; nothing at Stalag 13 would ever be the same after tonight.

It was probably around midnight when everyone had finally left Klink's office. As everyone else tried to get some sleep, four men and a little girl inside barracks two could not find rest. They all sat around the table with two candles lit in the center, trying to comprehend a life without Hogan there with them. Not having him there to lead them to victory or to give them encouragement and advice when they were down. It was a world none of them wanted to think about, but one they had no choice but face.

Kinch sat beside Kalina as he held her close and tried to comfort her like Hogan had done when she was upset, while little Kalina sniffled and wiped her eyes with a wet handkerchief. Carter and LeBeau sat side by side, tears streaming down their faces as they shook their heads in disbelief. Newkirk leaned against a bunk bed pole smoking his seventh cigarette in 15 minutes. He could not sit, and he could not walk. All he could do was lean his head against the pole and shake his head, wondering what they could have done differently that would have saved Hogan from an untimely death.

"I don't believe it," Carter finally said, ending the eerie silence filling the room. "I don't want to believe it."

Kinch let out a shaky breath of air, doing his absolute best to keep his own emotions at bay in order to help the others through theirs. "I don't want to either, Andrew...but we have no choice. It'll be morning soon."

"And then we'll all have to face it," Newkirk answered meekly. "A world without the Gov'nor in it."

Kalina continued to cry, squeezing her arms against her aching chest. "Colonel Hogan," she sobbed. "I want Colonel Hogan back."

"He's with us, kiddo," Kinch promised her. "He's here with all of us tonight. Making sure we can get through this without him."

"I am going to miss his smile...his laugh...his crazy ideas to solve a mission," LeBeau said, choking on his last sentence as he began crying again. He felt Carter place a hand on his shoulder, but it did little efforts to console him. He propped his head up with his hand and sobbed. "Colonel Hogan…"

"He needs a memorial service," Carter whimpered. "He's gotta have a memorial service. I know we're in Germany with a bunch of Krauts, but he's…" Kinch interrupted him.

"He'll get one," the staff sergeant said firmly. "It'll be the best damn memorial service ever given. Colonel Hogan deserves at least that much after everything he did for us...I'll talk it over with Klink in the morning."

Newkirk shook his head as he again placed it against the bunk pole and let out a few sobs. "I'll never forgive myself," he murmured to himself. He let out a couple more, when a knock came to the door that briefly grabbed all of their attention. The group of five watched as the barracks door opened, and Schultz waddled in, his eyes puffy and red from crying. The fluffy sergeant had only learned about Hogan's death a couple hours earlier, but the grief was already affecting him severely. He carried something behind his back as he turned to face Kinch and Kalina, then pulled out Hogan's dusty crush cap and handed it to Kinch.

"A Gestapo captain brought it by a little bit ago," Schultz sniffled. "The Kommandant said to bring it here."

Kinch gratefully took the cap in his shaky hands and stared at it for a long moment. He felt hot tears burn down his face as he momentarily bowed his head and let out a couple choked sobs before regaining his composure. He turned to Kalina, who was wiping her eyes again. She sniffled as she caught sight of the cap and looked up at Kinch.

Kinch handed her the cap and hugged her close as she resumed crying. "He would have wanted you to have it, kiddo...So you knew he's always here with you."

"What...what do we do now, mes amis?" LeBeau asked shaky.

"Pray," Kinch said. "Pray that wherever the Colonel is tonight that he's safe and happy there."

And without another word from anyone, the six of them hung there heads, closed their eyes, and thought long and hard about Hogan. Remembering him, treasuring the friendship they had gotten to have with him...honoring a man that could never ever be replaced in their hearts.

(1) Mein Gott, es kann nicht sein - My God, it can't be.