Copyright: 08/2014
Fan-Fiction based on TV Show Combat! Copyright Selmur Production, Inc., ABC, Image Productions etc.
Disclaimer: Combat! and its characters do not belong to me, this WWII story is a piece of fan-fiction and I am not being compensated in any tangible way for this story.
OPERATION BOYFRIEND
Corporal Mike O'Hanlon was checking on some work in the motor pool. An ambulance that had picked up two injured soldiers at Battalion Aid had broken its axel rod in route to the hospital. He knew sooner or later it was going to happen, he had even told his lieutenant. They were trying to keep the trucks and the ambulances working but spare parts were hard to come by. He told his lieutenant that soon they will be down to using bubblegum.
Was it only yesterday when he saw the nurse running and limping up the road? She was a bloody mess. She practically fell into Mike's arms.
"Corporal, please help me!"
"Lieutenant, Ma'am, are you hurt? What's wrong?"
"It's my ankle, I think it's sprained. The blood isn't mine, it belongs to all the men in the ambulance. I was at Battalion Aid and hitched a ride back here. The ambulance started to swerve and then it flipped over. We need to get back there and I have to go and get a doctor. They're all pretty badly injured."
He helped her to a nearby crate. "Here sit down. I'll get one of the guys to go and get help."
"Hey Conover, get your butt in gear and get over to the mess tent. I think I saw Captain Prentiss, go get him and tell him there was an accident with an ambulance and they need his help pronto!
"Okay, Mike."
Now tell me, where did this happen Lieutenant?"
"It's less than a half mile down the road, the men are in really bad shape. We need to hurry corporal."
"Yes ma'am but we need to wait for the captain."
It couldn't have been more than a few minutes when the corporal saw the captain and several other men running towards him and the nurse.
The sight of the nurse scared the daylights out of the captain.
"Laura are you alright?"
"Yes, yes. I'm fine, let's go!"
She was becoming impatient and Prentiss knew she was about to lose her temper and God help the man who was the closest to her.
"Laura you are not going. You are going over to the hospital and get yourself fixed up. Just tell us where it happened. And before you say anything else, that's an order!"
"Okay, I'll go but under protest! They are down the road, it has to be less than a half mile."
Her voice softened. "Dave, they're pretty bad, especially the driver."
O'Hanlon was driving a transport truck and two other men were driving ambulances. The doctor and the medics jumped into the back of the truck and headed down the road.
Laura watched as they drove out of sight.
Laura limped over to her tent. From the reaction on the men's faces she must have looked horrible. She emptied a canteen into a bowl and tried to wash off some of the blood that was on her face and hands. She took out her a little rose covered compact that Bill had given her which seemed a like a lifetime ago. She looked in the mirror and began to cry. She saw that she had removed most of the men's blood but she also noticed other things. An unfamiliar face stared back at her. She looked gaunt and there were very blue circles under her eyes. She quickly clicked the compact closed. Now was not the time for self-pity.
Laura hobbled on over to an old school they were using as the hospital. She saw Marilyn working on some charts.
"Marilyn we are going to have four badly injured men coming in here in the next few minutes, we better get everything ready."
Marilyn looked up from her charts and saw her friend who still had blood all over her clothes.
"Oh Lord Laura, what happened? Are you alright?"
"I hurt my ankle, I don't think it's broke. This is what I get for hitching a ride. The blood belongs to all the men that were in the ambulance with me. Something happened to the ambulance and it flipped over."
"Some of that blood is yours, you've got a cut near your scalp. Here, let me help you. Let's get you settled in that chair over there."
With Marilyn's help, Laura staggered to the chair. She was trying to hold back her emotions but it was a losing battle. Tears streamed from her eyes.
"Marilyn, it was horrible, they were all hurt. The medic only had two syrettes, so I injected one into the driver, he's really bad. From what I could tell he had a broken leg and pelvis. They all had cuts everywhere. The medic has a broken arm and he dislocated his knee. I got his knee back in place and set his arm the best I could. He said he didn't need any morphine, he would take a couple aspirins. I knew he was hurting but he knew someone had to take care of the others. The two soldiers that they picked up at Battalion Aid had been given morphine before they left. They were also strapped down. I'm not sure if they got more injuries, they were completely out of it. The medic said he'd hold onto the extra syrette in case one of the other guys needed it."
"Let's take care of that cut and get your boot off. The bleeding has just about stopped."
"Good."
"Oh boy! Laura how far did you walk on that ankle?"
"Not far really, less than a half mile. It's not that bad, hardly hurts at all."
Marilyn knew she was lying and lightly touched Laura's ankle. Laura made a hissing sound.
"Doesn't hurt, my foot!"
"Let's get you up on a gurney so the doctor can look at it."
Before Laura could stand up the door swung open and the medics were bringing in the injured men.
Marilyn and three other nurses began helping the doctors. Laura knew she couldn't do anything but she could make sure the new replacement nurses were doing what they were sent there to do. She began calling out orders. The new nurses were still not use to seeing men cut to pieces from shrapnel, bullets, bayonets and now a very bad accident.
Laura watched from the sidelines until all the men were either in the operating room or put into a bed.
Colonel McDaniel noticed Laura sitting in a chair. He rolled a wheel chair over to her and helped her up.
"I can walk sir. I just need a little help."
"Lieutenant, stop being so stubborn, get in the damn chair. Have you looked at your ankle lately?"
Laura looked down at her foot and was shocked that her ankle had turned several shades of purple and it was so swollen that it reminded her of an elephant's ankle.
"Guess not."
"I want to take some X-rays.
"Colonel I don't think it's necessary. I did walk on it."
"Lieutenant, I'm the doctor, just humor me okay?"
"Yes sir."
"I wanted to tell you that you did a good job. It's a good thing you were there. I don't know if they could have survived out there for very long. You did good kid!"
"Thanks colonel."
Colonel McDaniel smiled as he reviewed Laura's X-rays.
"You're very lucky, the ankle is badly sprained and you'll have to stay off of it for at least two weeks. So you will be a lady leisure and to be honest you need the rest, Laura."
"I know I need the rest. Remember, you promised me a three day pass. It seems like every time I get a leave, something always happens, it's never in the cards for me. I just heard that the 361st is near Cloppenburg. I thought maybe I could see Bill. It's been so long. Now that the Army has finally granted our request, I thought maybe he could get a pass and we could get married."
Corporal O'Hanlon and Pvt. Conover overheard the conversation. The corporal liked her, she was spunky. He and the guys at the field hospital knew when it came to her patients, they always came first.
"Ya know Mike, I wish I could do something for her."
A plan began to formulate in the corporal's mind.
"Conover, you really want to help her?"
"Yeah, what do you have in mind?"
"We're gonna need a few more guys."
"Mike, I know the medics will help out but what are ya gonna do?"
"First go find some guys that want to help and meet me over at the motor pool."
Conover went in search of the medics.
Within the hour he returned with two more men. O'Hanlon was working on a truck. He looked up from his work and wiped his greasy hands on an equally greasy rag.
"Mike, I got two guys to help us."
"Good. I've been thinking about it and this is what we are going to do."
The men listened intently as O'Hanlon laid out his plans.
They all agreed it would be easy and it would make the lieutenant's day. They would put their plans into action the very next day.
Private Schuyler who was one of the medics but more importantly a great conniver, would get a twenty-four hour pass for him and the other medic. He walked over to Captain Prentiss who was a very good doctor but an easy mark for sob stories.
"Captain, could I talk to you for a moment?"
"Sure, what's on your mind?"
"To be honest sir, I was wonderin' if I could get a twenty-four hour pass for me and Pvt. Porter; we haven't had a pass in a long time."
"If I remember correctly, the reason you haven't been given leave is because the two of you were four hours late getting back."
"Sir, we just want to go town and look around a bit. We'll be back long before we're supposed to. We just need a break, captain."
"Okay but if you guys let me down, you'll wish you never came back from your leave!"
"It was even easier for O'Hanlon and Conover to get their passes. Their lieutenant felt they deserved a pass after having rescued the injured soldiers.
The four men left on their mission or as Conover called it, Operation Boyfriend.
The men were able to get their hands on a 6X6 personnel carrier. As O'Hanlon drove towards the little village where the 361st was staying, Schuyler had a question.
"Hey Mike, what do you know about him?"
"I asked around and I'll tell you guys something, the lieutenant was told to keep her relationship quiet and she did. I did find out his name is Bill, don't know his last name."
"All you know is his first name. That's like trying to find a needle in a haystack! We'll never find the guy."
"Let me finish. I talked to a couple of the nurses. They said this guy's a private, he is in K-Company, 2nd Platoon, 1st Squad. Oh yea, and one other thing, he is the squad's BAR man. Now, do you think it's still a needle in a haystack?"
O'Hanlon parked the truck.
"I think we should break into two groups. That way we can cover more ground."
"If you don't mind corporal, I'll go with you."
O'Hanlon nodded at Porter and motioned for him to follow.
"I guess that leaves you and me," said Schuyler.
Conover and Schuyler walked over to a group of soldiers playing poker.
Conover called out to no one in particular, "Does anybody know where K-Company, 2nd Platoon, 1st Squad is bivouacking?"
One soldier looked up from his cards.
"You mean Sgt. Saunder's squad?"
"Yea, I guess so."
"They are over at the old hotel down that street. Ya can't miss it."
"Thanks."
The two men hustled down the street.
"Come on Billy the day is young and were gettin' older by the minute."
"I gotta do this Littlejohn or Kirby is gonna kill me!"
"Why has Kirby got you cleaning his BAR? I know you're his number two man but you don't have to do it. I'll take care of this. Give me the rifle, after I get through with William G. Kirby, he'll be wanting to clean all our rifles!"
"You can't do that, Littlejohn. I told him I'd do it."
"Why on earth would you do that?"
"Well, ya see Littlejohn, when Kirby hurt his wrist yesterday, the Sarge made us trade and when we were headin' back home I dropped it into that big mud hole. Boy, was Kirby mad. I mean I lost his first BAR in the river and now this one is full of dried mud. I told him that I'd clean it all up and he'd never know anything ever happened to it. I swear Littlejohn, if there was a way to spit shine this thing Kirby would do it!"
"Okay, just hurry up alright?"
"I should be finished in another fifteen minutes."
"Meet me over at that little café we saw yesterday."
"I'll meet you there."
The two men saw a private sitting outside cleaning a BAR.
"Hey Conover, could we be any luckier, it's gotta be him!"
As they approached the hotel, Conover, tried to figure out what to say to him.
"Is this 1st squad?"
Billy looked up from his work and smiled. "That's us, what can I do ya for?"
"Is your name Bill?"
"Um, sorta, most people call me Billy or Nelson."
"We've gotta surprise for you."
"Me?"
"Yes you. Do you think you could get a 24-hour pass?"
"I have one, why?"
"We're from the 93rd Evac Hospital."
"Okay."
"Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
"Should it?"
"Look, we can take you there and then bring you back. You can see your girl."
"My girl?"
"Why do you keep answering my question with more questions?"
"Because I have no idea what you're talkin' about."
"Look we know it's a secret but you can trust us. Just come with us."
"I'm not going anywhere with you guys!"
Billy stood up and went inside to put away the BAR.
"What are we gonna do now?"
"Stay here. I'll go get the truck and the guys. Just don't let him out of your sight!"
Conover ran back and jumped into the truck. At the same time he saw the other men and motioned for them to hurry.
"We found him but we're having a hard time convincing him to go with us. I told him that we knew about him and the lieutenant but he wouldn't believe me."
When they returned to the hotel, they saw Schuyler with his arm thrown over Billy's shoulder. He was talking a mile a minute but something looked out of place.
"Schuyler what's wrong with him?"
"You said not to let him out of my sight, so I sucker punched him. He's not goin' anywhere."
"You did what? I told you to just watch him. Now what do we do Mike?"
"Just get him in the truck. I'm sure he'll forget about everything when he sees her."
They picked up Billy and put him in the back of the truck.
Billy was coming around. He just couldn't figure out what was going on.
He sat up and thought about jumping but he was afraid he might hurt himself. As they passed the café, he leaned out of the truck and yelled at Littlejohn.
"Littlejohn, I'm being kidnapped; 93rd Evac Hospital! I….."
Litttlejohn heard the first part and couldn't believe what his friend had just said.
There was a horrified look upon the faces of the two medics.
"Look we're not kidnapping you. We just wanted to do something nice for your girl."
Billy stared at them. He was afraid that these guys were just nuts and he'd better play along.
"Fine, so you're taking me to see my girl?"
"Right! We'd never hurt you. I'm sorry I knocked you out."
Billy felt a bit relieved. He just hoped that they were telling him the truth. He also hoped that Littlejohn had heard him, just in case!
Littlejohn ran into the café and looked at Kirby.
"If you had anything to do with this Kirby, so help me, I'll rip you apart!"
"What are you talkin' about?"
"Billy!"
"What about Billy? Ya mean the BAR? I was mad but I was gonna clean it and Billy said he'd do it. I think he was feelin' guilty about losin' my first BAR."
"That's not what I'm talkin' about. I just saw him in the back of a truck and he was yelling that he was bein' kidnapped. Kirby did you have anything to do with that?"
"I'd never do anything like that, I swear! We better go tell the Sarge."
The men hurried back to the hotel and found Saunders stretched out on a bed writing a letter. Saunders looked up and could tell his men were in trouble.
"Now what have you guys been up to?"
"Sarge, Billy's been kidnapped. I know that sounds crazy but it's the truth."
Saunders looked over at Kirby.
"Kirby you had better not have had anything to do with this!"
"Why does everyone keep jumping to the conclusion I had something to do with this. I'm innocent!"
"Kirby you'll never be innocent but I do believe you."
"Did he say anything else?"
"Something about the 93rd Evac Hospital."
Kirby broke out in a smile.
"You think this is funny?"
"No I don't but I know people at the 93rd and so do you."
"Who?"
"For one, my girl, Laura. I didn't know they were near here. I gotta letter from her several days ago. We have been working on getting the Army to approve our request to get married for over three months and they finally approved it."
"Yeah, great for you but what about Billy?"
Saunders dragged himself out of the bed.
"Littlejohn are you sure?"
"Well I'm pretty sure. I didn't hear everything he said."
"So for all you know is that he might have been kidding, right?"
"Now that you mention it, maybe."
"Let's go talk to Lieutenant Hanley."
Saunders went into the hotel manager's office that Hanley was now using. He explained to him what Littlejohn had told him.
Hanley and Saunders walked out of the office.
"I have given Saunders permission to get a jeep and you can go along with him. If you find Nelson, call in and let me know."
Saunders handed the radio to Littlejohn. They proceeded over to the motor pool and got a jeep. They took off with lightning speed.
""Sarge where is the 93rd?"
"Kirby, they are just about a stone's throw from here."
"How far is that?"
"About five or six miles from here.
O'Hanlon stopped the truck in front of Laura's tent.
Billy and the two medics jumped out of the back of the truck.
Billy noticed that all the men had huge smiles upon their faces.
"I'm Cpl. O'Hanlon, she's in there. Maybe I better go in first and let her know that we brought you to see her."
"I think that would be a very good idea."
Billy stood outside and the corporal announced himself.
Billy was actually happy to hear a female voice. "Hi corporal, come on in."
"How are you doing Ma'am?"
"It's Laura and I'm doing fine. My ankle hurts a bit but I can put a little weight on it."
"I have surprise for you. Ah, it's really from a bunch of us guys. We knew you were supposed to have gotten a pass and this all happened. We heard you were going to see your fella. So "If the mountain won't come to Muhammad then….."
He opened the flap of her tent and motioned all of them to come in.
"Lieutenant, here he is!"
"Here is who?"
"Your fella, Bill."
Laura sat up on her bed and began to look around but didn't see him.
"Corporal what are you talking about?"
Billy stepped out of the shadows. Laura recognized him immediately.
"They mean me. I tried to tell them but they wouldn't listen. Then this guy knocked me out."
"What have you guys done? This is Billy Nelson."
"Right you're fiancé."
"Wrong. He's my fiancé's squadmate.
"But Ma'am his name is Bill and he had a BAR."
"My fiancé's name is Bill Kirby. Billy is Kirby's number two man."
Billy began to laugh so hard he couldn't catch his breath. He stopped suddenly and sobered up very quickly.
"Oh boy! We gotta a problem. I yelled at Littlejohn that I was being kidnapped!"
As she sat there, Laura took a deep breath. "Oh boy is right. Okay guys, let me try and handle this so no one ends up in the stockade."
Littlejohn noticed the truck that was parked in front of a tent.
"Sarge, stop the truck. I'm pretty sure that's the truck. We gotta go help him!"
Billy heard Littlejohn's voice and stepped out of the tent.
"Hey Sarge. Littlejohn what are you doin' here?"
"You said you were bein' kidnapped."
"Yes and no. It was a case of mistaken identity. I think you all better come in here."
"Hello Sergeant Saunders."
"Lieutenant."
"Please let me try and explain all of this. These men were trying to do a good thing. I was going on leave when I was in accident. An ambulance broke its axel rod and flipped over. The men were badly hurt and I ended up with a sprained ankle. Anyway, they knew you were close by and thought they would bring Bill to see me. They saw Billy with Bill's BAR and they thought they had the right person. Please don't punish them. The men were trying to do something good for someone."
Billy swallowed hard and nodded. He didn't want the guys to get into trouble.
Saunders to a deep breath, removed his helmet and scrubbed at his hair.
Alright Lieutenant, but we are going to have a long talk about making people go with you when they don't want to. Okay, everybody out of here, let's go!"
Kirby hadn't said a word he had been standing at the back of the room near the door. He decided not to push his luck with Saunders and began to leave with the others.
Saunders noticed that Kirby was leaving.
"You stay," he whispered. "I think you deserve some time with your fiancé."
"Gee thanks Sarge."
As the men began to leave, Laura could hear O'Hanlon yelling at Conover and Schuyler.
"Didn't you guys ask him if he had a girl?
"Yeah, we did. He said no but we thought he was just protecting the lieutenant."
"You guys are something else! Did you ask him if he was the BAR man? It's gonna be a miracle if we all don't lose our stripes over this!"
The yelling became fainter as the men moved along.
Laura had scanned the multitude of men in her quarters. She didn't find the one person she really wanted to see. She figured he hadn't been with them. She laid back down and started to cry. With everything that happened, she still wasn't going to see him.
"Is it okay, if I stay?"
Laura wiped her eyes and sat up again.
"Oh Bill, you are here!"
He sat down next to her and kissed her like he hadn't seen her in years. When they finally came up for air, Kirby lifted her right arm.
"Repeat after me."
Laura put her arm down and was confounded by his words.
"Bill what are you doing?"
"Do as I say."
Laura put her arm up as if she was going to take an oath.
Kirby began again, "Repeat after me. I Laura Jenkins, promise never to call William J. Kirby, Bill until this war is over. I will refer to him only as Kirby."
She began to giggle. Laura knew he was kidding but also that he was partly serious.
"I Laura promise all that stuff. I'll call you Kirby whenever you or I or the both of us are with people but when we are alone you will always be my Bill. Now can we get back to something more important?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh boy, it has been a long time! William Kirby, let's get down to some serious necking and that's an order!"
Kirby smiled a little. "Honey, it will be my pleasure. I'll follow that order anytime!"
The End