"I attempted to contact the attending physician who performed his annual physical in 2002 to ask about the wounds, but alas, she is deceased."
Jimmy thought Gibbs looked interested and Dr. Mallard wasn't offering any of the information, so he took it upon himself to tell the team leader what he knew. "Dr. Janet Fraiser was a major in the United States Air Force... Medical Corps. She is survived by a daughter."
Ducky glanced at Palmer before taking over. "Adopted daughter," he corrected before continuing. "Dr. Fraiser earned two bachelor degrees. She was Magna Cum Laude in chemistry and biology and then earned her medical degree at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio." The way he said the name of the school made it clear that he was not impressed, but he almost made up for it by saying, "She was considered an expert in rare and exotic diseases and qualified in Internal Medicine, specializing in infectious disease and critical care, in Aerospace Medicine and in Emergency Medicine."
Many seconds passed as Gibbs digested the information and Ducky let him. Palmer stayed quiet until he couldn't stand the silence anymore. "She served as chief of the Aeromedical Services at Nellis Air Force Base until she left in 1997."
Gibbs knew without thinking about it that Fraiser's service record had been redacted. Just like Wheeler's. Just like O'Neill's.
When neither man yelled at him, Jimmy plowed ahead in explanation by admitting, "We couldn't access her medical records. It is the Air Force and DOD has to okay it and sometimes we can get them, but this time we couldn't."
"Yes," Ducky agreed then added, "But one of her former classmates who is now at Bethesda revealed that she talked about purchasing a home in..."
Gibbs jumped in. "Colorado Springs."
Ducky and Jimmy both looked more than just surprised. Obviously Gibbs knew more than he was telling.
"Yes. Colorado Springs. She was doing some work at the Air Force Academy Hospital."
"Did her colleague know anything about her death?"
"No, I'm afraid not." Ducky sighed.
Once again Jimmy interjected his knowledge. "Doctor, while you were... uh... out for a few minutes, I searched the internet for the burial record of Dr. Fraiser."
Ducky smiled. "Very good, Mr Palmer. What did you find?"
The two men watched the computer screen as Jimmy brought up the search results which had a link. "She's buried in Denver at Fort Logan National Cemetery." When he clicked on the link a picture of a headstone popped up.
Gibbs looked at the photo for a long while, noticing the way the photographer had used angle and sunlight to accentuate the high altitude blue sky and the lush grass which had been neatly trimmed around the headstone. Then he looked at the headstone.
JANET FRAISER
MAJ MC
US AIR FORCE
NOV 9, 1964
FEB 20, 2004
BRONZE STAR
PURPLE HEART
LOVING MOTHER
BELOVED FRIEND
SHE SAVED MANY
The Latin cross at the top indicated she identified as Christian and the inscription did not specify a conflict, but many didn't even when the person died in combat. Many headstones had the MC for medical corps, but few had both MC and rank. Clearly the person who filled out the form for the headstone was proud of Dr. Fraiser's rank and the epitaph was telling, especially the last line, and he wondered about it briefly until his brain concentrated on the medals. Dr. Fraiser was as much an enigma as Wheeler and O'Neill.
Ducky noticed his friend's keen interest. "Jethro, is there something untoward about the lives and deaths of General Wheeler and Dr. Fraiser?"
Gibbs pursed his lips tightly and headed for the door. Before it slid closed behind him he called out, "I'll let you know, Duck."
And back at the Pentagon -
The food court was still fairly busy when Ziva made her way over to where Tony was sitting. "The man I was speaking to had to leave suddenly. I attempted to speak to two others, but they did not seem to know anything about either general. One of them did not know he had passed away."
Tony smiled thinly and beckoned her to sit down with him. "One of my majors got a text message and left too. I wasn't getting anywhere with her anyway, but it's not a coincidence that both of them left at the same time."
Ziva looked around before addressing her partner. "Did you find out anything Gibbs wanted to know?"
"No." He sat back comfortably, putting his right foot across his left knee. "Three of 'em shot me down immediately."
Ziva smiled playfully. "I found out that the women here think O'Neill is handsome."
Tony rolled his eyes. "That helps a lot." A cute young woman walked by their table and DiNozzo wasn't shy about checking her out.
Ziva could play too. "I have been trying to decide if I prefer airmen or sailors."
Remembering Damon Werth, Tony quipped, "I thought you liked ex-marines."
"I do like... some marines." Ziva thought about Werth too and Daniel Cryer. "I also like soldiers."
Tony leaned his elbows on the table. "I'm tired of getting nothing from these clean-cut zoomies. There's something unnatural about them."
Ziva had a suggestion. "I am hungry. Let's get something to eat and try again."
Tony agreed and they headed for Togo's.
Ziva saw a civilian man hand a paper to an Army woman and suddenly remembered - back at the squad room Gibbs told them what to do and handed Tony a piece of paper. "What was the paper about? The one Gibbs gave you before we left?"
Tony pulled the folded paper from his inside coat pocket and read silently. "Guess I should have looked at this sooner."
"What is it?" Ziva moved a little closer to him, maybe trying to see the paper.
Tony winced a little. "It's a list of names that O'Neill sent to Gibbs." He plucked at the turned down corner. "Short list."
"Gibbs must have wanted us to talk to them." Tony was slow in sharing and she didn't like secrets. "Who are they?"
Tony smirked. "Friends of General Wheeler. First one's a chaplain." He read the paper again and his eyes kind of bugged. "The head chaplain." Ziva looked at him with a question in her eyes so he elaborated. "The head chaplain is the Chief of all the chaplains."
Still a little confused, she asked, "He is the leader of all chaplains in the military?"
Tony shook his head. "No, just all the Air Force ones."
Her expression indicated she had finally understood. "And who are the others?"
In a stage whisper Tony admitted, "I don't think Gibbs looked at this list before he handed it to me."
tbc
** My reasoning behind Janet Fraiser's service and headstone. Some of her bio I stole/borrowed from the internet, some I made up.
Nov 9, 1964 Janet was born (Teryl Rothery was born Nov 9, 1962.) AND (Per the show, S. Carter was born in 1968 so I put her and Janet 4 years apart.)
May 1982 graduated high school (Janet was very smart. I have her graduating a year early. Most schools want kids to be 6 years old before Aug 15-Sept 1, depending on the state etc. Janet wouldn't have started first grade until Sept 1971. Instead of graduating from high school in May 1983, I say she graduated a year early in May 1982.)
1986 graduated from college with two bachelor degrees
1990 graduated from medical school
1990-1994 internship, residency and AF commission - captain (lexicon has Janet with 3 awards on AF longevity ribbon. That's 12 years, but less than 16. She died in 2004 so 2004 minus 12 is 1992. Not sure how accurate the ribbons are, or the lexicon, since O'Neill only had 4 awards and that's just not right, and is why my O'Neill in this story has many more than that. O'Neill's service will be covered in future chapters.
1997 Became CMO at SGC
2000 promoted to major (I looked at senior AF leadership and most generals who were commissioned as captains, spent 6-9 years as captains before being promoted to major. Janet was seen as a major in Crystal Skull so that's where I got her promotion in 2000.)
Feb 20, 2004 Dr. Janet Fraiser died (The date Heroes part 2 aired)