Chapter 3

Hanley glanced over noting the white knuckled grip the Private had on the steering wheel and the tense set of his shoulders, whatever it was Kovac needed to tell him it wasn't easy. "Alright…what's on your mind?" he asked keeping his tone relaxed.

Now that the moment was here, Kovac wasn't sure how to proceed, taking a deep breath. "Remember when you told me about my Ex passing away?" He began.

"I remember, I wanted to make sure the information was correct so we contacted the Red Cross for confirmation. You were with Sgt. Saunders and a squad of my men when you had to hold up in an old cellar because of Germans in the area, as I recall you men were trapped for several days before you were able to head back to camp and by the time we had confirmation it was too late." Hanley paused for a moment. "Sgt. Saunders told me what you did for Little John, it was commendable."

"Maybe…but my actions toward you weren't." he said in a tight voice.

Hanley glanced at Kovac, "I don't understand…what actions toward me?"

Taking another deep breath, letting it out slowly, Kovac confessed. "Sir, when I found out that you withheld the information about my Ex I was angry…I packed my things and prepared for the trip back to the States all the while thinking that you should have told me a few days earlier…then I get the news from you telling me she was gone…I saw red, Sir." Casting a quick glance toward the LT, he noticed the rigid set of the man's broad shoulders. "I went looking for you at camp but was told that you were out in the field with the rest of the 361st, I changed uniforms, grabbed my weapon and went to find you." Kovac paused…this was the part that could get him kicked out of the Army…taking a deep breath he continued. "I saw you Sir, pinned down by a German nest, watched as you tried to reach your weapon, knew you were wounded and I did nothing…Saunders was in a fox hole behind you, he told me to try and keep the Germans away from you while he tried to get behind the nest, Sgt. Saunders grabbed his Thompson and took off leaving me the Browning but I didn't fire at the Germans, I wanted you dead Sir…Saunders had tried to make me see but I wouldn't listen." Kovac paused for the briefest of seconds, remembering.

"You can't change the way I feel man…I hate his guts." Kovac told Saunders.

"You hate him or do you hate yourself." Saunders replied.

What's that supposed to mean? Kovac asked.

"You said you were separated, what did you do walk out on your wife?" Saunders asked watching for a reaction.

"That's my business." Kovac had responded.

What was wrong with her…she sat around listening to the radio…she got in the way of all those girls you were running around with? Saunders asked.

"Now you listen." Kovac had started to protest.

"No, you listen...you feel guilty because you let your wife down...you think it would be any easier if you do the same thing to him? Saunders said pointing in the LT's direction. "Now you get this...every time those Krauts fire you fire back with this." Handing Kirby's Browning to Kovac. You got it?

Coming back to the present Kovac focused on the road ahead. "What Saunders said finally got through to me LT and when I realized what I was doing, I grabbed the Browning and started firing on the German soldiers moving toward you, Saunders took out the nest." Kovac glanced at Hanley but the man's face was hard to read. "I don't think you would have been glad to see me if you'd known what I had done...I wanted to confess right then and there."

Why didn't you, Private? Hanley asked, voice hard.

"You were injured, Sir, it didn't seem like the right time." Kovac responded. "A few days later I caught a bullet and was sent State side for rehab, when I came back I was assigned to L Company and until today we were never in the same area."

What made you decide to confess now? "It's been almost a year, why now?" Hanley asked.

Kovac could tell the LT about the nightmares, the guilt that caused him to take chances with his own life but he didn't. Letting out a long breath and gripping the steering wheel a little tighter Kovac spoke. "Call it a guilty conscious Sir, I didn't like the man I was that day and I never want to see him again."

Hanley didn't say anything while he considered what Kovac had told him.

A few months back Saunders had been injured, the wound became infected which caused a bad fever, Hanley was sitting with him one night when in his delirium the Sergeant started talking about Germans and Kovac. Once his friend had calmed down the LT thought about what Saunders had said…putting the pieces together Hanley had come up with a partial understanding of what had happened while he had been pinned down five months earlier. Realizing that Saunders hadn't wanted him to know, Hanley said nothing about what was disclosed during the fever, trusting that Saunders had his reasons for keeping the information to himself. Now it seemed he finally had the whole story.

"Private we'll discuss the matter further once we reach King Company." Hanley said as he focused on the road ahead. "For now we have a mission to complete."

"Yes Sir." Kovac wasn't sure what the LT would do after the mission was over but for now he felt like some of the weight had been lifted from his shoulders.