that your squadron will shortly be called to active duty. . . .”
“As of 23 July, sir. And I wanted to talk to you about that.”
“The twenty-third?” Colonel O’Halloran asked. “You’re sure about that, Pick?”
Pickering nodded.
“I’m sure, Red.”
Majors do not call lieutenant colonels by their nicknames, certainly not in the presence of a flag officer they have never seen before. O’Halloran should have called him on that. But flag officers do not question, much less reprimand, lieutenant colonels in the presence of majors. I will deal with that later.
“You seem to be privy to information Headquarters, USMC, has not yet seen fit to share with me, Major,” General Taylor said.
“Yes, sir, I probably am. The warning order will be issued tomorrow, with the order itself coming the next day.”
“How do you know that, Major?”
“I’m not at liberty to tell you that, sir. But I’m sure General Dawkins will confirm the mobilization dates.”
“General Dawkins told you, is that what you’re saying?”
“No, sir. I happened to be with General Dawkins when we both learned about the dates.”
“From whom?” General Taylor snapped.
He heard the tone of his voice and was thus aware that he was a hairbreadth from losing his temper.
“Sir, that’s what I’m not at liberty to tell you.”
“Can you tell me what you were doing with General Dawkins?”
“Yes, sir. I knew the mobilization was coming, and I wanted to ask General Dawkins about getting a week, ten days’ delay for Captain James and myself before reporting. ”
“And General Dawkins’s reaction to this request?”
“He said it made sense to him, and you would be the man to see, sir.”
“You have to fly off to Scotland again,” General Taylor heard himself saying, “and reporting for active duty in two days would be inconvenient. Is that what you’re saying, Major? ”
Again there was a visible crack in Major Pickering’s composure.
“Sir, what I told The Dawk was—”
“ ‘The Dawk’? ‘The Dawk’?” General Taylor exploded. “Do I have to remind you, Major, that you’re speaking of a general officer?”
“Sorry, sir. That slipped out,” Pickering said. “General, I’m not trying to get out of mobilization. . . .”
“You just told me you wanted a delay!”
General Taylor was aware he was almost shouting, which meant that he was losing/had lost his temper, and this made him even more angry.
“General,” Colonel O’Halloran said. “I’m sure Major Pickering intended no disrespect to General Dawkins, sir. Sir, both Major Pickering and I flew for General Dawkins out of Fighter One on Guadalcanal . . .”
“Is that so?”
“. . . and everyone there referred to then Lieutenant Colonel Dawkins as ‘The Dawk’ in much the same respectful way one refers to the commanding officer as ‘the old man’ or ‘the skipper,’ sir.”
Taylor glowered at O’Halloran, but didn’t reply directly. “Tell me, Major Pickering,” General Taylor said, “why you think it would be to the advantage of the Marine Corps to delay for a week or ten days your recall to active duty? And that of Captain James?”
“Sir, with your permission, Captain James and I will catch the 0800 Trans-Global flight to Tokyo tomorrow morning. There’s a lot we can do if we get over there now, before the squadron. . . .”
“What makes you think your squadron will be sent to Korea? More information to which I’m not privy?”
“No, sir, but VMF-243 is the best prepared squadron on the West Coast. We’re ready to go, sir. I think Colonel O’Halloran will confirm that.”
“Yes, sir, VMF-243 can be ready to fly onto a carrier twenty-four hours after mobilization,” O’Halloran said.
“And if James and I can get over there now, there’s all sorts of things we can do for the squadron. Or squadrons, if they decide to send more than one right away. And then we would just go on active duty to coincide with the arrival of the carrier in Kobe.”
“Sir, with respect,” O’Halloran said. “What Major Pickering suggests makes a good deal of sense. There are a large number of things—”
General Taylor silenced Colonel O’Halloran by raising his hand.
He did not trust himself to speak. No officer, much less a flag officer, should lose his temper in the presence of subordinates.
After a moment, he decided he had his temper sufficiently under control.
“Major,” he said, as calmly as he could manage, “would you and Captain James please step outside for a minute? I’d like a word with Colonel O’Halloran.”
“Yes, sir,” Major Pickering said, and nodded his head to Captain James to precede him out of the room.