Korea is right next door to Japan, and if anything is going to happen over there, the Killer will have a damned good idea of what and when. And probably why.
Hart was a cop, a good cop, a good detective, and he had heard from his father, also a cop, and now believed that good cops developed a special kind of intuition.
He intuited that there was going to be a war in Korea, despite what the President had said about it being a “police action,” and that meant that Company B, 55th Marines, was going to be called to active duty.
“Neither have I,” Peterson said. He looked at Hart. “Do you think there’s anything we should be doing?”
Jesus Christ, you’re supposed to be the professional Marine. Why ask me?
“I’ve been giving it some thought, Paul,” Hart said. “Yeah, there is. And I’m not sure you’re going to like what I’ve decided to do.”
“Sir?” Peterson asked, at exactly the same moment as there was another knock on the glass of the door.
“We’re ready, skipper,” First Sergeant Andrew Mulligan called.
“Right,” Hart called, and started toward the door.
The moment he came through the door, Mulligan bellowed, “Ten-hut on deck,” and Company B, 55th Marines, lined up by platoons, popped to attention. Lieutenant Peterson stood in the open door.
Hart, trailed by Mulligan, marched across the varnished floor until he was in the center of the formation. He did a left face, so that he was facing the executive officer, First Lieutenant William J. Barnes, who had been a technical sergeant in World War II, and commissioned after he had joined the organized reserve.
Hart barked: “Report!”
Lieutenant Barnes did an about-face and barked, “Report! ”
The platoon leaders, standing in front of their platoons, did an about-face and barked, “Report!”
The platoon sergeants saluted their platoon leaders, and reported, in unison, “All present or accounted for, sir!”
The platoon leaders did another about-face, saluted Lieutenant Barnes, and announced, in unison, “All present or accounted for, sir.”
Lieutenant Barnes did an about-face and saluted Captain Hart.
“Sir, the company is formed. All present or accounted for, sir.”
Hart returned the salute.
“Parade Rest!” he ordered.
The company assumed the position of Parade Rest, standing erectly, feet twelve inches apart, their hands folded stiffly in the small of their backs.
The entire little ballet, Captain Hart judged, had been performed perfectly, even by the kids who hadn’t earned the right to wear the Marine Corps globe and anchor by going through boot camp.
Hart looked at his men, starting at the left and working his way slowly across the ranks and files.
Oh, to hell with it!
“Stand at ease,” he ordered.
That was not the next step in the prescribed ballet, and he saw questioning looks on a lot of faces.
“You did that pretty well,” he said. “Only two of you looked like cows on ice, and you know who you were.”
Fifty men decided the skipper had detected a sloppy movement on their part, and vowed to do better the next time.
“There will be a change from the published training schedule,” Hart announced. “Based on my belief that there are several things always true about the Marine Corps, first that there is always a change in the training schedule, usually unexplained.”
He got the laughter he expected.
“The second truth is that every Marine is a rifleman.”
His tone was serious, and he knew he had their attention.
“The third truth, and you may find this hard to believe, is that company commanders are sometimes wrong. I really hope I’m wrong now, and I want to tell you that I don’t know a thing more about the possible mobilization of the Marine Reserve—of Baker Company—than you do.”
There was absolute silence in the room as they waited for him to go on.
“But I have the feeling we’re going to be called. I don’t know where we’ll go, or what we’ll do, but we’re the Marine Corps reserve, and the reserve gets called in time of war. I hope we’re not in a war in Korea, but we may be, and it is clearly our duty to prepare for that.”
He paused.
“Every Marine is a rifleman. My drill instructor taught me that when I went through boot camp at Parris Island. And during the war, I saw how right he was, how important it is to the Corps. So the one thing I know we can do to prepare for being mobilized is to make sure that every Marine in Baker Company is not only a rifleman, but