"Was it worth it, Doc? One of our carriers for one of theirs?"
"Probably not," Mclnerney said, after a moment’s thought. "They have more carriers to lose than we do. But if it-and it looks like it did-if it called off, or even delayed for any appreciable time, their invasion of Port Moresby, then it was. If they had taken Moresby, I don’t think we could have held Australia."
"You don’t think they’ll be back?"
"I think they will. But we’ve bought some time. What worries me is that seaplane base on that island-what was it?-Tulagi. If they get a decent air base going in that area, we’re in deep trouble as far as our shipping lanes are concerned. We’re going to have to do something about that."
"Such as?"
"Maybe take one of the other islands and put a dirt-strip fighter base on it."
"With what? We don’t have anything over there. My God, we couldn’t even hang on to Corregidor."
Three days earlier, on May 6, Lieutenant General Jonathan M. Wainwright, USA, had surrendered the fortress of Corregidor, in Manila Bay, to the Japanese.
"I know."
"That’s the first time a Marine regiment ever had to surrender," the Commandant said. "Ever!"
"They were ordered to surrender, Sir, by the Army."
"That’s a lot of consolation, isn’t it?"
The Commandant walked to the whiskey tray and poured himself a drink. He held up the bottle to Mclnerney, who shook his head no and said, "No, thank you, Sir."
"What’s on your mind, Doc?" the Commandant asked.
"General, I’m really desperate for qualified fighter squadron commanders."
"I’ll bet if Al Vandergrift was here, he would say, ‘I’m really desperate for qualified company commanders.’"
Major General Alexander Vandergrift commanded the 1stMarine Division, which consisted of the 1stand 5thMarines, plus the 11thMarines, Artillery, and which had just been brought up to war strength on May 1 at New River, North Carolina.
"Sir, I have one Naval Aviation Pilot, Technical Sergeant Galloway, who is qualified by both experience and temperament to command a fighter squadron. I would like to commission him and give him one."
The Commandant flashed him an icy stare. "Galloway? That’s the young buck who flew the Wildcat onto the carrier of Pearl and enraged the Navy? I’m still hearing about that. Whenever the Navy wants an example of irrational Marine behavior, they bring up Sergeant Galloway’s flight onto the Saratoga. "
"Yes, Sir."
"You ever hear the story, Doc, of General Jubal T. Early in the Civil War? Somebody sent him a plan he turned down. So this staff officer sent it back, respectfully requesting that the commanding general reconsider his previous decision. Early sent that back, too, after he wrote on it, ‘Goddammit, I already told you "no." I ain’t gonna tell you again.’"
"Yes, Sir."
The Commandant looked at him thoughtfully, even disbelievingly.
"That’s the only reason you came here tonight? You sat out there on the porch for hours, waiting for me to come home just to ask me to do something you knew damned well I wouldn’t do?"
"Sergeant Galloway got a raw deal, Sir. And I need squadron commanders."
"Loyalty to your men is commendable, General," the Commandant said, "but there is a point beyond which it becomes counterproductive." "Yes, Sir."
"And goddammit, Doc," the Commandant said, warming to his subject, "I’m disappointed that you don’t know what that point is."
Well, I tried,Mclnerney thought. And really pissed him off. I wonder what that’s going to cost Marine Aviation somewhere down the pike?
He set his glass on the table. "With your permission, Sir, I’ll take my leave." The Commandant glowered at him.
"Keep your seat, and finish your drink, you hard-headed Scotchman," he said. "I can’t afford to lose any more old friends."
(Three)
Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps Parachute School
Lakehurst Naval Air Station
Lakehurst, New Jersey
15 May 1942
First Lieutenant Richard B. Macklin, USMC, heard the knock at the jamb of his open office door, and then his peripheral vision picked up First Sergeant George J. Hammersmith standing there with a sheet of teletype paper in his hand.
Macklin did not raise his eyes from the papers on his desk. First Things First made sense. If you interrupted your work every time someone appeared at your door, you never got anything done. And he certainly didn’t want Sergeant Hammersmith to form the opinion, as so many old Marines did, that a commanding officer had nothing to do but sit behind a desk and wait for payday while the sergeants ran the Corps.
He finished what he was doing, which was to consider a request from the Navy Commander of Lakehurst that he permanently detail two enlisted men a day to work with the Base Engineer on roads and grounds. He decided against it; Para-Marines had more important things to do than pick up trash and cut weeds. Then he raised his head.
"You wish something, First Sergeant?"
"Got a TWX here, Sir, I thought you’d want to see right away."
Macklin made an impatient gesture for Hammersmith to give him the sheet of teletype paper. He judged in advance that the message would probably be of little genuine importance and could just as easily have been sent by mail. In his view, ninety-five percent of TWXs were a waste of time.
He was wrong.
HEADQUARTERS USMC
WASHDC 0755 15MAY42
ROUTINE
COMMANDING OFFICER
USMC PARACHUTE SCHOOL
LAKEHURST NAVAL AIR STATION
LAKEHURST NJ
1. ON RECEIPT, ISSUE NECESSARY ORDERS DETACHING 1STLT RICHARD B. MACKLIN, USMC, FROM HEADQUARTERS AND HEADQUARTERS COMPANY USMC PARASCHOOL LAKEHURST NAS NJ FOR TRANSFER TO HQ and HQ COMPANY 1STUSMC PARA BN, FLEET MARINE FORCE PACIFIC.
2. LT MACKLIN WILL REPORT TO US NAVAL BASE SAN DIEGO CAL NOT LATER THAN 2400 HOURS 30 MAY 1942 FOR FURTHER SHIPMENT TO FINAL DESTINATION. TRAVEL BY FIRST AVAILABLE MIL AND/OR CIV RAIL, AIR, OR MOTOR TRANSPORTATION TO SAN DIEGO IS AUTHORIZED. TRAVEL BEYOND SAN DIEGO WILL BE BY US GOVT SEA OR AIR TRANSPORT, PRIORITY BBBB2B.
3. TIME PERMITTING LT MACKLIN IS AUTHORIZED NO MORE THAN SEVEN (7) DAYS DELAY EN ROUTE OVERSEAS LEAVE.
4. LT MACKLIN WILL COMPLY WITH ALL APPLICABLE REGULATIONS CONCERNING OVERSEAS TRANSFER BEFORE DEPARTING LAKEHURST. STORAGE OF PERSONAL AND HOUSEHOLD GOODS AND ONE (1) PRIVATELY
OWNED AUTOMOBILE AT GOVT EXPENSE IS AUTHORIZED.
5. HEADQUARTERS USMC (ATTN: PERS/23/A/11) WILL BE NOTIFIED BY TWX OF DATE OF LT MACKLIN’S
DEPARTURE.
BY DIRECTION:
FRANK J. BOEHM, CAPT, USMCR
The first thing that occurred to Lieutenant Macklin was that it was sort of funny that as the Commanding Officer of the Parachute School, he would be ordering himself overseas.
Then it no longer seemed amusing at all.
His promotion had not come through.
He was supposed to be in San Diego two weeks from tomorrow, and from there he was going to the Pacific-in other words, to war.
It didn’t seem fair. Just as he was getting the Parachute School shipshape, they were taking it away from him.
It seemed to him that he could make a far greater contribution to the Marine Corps where he was-as an expert in place, so to speak-than in a routine assignment in the 1stParachute Battalion.