The President then turned to Butler and let out a long slow breath. “I hope I’ll never have to do that again,” he said.
Butler nodded as they went back into the White House. “Boss, you never cease to amaze me. I thought they were going to eat us up; especially Senator Williamson.”
The President shook his head. “Most of those guys are not the big hitters they think they are. I hope you noticed that all I had to do was hint at a scandal and they backed down. Williamson sees himself as the next god. If it ever got out he was involved in something regarding these men, he would probably find himself retired and on some speaker’s circuit.”
“I also noticed you mentioning things written on paper. I didn’t recall anything like that in the service records.”
The President grinned. “Actually, I had some additional records pulled. Like letters to the boards, letters to their superiors, things like that. For a politician, it is the paper trail that can hurt you. In these cases, they had been using their influence for years. Williamson was one of the worst. You just have to know where to find it. A couple of those guys will be pissed off at us for a while, but in the end, if I keep my word and it doesn’t get out, they will come around. Besides, now I have one hell of a bargaining chip when our backs are against the wall,” he said slapping Butler on the back. “Now why don’t you get home. Your wife already thinks I’m a task master down here. Tomorrow is Saturday. You take tomorrow and Sunday off like a normal guy. The office will run itself. If I need anything I can call you now anyway,” he said grinning.
“You sure?” Butler asked. “I’d hate to be missed,” he said with a slight grin.
“Get on home,” the President said. “Relax some, Jim. I need my friend back on Monday.”
Butler looked around and made note that only the Service escort was around. He winked at the President. “Good night, Steve,” he said in a short private moment. Butler turned and headed down to the staff offices and home.
President O’Bannon watched the man leave. Butler was quickly becoming his best friend. He would have to make sure they continued to work together even after his presidency.
Chapter 9
General Claire Richardson went over the reports on her desk. They told the story of men and women, materials, equipment, timetables, transportation, munitions — everything that would be needed to conduct a war. Since her return from Memphis, she had been totally immersed in planning and preparation for an invasion. It had been rough. Transportation issues plagued her from the start. At first, it was bringing in the supplies and troops. Then it was the staging. Now it was getting the whole show to Korea. A Navy three star was in the overall command of this venture, but so far all he worried about was his own precious ships. The Navy was getting assets but the wrong kind. Warships were great at protecting things and projecting power ashore, but what she needed was transport to get the Marines and Army to the beach with all its equipment and be able to provide enough to make it decisive. US pre-positioning ships were on their way from Diego Garcia, and a couple were coming from Europe. There were even a few being readied from Pearl Harbor, but that was not near enough. She wanted enough to put at least five full divisions on the beach with enough equipment to outfit a couple of brigades with spares — and that was just for the initial landings. One thing she had learned about amphibious warfare; go in with overwhelming superiority.
“Okay, let’s go over it again so I understand. You plan on transporting us over there on a few LSTs, some LPDs and the rest on chartered cruise ships. That should get the men over, but the equipment side is left hanging. The LPDs and LSTs don’t hold but a fraction of what’s needed. You are bringing in the Ro-Ros to handle some of the tanks. But you’re telling me you can’t bring but half of the equipment they will need. What kind of options are you suggesting?” she asked.
The Navy Captain had already thought through tons of options, but none were really satisfactory. “General, the only thing my guys came up with is to go in with what we have and stage the rest in Japan. We empty, go across the strait and pick up more. If we were to round robin the stuff, we probably wouldn’t leave the guys without equipment for too long,” he said.
She shook her head. There were just too many times in history when people made assumptions and the Marines ended up paying the price. Guadalcanal was a prime example. “Look Captain, I understand we are short stocked on transport, but we can’t do this unless we have some way to get tanks and trucks on station. We can’t really do it with freighters or containerships. There has to be something that can get that equipment there and put it on a beach. You and your team find me that transport within the next 24 hours or I will have to tell the President this thing can’t work. You get me?”
The Captain gave a sigh. “Yes, ma’am. We’re still working on it. I don’t like it any more than you do, General. My people have been scrounging around every port on the East Coast and in the Gulf trying to figure it out. One guy mentioned barges, but that would be a no go in any kind of offshore operations. The other problem is our equipment is big. Trucks and tanks take up a lot of room and weigh a bunch of tons. We’ve maxed out our sealift capacity as it stands. Nobody ever believed we would have to mount such an amphibious operation again.” The man rubbed his forehead.
Richardson looked at the man and could tell he was frustrated. He couldn’t help that the political climate of the previous administration had choked back the budgets and, as a result, the ships. “Captain, I understand and I can’t say as I have all the answers myself, but we have to solve this one. It means my people dying on some godforsaken beach without a chance. I can’t do that, and I figure you can’t either. So push hard. We have got to find an answer,” she said.
“Aye, sir. We’ll come up with something,” he said. The people at the table gathered up their papers and trudged out the door. It had been a long and exhausting day, and it looked like it would be a long night too. The General sat back and looked over the lists one more time. There had to be some way of making landings on Korean soil where it would be strategically placed and not a deathtrap for her troops.
After a minute she put the papers down and closed her eyes. Black had been right. It was the ultimate for her — planning the largest amphibious landing since Inchon, during the last Korean conflict. She had the men and materials and almost everything in place to kick off; and she would be in command of one of the units. It was a back breaking task, but she loved it. She didn’t even question the order. She took the reins and sank spur. Her thoughts were interrupted by Colonel Grayson. He missed the last meeting and was upset.
“Grayson, where the hell have you been? The meeting’s over,” she chided.
“Sorry about that, General. I was up in Baltimore looking over a couple things and had a hell of a time getting back. One of those ships broke her anchor chain and drifted into the bridge. I had to detour forever before I could get here,” he said.
“What kind of ship was it?” she asked. “I didn’t know there was that much traffic going in and out.”
“No, ma’am, it was one of those car carriers. Baltimore is a major hub for sending over the Hyundai’s and Toyotas. With Korea closed up, the Hyundai people have them stacked all over the Chesapeake Bay. I’ll be glad when we can get those barges out of here. Ugly things,” he complained.
The General stood up. There was a surprised look in her eyes. “Get Captain Ross back in here right now,” she shouted.