Part 38 (2/2)
Colonel Kennedy decided not to respond directly.
”The X Corps Operations Officer sent me here to see that the heavy vehicles, such as the wrecker you just loaded aboard, were loaded aboard last, so they may be unloaded first when you reach your destination.”
”Colonel, let me try to explain this to you. When I off-loaded those vehicles when we came here, I just about completely f.u.c.ked up the motors, booms, winches, and other equipment aboard. I knew it would. My gear is not designed to handle such heavy loads. But I figured, what the h.e.l.l, the important thing is to get these vehicles ash.o.r.e-I can get the gear repaired when I'm back in San Diego. But now I'm told I'm going to Wonsan, not 'Diego, and I have to load all this stuff back aboard, and then unload it again at Wonsan- where I understand there will be no functioning sh.o.r.eside equipment to unload me.” He paused, then went on: ”Still with me, Colonel?”
Colonel Kennedy nodded and said, ”Go on, please.”
”What I can do, Colonel,” Moran went on, ”is use the s.h.i.+p's gear to load the lighter stuff-the jeeps, three-quarter -ton ammo carriers, and the six-by-sixes. I can also probably unload them in Wonsan, presuming I don't f.u.c.k up my gear any more than it's already f.u.c.ked up by loading the heavy stuff.” He paused, and went on: ”Am I getting through to you, Colonel?”
”Yes, you are,” Colonel Kennedy said. ”There's absolutely no chance-”
”Not a f.u.c.king chance. Now, do I start to see how much of the light stuff I can get aboard before the f.u.c.king tide starts going down and leaves me stranded in the f.u.c.king mud? Or what?”
”Under the circ.u.mstances, I think it would be best to start loading the lighter vehicles,” Colonel Kennedy said.
”Believe it or not, I'm sorry as h.e.l.l about this,” Captain Moran said, and then walked back to where he had originally been standing.
He looked up at the s.h.i.+p.
”Okay, get those f.u.c.king lines down here,” he called. ”We're now going to start loading the light stuff.”
Colonel Kennedy turned to Captain MacNamara.
”It looks as if we have a problem, Captain,” he said. ”What I suppose I'm going to have to do is see the Port Master, and see if these heavy vehicles can be loaded aboard another vessel.”
”Yes, sir,” MacNamara said. ”Colonel, can I make a suggestion?”
”Absolutely.”
”Let me take them overland, across the peninsula,” MacNamara said.
”I don't think I follow you,” Kennedy admitted.
”Colonel, maybe I jumped the gun a little, but when Captain Moran told me that X Corps was going to be re-landed at Wonsan, I looked at the maps.”
”And?”
”Excuse me, sir, I have to get the line moving,” MacNamara said, and trotted toward the lines of vehicles ready to be loaded. He jumped up on the running board of a GMC 6 6, and a moment later Kennedy saw a soldier appear behind the wheel. He started the 6 6's engine and drove down the wharf toward where Captain Moran was impatiently waiting for the truck with MacNamara still on the running board.
MacNamara dropped nimbly off the truck as it pa.s.sed Kennedy.
”Sorry, sir. That man was asleep,” MacNamara said, as if he considered that a personal insult.
”You were saying something, Captain, about moving the heavy vehicles overland?” Kennedy asked.
”Yes, sir. Colonel, I've got a map in my jeep. Can I show you what I think?”
”Why not?” Kennedy said.
[FIVE].
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF STAFF HEADQUARTERS X U.S. CORPS SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA 1720 11 OCTOBER 1950.
”Kennedy,” the chief of staff said, ”this was not what I expected to hear from you when I told you to report on your progress.”
”I know,” Colonel Kennedy said. ”I wish it were otherwise. ”
”Well, what do you want to do about it?”
”If we could get an LST . . .”
”Fine. See the Port Captain, and tell him I want these heavy vehicles available as soon as possible at Wonsan.”
”Sir, I did that. He says there is no s.p.a.ce on the available LSTs. They can't carry all the tanks we want to move as it is.”
”Jesus Christ! Kennedy, we've got to do something!”
”Captain MacNamara has an off-the-wall idea-”
”Who's he?”
”He commands the vehicle exchange unit.”
”Let's hear it.”
”He suggests moving the wreckers and the tank retrieval vehicles by road.”
Kennedy was surprised when the chief of staff did not frown, snort derisively, or say ”Jesus Christ!” disgustedly, as he was wont to do when presented with a wild and/or stupid idea. In fact, the chief of staff was apparently giving the idea some thought.
The chief of staff snorted, but thoughtfully, not derisively.
”Think of it as a chess game, Kennedy,” he said. ”As we move pieces around the board-in this case the landing beaches at Wonsan.”
”Okay,” Kennedy said agreeably.
”First the landing craft go in.”
”Right.”
”And right on the heels of the landing craft-sometimes right with them-come the LSTs.”
”Right.”
”And what happens to the LSTs after they land the tanks? They get out of the way, right?”
”That's true.”
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