Magnet & Steele (19 page)

“Yes Derrie, I do know what that
means.”

“I’ve got to concentrate on my
football career, on my marriage, on my child. You’re just a
distraction, always have been. You tease me a little bit then I’m
distracted.”

“I didn’t realize,” Francine just
said with a small smile forming on her lips.

“No you’re not, then why are you
here?”

“My mom, no, you—to talk to you, to
see how you’ve been.”

“So you thought you’d just hop on a
plane, fly across the ocean and drive hundreds of miles just to see
how I was?”

“You don’t have to be so
condescending.”

“I think it’s better that we’re
apart, don’t you?” Derrie asked, no longer angry, but irritated. “I
think you should go now.”

Francine’s eyes bugged out. “You’re
kidding right?”

“No.”

Then silence. Stillness with the
both of them looking into each other’s eyes searching from
something…something.

Francine couldn’t believe it, and at
that moment, she thought about all the days in a row where she’d
cried herself to sleep for being so far away from him. Derrie
evolved from being someone she sometimes missed when she didn’t see
him at school to someone she longed for because she couldn’t see
him because he was an ocean away. Absence makes the heart grow
fonder? Absence, to her, made her heart ache. Swelling to a point
where she wished she could carve it out to make it stop smarting.
At present, she wanted to enfold him, she was just too happy to see
him, and boy, did he ever look endearing! He had cut his hair
though, a little shorter around the ears, or was his hair just wet
from coming out of the shower? Oh no, his hair was wet and her
envisioning him naked and under a cascading waterfall made her all
hot and bothered and she tried to disguise her enthusiasm by
fanning herself. He looked just too gorgeous for words. Why was she
there again? Oh crap, she thought, oh yeah… “No, I can’t. I won’t…I
won’t leave it like this.”

Derrie simply just rolled his eyes.
Here they go again. It was like a roller-coaster ride with Francine
Steele! How does he get off this ride? Does he want to get off this
ride? He thought he’d jump from it last time, leap from it and into
a marriage without thinking and only thinking about Francine and
then purposely avoiding her by getting out of California and moving
to Indiana because of her. Oh hell, why was she here again? She
looked absolutely amazing. Her hair was tied back with a silk scarf
exposing her beautiful face and she wore mascara now, something she
never used to wear which caused her lovely brown eyes to glow. Oh
hell, why was she here again? “Listen to me Francine and listen
well,” he remarked, rolling his eyes one last time. “We can’t keep
doing this to each other.”

“But—”

“No Fran! I won’t let you into my
head anymore!”

“But Derrie, please, I—”

“No Fran! Every time I see you,
every time I’m near you…I want to…”

“You want to…what?”

“Kiss you.”

Southeast Asia, Vietnam

In the summer of 1963, South Vietnam
was in turmoil as the Buddhist minority and the Catholic majority
clashed over religious freedoms and political control. The American
media smuggled stories and film out of the country to cover such
news.

On November 1, 1963, General Duong
Van Minh staged a coup and a brief confrontation around the
presidential palace. The generals took control through Diem and his
brother fled to the Chinese quarter of Saigon. Both men were
executed and exactly three weeks after the coup in Saigon, which
was supported and authorized, President John F. Kennedy was
assassinated.

As a new government formed in South
Vietnam, headed by General Van Minh, a new administration took over
in Washington. The change in Saigon was supposed to solve the
problems and the change in Washington command became increasingly
difficult situation in Southeast Asia. Rumors began to spread
through South Vietnam that Minh and his colleagues were actually
formulating plans for a coalition with the Communists and were
almost ready for the transition. This was totally unacceptable in
Washington. The reputation of the United States as an
anti-Communist world power was at stake. The United States was to
merely fly reconnaissance missions over the North to report enemy
points and areas of enemy troop buildup. However, the destroyer USS
Maddox was attacked by North Vietnamese patrol boats while on
patrol in the Gulf of Tonkin. Two days later, six patrol boats
assaulted the Maddox and the USS Turner Joy and American aircraft
retaliated by striking against the North Vietnamese naval
installations destroying twenty-five vessels. With the loss of
these crews, the story was released to the press. The Gulf of
Tonkin incident was reported as an unprovoked attack on American
vessels for which the navy retaliated. President Johnson
immediately made the most of the situation, producing the Southeast
Asian Resolution, better known as the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution.

This document was to become the key
to the American involvement in Southeast Asia. The Resolution,
carefully worded, was not an actual declaration of war, but made
the United States an aid to an ally which was defending itself from
external forces.

From July through September 1965,
the influx of American combat troops continued with the 1st
Infantry Division, the 101st Airborne Division and the 1st Cavalry
Division all arriving. America was no longer limited to simply
support and advise South Vietnam, but assumed a prominent combat
role and although never declared, America was at war.

The first Marines landed on the
beaches near Da Nang in March 1965 and the soldiers were in action
against the Viet Cong (the “VC”). This first large-scale American
military involvement marked the end of the advisory period in
Vietnam. By July 1965, more than 65,000 United States troops were
in South Vietnam. Key American advisories were determined to defend
the South and believed in bombing the North and targeted bridges,
railroads, highways, airfields, power plants and factories. Despite
the damage, the Hanoi government continued its war effort and kept
the supply chain to the VC flowing.

The U.S. military had advanced
weaponry and powerful aircraft, but fighting in Vietnam required
foot soldiers on patrol. Small groups of soldiers walked through
dangerous areas known to have Communist activity. They patrolled
rural villages where their occupants wanted protection from the VC,
but in these situations, patrols were often watched by hidden VC
waiting for a chance to strike. Most patrols were sent out on
reconnaissance and were usually in platoons with company strength
of 20-100 men and went on short distances. Patrols were often
exposed to surprise attacks, especially as they entered forests,
approached villages or crossed open fields.

More American casualties were
sustained from terror tactics like sniper attacks and booby traps
than in set battles. When search and destroy missions did locate
the enemy it was usually in ambush, with the Americans in an
extremely poor position and outside the immediate support of other
units.

The VC was skilled at laying
ambushes for approaching patrols. They hid in trees, in fields, in
haystacks and even underground. They often struck from all sides
with gunfire and grenades. The leading man of the patrol was in
particular danger from a surprise attack. If outnumbered, ambushers
would soon melt into the countryside. If superior in force, they
would try to wipe out the patrol before their air support
arrived.

The Vietnamese began digging tunnels
during the first Indochina war. These were used as bomb shelters
and places for anti-French guerrillas to hide weapons. Tunneling
continued during the Vietnam War in Communist-controlled areas of
South Vietnam. Guerrilla fighters and their supporters lived for
long periods underground in complex tunnel systems. The largest
networks included sleeping rooms, kitchens, ammunition depots,
hospitals and meeting halls. Allied forces sent courageous
volunteers armed only with pistols and knives into the tunnels to
find out if they were being used.

Vietnamese peasants in the
countryside lived much like their ancestors. The VC fighters
depended on support from the villagers and threatened those who did
not cooperate with them. The U.S. and ARVN (Army of the Republic of
South Vietnam) troops, ordered villagers not to aid the VC.
Peasants tried to carry on with their farming, but soldiers on both
sides often punished them for helping the opposition. In 1968, the
U.S. troops massacred hundreds of civilians in the village of My
Lai. When the news reached the United States, Americans began to
turn against the war.

By 1968, many Americans were against
their government’s involvement in Vietnam. That year, more than
20,000 antiwar demonstrators marched in Washington, and as the war
worsened, opposition increased and demonstrations grew in size and
anger. Hundreds of performers and political leaders spoke out
against the war. President Johnson was so troubled by the
widespread antiwar movement that he chose not to run for
re-election in 1968. Hostility caused clashes between Americans for
and against the war and in 1970, several college students were
killed when soldiers in Ohio and police in Mississippi shot
protestors. President Nixon pressed the military for
“Vietnamization” (meaning: U.S. policy to turn over the fighting to
the South Vietnamese Army; this policy was established by President
Nixon late in the war, during the withdrawal of American troops)
this meant improved training and arming the South’s military which
was to take a larger role in defending their country. Nixon hoped
to limit U.S. casualties, but bloody battles continued. Many U.S.
soldiers became angry with the Nixon administration for sending
them into action while the military was gradually leaving Vietnam.
The withdrawal of U.S. forces (which numbered 543,000) by that
spring began to withdraw.

As U.S. troop strength in Vietnam
increased, younger men were drafted for service there, and many of
those still at home sought means of avoiding the draft. 9.2 million
men served in the military between 1964 and 1975. Nearly 3.5
million men served in the Vietnam through operations. From a pool
of approximately 27 million, the draft raised 2,215,000 men for
military service during the Vietnam era. It has also been credited
with "encouraging" many of the 8.7 million "volunteers" to join
rather than risk being drafted. Of the nearly 16 million men not
engaged in active military service, 96% were exempted (typically
because of jobs including other military service), deferred
(usually for educational reasons), or disqualified (usually for
physical and mental deficiencies but also for criminal records to
include draft violations). Draft offenders in the last category
numbered nearly 500,000 but less than 10,000 were convicted or
imprisoned for draft violations. Finally, as many as 100,000 draft
eligible males fled the country.

During 1965 and 1975, more than 660
U.S. servicemen were taken prisoners of war (“POW’s”) and a few
were held as long as nine years with some even escaping. 470 were
held in North Vietnam—many were abused, and others tortured.
Another 260 were in jungle detention camps in South Vietnam, Laos
and Cambodia. In early 1973, Operation Homecoming airlifted former
U.S. POW’s back to the U.S. soil and 591 POW’s had returned. Nixon
soon assured the nation that everyone was freed, but some 2,400 men
were still missing in action or (“MIA”) and still remain
unaccounted for.

California, 1971

Suzy was on the phone when Ray snuck
in through the bathroom window to see her. Suzy didn’t see him when
Ray comes up behind her and playfully tickles her side.

“Um…I have to go…yeah, uh-huh, talk
to you later,” she said quickly to the other party on the phone and
then hung up the receiver. “Ray?”

“Hey baby,” he cajoled, coming in
for a cuddle.

“I thought we agreed to take it
slow,” Suzy said, walking away from his open arms. “What are you
doing here? How’d you get in?”

“Came in through the bathroom
window, you know, like the Beatle’s song?”

Suzy didn’t think it was funny.
“Ray, my dad; things are finally going good between us now that
mom’s moved out. I don’t want to mess that up.”

“Yeah, I know baby, but I missed
ya!” He wheedled, stepping into her space and reaching out to rub
his hand through her hair and then touching her face with his
thumb.

“Oh Ray, this scares me,” Suzy said,
stiffening up. She still wasn’t quite sure about them rekindling
their romance. Thanksgiving Day still held some pretty devastating
aftermath.

“Why?”