The Majors Read online

  MORE PRAISE FOR W. E. B. GRIFFIN’S ALL-TIME CLASSIC SERIES,

  BROTHERHOOD OF WAR

  A sweeping military epic of the United States Army that

  became a New York Times bestselling phenomenon.

  “A MAJOR WORK…MAGNIFICENT…POWERFUL…If books about warriors and the women who love them were given medals for authenticity, insight and honesty, Brotherhood of War would be covered with them.”

  —William Bradford Huie, author of

  The Klansman and The Execution of Private Slovik

  “Brotherhood of War gets into the hearts and minds of those who by choice or circumstances are called upon to fight our nation’s wars.”

  —William R. Corson, Lt. Col. (Ret.) U.S.M.C.,

  author of The Betrayal and The Armies of Ignorance

  “Captures the rhythms of army life and speech, its rewards and deprivations…A WELL-WRITTEN, ABSORBING ACCOUNT.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “REFLECTS THE FLAVOR OF WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE A PROFESSIONAL SOLDIER.”

  —Frederick Downs, author of The Killing Zone

  “LARGE, EXCITING, FAST-MOVING.”

  —Shirley Ann Grau, author of The Keepers of the House

  “A MASTER STORYTELLER who makes sure each book stands on its own.”

  —Newport News Press

  “GRIFFIN HAS BEEN CALLED THE LOUIS L’AMOUR OF MILITARY FICTION, AND WITH GOOD REASON.”

  —Chattanooga News-Free Press

  TITLES BY W. E. B. GRIFFIN

  HONOR BOUND

  HONOR BOUND

  BLOOD AND HONOR

  SECRET HONOR

  BROTHERHOOD

  OF WAR

  BOOK I: THE LIEUTENANTS

  BOOK II: THE CAPTAINS

  BOOK III: THE MAJORS

  BOOK IV: THE COLONELS

  BOOK V: THE BERETS

  BOOK VI: THE GENERALS

  BOOK VII: THE NEW BREED

  BOOK VIII: THE AVIATORS

  BOOK IX: SPECIAL OPS

  THE CORPS

  BOOK I: SEMPER FI

  BOOK II: CALL TO ARMS

  BOOK III: COUNTERATTACK

  BOOK IV: BATTLEGROUND

  BOOK V: LINE OF FIRE

  BOOK VI: CLOSE COMBAT

  BOOK VII: BEHIND THE LINES

  BOOK VIII: IN DANGER’S PATH

  BOOK IX: UNDER FIRE

  BOOK X: RETREAT, HELL!

  BADGE OF HONOR

  BOOK I: MEN IN BLUE

  BOOK II: SPECIAL OPERATIONS

  BOOK III: THE VICTIM

  BOOK IV: THE WITNESS

  BOOK V: THE ASSASSIN

  BOOK VI: THE MURDERERS

  BOOK VII: THE INVESTIGATORS

  BOOK VIII: FINAL JUSTICE

  MEN AT WAR

  BOOK I: THE LAST HEROES

  BOOK II: THE SECRET WARRIORS

  BOOK III: THE SOLDIER SPIES

  BOOK IV: THE FIGHTING AGENTS

  BOOK V: THE SABOTEURS

  BOOK VI: THE DOUBLE AGENTS

  PRESIDENTIAL AGENT

  BOOK I: BY ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT

  BOOK II: THE HOSTAGE

  BOOK III: THE HUNTERS

  The Majors

  BROTHERHOOD OF WAR BOOK III

  BY W. E. B. GRIFFIN

  THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

  Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada

  (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

  Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.)

  Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia

  (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)

  Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India

  Penguin Group (NZ), Cnr. Airborne and Rosedale Roads, Albany, Auckland 1310, New Zealand

  (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)

  Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196,

  South Africa

  Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  THE MAJORS

  A Jove Book / published by arrangement with the author

  Copyright © 1983 by W. E. B. Griffin.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  ISBN:978-1-4406-3760-5

  JOVE®

  Jove Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  JOVE is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  The “J” design is a trademark belonging to Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  For Uncle Charley and The Bull

  RIP October 1979

  And for Donn.

  Who would have ever believed four stars?

  Contents

  Chapter I

  Chapter II

  Chapter III

  Chapter IV

  Chapter V

  Chapter VI

  Chapter VII

  Chapter VIII

  Chapter IX

  Chapter X

  Chapter XI

  Chapter XII

  Chapter XIII

  Chapter XIV

  Chapter XV

  Chapter XVI

  Chapter XVII

  Chapter XVIII

  I

  (One)

  Washington, D.C.

  10 March 1954

  The black, four-door Buick Roadmaster carried Virginia license plates. Attached to the plates was a strip of metal on which was stamped ALEXANDRIA 1954, as proof the owner had paid his 1954 Alexandria city automobile tax. The car showed none of the other decalomania, however, that many of the cars in the Washington, D.C., area showed, thus identifying them as military personnel attached to the Military District of Washington, or as employees of the federal government authorized to park in Section B, Parking Lot III, of the Department of Labor, or so on.

  There was nothing about the car, in other words, that made it appear to be anything but the car of someone who lived in Alexandria, Virginia. But when it turned off Pennsylvania Avenue, the normally closed gates of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue were open, and the two guards on duty touched their caps in salute and waved it through without stopping it either to examine the driver’s identification or to telephone to see if he was expected, though it was late at night.

  The driver proceeded to the entrance nearest the Executive Office Building, the ornate old Army-Navy-State Department Building. Two marines, in dress blues, came out to the car before it had stopped.

  “I’ll park it for you, sir,” one of them said to the driver.

>   “If you’ll come with me, sir,” the other one said.

  The man who emerged from the car was a small, prematurely bald, rather skinny man wearing a baggy suit, white shirt, nondescript necktie, and black shoes. He was the antithesis of memorable.

  When the marine headed away from the elevator that went to the Command Operations Room, the small man asked him where they were going.

  “To the quarters, sir.”

  The small man did not reply.

  When he got off the elevator which opened on the wide entrance corridor of the living quarters, the Secret Service agent on duty nodded to him.

  “You’re to go right in,” he said.

  “Thank you,” the small man said politely, as he passed through the double door the agent held open for him.

  There were two men in the room. One of them, a brigadier general whose tunic was adorned with the heavy golden cord, the fourragère, identifying the military aide-de-camp to the President of the United States, was bending over the back of a fragile, gilt chair. In the chair sat a balding, bespectacled man wearing a tattered sweater. On the sweater was sewn a large “A.”

  “That was quick,” the President of the United States said.

  “There’s not much traffic this time of night, sir.”

  “We’re drinking,” the President said, indicating a silver tray on which whiskey bottles sat. “Will you have something? Or coffee?”

  “Coffee, please, sir, black,” the small man said.

  The military aide walked out of the room.

  “I spoke with John an hour or so ago,” the President said. “He sends his regards.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “I only recently learned that you were classmates and friends,” the President said.

  “Acquaintances, sir,” the small man said. “And he is ’44. I would have been ’46.”

  The President nodded, and then smiled. “He leads me to believe it can get a little chilly in Korea.”

  “The troops call it ‘Frozen Chosen,’ sir,” the small man said.

  A black man, a U.S. Navy chief steward, wearing a starched white jacket, came into the room with a silver pot of coffee and two cups and saucers. He left, closing the door behind him. The aide did not return.

  The President poured coffee into one of the two white china cups, and then said, “I think I’ll have a little of that myself,” and poured the second cup full. “Reinforced, of course,” he said, splashing bourbon into the cup. He held the bottle over the second cup and looked at the small man.

  “Please,” the small man said.

  “Help yourself, Major,” the President said, and went to a table and opened a folder. He took from it a stapled document, the cover sheet of which was stamped, top and bottom, with TOP SECRET in inch-high red letters. Red stripes ran diagonally across the cover sheet.

  He waited until the small man had seated himself, rather awkwardly, on a low, red leather couch and then he handed it to him. The small man put his cup and saucer down, held the cover sheet out of the way, and carefully read what the President had given him.

  COPY 1 of 3

  DUPLICATION

  FORBIDDEN

  TOP SECRET

  (QUINCY)

  THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF

  THE PENTAGON

  WASHINGTON 25, D.C.

  8 March 1954

  EYES ONLY

  VIA FIELD-GRADE OFFICER COURIER

  By direction of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the President concurring, you are authorized and directed to appoint Lieutenant General E. Z. Black, USA, as your representative to meet with the Commander in Chief, French forces in French Indo-China at Hanoi, as soon as possible. The purpose of the meeting is to determine if augmentation of French forces by American forces no longer required for operations in Korea would permit the French, in the immediate future, to sustain their operations at Dien Bien Phu, and ultimately to suppress Viet Minh/Communist insurgent forces currently threatening French control of Indo-China.

  It is emphasized that General Black’s mission is solely to evaluate the present military situation. He is NOT authorized to commit U.S. forces, of any type, for any purpose.

  For planning purposes only, it is contemplated that the following U.S. forces might be made available for service in French Indo-China, should United States intervention be determined to be feasible and desirable:

  Elements, Eighth U.S. Army, as follows:

  1st U.S. Cavalry Division (Dismounted)

  40th U.S. Infantry Division

  187th Infantry Regimental Combat Team (Airborne)

  8058th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital

  555th Artillery Group

  Command and Support units to be determined

  Elements, 20th U.S. Air Force, as follows:

  433rd Air Transport Group

  2055th Air Control Squadron

  2057th Meteorological Squadron

  271st Fighter Wing

  107th Fighter Bomber Squadron

  707th Bomber Squadron (Augmented)

  Command and Support units to be determined

  Elements, Pacific Fleet, as follows:

  Four attack transports

  Fleet oiler

  Task force, elements to be determined, but including:

  Aircraft carrier with three fighter squadrons and

  one fighter-bomber squadron aboard

  Escort vessels

  Ships of the line to be determined

  Inasmuch as it is anticipated that should American augmentation of French forces occur, General Black would be placed in command, you are authorized and directed to designate such general or flag officers as General Black may desire, representing the forces named above, to accompany him to Hanoi, or such other place as he may deem necessary.

  In view of the politically sensitive nature of General Black’s mission, it is directed that his party travel in civilian clothing by chartered civilian aircraft. This letter constitutes authority for the expenditure of whatever discretionary funds are necessary. Waiver of normal passport and visa requirements has been received from the French Colonial Administration.

  General Black will make a daily report, to be encrypted in French Indo-China, and transmitted via officer courier to Tokyo for radio teletype transmittal to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 20th Air Force has been directed to make courier aircraft available.

  On completion of his discussions with the French authorities, General Black will prepare a report, to be encrypted in French Indo-China, and transmitted in like manner. NO, repeat NO, copies of this report are to be retained in the Far East, and all notes and other material used in its preparation are to be destroyed.

  General Black may select whatever staff he desires to accompany him.

  FOR THE CHAIRMAN, THE JOINT CHIEFS:

  Edmund C. Williams

  Major General, USMC

  Secretary of The Joint Chiefs of Staff

  “Yes, sir?” the small man asked, when he had finished reading.

  “You read that pretty carefully,” the President said.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I was led to believe you wrote it.”

  “I drafted it, sir, for the Joint Chiefs. They might have changed it.”

  “Did they?”

  “Not significantly, sir.”

  “How’s your health, Felter?” the President asked.

  “Fine, sir.”

  “I mean, really. Not officially. Are you fully recovered?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I understand the only way you can get into Dien Bien Phu is by parachute. You feel up to that?”

  “Yes, sir,”

  “I want you to go to Indo-China with General Black,” the President said, “and then detach yourself, quietly, from the official party, go to Dien Bien Phu, see what shape they’re in, positions, supplies, morale, the whole business, and then come back here and tell me what you find.”

  “Yes, sir.”

 
; “I want you to take someone with you, sort of a backup. A soldier, preferably. Do you know someone like that?”

  Major Felter thought a moment.

  “Yes, sir, I know just the man. He’s at Fort Knox.”

  “Tell me about him.”

  “Major, Armor,” Felter said. “He had five combat jumps in World War II as a pathfinder. And was given the Medal. He wasn’t wounded in World War II.”

  “MacMillan?” the President asked. “He was with you when you had your misfortune in Korea, wasn’t he?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The military aide to the President of the United States returned to the room. Major Felter realized that there must be a hidden button somewhere that the President had pressed to summon him.

  “Major Felter’s volunteered to go, Charley,” the President said. “Get the show on the road.”

  “Yes, Mr. President.”

  The President sat down at a table and took a sheet of notepaper and quickly scrawled something on it.

  “This may come in handy, Major,” he said, handing it to him. Major Felter read it.

  “Yes, sir, I’m sure it will.”

  “Every soldier’s ultimate ambition, Felter,” the President chuckled. “Commander in Chief.” He put out his hand. “Go with God, Major,” he said.

  (Two)

  Hq XIX U.S. Corps (Group)

  Kwandae-Ri, North Korea

  12 March 1954

  The air force C-47 gooney bird which touched down daily at the XIX Corps (Group) airstrip had six passenger seats. They were up front in the cabin just behind the bulkhead separating the cabin from the cockpit. The rest of the cabin was given to cargo transportation, and sometimes the sick, on litters. Not the wounded; they passed their way through a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) on their way to more complete medical facilities via a separate aerial evacuation system.

  The gooney bird carried mail bags, and priority air freight, and milk. Fresh milk, from a herd of dairy cattle in Japan whose output had been contracted for by the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps, and was dispensed by the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps at the direction of the U.S. Army Medical Corps to pregnant dependent women, dependent children under the age of five, and those soldiers whose gastrointestinal difficulties indicated a daily ingestion of fresh milk.