The Adventures of Stevo-Chapter 3-Korea,1952,Part 2
In the operating room, the sound of the Armed Forces radio explaining the war's ending details and explosions from the outside made the surgeons and nurses jobs more nerve-wrecking. The surgeons were up to their foreheads in sweat trying to remove the shrapnel from their wounded soldiers. The nurses kept wiping their surgeon's sweaty faces with tissues while the lab lamp's yellow light beamed on the bloody cuts and chunks of skin and meat of the men were being operated on.
"Bring in the next!" Stevo called out. Then Klinger and another nurse came through the doors with a wounded soldier lying on the stretcher. They carefully set him down on the operating table in front of him. Stevo saw a frightened look on the soldier's face.
"Am I gonna be alright, doc?" the man asked in a scratchy voice.
"I think you're gonna be just fine. Just a minor leg wound, that's all."
"Okay... thank you." the man said, then the nurse put the sleeping gas mask over his mouth and put him to sleep. And for the next half hour, he worked his way to remove the shrapnel from his leg, calmly stitched his skin back up, wiped the blood stains off the area, and had him taken back on a stretcher that went to post-op. But as he was about to change into a new apron and gloves, a large piece of noise left out.
"Hey, can you hear that?" Nurse Kelly said to the others. There was a long silent.
"There it is. That's the sound of peace."
Later, in post-op, Stevo walked by the rows of beds occupied by patched-up soldiers, looking for his patient. He saw Nurse Baker walk by him, so he turned around to catch her attention.
"Nurse Baker, do you know where my patient is?"
"The one you last operated on? He's right over there on the right, 2nd from the door." She pointed out.
"'Kay, thanks." She continued to walk away. Stevo walked towards his patient's bed, while he stared at the oncoming doctor. Stevo grabbed a short stool near his leg cast and pulled it up near him.
"Hey doc." The man responded with a partly-cleared voice.
"Hello, um..."
"The name's Jack. Jack Kooistra." Stevo's eyes widened by the sound of that name.
'Oh my... that's Cody's great-uncle!' He said in his mind. He remembered when he and his best friend were talking about their family war heroes back last year [2013].
"Is there something wrong, doc?" Jack asked him, interrupting Stevo's flashback.
"Oh, um, I just had a small black-out."
"That's okay. You are?"
"Capt. Stephen Lambert." Suddenly, the announcements came on.
"Attention all personnel. Tonight, we will be holding a feast at the mess tent in celebration of the end of this war. All are invited."
"Well I must get going. Goodbye, Jack."
"Bye, Stephen." Stevo got up from his stool and began walking away when he called him out.
"Hey doc?" Stevo turned around. "Thanks for saving my life." He smiled.
"No problem." Stevo turned back around and began walking away to head towards his tent, where he would change clothes, pack his belongings, and head to the mess tent for the feast.
At the mess tent, the sounds of chattering and laughter filled the tent. Sitting between BJ and a nurse, Stevo, wearing the same-but-cleaned army shirt, jacket, and pants, laughed along at BJ's and Hawkeye's jokes and other memories while he drank sips of orange Nehi from the bottle. Then the sound of a silverware tapping against a coffee mug silenced the loud crowd.
"May I have your attention please?" Potter announced, grabbing their attention. "When I go like this *clinks*, you should go *slit sound*" Everyone chuckled at his words. "Now tomorrow, the 4077 will be consolidated. And well... since this is our final night together... I would like for each and everyone of you, to stand up, and say what you want to do with yourselves after we depart. I'll go first.
"I'm gonna open up a French restaurant and a fried frog leg stand."
"I'm gonna stay in the army."
"I don't know what I'm gonna do! *laughter*"
"Okay Stephen, your turn." Potter called him up. Stevo stood up from his seat and saw everyone staring at him.
"Uh... oh my, I didn't expect a crowd THIS huge to show up, *crowd laughs* but... even though I've been here twice, both of which were short terms, it has been quite an experience. Especially you, my pretty, and your little schemes too!" He pointed at Klinger with his finger, which everyone, even Klinger laughed about.
"But anyway, I'm planning to go to work in the art industry in North Carolina." Stevo looks around the room "...Well. it has been quite a trip up and down the dirtroads of Korea. And when we leave tomorrow, well... I'm gonna miss all of you. *stares at Potter* Potter, would you do the honors?" Potter stood up.
"I certainly would, Stephen. *raises cup, then everyone follows* To all of us, a happy, wonderful future... for each... and every one of us. Cheers."
"Cheers" Everyone said, then clanged their metal cups against each others and took a sip of their final drinks of the war.
The next morning, everyone gathered near the flagpole to watch the wedding of the soon-to-be Mr. & Mrs. Klinger, while the partly sunny skies beamed down and the smooth breeze blew all over.
"Do you, Soon-Lee, take Maxwell Klinger, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love, honor, and cherish, to have and to hold, from this day forward, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?" Father Mulcahy said to her, while everyone, wearing their brown military uniforms, stood around watching the marriage of Klinger and Soon-Lee.
"I do." She softly spoke.
"And do you, Maxwell Klinger, take Soon-Lee, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love, honor, and cherish, to have and to hold, from this day forward, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"
"You bet I do." Klinger smiled at his wife, then looked at Father.
"I now pronounce you, husband and wife." The now Mr. & Mrs. Klinger kissed each other, then the many personnel cheered for them and began singing as they walked towards the cow-pulled wagon. They continued cheering and waving goodbye as the wagon pulled away from the camp, leaving tire tracks behind. But everyone looked back to see the camp being taken apart as they began breaking up.
The surgeons and nurses waved goodbye to each other as the buses left the almost-abandoned camp. When Houlihan and Winchester left, the only people that remained for now were Potter, Hawkeye, BJ, Stevo, and a few other men.
"Well boys, guess this is goodbye." Potter said to the three, while walking his horse by his side. He hopped onto the saddle, and looked at them one last time as he sat.
"Stephen, can you come here please?" He asked Stevo.
"Yes sir." Stevo quietly walked up to and looked up at him.
"Stephen, I would like to give you these." Potter leaned over and grabbed something from his pocket and took it out to give him. It was his pistol, a Colt .22 Short Caliber, and $50 in American cash.
"But sir, I-"
"Son, I know you might not want to keep what I gave you, but, keep those just in case. Now I must be going, I got to head to drop my horse at the orphanage. So long." Potter saluted them, they saluted back, and off he went down the now sniper-free dirt road. Then a jeep's horn went off from behind them.
"Captain Lambert, your ride is ready!" yelled one of the men. Stevo turned.
"Well, looks like I gotta go. Goodbye fellows." Stevo began walking to his jeep with Potter's gun and money in his pockets. He sat in the driver's seat, started the engine, and looked at Hawkeye, B.J., and the camp one final time. He saluted them both, they saluted back, and took off into the dirt path, following one of the supply trucks.
Later, when the truck made a turn and headed into a different path, Stevo continued to drive through the roads, thinking about his next mission.
"I wonder what my mission will be this time? Is this it? Is this my final jour-" Suddenly, a tire popped in the front, causing him to lose control of the jeep. He tried to step on the brakes, but it was jammed, so he closed his eyes tight, leaned over the steering wheel, and held on for dear life when... *crash*
This chapter is dedicated to three great war veterans:
Samuel DuRant, WWII veteran (my uncle)
Jack Kooistra, Korean War veteran (Lucariofan692's granddad)
Lt. Charles Edward Lavender, WWII veteran (Commander of the first wave of U.S. troops to land on Normandy Beach, France on June 6, 1944, D-Day; he reported via radio the first landing of U.S. Troops; 1919-1998)