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A Fast 50
A Fast 50
A Fast 50
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A Fast 50

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Anyone who is past the age of 50 will tell you just how fast 50 years can fly by and those years fly even faster when the Devil and his Disciples are chasing you. While Captain O'Neil was attending the Advance Air Defense Course at Fort Bliss, Texas he was briefly touched by the Devil when he successfully defended a young Sergeant in a Court Martial. O'Neil learned how to defeat the Devil that time and now that O'Neil is about to attend a multiple Class Reunion at Grandville High School he will need everything he learned to defeat the Devil and the Devil's followers again. This is an explicit story about how the Devil sucks in Souls with promises of extreme please, vast wealth and tremendous powers and how you can use the simple but most effective tools to recognize and defeat the Devil and all his evil forces.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherMark Corrigan
Release dateJul 9, 2017
ISBN9781370574551
A Fast 50
Author

Mark Corrigan

I was born in Milwaukee Wisconsin and raised in the Town of Granville which no longer exists. I graduated from Granville High School and the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee. I took a Regular Army Commission after graduating as a Distinguished Military Student in ROTC. I served in South Korea in a HAWK Air Defense Missile Battery before called upon to teach Advanced Marksmanship in 8th Army. I developed the concept of using Sniper Teams to control the same area as a US Army Battalion on line and helped to design the XM-21 Sniper Rifle used in Vietnam. I commanded a Hercules Missile Air Defense Unit in Union Lake Michigan, when I went to Vietnam on my "official" tour I Commanded Headquarters Company of First Field Force Vietnam. I was the Public Affairs Officer in 20th NORAD Region until I resigned my Commission on April 29, 1975 which is the day Siagon fell to the North Vietnamese. I formed Harpers Ferry Arms Company that made Civil War and Revolutionary Reproduction firearms, uniforms and equipment. Using my international contacts that made these reproductions I expanded into making other products for clients and imported them through James River Imports and Development Corporation. During President Carter's years I could not import things cheap enough to keep these companies alive. Year's later my relationships with overseas Companies brought me into the Tobacco business and eventually into trying to help Cambodia become a modern country with major projects in Electrical Power, Oil and Gas Production, Fertilizer and Concrete Plants and the reclaiming of the land as part of the Cambodian Veterans Rehabilitation Program. As Virginia American Management Corporation's Executive Vice President I was within days of signing these agreements with the Cambodian Government when President Clinton who was bribed my the Communist Vietnamese Government, illegally used the North Carolina Federal Court to stop me. For the detailed true life story about all these things I suggest that you obtain a copy of my Book "What Price Justice" Published on Smashwords.com.

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    Book preview

    A Fast 50 - Mark Corrigan

    A FAST 50

    Mark Raymond Corrigan

    ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

    SMASHWORDS EDITION

    A Fast 50

    Copyright© 2017 Mark Raymond Corrigan

    Cover Design & Interior Layout: Laura Shinn Designs

    http://laurashinn.yolasite.com

    This Book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. The ebook may not be resold or given way to other people. If you would like to share the book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it or it was not purchased for your use only, than please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

    Published also in Audio Format

    REMARKABLE PUBLICATIONS®

    A subsidiary of

    The Corrigan Company LLC.

    393 Caesar Road

    Harpers Ferry, West Virginia 25425

    A FAST 50

    Anyone who is past the age of 50 will tell you just how fast 50 years can fly by and they fly even faster when the Devil and his Disciples are chasing you.

    The main character Michael Patrick O’Neil in Mark Raymond Corrigan’s other books of SOFT TOUCH, the PAGE OF DIAMONDS and the THREE TOED TIGER TALES had been briefly touched by the Devil in the classic battle between the forces of Good and Evil.

    O’Neil was taking the Advanced Officer’s Course in Air Defense at Fort Bliss Texas when he successfully defended a young Sergeant in his Court Martial. O’Neil had no way of knowing that his involvement in the lives of this Sergeant and his wife could be far more dangerous to his own life and his soul than all the bullets that missed him in Vietnam.

    He was able to escape that time, as he learned what was necessary to defeat the Devil who was responsible for all the misery in the family of this young Sergeant. They had foolishly joined a Coven when the Sergeant was stationed in Germany and then they found out it was not easy to just walk away from the Devil without help.

    Now as O’Neil is about to attend his Class Reunion at Granville High School he runs right back into the Devil and all the Covens that started with the Sacrificial death of Tom Bartlett 50 years ago. Since then, new Covens had spread throughout the Southeastern Wisconsin in epidemic proportions. O’Neil must use all the knowledge that he learned years ago at Fort Bliss to deal with the Devil again.

    This is an explicit story about how the Devil sucks in Souls with the promise of extreme pleasure, vast wealth and tremendous power and how to use the simple but most effective tools to recognize and defeat the Devil and all his evil forces.

    If you have ever had any doubts of the existence of the Devil and what evil he is doing, you only need to read this book and arm yourself for the battle of a lifetime, as it is your very soul and the souls of your loved ones that are at stake for all eternity. There is but one consolation in this life and that is, God will never allow us to be tested beyond our capabilities to defeat Satan and all his works.

    CHAPTER ONE:

    TOUCHED BY THE DEVIL

    Captain Michael Patrick O’Neil has received Orders that assigned him to the Advance Course of the Air Defense School at Fort Bliss Texas now that he has completed his Official Tour in Vietnam.

    He had been involved in the development of the US Army’s Advanced Marksmanship Program for the effective use of Sniper’s on the Battlefield during his unofficial tours in Vietnam. He had come back to the United States to successfully Command an Air Defense Nike Hercules Unit in Union Lake Michigan before going back to Vietnam to get his ‘career ticket’ punched. Mike had no way of knowing that this Assignment at Fort Bliss Texas, could become far more dangerous to his life and soul than all the bullets that had missed him in Vietnam.

    When he returned from Vietnam this time, he had accumulated over 5 months of Military Leave and he was in the position of either using it or losing it. O’Neil was having some serious doubts about staying in the Army even though he had done exceptionally well having been promoted twice ahead of the normal time for such promotions. Three of the Military Units he Commanded, received Presidential Citations and two of them had received the coveted Connelly Award for the best Mess Hall in the Army.

    However, his personal life was all screwed up, after he had found a woman of his dreams who had a metal breakdown and she had tried to kill him believing that he was someone else. She was still in a Private Sanitarium in Pontiac Michigan. There had been no improvement and her prognoses was not good. Had she died, he might have gotten over her, but she was alive. Where there is life there is always hope, even if the odds were a million to one against you.

    His old friend and his former Commander when Mike ran the Special Operations Sniper Unit in Vietnam, Colonel Rodman understood Mike’s situation and talked him out of resigning. Colonel Rodmann told him to just take off and see the world. Colonel Rodmann advised him that he just needed some time to get his head together. If O’Neil still felt the same way after he had used up his Military leave then at least he had taken to time to consider everything before he just quit. The idea of quitting had never been a word used in Mike’s vocabulary until now.

    O’Neil respected his friend’s judgment and agreed to weigh all the factors before he would make his final decision about staying in the Army. If he was going to stay in the Army, he would need to report in for this School Assignment for the last Class of the year starting on the third of December. If he was not going to report in, he needed to submit his formal resignation before that date.

    Mike had flown his Beechcraft Model 35 V Tail Airplane to El Paso International Airport and rented a car so he could report in to the Officer’s School at the Air Defense Center Fort Bliss, Texas. He would have five days to settle in before his Class started.

    They had his Registration packet and file completely prepared with the Authorization to live Off Post. Mike had planned to bring his 1966 English Racing Green Corvette Stingray down during the Christmas Holidays. He took the Automobile Officer’s Post Stickers they had already prepared for it.

    In the mean-time he needed to buy something rather than waste money on a Rental car. What he had in mind was buying something to use just for local transportation. He needed something that he could easily get his money back when he sold it. Pick-up trucks seemed to be a ‘hot item’ here at Fort Bliss. Having a truck would help move all his household goods that had been in storage since he left Michigan for Vietnam. It had been shipped here once he made up his mind that he would be staying in the Army.

    Mike found a nice two-bedroom furnished apartment that afternoon and it’s rent was close to the amount he would be receiving for his Officer’s Off Post Housing Allotment.

    He had checked out a number of Pick-ups advertised ‘For Sale’ by military personnel who were being transferred to a new assignment. He found a completely restored 1949 Chevy Pickup with a rebuilt 235 straight six engine and a 4 speed manual transmission. The Sergeant Major and his family were going to Germany and hated to sell it. This was just what Mike had been looking for, as its value would only continue to appreciate the longer he had it.

    CHAPTER TWO:

    COMMAND RESPONSIBILITIES NEVER END

    The next day Mike went to pick up all his household goods. When he saw it, he could hardly believe the amount of junk that he had accumulated in his travels. As the boxes of his stuff, were being loaded in the back of his pickup truck he remembered what he had put in each of them. They were like old friends just waiting to be invited into his new home.

    He noticed an odd shipping box that he could not remember packing, yet it had his name and Service Number printed across the top. The lettering on it was not the same as the others and he did not recognize it or what he might have put in it.

    Rather than just taking it, Mike called over the Property Sergeant and expressed his concerns. The Sergeant did not appear to be surprised stating. Many times personal property shipped from Vietnam had been forwarded to a Property holding facility and it would remain there until it was transferred to your next duty station.

    Mike did not remember shipping anything from Vietnam and he was very suspicious of it. He was familiar with a number of decent GI’s who had gotten themselves hooked on drugs in Vietnam. 99% Pure Heroin that was being sold on the Street in South Vietnam for only a dollar a plastic cap while its real value anywhere else in the World would be worth 20 dollars.

    The sale of Heroin at such a reduced price was no accident. North Vietnam was trying to undermine the morale and combat effectiveness of the US Military’s soldiers after the North Vietnamese Army had suffered a terrible defeat during the Cambodian Incursion in the spring of 1970.

    These Plastic Caps of Heroin had been designed to fit perfectly inside the flash suppresser of the standard US Infantrymen’s M-16 Rifle. When the regular GI Issued plastic water protector was placed over the outside muzzle of the M-16 to keep moisture and rain out of the barrel, it also hid the drugs the GI might be carrying.

    The hooked GI’s were trying to get drugs home any way they could. One of the most favorite places to hide these drugs was inside the large Stereo Speakers that could be bought at a very reasonable price at the PX. Building a nice Sound system had become quite popular with the GI’s overseas.

    The safest way to ship drugs out was in someone else’s household goods where the Drugs would be taken out when they arrived at the Stateside Storage Facilities. An Officer’s Household Goods were less likely checked and the Drugs shipments were easily identified by some special marks on the shipments.

    The more Mike thought about it the more he had a bad feeling about this box. He was glad now that he had come to pick up his Household Goods rather than just having it delivered to his apartment. If someone had shipped drugs under his Transfer Orders he did not want to find that out after he had opened the Box in his apartment. For all he knew there could be several pounds of Heroin packed inside it, or it had been there before it was taken out at some Storage Facility.

    Mike called the Post’s Criminal Investigation Division, CID to check this box out before it was opened. At first Mike felt a little foolish calling in the CID, based only upon his suspicion’s. However, he had been a Unit Commander too long not to trust his instinct’s. If he was right, the CID would become involved anyway. It was better to have the box opened here in front of witnesses than it would be if he called them after he had unpacked the box in his apartment and where he might come under suspicion himself.

    As the Company Commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company of First Field Forces in Na Trang, Vietnam he helped to rewrite the Regulations on Shipping Household goods. This was an attempt to eliminate the Shipping of Household Goods on any Transfer Orders other than your own. It was possible that this box could have been shipped before those new Regulations had been published.

    A Lieutenant True from the CID Office arrived with a Sergeant Gomez from their Technical Staff. Once O’Neil explained his concerns about the shipping box, it was dusted for fingerprints before they opened it. It was established that Captain O’Neil’s Household goods had remained in their original shipping containers and that box was inside a large shipping crate that they had just opened. That shipping Box was inside O’Neil Shipping Container and the only one handling it was one of their Enlisted men, a Private Murphy.

    When they opened that shipping box there was another box inside surrounded and packed with dried hot peppers. This was a method used by Drug smugglers to defeat the Drug Dogs ability to sniff out the Drugs in these boxes.

    That box was also dusted for fingerprints before it was opened. Throughout the procedure the CID Investigation Officer’s wore rubber gloves. Inside they found twelve plastic bags containing 99% Pure Heroin. Each bag was dusted for prints but there were none. Each bag was then weighed and they totaled 28.8 pounds.

    Here was several million Dollars, worth of pure Heroin with a street value worth ten times that amount when it was cut and sold on the streets. This represented the largest Heroin shipment recovered within the three State area around El Paso, Texas. Captain O’Neil suggested to Lieutenant True that they may want to keep this drug discovery quiet until he had a chance to discuss this with the CID Commander.

    Colonel Mathew Link was having a difficult time understanding and dealing with this wave of Drugs going through the Military and Civilian population across the Country. He was now the type of Officer who wanted his remaining months in the Army to slide on by without any hassles. Now here comes this Captain with his Lieutenant True and Sergeant Gomez carrying a big wooden shipping box, that had trouble written all over it.

    Captain O’Neil explained what his position was in Vietnam and how large quantities of Heroin were being shipped to the United States using someone else’s Transfer Orders. It was Captain O’Neil’s belief that this Drug Smuggling Operation required someone who could obtain a copy of an Officer’s Transfer Orders and they would need someone who worked in the Household Goods shipping facilities to make it work.

    The Property Officer in charge of the Fort Bliss Household Goods facilities had informed both Captain O’Neil and the CID Officers that there were only two places in the United States that received and stored Household shipments from Vietnam. One was at Fort Lewis Tacoma, Washington and the other was at Travis Air Force Base San Francisco, California. That meant that someone at each of these storage facilities had to be linked with someone in Vietnam, as they could not have a their own Drug Man at every Military Post across the Country.

    Lieutenant True informed the Colonel that the Property Officer had informed him about a lot of misdirected Household Goods coming into Fort Bliss. What the Household Goods Officer told him, was they would have to wait for a Property Trace to come in before they shipped it to the correct location.

    In Lieutenant True’s opinion these misdirected Shipments to Fort Bliss could have become a alternative method of delivery if those at Travis and Fort Louis had found themselves being watched too closely. Someone there would only need to know what Shipping Numbers that contained the Drugs, than ship the whole container here to Fort Bliss, where if could just disappear as if it never existed. The Officer whose Orders were used would not know it and he would not be expecting to received anything, as none of his Household Goods were missing.

    Colonel Link was looking for a way to get himself out of the picture and one of the ways to do that would be to delegate his authority to his eager beaver Lieutenant and the nosey Captain.

    Captain O’Neil thought about a Lieutenant Jordon who was working on the CID’s Drug Taskforce in Vietnam. If he remembered correctly that CID Lieutenant should still be there and he was dealing with the Drug Problems in all of Vietnam with his Office in Na Trang. For some reason a great deal of Heroin had been coming through that City.

    Lieutenant True contacted Lieutenant Jordon and he explained what was happening on his end of the Drug pipeline that was using the Household Goods method of delivery to Fort Bliss Texas. This had been the first real evidence that Lieutenant Jordan had, where he knew the Drugs had been actually shipped to a final delivery point. He was also surprised to learn that Captain O’Neil’s Transfer Orders had been used. Knowing Captain O’Neil had a nose for smelling out rats, he would suggest the connection between people who published the Transfer Orders and someone in the Household Goods shipping section.

    One of the first things Jordon looked for was anyone who had extended their tour in Vietnam as such people would have wanted to milk the system for as long as they could as reliable Drug Partners were not always easy to find and keep. Most GI’s counted down the days he had left on special girly calendar’s where he filled in the days he had left. The closer he got to her crotch the closer his hitch was over and he was going home.

    Now the Army offered special cash incentives to induce people to stay in Vietnam as it saved them money in sending someone else over there. People who had learned to survive in Vietnam had a greater chance of surviving another tour while a new man might get himself killed learning what the veteran’s already knew.

    Lieutenant Jordan had 27 men in the Corps Headquarters of First Field Force, Vietnam that were part of the Rear Echelon Administrative types who had extended their tours. He had eliminated those who had extended to complete their Military Obligations early so they would be discharged upon returning to the United States. They would serve another 3 months and get a discharge 6 months early, with some extra cash in their pocket. That brought the number down to 12.

    Six of those had been senior NCO’s who were career types who were trying to get another easy Promotion in Vietnam before going back home. The Six remaining soldiers were screened very carefully to see who might be living beyond his normal financial means. So far no one was standing out and this was not going to make his job easy, except that only one of them worked in Personnel where he would have access to all the Military Orders that were cut.

    Lieutenant Jordon sent Lieutenant True copies of all the information he was collecting as he knew that Captain O’Neil would be given this information and maybe he knew who these GI’s were. O’Neil was surprise to learn that three of them were still in Vietnam and he suggested that Lieutenant Jordon find out where they were living with their girl friends off the Compound better known as being ‘shacked up it the Village.’

    Four of the six were illegally living off post most of the time unless a surprise Head Count Inspection was conducted and they seemed to know when that was going to take place.

    For a small amount of money you could find out anything you needed to about anyone. The Vietnamese Military Police known as the White Mice, had to know what was going on just to keep their jobs. Lieutenant Jordan asked his friend in the Vietnamese Military Police to check out these four GI’s and find out who their girl friends were and where they lived. For a bottle of Johnny Walker Red Label he hit pay dirt.

    The Specialist 4th Class from Personnel was living with his girl friend in the same small housing compound with two other men and their girl friends. These two men were working in the Household Goods Shipping Section. To make sure he had the right parties, Lieutenant Jordan need some concrete evidence that would nail them as being the Drug Smugglers. As is all criminal activities O’Neil suggested that the key was to find and follow the money.

    A quick check produced nothing as none of them had sent any money home and their Bank of America Accounts were modest and did not show any large transactions. However that did not mean that they were not involved, as many of the GI’s who were involved in Black Market activities had a number of false Military Identification Cards they used to deal with the money they were making. The man from Personnel would have access to producing such false Military ID cards.

    There was one thing the Smugglers could not control and that was a record of all financial transactions. Pulling the Bank of America’s Records of those transaction gave Lieutenant Jordan the names being used to make those large transfers of money and when the same names were coming up they would know who they were looking for.

    There was one more thing that these Drug Smuggler’s had to have to make these money transfers and that was a Uniform with those false names sewn on them. If they did not have the correct name the Bank Tellers could quickly question the man with the name Jones on his ID card and the name Smith on his uniform.

    Lieutenant Jordon assumed that those Uniforms would not be in their Wall Lockers on Post but in their Hooch’s where their girlfriends lived. Again for a small amount of money, Lieutenant Jordon had someone go into the girl’s hooch’s and take a picture of any uniforms that might be there. Lieutenant Jordon now had the evidence to establish their false Military ID cards and the Bank America transactions made in those names.

    Lieutenant Jordon’s friend in the Vietnamese Military Police produced one other key piece of evidence. It was the Vietnamese man, who built the Shipping Boxes used by the Two Men in the Household Goods Shipping section to smuggle the drugs into the United States.

    This Vietnamese man knew who was bringing in the Heroin for the Household Shipping Section. There were three men. One was a high ranking GI Colonel and two high ranking Vietnamese Officers. One of those Vietnamese Officers was the Vietnamese Commanding General for Two Corps First Field Force Vietnam. According to this Vietnamese, the GI’s would not have enough money to pay for the Drugs that were being shipped. They were only being paid to ship it, but they were paid very well for just doing it.

    Lieutenant Jordon knew he would need some real evidence if he were to go after them as it would take more than just the testimony of a Vietnamese Peasant to stand up in court and point the finger. The Lieutenant wisely took what he could get to shut down the Household Goods connection and waited for the opportunity to nail that American Colonel.

    In less than a week the Household Goods Drug Smuggling Ring in First Field Force, Na Trang Vietnam had been put on ice. Both Lieutenant Jordon and Captain O’Neil sent their congratulations but pointed out that was only part of the problem as they still had to catch those who were working on the United States end of the Drug Pipeline.

    O’Neil’s suggested that Lieutenant Jordon take over the Household Goods Shipping Operation and run through some additional Drugs so that it could be track to the other rat holes in the United States.

    The way it was looking these GI’s in Personnel and Household Goods were small potatoes who were being used by the real suppliers and with the amount of Drugs being shipped there had to be bigger fish beyond just those in the US Military.

    The way to screw up this operation, would be to create a feeling of mistrust between the major suppliers in Vietnam and most likely the Mob on this end. To do that they would need to take the next major supply of Drugs from the suppliers as the Operator’s normally did, then cut the drugs so much that only enough remained to make a legal bust.

    When the receiving party got the drugs they would quickly discover that someone had cheated them as they most likely had already paid for the Drug. The supplier would believe that the receiving party was pulling a fast one and the receiving party would be looking at the supplier who was trying to cheat them.

    Captain O’Neil had a similar situation at his Missile Site North of Detroit. A major Mafia Drug operation was using the highly secure Missile Launcher Sections to store their Drugs as it always took two men who had the right Security Clearances just to be in those areas. There was hardly a safer and more secure location anywhere in the world.

    When they were setting up the Bust, the Drugs stored in the Launcher Sections had been replaced with an equal amount of Drugs that had only enough of the real Drugs to make a legal bust. There was one more element that was contained in these drugs and that was a fine low grade radioactive powder mixed in with it. It was not harmful but a Geiger Counter could easily pick it up and track it no matter how small the amount of Drugs were shipped to any location. The five State Drug Bust had been made based upon the ability to track the Radioactive particles implanted in the Drug bags. Captain O’Neil had left the Missile Unit 30 days before this Bust took place.

    Captain O’Neil passed on the name of the Drug Taskforce Commander who had supervised this State side Drug Bust Operation and felt that Lieutenant Jordon should be able to get the low grade radioactive dust to salt the Drugs that would be shipped from Na Trang. Once the Salted Drug Shipment had been sent from Na Trang, the Household Goods Operation was quietly shut down permanently.

    Within three months the CID had netted 25 additional GI’s who were operating this Drug Smuggling Ring. In appreciation for this successful Operation a Special Award was given to Lieutenants True and Jordon and of course Colonel Link who received his Award during his retirement Ceremony.

    Captain O’Neil received a Meritorious Service Award for his contributions in breaking up the Drug Smuggling Ring. However his Award was presented in front of his Classmates as if it had been earned during his last Command Assignment in Vietnam. Colonel Rodmann sent a note for a job well done.

    CHAPTER THREE:

    ABOVE AND BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY

    It is an unwritten duty and obligation that all Officers in the US Military can be called upon to resolve situations, issues and problems for the Good of the Service and this duty can arise simply because he is there.

    The Advanced Officer’s Course in the Air Defense School at Fort Bliss was really an extended rest and recuperation period for those who had gone to Vietnam and witnessed some of the bloodiest battles that involved some of the greatest loss of life of their enemies the VC and the NVA.

    In the early years of the War, the Air Defense Officers were seen as a ducks out of water who did not have the training needed to fight in this type of War. They made excellent Staff Officers as they had great administrative skills. Then when the Infantry and Field Artillery Units were short handed the Battalion Commanders realized that these Air Defense Officers had a better track record for staying alive, as they had no desire to be the next John Wayne.

    Many of these Air Defense Officers had ended up at Artillery Firebases in the middle in Indian Country where the Indians outnumbered the Cowboys. The VC thought they could over run them, only to find out after a significant loss of life, that the Fire Base had a secret weapon in the forward thinking of the XO who was an Air Defense Officer responsible for the Firebase’s Perimeter Defenses.

    The Advance Course day’s started at 1000 hours with a lunch break and they were out by 1400 hours. The rest of the day was given over to sports activities such as basketball, tennis, handball or double team racket ball under jungle rules that meant anything goes as long as the ball is in play. Mike was a tough Racket Ball player and he had teamed up with Louis Hanson making them an unbeatable team. The rest of their Classmates tried to put together a team and they came close but fell like all the rest.

    Other members of the class would just run a Cross Country Course that took in the Obstacle Course just to help keep them in shape. This was also a time to rebuild the family bonds that may have been strained by the uncontrollable factors in the War.

    Being one of the few bachelor’s in the class and not having an early class allow him to check out any night life that might exist. Across the street from his apartment complex there was a Club called Rock-on which played a mix of Country Western and Rock and Roll. One of the Rock-on Club Managers was a girl who looked exactly like the Movie Star Shirley MacLaine and Mike was having a mental love affair with her. He had asked Cherry if she had been aware of her likeness to the Movie Star. She had of course had been and she took it as a complement.

    Every Friday night Mike would stop in to have a drink to get his weekend started. He was a bourbon and water man. In fact, he liked his water hard as in just ice. Mike would tease and flirt with her and ask her to fly with him to Les Vegas for the weekend knowing that she would be working and could not take off. She would always tell him she was sorry but her million-dollar boyfriend was in town, but maybe she could work something out for next weekend.

    The next weekend the two continued to play the game, with the same questions and the same answers. Mike would finish his drink and then head over to the Mexican City of Juarez, which was right across the Rio Grande River from El Paso Texas. Mike would enjoy one of the finest Steaks in North America and an excellent meal at half the price he would have paid in the United States. Then he would go barhopping to see if any new girls had come in. Many of them were poor, simple and uneducated country girls who came into the Border Towns to make money. What little money they made was worth a lot compared to where they came from.

    At first, they were able to say just a few words in English. Just enough to get their john upstairs and into bed. Mike had been coming into these clubs long enough that the girls knew he was not interested in going up stairs with them, but he would buy them drinks, real drinks if they wanted them.

    Mike would find a table off to the side with his back to the wall almost as the gun fighter’s did years ago where he could see everything and no one could sneak up on him. He would have fun with the girls who were just waiting for a real customer who would pay for her permission to go upstairs for a half hour worth of pleasure.

    Mike was studying Spanish and he would practice it with them while he would teach them how to say the same words in English. For all they knew Mike was married and he was being faithful to his wife.

    The Managers of these Clubs did not mind as long as the girls continued to work the johns who came in. When a group of GI’s came in the girls would move away from O’Neil’s table so the new men would know that they were available. If they could not generate any action, they could come back to Mike’s table for another drink.

    Most of the girls were good-looking, but not beautiful. Most of them were short with a lot of breasts showing. The taller girls seem to attract the greatest number of customers. Many of these taller girls already had a mix of Anglo blood in them. They could speak English a little better and they were a business first type who knew just what they were and did not care what you thought about them, as long as you paid them.

    Sometimes when things were slow, the Club Manager’s would come over and Mike would buy them a drink too. They already knew that Mike was different than most of the Anglo’s who came across the Border. The moment that there could be trouble, Mike would take on a presence of being on high personal alert. He could feel a threat coming from someone even though it may not have been directed towards him. He had not come in looking for trouble and did not like anything to happen that might spoil his night out on the town.

    The Club Managers had seen him just look at a man who was getting out of line, and that man would decide to take his business elsewhere. The ‘look’ Mike would give the man was like a rattlesnake that did not give you any warning before it would strike.

    Somewhere after midnight, Mike would walk back across the Mexican American border, jump in his Corvette and ride back to the Club Rock-on for his one for the road.

    The more Mike had come in the friendlier Shirley Maclaine’s look alike became. There were times that the Club’s owner had not shown up. She was not comfortable holding all those cash receipts and just waiting around until he did. One night she asked Mike if he would wait with her as she had gotten an uncomfortable feeling about a couple of guys who seemed to be hanging around and giving her a hard time about leaving after last call.

    Mike did not mind, as he did not have any place he needed to go and tomorrow being Saturday was one of his lazy days where he would just sleep in. Since then, she had expected him to stay after closing until her boss finally showed up. They talked about a lot of things and Mike was always a good listener. She knew he was in the military like her husband but she was not surprised to learn that he was an Army Captain.

    Once this closeness had been established, she started to unload on him about all the problems she was having since she and her husband had left Germany. Her husband Gerry had gone to Vietnam and had received several quick promotions to the rank of an E-6 Staff Sergeant when he came back. They had gone to Germany as his next assignment. Her husband had reenlisted to go to Culinary Arts and Chef School at Fort Lee Virginia.

    As good, as everything had been while they were in Germany everything was turning to shit when they came back. Somehow, her husband’s Orders to attend the School at Fort Lee had gotten screwed up and they ended up being assigned to Fort Bliss. He put in some more papers and the Army would send him to Fort Lee in a year. She did not think that was fair.

    Then Gerry was caught with Marijuana coming back across the border. She did not even know that her husband had any drugs on him when they came back to the United States. She thought she had been

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