"When we were in place, he went off wherever he was going," Ellis said.

"But he didn't make it," Mr. Eaglebury said.

"He got the proof photographs is what I'm saying," Hanrahan said. "According to plan, he cached duplicates and tried to make it back to Ellis." "But didn't make it?" Mr. Eaglebury pursued.

"No, sir," the President said. "He was captured and summarily executed."

"Without a trial?" Commander Eaglebury's mother asked.

"And for nothing," his father said.

"No, sir, not for nothing," the President said. "The mission was continued by Colonel Felter."

"Who?" Mr. Eaglebury asked.

"This Colonel Felter," the President said, pointing, "parachuted into Cuba and picked up the duplicate film, took some more of his own, and made it back to Ellis. They ultimately made their way to the coast, where they were picked up by Colonel Lowell and flown home."

"The Russians have missiles in Cuba?" Dianne's father asked. "What are we doing about it?"

"The matter is under consideration," the President said. "No decision has yet been made."

Mr. Eaglebury looked at the President.

"Under consideration," he quoted bitterly.

"Commander Eaglebury has been posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross," the President said. "But I'm afraid under the circumstances there can be no public announcement."

"The DSC?" Mr. Eaglebury asked. "For what? For getting killed?"

"No," the President said. "For dedication to his country above and beyond the call of duty. Your son, Mr. Eaglebury, considered it his duty, at the risk of his life, to prove the President of the United States wrong. I really didn't think the Russians would do what your son believed they were doing."

"I didn't vote for you, Mr. President," Mr. Eaglebury said. "For some reason I think I should tell you that."

"I don't think Ed Eaglebury voted for me," the President said. "But when I took office, I became his commander in chief, and he chose to serve me with a dedication that ultimately cost him his life. That's distinguished service, I think, Mr. Eaglebury. He earned that medal."

The President and Mr. Eaglebury locked eyes for a moment.

"It was very good of you to come here, Mr. President," Mr. Eaglebury said. "We're grateful to you. And thank you for telling us what happened."

"I'm sorry I couldn't come earlier and that I can't stay longer," the President said. He glanced over his shoulder. "Felter!"

Felter handed him an oblong box.

"I thought," the President said, "that tonight might be the wrong time for this. But I finally decided that one day, Mrs. Eaglebury, Ed's sons might like to know you received this from the hand of the President."

He opened the box and handed it to Suzanne.

When she looked down at the medal in the box, there was a sob in her throat, but she fought it down, found her voice, and forced a smile.

"I think this belongs on the pillow," she said, "with Ed's other decorations."

It took the President a moment to understand what she meant.

"Yes," he said, "I think it does." He put out his hand, and Suzanne gave the box back to him. He took the medal from the box and handed the box back to her.

Then he led them all out the butler's pantry, through the dining room, and into the living room, where he walked to the casket. When he was sure they were all standing beside him, the President pinned the Distinguished Service Cross to a blue pillow, which rested on the flag on the casket beside Lieutenant Commander Edward B. Eaglebury's brimmed cap, his sword, and his other military decorations. He pinned it immediately below Eaglebury's gold naval aviator's wings and his silver army parachutist's qualification badge. Then he shook the hands of the Eaglebury family, nodded at the officers, and walked quickly away from the casket and out of the room.

III.

(One) Camp David, Maryland 07)5 Hours, 30 November 196) The marine guard found Lieutenant Colonel Sanford T. Felter in the communications cabin.

"Sir," he said, and waited for Felter to look up from the IBM typewriter at the commo officer's desk. Then he went on: "The President asks that you join him, sir."

"I'll be right there," Felter said, and returned his concentration to the typewriter. He typed rapidly for another two minutes, then tore the sheet of paper with the TOP SECRET (Presidential) letterhead from the machine, folded it, stuffed it in an envelope, and stood up.

He followed the marine guard to the presidential cabin. The Secret Service man on duty outside opened the door for him.

"He was just looking for you," he said as Felter passed by him.

The President was sitting at a small table by a window, looking out on the mountains. A light snow had fallen during the night, and the snow looked very white in the early-morning light.

"Sony to have kept you waiting, sir," Felter said, and handed him the envelope.

"Your breakfast was getting cold," the President said. "That's all." Then he said, "I ordered you ham and eggs."

"Ham and eggs are fine, Mr. President," Felter said. "Thank you."

He sat down at the table and opened a napkin and put it on his lap. A white-jacketed navy steward poured coffee into his cup, and Felter nodded his thanks.

The President read the summary and handed it back to Felter.

"That'll be all, thank you," he said to the steward.

Felter cut a piece of ham and broke the yolk of an egg with it.

"I was very impressed with that young Green Beret lieutenant yesterday," the President said.

"Lieutenant Ellis," Felter said. "Very interesting young man. His mother is Puerto Rican. He grew up in Spanish Harlem. If I may correct you, Mr. President, the proper term is Special Forces."

"I thought they... you... liked to be called Green Berets."

"That's become moot, Mr. President. The CO NARC commander has seen fit to forbid the wearing of foreign-type' headgear."

"Is that what is known as a subtle appeal to higher authority," Felter?" the President asked.

"The decision has apparently been made that Special Forces properly belong to the Airborne family, Mr. President, and should dress accordingly."

"When I was in the P T boats, Sandy, we used to take the stiffeners out of our hats, and we'd soak the gold braid strap m seawater so it would corrode. We didn't want anybody mistaking us for battleship sailors. And every time an admiral would see us, he would message our commander, ordering him to ensure that his officers dressed like naval officers. We would of course comply with that order. Sometimes for as long as a week."

"I don't wish to press the point, Mr. President," Felter said.

"But... "The green berets are a symbol of independence."

"You think Special Forces should be independent of Airborne? Sort of super soldiers "I think they would be of more value if they were not considered as just one more Airborne asset, Mr. President."

"Max Taylor wants to send a flock of airplanes and about five thousand advisors' to Indochina. Are you aware of that?"

"I was not," Felter said. "But I'm not surprised."

"What do you think?"

"I wouldn't presume to comment on General Taylor's recommendations, sir."

"What do you think, Felter?" the President said.

"General Taylor is the best man you could have sent to Indochina, Mr. President. His military credentials are impeccable. He is, additionally, a scholar. Whatever recommendations he has made should be considered very carefully."

"President Truman sent American troops to Greece to advise the Greek army. They succeeded in keeping the Communists out of Greece. You were there. Why did that work?"

"Because, by and large, we sent highly qualified, highly motivated people to Greece. Colonel Hanrahan is a good example. He had been in Greece during the war. He knew and liked the Greeks. And they liked him. There was also a strong religious element in Greece. The people thought of the Communists as godless. The people believed they were defending their church as well as their country."

"Would the same kind of operation work in Indochina?"

"The Communists were defeated in Greece, Mr. President. They learn from their mistakes. In Indochina they will use the religious feelings of the population to their advantage. They will pit the Buddhists and members of other Asiatic religions against the Roman Catholics and against each other. They will also be able to paint American forces as colonists. They used that tactic successfully against the French."

"You were at Dien Bien Phu, weren't you?"

"Yes, sir. President Eisenhower sent me over there shortly before it fell."

"In one sentence, how do you assess the Viet Minh?"

"As a formidable opponent, sir."

"And how do you think our senior officers regard them?"

Felter was obviously reluctant to say what he had on his mind.

"Go on, Felter," the President said.

"They make two mistakes, sir: They do not hold the French army in very high regard, and infer from that that our army can accomplish things the French could not."

"The French haven't won any wars lately," the President said dryly. "That feeling is understandable."

"The Troisisme Regiment Parachutiste of the Foreign Legion, which fell at Dien Bien Phu, was as good a regiment as any I've ever seen, Mr. President."

"You said two mistakes."

"They believe the Viet Minh to be a rabble of ignorant natives equipped with scavenged World War II small arms who will collapse as soon as they are faced with modern, well equipped forces."

"Well, then, presuming we have to do something about them, what do you recommend?"

"General Taylor is far better qualified to answer a question like that than I am, Mr. President."

"I've already asked him; now I'm asking you."

"I would try to repeat what we did in Greece, Mr. President, rather than attempt to overwhelm the Viet Minh with conventional forces."

"Do you think that will work?"

"No, sir, I do not," Felter said. "I don't think we should go into Indochina."

"Neither, for your private information," the President said, "does General Taylor." When there was no response from Felter, he went on. "I'm going to send the airplanes, and I'm going to send advisors. But I haven't made up my mind yet what to call them. It's been proposed that these five thousand troops masquerade as flood-control engineers. I may end up calling them what they are, however."

There came the sound of helicopter rotor blades thrashing through the air.

"Ah, Pierre and the gentlemen of the Fourth Estate," the President said.

"With your permission, sir, I'll leave you to get ready for them," Felter said.

"Sandy, I want to go have a look at the Green Berets," the President said, "at Fort Bragg. And soon. Will you come up with some sort of itinerary?"

"Yes, sir." "Maybe we can decorate Lieutenant Ellis or something."

"Yes, sir."

(Two) Station Hospital Fort Jackson, South Carolina 081S Hours, 30 November 1961 Recruit Geoffrey Craig was transported to the emergency room of the station hospital in a patrol car, an olive-drab Chevrolet four-door sedan whose hood and trunk lid had been painted white and on whose roof were a siren and a flashing red light.

He was dressed in fatigues. A large P had been stenciled on the back of the fatigue jacket, and smaller P's had been stenciled to the trouser legs above the knees.

In addition to the two military policemen assigned to the patrol car, Craig was accompanied by and handcuffed to a large military police sergeant. It was normal procedure to restrain a prisoner by handcuffing his hands together behind him, but Recruit Craig's right hand and wrist were so swollen that the Smith & Wesson cuffs would not close around the wrist.

Earlier, at 0430 hours, the prisoner had called the attention of the NCO in charge of the detention facility to his painfully swollen hand and wrist. The NCO in charge of the detention facility had reported the matter to the desk sergeant, who told the NCO that the prisoner would have to wait until the stockade medic came on duty at 0715 hours unless it looked like the bastard was going to croak or bleed to death or something.

After examining him, the medical technician assigned to the post stockade said that the prisoner would have to go to the hospital. It looked like he had broken the wrist and probably a couple of fingers. This fact was reported to the stockade commander, and the decision was made that since the prisoner was in no immediate danger, moving him to the hospital would have to wait "until they were finished charging him." In the meantime he suggested that the medic give the prisoner a couple of APCs.

An APC was a small white pill, a nonprescription analgesic, so called because it contained aspirin, paregoric, and codeine. Enlisted medics had the authority to dispense APCs as they saw fit.

At 0805 the prisoner was brought from the detention cell, a small room with wire mesh over the windows, to the officer of the stockade commander in the Stockade Administration Building. He was there informed by the commanding officer of Company "C," First Battalion, Eleventh Infantry Regiment (Training), that he was being held pending investigation of certain charges made against him.

He was advised that, under the provisions of the thirty-first Article of War, he did not have to answer any questions; that he had the right to have an officer learned in the law present to advise him during questioning; and that anything he said could and would be used against him in a court-martial. He was asked if he understood that.

"Yes, sir." "Well, then, Craig?" "I think I'd better talk to a lawyer, sir." "In other words, you refuse to answer any questions?" "Yes, sir."

"In that case, Recruit Craig, it is my duty to inform you that I have conducted an initial investigation into the charges made against you and have decided to bring the facts of the case as I understand them before a board of officers with the recommendation that you be charged with assault upon a noncommissioned officer in the execution of his office. Do you understand what I'm saying to you?"

"Yes, sir."

"I have further decided that, in view of the violent nature of the, charges made against you, it is in the best interests of the service to order you confined pending disposition of the charges made against you. Do you understand that?"