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The War Cry | FEBRUARY 2014
"Ma'am," came a man's muffled voice through the
closed door, "I'm Lt. Blackstone from the United States
Navy with some very important news. I'm here with
Commander Belmont."
"The Navy?" Elizabeth questioned. "What time is it
anyway?"
"It's ten in the morning; may we come in?"
Ten o'clock! Elizabeth never slept in so late, and
even though she wasn't dressed she was eager to hear
what the men had to say.
"C'mon in and make yourselves comfortable while I
freshen up a bit."
Elizabeth opened the apartment door and the men
stepped inside and sat on her
sofa in the living room. The
lieutenant was in his 20s
and the commander in his
50s. They looked
strangely familiar to
Elizabeth, as if she might
have seen them while
volunteering for The Salva-
tion Army at the Fresno Veterans
Administration Hospital. Both men
were in full Navy dress uniform,
reminding Elizabeth of that visit
so many years ago when two
Navy officers explained how
Fred and the entire crew of the USS Pompano
submarine were missing in action and presumed dead.
What could her unexpected visitors want? Elizabeth's
heart jumped into her throat as she went into the
bedroom to change.
The two new officers talked between themselves in
low voices while Elizabeth finished getting dressed.
"So tell me what's so important," she asked as she
returned to the living room.
"We're here with news about Electrician's Mate Fred
J. Kirschbaum," said Lt. Blackstone.
"My Freddie?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"What about him?"
"Well, ma'am... Elizabeth... as incredible as it
sounds, just today he's been asking for you."
"What! He's alive? My Freddie is alive?
How is that possible?"
Lt. Blackstone glanced over at Commander Bel-
mont, gesturing for help.
"Elizabeth," the silver-haired commander said,
"in September of 1945, just a few weeks after the war
ended in the Pacific, your husband Fred was found
with 39 other servicemen in a Japanese prison. You
were never contacted because Fred had no I.D. so we
didn't know his identity."
"Why didn't you just ask him who he was?"
"Fred had amnesia when he was found. For the past
47 years he has been living as patient John Doe at the
San Francisco Veteran's Hospital."
Despite her shock about
hearing this fantastic news
and being overwhelmed
with emotion, Elizabeth
struggled to regain her
composure and was
determined to get some
answers, finally, after all
the years of not knowing.
She stammered for words,
"But... how? Why? When did you
finally learn Fred's true identity?"
"Like I said, Fred had amnesia,
until yesterday. He has regained his
memory and now he's asking for you."
Elizabeth's eyes filled with tears,
not of sadness, but of joy. Freddie was
alive and he was asking for her! All of her hopes and
dreams of love, true love, rushed through her heart in
a tremendous flood of happiness and contentment.
"I want to see my Freddie, right now!" Elizabeth said.
"Yes, of course," the commander replied, "but there
is something you should know before we take you to him."
Just then Elizabeth imagined that certainly a good
man like Freddie, even with his amnesia during all
those years, would have found a good woman to love.
"Is he married?" Elizabeth asked, trembling.
"Married? No ma'am, he never married."
Elizabeth gave a silent sigh of relief.
"There's really no way to break it to you gently,
Elizabeth. The Japanese were not very kind to our
servicemen who were captured during the war.
Photo Vuk-V
aruna, Digital Manipulation Roger Selvage
A
loud knock at the door woke Elizabeth from a sound sleep.
Who could be
calling in the middle of the night?
she wondered. She stumbled to the front door and
asked, "Who's there?"