American Patriot by Robert Coram

Author:Robert Coram [CORAM, ROBERT]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: BIO008000
ISBN: 9780316007597
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published: 2007-05-03T04:00:00+00:00

SHORTLY before Christmas 1967, Doris had received a package from the Mistys that contained Bud’s personal effects and civilian clothes, along with another pair of flying boots.

She had heard nothing since the initial notification that he had been shot down. She did not know if he was evading, if he had been captured, or if he was dead.

The U.S. government was following what POW wives and the wives of those missing in action called the “Keep-Quiet Policy.” President Lyndon Johnson wanted no public awareness that growing numbers of America’s fighting men were being shot down and jailed in Hanoi. Air Force officers instructed Doris not to tell anyone her husband had been shot down and was missing. She could say only that her husband was “in Vietnam.” Again and again she was told, “Don’t talk to the press.” “Don’t tell anyone your husband has been shot down.” “Don’t rock the boat.” “We are doing all we can.”

She might have denied to the world that anything was wrong, but the arrival of Bud’s personal belongings somehow made it all so final. As if to put an oppressive stamp on that fact, everything in the package was covered with a heavy dank mildew.

She hung the clothes outside for days to let the Arizona sun burn away the mildew and then washed them and put them away. She told herself that Bud was coming home. And when he came home, he would ask about his boots. A pilot, like a cowboy, is attached to his boots. Every time he puts them on, he remembers the airplanes and the missions he flew while wearing them. Doris knew that when Bud came back, he would want to fly again. The children cleaned and polished the boots and put them in the closet with the neatly pressed uniforms. Seeing the uniforms reminded her of how Bud used to throw his clothes on the floor when he walked in the door. She missed picking up his clothes.

Each night when Doris and the children said their prayers, she prayed for Bud. She put Bud’s picture near the bed of each child. She wanted them to remember his face, to remember everything about him. She told them that she did not know when, but their father would be coming home. They should never doubt that fact. But one of the boys was so anxious about his father that he began wetting the bed.

In January 1968, Doris was at the beauty shop when the beautician said, “What is going on with you? You are losing all your hair.” Doris knew it was from stress. She bought a wig. Her hair was falling out in clumps and she could not talk to anyone about why this was happening.

On Friday, February 16, 1968, at 11:30 a.m., the phone rang. Doris picked it up and knew by the faint warbled hum that this was a long-distance call. She waited. A voice asked, “Is this Phoenix 278–4082?”

“Yes.”

“You are receiving a MARS call from Udorn, Thailand.

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