DISCLAIMER: This story is based on the television series Tour
of Duty which aired from 1987 through 1990, distributed by New World
Entertainment. All characters belong to the creators and/or producers of the
show and were brought to life by Stephen Caffrey (Lt. Goldman), Terence Knox
(Sgt. Anderson) and Tony Becker (Cpl. Percell). No money is being made with
this story and it may not be posted, published or archived without permission.
Although care has been taken in the attention to military protocol, certain
artistic licenses have been made for the sake of readability.
Written by: Erin
*This
story is written for the Challenge presented by Pidd: Write how Myron
Goldman may have won the rare and prestigious Medal of Honor.
Major Myron Goldman stared into the mirror at himself. His face was old and the laugh lines around
his eyes were forever present. He
looked into his own brown eyes and saw those of his eldest son. Grief filled his heart and his eyes flooded
with tears. The old man was unable to
hold back. For strength he grabbed the
end of the oak dresser and let out all of the immense sorrow that filled his
body.
Alone he cried.
Myron! There is no time for sorrow, you
have a duty to do. His father’s voice ran through his head as he
pulled back from his reverie. He had
spent so many years hating his father for the cold “general” attitude. Now he knew his father wasn’t entirely
wrong. Myron himself had used this line
with his own two sons from time to time.
Today he needed his father’s direction.
Myron stood straight up, breathed deeply
and began putting on his dress green shirt.
So many times he had pulled it out of the closet for ceremonies and
sadness. Today would prove to be both.
When he was dressed he slowly proceeded
downstairs to his waiting family.
Taking one slow wooden step at a time he ran his hand down the smooth
wood of the railing he was reminded of the day he and Zeke had installed the
railing. He missed his friend.
Ri An was waiting by the front door. “Clayton is bringing the car around, are you
ready?”
Myron looked at her and saw a slender old
lady, much like the many mama-sons he had seen during his tours in
Vietnam. He would never forget those
images, the people or the war.
The Major shook himself from his daze,
breathed in deeply and pulled his posture up.
“Yes, I’m ready. Let’s go.”
Myron’s youngest son was waiting in the
car outside as his mom and dad came down the gray painted steps of the wooden
porch of their pale yellow farmhouse.
Myron Goldman watched as his youngest son
Clayton opened the car door for his mother.
Clayton had also chosen the Army as his career and he was dressed in his
formal greens like his father. How
lucky he had been to have a brother to share his life with.
*****************
The reception hall was heavily decorated
in the Nation’s colors and the chairs and podium were set. Myron recognized the set up, having been
there before.
“Dad?”
Clayton called for the Major’s attention.
“Yeah.”
Myron responded just in time to see his son headed to the door where a
group of people had recently entered.
Noticing the pretty young women made Myron’s heart sink, but he muscled
up a smile and wandered toward the group.
“GRANDPA!” The young voice was unmistakable. Myron looked down low to find his only grandchild trotting toward
him. He bent at his knees and prepared
to greet the three-year-old boy.
“Connor!”
Myron looked deep into his grandson’s clear blue eyes and hoisted the
little man up to his waist. “Hey sweetheart,
you sure do look handsome in that suit.”
Connor smiled and pulled at his own
lapels. “I want a suit like you and
Uncle Clayton, but Mommy says I have to wait till I am older and earn one like
my Dad.”
The Major was amazed at the amount of
strength the little boy possessed. He
remembered how the small man had stood tall at the funeral and had been brave
the way his daddy had taught him.
“Major Goldman!”
Myron turned around to a familiar smile.
“Danny, how are you doing?”
“Pretty good.” Danny grabbed the officer’s handshake and smiled in an attempted
to lighten the mood.
“How is Cheyanne doing?” Goldman asked as he looked over Danny’s
shoulder to see Clayton rubbing the women’s protruding belly.
“She’s doin’ alright, all things
considered. I think being at home with
her mama has really helped. She’ll
probably feel better once that baby is born too.”
“Yeah.”
Myron responded absently. He
studied the widow whose pregnancy was a week overdue. “The doctor let her fly after all?”
Danny gave a small laugh that exhausted
through his nose. “Not really. He told her no and she told him too bad.”
Myron smiled as he envisioned the strong
willed woman refusing an order. It
wasn’t the first time either. After
Zeke Anderson’s death the members of Team Viking vowed to have their own
reunion every few years to keep in touch and tell old war stories about their
favorite Sergeant.
After meeting five or six times Cheyanne
Percell and Zeke Goldman, the two oldest kids, took a strong liking to each
other. Shortly before his eighteenth
birthday Zeke announced over dinner that he and Cheyanne had been writing
letters for a few years. The young man
told his parents that he loved her and the day after his eighteenth birthday he
planned to marry her before leaving for his career with the Army. Myron remembered the huge argument that
ensued involving all the usual questions and statements. Are you crazy? You are too young to get married? She is only seventeen!
Danny will probably kill you!
The first part of your military career is too difficult to be dragging
along a teenage wife!
Goldman remembered the stories at the
reunion about Danny forbidding his daughter to get married till she was
older. Although Cheyanne loved her
parents and respected them, she refused their decision. A week later the two teenagers were wed in
Las Vegas to the extreme disappointment of their mothers.
Myron walked across the room to greet his
daughter-in-law. “Ignored another order
huh?”
Chey smiled and hugged her father-in-law
as best as her belly would allow. “I
wasn’t going to miss this, even if I have to give birth in this room I am going
to be there for Z.” Here blue eyes
captured the Major’s. “I miss him
terribly Myron, I truly loved him.”
Myron felt a lump forming in his throat as
he hugged the girl again. “I know you
did, he loved you too.”
Quietly Cheyanne began to sob into Myron’s
shoulder. He held her wondering if the
embrace reminded her of Zeke’s. His
eldest son had looked identical to his father in appearance and stature,
accepted for the boy’s wild green eyes.
Somehow the Vietnamese portion of his bloodline had not shown through as
it had with Clayton.
The crowd in the room began to thicken and
the Goldman and Percell families found their seats.
As the ceremony began Major Myron Goldman
looked around the room. The décor had
not changed much since the day he was seated upfront in the honored chair a few
decades before.
The presentations began and the words of
the speaker faded away. Myron recalled
the day he sat in this very same room for this very same honor, alone.
First Lieutenant Myron Goldman
Rank and
organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Second Platoon, Company B, 3rd
Battalion, 3/44th Infantry Regiment,
196th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division. Place and date: West of Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam,
23 February 1969. Entered service at: Queens, New York. Born: 15 January 1948,
Queens, New York. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the
risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a
Lieutenant with Company B, in connection with operations against enemy forces.
Upon entering a
hostile village Lieutenant Goldman and his platoon came under fierce ground
attack by a large Viet Cong force supported by a heavy volume of hand grenades
and small arms fire. The Lieutenant
ordered his men to retreat to the safety of the tree line before engaging in
heavy battle. Upon seeking cover Lt.
Goldman noticed two of his men trapped by enemy fire in a dwelling, both
soldier had been wounded.
Goldman
unhesitatingly left the relative security of his position and, with complete
disregard for his safety, raced across the fire-swept terrain to assist the
soldiers to a more secure location. As he neared the casualties, he observed the
Viet Cong repositioning. Goldman was
able to carry the first of two soldiers to the safety of the platoon. Again with disregard for his own safety,
Goldman attempted to return to the second injured man. This time the Lt. was wounded in the chest
by enemy gunfire. While wounded Goldman
crawled to the second solider and while ignoring his own near fatal injury he
managed to drag the unconscious private back to the security of the platoon
before collapsing as well.
First Lt. Goldman’s gallantry on the battlefield
and his extraordinary intrepidity at the risk of his life are in the highest
traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed
Forces of his country. Lt. Goldman’s Medal of Honor is preceded by
his father’s General Martin James Goldman.
Myron
was pulled from his thoughts by the announcement of his son’s name and the
quiet sobbing Cheyanne was attempting to hold back.
Second
Lieutenant Ezekiel Martin Goldman
Rank and
organization: Second Lieutenant Ezekiel Martin Goldman, U.S. Army, Company A, 1st
Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division. Place and date: South of Seoul Korea, 28
June 2012. Entered service at: Fort Brag. Born: 15 October 1987, Queens, New
York. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his
life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Second Lieutenant
with Company A, in connection with operations against enemy forces.
Upon entering a
hostile city Lieutenant Goldman and his platoon came under fierce ground attack
by a large North Korean force supported by a heavy volume of RPGs’, hand
grenades and small arms fire. His
company was moving through the city to relieve a friendly unit surrounded by an
enemy force of estimated regimental size. Realizing that his platoon was in
grave danger, and seeing three enemy soldiers moving into his position, he
moved quickly under heavy fire and annihilated 5 of the ten-man squad. Seeing
that his platoon was pinned down with intense fire from a multiple small arms
fire, he located the enemy’s position and hurled grenades. Lt. Goldman
inflicted multiple enemy casualties before noticing an American soldier gravely
wounded 20 meters from his position, he charged 20 meters across open ground,
hurling grenades into the enemy position, and carrying the wounded soldier to a
nearby building. Upon reaching the building the enemy returned fire with an RPG
round. Second Lt. Goldman selflessly
through his body on the wounded man shielding the man from the shrapnel and
falling building. Observing men from
his unit attempting to leave the security of their position to aid him,
concerned only for their safety, he called to them to remain under cover, and
through a final supreme effort, moved his injured comrade to where he could be
pulled to safety, before he fell, succumbing to his wounds.
Second
Lieutenant Goldman's indomitable courage, inspiring initiative and selfless
devotion to duty upheld the highest traditions of the United States Army. He
gallantly gave his life for his country.
Second Lieutenant Goldman’s Medal of Honor is preceded by his father’s
Major Myron Goldman and his grandfather’s General Martin James Goldman
Myron’s
eyes filled with uncontrollable tears as his only daughter-in-law approached
the presenter to accept the Medal of Honor on behalf of her fallen
husband. The room had fell silent
accept for the tears and quiet sobbing as the strong willed mother-to-be
stoically accepted.
As
Myron painfully thought about Connor and the boy’s new sibling he heard his
father’s voice as he was handed the General’s Medal of Honor. This is for the man I was. Then the Major remembered the unfamiliar
affection from his father as he hugged him, and this is for the man I wanted
to be.
Myron
mumbled to himself. “That Medal is for
the man and father he was.”