rlfj: Blog

Many thanks to all the veterans who have read this story and sent their thanks and appreciation. It is very fashionable now to thank veterans for their service, but I grew up in a time when the opposite was true, when servicemen were cursed and spit upon. I respected you then as much as I do now. Thank you for your service.

There are going to be some who will simply not believe it possible that one part of the Army could consider Grim dead, while another part knows he is alive. One of my editors thought this might be some sort of conspiracy. On the other hand, as doctors are taught in medical school, if you hear hooves, don’t go looking for zebras. The military abounds with inefficiency. In the September 2015 issue of the Proceedings of the Naval Institute, in the cover story, Data and Design, is a section on relevant personnel issues with the US Navy:

“…Sailors must access one system, BUPERS On-Line, for personnel info and awards, another (DFAS) for pay, a third (NSIPS) for leave, and yet another (PRIMS) for physical training and medical data—not to mention hard-copy records such as awards, fitness reports, and orders, which must be entered manually by administrative staff. No system speaks to any other, and if any data is incorrect or needs to be duplicated, sailors need to call a service center and wait their turn on hold…”

I would have a hard time believing the Army is any better.

Could the Army actually lose the paperwork for the MOH? It has happened before. During the Battle of Ganjgal in Afghanistan, September 8, 2009, both Corporal (now Sergeant) Dakota Meyer and Captain William Swenson performed actions worthy of the MOH, however Swenson’s was delayed because his paperwork was lost in the Army’s email system for two years. This shit really happens.

I deliberately timed Grim’s MOH so that it occurred before Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta’s (Afghanistan.) I remember the hoopla in the news when Giunta received his, and the accompanying publicity tour. Much of this was because Giunta was the first living recipient since Vietnam. Most of those since then have had much smaller tours.

Finally, could Grim be helped by meeting his old squad mates? This was the biggest question I had in the story, and I ran it past a psychologist with PTSD treatment experience. His response - “The visit by the two survivors of Whiskey would have made a huge difference for Grim's PTSD, exactly as your story depicts. Jose and Bob's reaction to seeing Grim: "You're really alive!" contrasted so much with Grim's feelings of shame it caused Grim cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance happens when two perceptions collide. Jose and Bob's joy at finding Grim alive cannot coexist with Grim's shame in Grim's world view. The only way Grim can cope with this dissonance is to change one or the other. His two buddies won't change their view, so Grim has to change his view of himself - giving up his self-shame.”

Chapter 65 is the whole Medal of Honor thing. It has been almost three years since the fight at Outpost Whiskey, and now the Army comes calling. Where have they been until now? Why has this taken so long? This is obviously not the end of the story. Much will become clear in Chapter 66.

One item I learned was that it is not at all uncommon for errors to show up in the 214 form. Many young soldiers are so eager to leave the service they don’t pay attention to their 214, which can differ from their 201. This can lead to problems getting benefits down the road and is a real pain to fix.

As I was writing this story, I always had it in my mind that Grim would get the MOH. I concocted all sorts of fanciful combat scenes for this but ended up doing what I should have done all along. I went to the actual narratives and commendations for those who have received the MOH. Several recipients rescued fellow soldiers by going outside their lines to do so, and the final scene, where Grim called in artillery on his own position, was taken directly from Audie Murphy. PS: Grim’s marksmanship is taken from Alvin York, another MOH recipient.

One question occurred to me while writing this story. At one point I asked, ‘Just how rare is the Medal of Honor?’ I Googled that question and got some strange answers. One number which repeatedly showed up was 11,000 to 1, which simply made no sense. The numbers work if it was only restricted to combat medals, which not even one in ten soldiers receive. I did the numbers old school. We have had about 2.5 million service personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan and currently (written/posted in 2015) have a count of four in Iraq (all posthumous) and thirteen in Afghanistan (three posthumous.) That works out to roughly 150,000 to 1, with a 40% chance of dying, and a 100% chance of being seriously wounded/maimed/crippled. Your best method of earning the MOH? Jump on a grenade, but even that isn’t a guarantee, and the odds are that you won’t survive.

FYI – A lot of these guys have some serious PTSD issues. Almost to a man they will describe that specific battle as the worst day in their lives. Then, when they actually have to have it all dredged up again and put on national television, it is like ripping a scab off an ugly wound. Some have attempted suicide. Grim’s PTSD is relatively mild for some of these recipients.

Quite a few readers were wondering whether I was going to have Kelly be killed/kidnapped/raped/etc. by the Bolling gang. Some wanted him to have a shootout with them over her, or a big car chase. Sorry, guys, but it never even crossed my mind. I think that would be a bit too melodramatic for the story. It just didn’t fit with my overall concept.

I was surprised when a reader didn’t understand the phrase ‘better to be judged by twelve than be carried by six.’ Judged by twelve implies a jury trial, typically twelve people. Carried by six refers to a typical coffin, which usually gets six pall bearers.

I heard from a variety of readers about some of the oddball events cops get called in on. One reported a loose emu. Others told me about piglets, horses, and chickens in various schools. Another Googled ‘high school prank goat’ and found numerous incidents. The best was when some kids put three goats in a school and painted “1”, “2”, and “4” on them; the staff spent hours looking for Number 3. (I also heard that this was done with piglets.)

Chapter 63 sees Grim seeing some more action. After reading this, my wife told me, “Kelly needs to keep Grim on a shorter leash! He’s always getting into trouble!” I replied, “How much shorter can it get? He was standing next to her!” I also told her that I could have easily split Chapter 63 in half, but that would probably result in riots. She agreed, and said readers would hunt me down, and come to the house with pitchforks and torches.

Everybody liked the story about the goats. If I have learned one thing writing this book, it is that all sorts of silly stuff happens with the cops. For instance, in Utica, NY, a rogue cow once was on the loose all over the city for almost four months. Every time there was a sighting, two outfits were called, the local television station (WKTV) and the Utica Police Department. Ultimately cowboys from upstate NY (yes, they really exist) were called in to track down the critter. You can’t make this shit up!