Dad had a sergeant that had given him quite a bit of trouble. But one day the tables were more than turned: the sergeant was under arrest, and dad got to be one of the guards.
The sergeant was fluent in Portuguese. This made him very popular in the local bars, and it seemed he had at least one girlfriend among the local population. To bolster that reputation, and no doubt under the influence of some of the island's vinho, the sergeant boasted of his knowledge of the sailing date of a soon-to-depart ship.
Given the political situation on the island this was the next best thing to calling up German U-boat Admiral Karl Dönitz on his direct line. Fortunately the Americans found out as well. The ship's sailing date was changed. And instant and terrible retribution fell upon the sergeant.
He was put under immediate arrest and held under close confinement - in part, courtesy of dad - until he was loaded with an armed guard onto a Military Air Transport plane that took him back to the States and a court martial.
No one in the 801st ever heard from him again.
|