Court Martial (20 page)

“David… do you think we’ll be here long this morning?”

Woods didn’t know what to make of Spencer’s comment and answered, “I don’t think we’ll be here past noon. Why, Spence?”

The looks on both the general’s and the black lawyer’s faces were identical—pure shock.

“I guess I can last that long without having a temper tantrum.” Spencer hid his smile by splashing water over his face.

Woods understood what Spencer was doing. “I
hope
so, Spence. You haven’t had one in a couple of weeks… at least.”

“Yeah. We’d better check in with General Heller before the trial starts.” Spencer dried his face with a paper towel and looked
over at the general, whose face was a bright red. “Morning, sir!”

Woods left the latrine a step behind Spencer. He waited until they were down the hall a couple of meters before starting to
laugh. “Damn! We just ruined their day!”

“Whose day?” General Heller stepped out of the courtroom, holding the door open with one hand. “Where have you two been?”

Woods told the general what had happened and the horse laugh from the brigadier general carried down the hallway and through
the latrine door to his peer.

As soon as Spencer entered the courtroom, flashbulbs started popping. He was escorted to the front-row seats behind the trial
counsel’s table and given a seat next to Sergeants Arnasao and Woods. The chair on Spencer’s other side was marked with a
piece of white tape labeled:
MAJOR GENERAL GARIBALDI
.

The doors behind Spencer opened and the reporters turned and began jockeying for position and taking photographs. Spencer
didn’t need to be told that James had arrived.

Specialist Fourth Class Mohammed James had been very well rehearsed by his lawyers. As he walked down the aisle he smiled
and nodded at friendly faces in the crowd of reporters, especially those he recognized from his interviews with reporters
from the black periodicals. He knew that he was fighting for his life and that the evidence against him was very strong. James
approached the back of Spencer’s seat and paused. The courtroom became quiet as everyone watched what was going to happen
between James and the star witness for the prosecution.

“It’s good seeing you again, Barnett.” James’s voice was even and carried a familiar tone. “I’m glad that you’ve recovered
from the POW camp.”

Spencer smiled before he rose and turned around. General Heller held his breath.

“It’s good to be back in the States, isn’t it.” James made the question a statement.

“Very
good.” Spencer kept the smile on his face as the flashbulbs reflected off his sparkling, fiery blue eyes.

“No hard feelings?” James held out his hand.

“I can’t shake hands with you, James… but I will say that I won’t lie… the
truth
will be enough.” Spencer sat back down before the MPs could move James over to the defense table.

Brigadier General Tallon leaned over and whispered in James’s ear, “That was a very
dumb
move! Don’t you ever pull that shit on me again and take me by surprise!”

James glanced over at his black lawyer, who had been hired by the mosque out of Detroit. The lawyer shook his head in agreement
with the
general
.

A side door to the courtroom opened and the seven members of the general court-martial board walked in and took their seats
behind the long table that faced the rows of chairs.

Major General Koch took his time looking around the courtroom before making a very short opening statement: “Gentlemen, the
general court-martial proceedings of Specialist Mohammed James are now in session. Defense counsel, I believe the floor is
yours and you may recall your witness.”

Brigadier General Tallon stood and adjusted his black leather general’s belt on his short-sleeved khaki uniform before calling
Major General Garibaldi to the witness stand.

The double doors opened and the Air Force general strode into the room and went directly to the witness chair that had been
placed at the left front corner of the long conference table the board sat behind.

“General, the oath that you took yesterday still applies in this courtroom today.” General Koch spoke to his peer in a controlled,
professional tone of voice. He did not like the idea of a general being grilled in front of the press, but Garibaldi was a
prime witness.

“General Garibaldi… you testified yesterday that you found a picture of the defendant beating another prisoner while both
of them were prisoners of war.”

“That’s true. I was being interrogated by Lieutenant Van Pao, the camp commander and NVA intelligence officer. The Polaroid
snapshot was lying under the edge of her desk.”

“And you just reached down and picked it up?” Tallon was attacking. “And did you slip it into your pocket?”

“No.”

“What did you do, General?”

“I tipped over a box of sundry candy, and while I was picking up the individual packages of Chuckles—”

“Chuckles?” Tallon interrupted.

“Yes… Chuckles. They’re a jellied candy.”

“North Vietnamese?”

“No, American.”

“What were the North Vietnamese… in Laos… doing with
boxes
of American candy?”

“Ask Specialist James where they got them.... He helped them.”

“Please… I would like that statement struck from the record.” Tallon addressed the president of the board.

“Please strike General Garibaldi’s last statement from the record.” Koch glanced over at Colonel Chan, the law officer for
the general court-martial, and received a confirming nod.

“Do you know where the North Vietnamese got American candy from, General Garibaldi?” Tallon asked with a smile.

“No, but I assume they got the sundry packages through the black market in South Vietnam.”

“You
assume
.”

“Yes.”

“And why was the
North Vietnamese
commander giving you candy… candy by the
box
?”

“She felt like it.”

“For no reason?”

“I don’t know her reason.”

“Did she do it as a
reward
for service rendered?”

Major General Garibaldi smiled at the one-star general before answering him. “General, when you are a prisoner of war for
over a year… in many cases even less time… and someone—anyone—offers you food and especially fruit or sugar, you’ll take it
without asking why.”

“You are assuming that I would?”

“Yes… before they tortured you… in
your case
.”

General Koch intervened. “Gentlemen! Please! You’re in a courtroom and I shouldn’t have to remind you of that!”

“So… General… what did you do with the photograph once you had
found
it just lying there in front of you on the floor?”

“I snuck it out of the office and gave it to the Montagnard boy who came to empty our night pots and asked him to take it
to the Special Forces men at A Shau.”

“Do you speak the Montagnard language?”

“No.”

“Then how did you communicate with a
child
well enough to tell him to walk twenty miles to an American base camp?”

“Sign language and a drawing in the dirt.”

“You must be very good at drawing.”

“I was motivated.”

Tallon backed off a little. He was being outmaneuvered by the general. “What is a ‘night pot,’ General?”

“A clay pot that was placed in the POWs’ cages and used for body functions.”

“And this little boy came every day to empty them?”

“Yes.”

“How old was the boy?”

“Between eight and ten. It’s hard to tell exactly with the Montagnards because they are a small-framed people.”

“And what you are trying to tell the court is that a
tiny
eight-year-old boy took the photograph and by
himself went
all that way through the jungle to deliver this picture”—Tallon held up the photograph for the press to see—“to a Special
Forced A-camp twenty miles away?” Tallon walked over to where Garibaldi sat and waved the Polaroid shot in front of his face.
“Do you
expect
us to believe that?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t the
true
story that you collaborated with the enemy?” Tallon paused, waiting for Garibaldi to lose his temper over the accusation,
and when he saw that it wasn’t having the effect he had wished for, he added, “Isn’t the truth that you agreed to help frame
Specialist James by having the picture sent to the American camp and your payment was the box of highly desired candy?”

“No.”

“Isn’t it true that Specialist James underwent extreme torture at the hands of the enemy and had refused to compromise his
high standards and that you and Corporal Barnett
schemed
to have James charged with treason and murder?”

“No.” Garibaldi’s voice remained extremely calm.

“Isn’t it true that the Montagnard boy
worked
for the NVA?”

“No.”

“I thought you said that the boy carried your night pots.”

“That’s true.”

“Then he
worked
for the NVA!”

“No… he worked to stay
alive.”
Garibaldi turned his head so that he could look directly into Tallon’s eyes. “There
is
a difference, you know.”

“Working carrying night pots or photographs is basically the same.” Tallon felt that he had pressed that issue enough and
had made the point he wanted to make, so he changed the subject. “Now tell me, General… you testified yesterday that Specialist
James struck you.”

“Yes.”

“Where?”

“Across the side of my face.”

“When?”

“When
he
escorted Corporal Barnett and me down to the river to bathe.”

“He escorted you?”

“Yes.”

“Alone?”

“No.”

“Who else was there?”

“Two NVA soldiers.”

“Then
they
escorted all
three
of you POWs.”

“You can say that if you like, but Specialist James was carrying an AK-47 assault rifle.”

Reporters in the back of the room started laughing. Sergeants Arnasao and Woods smiled over the witty remark. Spencer stared
hard at the defense counsel, causing the man to blush when he looked over at him.

“It could have been
empty
and was being used as a decoy to divide you three POWs and conquer.”

“It could have.”

“Then you agree that it would be
possible
for the NVA to make it
look
like Specialist James was a traitor.”

“Yes.”

“Good! Then couldn’t it have been an NVA tactic to force James to brag in front of you about killing Americans and becoming
an NVA general, as you testified yesterday?”

“It could have, but—”

“No buts, General! It could have happened!” Tallon spun around and looked at Brigadier General Heller and his trial team.
“Your witness, counsel!”

“I have no questions at this time.” Heller nodded at Tallon.

“Present your next witness, please.” Koch spoke to Heller.

“I’d like Sergeant David Woods to take the stand, please.”

Woods looked over at Arnasao. They had expected Spencer to be the next one called. David swore in and took his seat in front
of the rows of reporters.

“Sergeant Woods, would you please tell the board what happened during your visit to the Twenty-fourth Corps Headquarters in
Vietnam.” Heller nodded for David to begin.

“Yes sir. I was leaving the snackbar in the headquarters building when I thought I saw James walking down the hall wearing
a captain’s uniform and carrying a briefcase. I called out to him and he stopped walking and turned around with a very scared
look on his face.”

“What did you do then?”

“I started walking toward him.”

“And what did he do?”

“He ran out of the building and disappeared. I followed him outside but he was gone.”

“Members of the board, I would like to submit as evidence exhibits A, B, H, and K. They are all statements taken under oath
from officers and enlisted men at the Twenty-fourth Corps Headquarters who have
positively
identified Specialist James as the person who posed as a captain in the United States Army and was seen at the Twenty-fourth
Corps Headquarters tracing battle overlays during a period when he was reported as being a prisoner of war in Laos and under
enemy control!” General Heller looked at Tallon. “Your witness, counsel!”

Tallon leaned over and listened to the black lawyer from Detroit whisper in his ear before he approached Woods at the witness
stand. “Tell me, Sergeant Woods… how far away from you was this person who you claim was Specialist James?”

“Ten feet.”

“Did he have his back to you?”

“Yes, until I called his name… James!”

“Please, just answer yes or no.” Tallon was trying to intimi date the young soldier. “Do you understand the seriousness of
the charges against Specialist James?”

“Yes.”

“Do you hate black soldiers?”

“No.”

“Just a little?”

“No.”

“Then you are
totally not
prejudiced?”

“No.”

“You
are
prejudiced?”

“No.”

“What are you?”

Woods paused for a long time and then said, “I can’t answer that question yes or no, General.”

Tallon smiled. The young sergeant wasn’t going to be easy. “Tell me, Sergeant, how well do you know Specialist lames?”

“We went to Recondo School together. I know him pretty well.” Woods glanced over at lames sitting behind his table, next to
his civilian lawyers.

“Well enough to be able to recognize him from the back?”

“I’m a recon man, sir…I can do that in the
dark.”

“Really? Aren’t you bragging just a little bit?”

“Nope… as long as I have enough light to see a little.”

“Fine. Let’s see just how good you are.” Tallon looked over at General Koch. “Sir, I would like to conduct an experiment.”

“As long as you keep it inside the courtroom, counselor.” General Koch looked again at Colonel Chan for a legal opinion and
received a nod in agreement that the procedure was proper.