John, John, Susan and Nellie

I had only been back in the war zone for 3 weeks when we had a very bad day. I had just returned from going home for my grandfather's funeral.

My name is John Angus O'Connor. My father is John Adam O'Connor. His father was John August O'Connor. The Army thinks I am John Cooper; he was one of the other six in my squad. I am an Army dog handler, the dogs in our squad sniffed out explosives.

John Cooper and 2 others never knew what happened, neither did their dogs.

Cooper's dog had just located an explosive and he signaled for the squad to move away. The bomb exploded killing the 3 handlers and their dogs. My back was turned to the explosion, and I was far enough away that I was not killed. I was knocked out, and burned; but not too badly. I was lucky. I was air lifted to Germany.

Standard procedure in the burn ward is to place you in a coma to allow you to heal without the pain. I was out for about 3 months. When I became conscious I had been through the first round of surgeries to repair the damage. I was told my parents had been there for 4 weeks; but had gone home. I asked where my wife was. The doctors told me I was never married. They had to sedate me due to my great level of agitation. This was repeated 4 times; come out of sedation, ask about the wife, told I was never married, get angry and be sedated again. Finally, by mutual consent we did not discuss that topic again.

When I was stable enough they sent me back to the states to continue my rehabilitation. When I arrived they asked me for my name, rank and serial number. I told them I was Sergeant John Angus O'Connor.... One doctor started to speak but was cut off quickly by another who simply replied "Thank you John"

I had noticed that the staff in Germany had only called me John or Sergeant. I figured they were trying to be friendly. After all, if the patient is comfortable with those who are treating him, you get better results.

One day I saw the name, Sergeant John Cooper, on the chart they had for me. I told the orderly that they had the wrong chart. I asked where John Cooper was and how he was doing. They told me he was doing real well and they hoped I could meet him soon. I never saw a chart near me again.

All the time I was in Germany I dictated letters to my wife, I never heard back. When I returned to the states my hands were healed enough that I could write the letters on my own. It has now been 9 months and I have not heard from anyone back home. They occasionally bring me letters for Cooper; I send them away to be delivered to him. It has been 15 months since the day of the explosion. Physically I am fine, but they still have not released me yet. One day a really friendly doctor stopped by to chat with me. We kept visiting with each other for the next 3 weeks. One day he asked me why I sent the mail away. I told him all the mail I received was for John Cooper.

Then he told me I was John Cooper.

I replied that I was John O'Connor, had been all my life.

He told me that I was Cooper, and that O'Connor was dead.

We went round and round about it for weeks. I called him every kind of stupid and a lot of other nasty things. I knew who I was!

To try to clear things up he showed me the results of the DNA testing from the sample I left before going overseas. The name on the bottle was John Cooper. Damn if the results were not exact.

After that I found out that if I was mentally sound I would be released to go home. SO, I became John Cooper. I wanted to go home.

I was doing well, they thought. I was allowed to leave the hospital and move around the base, with an escort. One day I found out that there was a kennel on base and decided to visit. It felt good to see the dogs again. At the end of a row, in a kennel away from the other dogs was a Black Labrador, the name on the cage was Buster. My dog was a Black Lab, his name was Piper. I asked why he was separate from the others, only to be told he was not able to accept a new handler when his was killed in action. They got the records for the dog; the last successful handler was Sergeant John O'Connor. I told them I knew John and asked what would happen to Buster.

He would be put down in the next month unless someone wanted to adopt him. Dogs that have been in combat are hard to adopt out. I asked if I could see him, he knew me immediately. I started to spend time with Buster; we both went on the fast track to recovery. 4 weeks later I was allowed to adopt Buster. I asked that the papers be changed to list his name as Piper.

After another 9 months they finally told me I was ready to go home to see my parents. I drew my pay, got the address for John Cooper's parents, got Piper from the kennel and went forth.

When we arrived in Oregon we went straight to visit them. I knocked on the door and a beautiful older lady answered. I told her that Piper and I had served in the same unit and were there that day.

She invited us in and called her husband at work. He rushed home.

The next conversation was the hardest of my life. I talked about how John and I had trained together, and had been partners for our entire time in the service. John was a good son and they should be proud.

Then Mr. Cooper surprised me and asked if his son was dead.

I cried and nodded yes.

After seeing me in Germany they thought something was not right. They had received the letters I wrote to Mom and Dad. Some things in the letters did not seem to make sense to them.

I told them that the Army thought I was their son; I was sorry for the confusion and would do anything to help them.

They told me to go home and make things right with my family. We could get the rest repaired later. They were grateful to know the truth. I gave them my contact information, and got theirs.

It was time to head home to Ohio. I took 6 days to drive there. I needed the time to think. How do you explain to your parents, and wife, that the person they buried was someone else?

I arrived in town late Saturday. We found a motel and spent the night. At 9:00 the Sunday morning I drove to Mom and Dad's house. I figured that was the best first step.

I was greeted in the front lawn by the family dog, barking like crazy at Piper and me. Mom, dressed for church, came to the front door to investigate. She fainted when I said "Hello Mom." Dad came running when she went down.

Dad looked up and asked what I wanted, I introduced myself and he just looked at me. The next words were "You sound like John, but you don't look like my son."

I asked if my good bagpipes were still in the closet on the top shelf, "the ones I played for Grandfather's funeral."

He nodded. I said "If you get them I will play a song only you and I know." You see Dad, like his father, and I played the pipes. His father had written a love song for Grandmother, only the 3 of us knew it.

He got the pipes and I played Amazing Grace. He responded that everyone knew that one.

I told him it was just for warm-up. Then I played Nellie's Lament, the song that Grandfather had written. Grandmother walked around the corner, looked at me and said "Ya done good. I told you he was not dead, I could feel it." I hugged everyone.

Dad asked if I had spoken to my wife, Susan, yet. I nodded no.

Dad went and made a phone call, came back and told us she would be there in about 30 minutes. In those 30 minutes, I told them about the explosion and rehabilitation. We talked about how the doctors had insisted that I was John Cooper, and about the visit to see his parents.

Somehow I got the feeling that there was something they did not want to say. Just before Susan got there they sent me into my old bedroom. They had to break the news to her gently. 20 minutes later Grandma came in and asked me to play Nellie's Lament again. I looked at her and she said to just do it.

After the first few notes I heard a scream and the front door slamming. Not long after a young girl came into the room and asked who I was. I told her my name was Sergeant John Angus O'Connor. She just looked at me, stared would be more correct.

After she studied me for a minute she walked over, held out her hand and said "I am Nellie Joan O'Connor, how do you do."

I put my pipes down and shook her hand; we walked into the living room holding hands. I looked at Mom and Dad and they shook their heads yes. Then Nellie asked "Are you my first daddy?" I did not know how to answer. Then she said "Mommy is going to get married in 3 weeks and I will get a new daddy, I don't like him much."

Mom tried to take her hand; she hung onto mine with a death grip. She saw Piper and asked if he was my dog. I nodded yes. She held her hand out to shake his paw and said "You must be Piper."

Piper was raised right and held out his paw. They shook.

About that time Susan appeared at the door with a man. She came into the house and said "You don't look like John, but the dog looks like Piper."

"Well actually I do, I kind of look like John Cooper. That's who the Army thinks I am. He is most likely buried in my grave." I whispered in her ear exactly what we had done on our honeymoon. Sam was not happy at this stage.

Upon hearing his name Piper walked over and leaned his head on her leg, almost knocking her over.

Dad had been out of the room for a while, he returned with a look on his face that I could not make out. He had called a friend who was a lawyer, the friend recommended postponing the wedding until the mess was straightened out.

Since I was not dead, he was not sure if Susan could be called a widow. Also he was not sure if she would have to return the life insurance money. He had a friend who was a lawyer in the military, they would need to talk.

The man with Susan got really mad and stormed out. She called after him but it did no good. He took off down the street in his car, like a rocket.

Susan tried to call his cell phone but got no answer.

I asked if we could talk in private. Susan agreed. She told me how she found out she was pregnant the week after my funeral. That she had missed me terribly for the first 2 years, but that I had recently started to fade into a fond memory. She often told stories about me to Nellie.

She had been dating Sam for about 4 months; he was pushing for the marriage. She was tired of being lonely and wanted a better life for Nellie; it is hard to find a new husband who will accept an instant child. She was not sure if she loved Sam the same way we had loved, and was not sure if she still loved me. Life was hard and frightening and she was tired from trying to be both parents. She still worked at the same place, but had been promoted a few times. Her parents and mine shared baby sitting of Nellie.

She had gotten 1 letter about a year after I was buried; it was not in my handwriting, so she had called the Army and asked if I was dead, if it was a sick joke, just what was happening. They collected it and apologized and said they knew who wrote it and it would not happen again.

About the time that she received that letter Grandma Nellie started to say I was still alive, there was something in the letter that was worded like only I would say.

She had also not been intimate with Sam; she just could not do it and was saving it for her wedding night.

I told her about John's dog finding the explosives, his signal that we needed to clear the area and the immediate explosion. I had spent time in Germany, before coming back to the states, and all the letters I had sent. I told how the doctors had all the letters in a file to prove I was a nut case, and the only way to get loose was to accept their statements that I was John Cooper. We talked about John cooper's parents and their feelings.

About 3 hours later she got a phone call from Sam, he was obviously drunk and demanded to know if the wedding was still on. Susan told him she would speak to him when he got sober.

Much later Susan's parents came over to see me and take her and Nellie home. I still had not said anything about what Nellie had said to me.

After she left Dad told me how he noticed that Piper only went between Susan, Nellie and I all evening.

Dad, Mom and I sat down to talk. I asked how soon they could get DNA tests done and if one had been done on Nellie when she was born. Dad called the lawyer and asked if they could be done the next day and how soon for results. The lawyer knew someone who was good and could rush them; we will get them done tomorrow.

I called Susan and asked if she still had the results from the Army, she did. She did not have any for Nellie. She and Nellie would be there for the testing.

The next morning I called the Coopers and told them where things were. They were happy for me and anxious to have John back.

About a week later we sat in the office to review the DNA results. My results did not match what the Army had. But they did match Mom, Nellie and enough of Dad to prove he was my father. Susan also matched a lot for Nellie. The lawyer was there and called his friend in the Army to provide the details to him.

2 days later about 20 Soldiers in full riot gear showed up at the house. I was to be arrested. Mom called the State and local Police to report a kidnapping. The local news showed up too.

After listening to the entire story the Police and Army decided that I could stay here under house arrest. The next day a bunch of Army doctors showed up to run more DNA tests, and probe around in my brain for a while. My medical records were sent via courier to them.

When Susan heard they had all the letters she demanded that she be allowed to read them. They were not happy but she got copies of them all.

She spent the next 2 days reading, crying and cursing at the Army for what they had done. We talked for about 5 hours the day after she finished reading them. She thinks she still loves me, I know I still love her and Nellie is the light of my life.

I got to watch my grave being dug up, and casket removed. It felt sort of funny to see it. The Coopers were contacted for DNA samples.

We invited the Coopers to come visit; they were here in a heartbeat. They also brought the letters for my parents. Everyone got along fine.

It was toward the end of their visit that we heard from the Army again. We all met at the lawyer's offices. By all I mean Mom, Dad, Susan, both Nellies, the Coopers, the Army and me. There were 3 high ranking generals there to talk for the Army. DNA confirmed that there was a mix-up, how the Army's samples were wrong nobody knew. I suspect it was because we gave samples on the same day, and the names got mixed up. The generals asked if I wanted to stay in the Army, they got a chorus of "Hell no" from most everybody at the table. I was immediately discharged from the Army at 40 % disability.

The generals took possession of John Cooper's body and escorted the Coopers home for a full military burial. 5 days later many of our former comrades, the Coopers, the entire O'Connor family and Piper were there for John's funeral.

I was asked to speak and play the pipes for the ceremony. I played Amazing Grace and Nellie's Lament. You see, Mr. and Mrs. Cooper were also John and Nellie. My friend was John William Cooper Jr.

While in Oregon for John's funeral Susan and I drove to see the ocean and talk. While we were on the beach I pulled Grandmother Nellie's ring out of my pocket, dropped down on one knee and asked Susan to marry me. She cried and said the lawyers were mostly certain we were still married. She also said "Yes."

I said "I want to be sure."

We tried to contact Sam.

6 weeks later, on our anniversary, we were married. All of the family was there; the family now includes John and Nellie Cooper. They sat in the front row beside Mom and Dad and then the rest of the family. Little Nellie was the flower girl; Piper was the ring barer; they walked up the aisle together. Susan walked up the aisle as Dad played his version of Nellie's Lament.

Sam was never heard from again.

The Army decided they would let us keep the life insurance; we put it in the bank for college tuition.

Once a year the Coopers will come east, and later we go west.

11 months after the wedding Susan gave birth to twins. The boy is named John August William O'Connor, we call him Bill; the girl is Joan Cooper O'Connor. All 3 sets of grandparents are proud as punch.

Little Nellie wanted to know if I am her New Daddy or her Old Daddy, I think being both works just fine.

I write what I like, I hope you like it too. If not, please do not show yourself to be a fool.