The Greatest Love

Airplanes were not an uncommon sight. Hickam Field was home to Hawaii's army airfield and bomber base. It was also the headquarters for their air force. Leilani looked up to see what Reid was looking at. "What's the matter?"

"Something's wrong," he said. He wasn't sure why yet, but he could feel an intense fear building inside of him. "I know there's a few B-17's due in this morning, but that has to be hundreds of planes... and where are they coming from?"

By that time the increasingly louder drone from hundreds of aircraft engines had reached the ears of the others. Everyone was looking to find the source and the quiet Sunday mumbling of the crowd was turning into a nervous chatter.

As their shadows covered more of the landscape, Reid was finally able to detect the contour of the planes. He could see their circle insignias and the bombs hanging from the wings. "THEY'RE JAPANESE ZEROS," he yelled, "TAKE COVER, WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"

"OH, MY GOD," Leilani screamed. She clutched Reid's arm. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, no doubt. Those are torpedoes on the wings. They're going to bomb the fleet." Reid looked into the terrified eyes of the woman who owned his heart. He reached for her shoulders and pulled her into what he knew could well be their last kiss. As their lips broke apart, Leilani threw her arms around him and squeezed for all her might, determined to not let go.

"I love you," he softly whispered in her ear. He could feel her sobs against his chest.

"Oh, God, I love you, too, Reid. I love you so much. Come on, let's get into the church. They won't bomb a church, will they?"

"No, I don't think so," he replied. He forced their bodies apart so he could look into her eyes one last time. "Go inside, honey, find your parents and pray; pray hard."

"What about you? Come with me. We'll all pray together."

"I can't, honey. I have to get to my ship."

"NO!" she screamed. "You can't, don't be silly. You'll be killed."

Just then they heard the first bombs exploding. Their bodies tensed as they saw plumes of black smoke bellow into the air.

"I have to, hon. I've got to get down there. People are depending on me. Now go, please get inside."

"No," she cried. Leilani sunk to her knees and hugged his legs to keep him from moving.

Reid looked over and saw the preacher coming over. He was a brave man and made sure everyone else was inside before seeking shelter for himself. He bent down and gently lifted his long-time parishioner to her feet. "Come, Leilani, we have to be brave. I'm afraid there're going to be hard times ahead for all of us. We're all going to be called on to do our part. We have to face the future with strength and courage."

Reid watched while the preacher led her into the church. She looked back just before entering the steepled structure. Her eyes were red and swollen, her chest heaved as she sobbed, wracked with fear.

"I love you, Leilani, I love you with all my heart," he called out.

As the church door closed behind them, Reid took off at a dead run. He could hear more planes from overhead as he cut through alleys and parking lots, taking the shortest route possible. As he turned a corner he could see battleship row for the first time. It looked like a scene from "Dante's Infernal." Fires everywhere created large black billowing clouds that darkened the sky.

His ears were ringing from the loud explosions and the smell of gun powder and burning oil overtook the fresh Hawaiian air as he reached the shoreline. Local fishermen, afraid of being caught on the water with no place to hide, scrambled full speed toward shore. Reid jumped in one of the abandoned dinghies and started the outboard motor with a single pull. The front end of the boat lifted out of the water as he gave it full throttle.

As he got closer, Reid could make out shadows of the men through the smoke. "Come on, come on you son-of-a-bitch, move it," he cursed at the small motor's lack of power. Every fiber in his body, every emotion told him he had to get on board and defend his ship.

He was so focused on the ship, he almost didn't see the zero coming straight for him. There was no question the SOB had him in his sights. Without hesitation, he dove into the blood-stained water just as a hail of bullets made kindling of the small craft. More hot lead rained down, penetrating the warm tropical waters around him and narrowly missing. Reid swam under water as far as he could then broke the surface with long, powerful strokes, his ship was only a hundred yards away.

Cries of agony filled the air as he got closer. He looked up and saw a burning oil slick drifting his way. Reid took a deep breath, put his head down, and swam for all he was worth. There was no way he could swim through that fiery sea. He had to get to his ship first or he'd have to turn back.

The heat became more intense the closer he got. Luckily, someone had lowered the stairs. He grabbed ahold and hoisted himself up. As he reached the deck, he could already feel the ship listing to starboard and assumed the California had been hit. His shipmates scrambled for anything they could shoot. Reid looked toward the bow and saw a body slumped over the 20mm forward canon. He rushed over to see if he could help but was confronted by a grizzly sight when he lifted the body to see nothing left of the man's face.

Reid reverently laid the body down on the deck, then took the man's place behind the anti-aircraft weapon and swung it around just in time to catch a Mitsubishi in its sights. He pulled the trigger just as the aircraft was bearing down on him, and sent it to a watery grave.

Everything was chaos aboard the ship. The men were well trained, but no one was ready for a sneak attack of this magnitude. Reid was running out of ammunition. One of his shipmates heard him yelling for more.

"All the power is out. The elevators for the ammo don't work," he screamed over all the noise. "Ensign Jones and Warrant Officer Pharris have chains of guys passing ammunition up to us but it's taking time. We'll get you as much as we can."

"Hurry," Reid screamed back. "I'm almost out." He had to reserve the few shells he had left by taking careful aim and squeezing off short bursts. As his ammo belt was coming to the end, Reid caught another zero pulling out of a dive and sent it spinning into the South Pacific waters.

A couple minutes later, a crew of guys set three crates of cartridge belts at his feet, then turned and ran back for more. So far, he had five Japanese zeros under his belt, one of which was about to shoot down one of the P-40 Tomahawks that joined the dogfight from Hickam Field. He had his sixth kill in his sights when everything went black.

Not far away, inside New Hope Church, the brave pastor led a terrified congregation in prayer as the sounds of war raged just outside their doors. Leilani, flanked by her dad and mom, was inconsolable. Her dad tried to calm her down. "Honey, we're going to be all right. They're not interested in civilians, hon. They won't bomb a church."

"No, no, you don't understand," she said while rapidly shaking her head. "Reid, he went back to his ship. He'll be killed," she cried out with hysterics. "I... I tried to get him to come with me, but he said... he said..." again, she broke out in tears and dropped her face into both hands.

Her mother looked over at Leilani's dad with a questioning expression. He just shook his head with a slight shrug of his shoulders. They had no idea who she was talking about. The pastor went over and told them he'd seen Leilani in the company of a young man just before the bombing started. Her mom and dad waited until she seemed to be cried out. Her mother reached up and stroked her hair. "Honey, who is Reid?"

"He's the man I love," she replied in a whimper. "He's not like anyone I ever met before. He's brave and he's kind and smart and compassionate... and he loves me too."

Even though Leilani was twenty years old, had a job, and her own apartment, her dad still considered her too young to fall in love. "Honey, you've never even mentioned him before. When did you meet him?"

"Friday night," she replied. "Dad, I know what you're going to say, but I love him. I... I can't even think of never seeing him again," she said as she broke down one more time.

Her mother tried to console her. "Honey, I'm sure you'll see him again."

Leilani knew the chances were almost zero. She never learned his last name and she didn't think he knew hers. With all the time they'd spent together, last names just didn't seem important... not at the time anyway. Now, should he go to war, they couldn't even write to each other. He did know where she lived, but with war breaking out, what were the chances he'd be able to get back there? Leilani's heart broke piece by piece with the realization that she'd never see her Reid again.

*****

"Seaman Prescott, can you hear me?"

The ringing in his ears was almost deafening; so much so, Reid could barely hear the nurse's voice. It was also painful to open his eyes to the light. He squinted for just a moment, then closed them again and groaned in agony. His whole body felt like it'd been through a grinder. "What... what happened?"

"All in due time, seaman Prescott, can you hear me okay?"

"Barely," he replied. "My ears are ringing something terrible."

"We expected that would be the case. I'm afraid there's nothing we can do for it, but it will eventually go away on its own. You're lucky you still have both eardrums. How do you feel otherwise, any nausea or pain in the abdomen?"

"No, but I'm sore all over. My whole body hurts." Suddenly, he started to recall the attack. "My ship! What happened? Are... are we at war?"

"I'm sorry," she responded truthfully, "I don't know about your ship but I've heard all the battleships were sunk. President Roosevelt declared war on Japan yesterday."

"Yesterday? What day is it now?"

"This is Tuesday. It's almost four o'clock in the afternoon. You're suffering from a concussion. You're very lucky. You were thrown into the water by a bomb blast, but a bunch of the sailors who were going around in dinghies rescuing people were able to get to you before you drowned."

"Leilani, is she okay? She was going into the New Hope church when I saw her last. Were there any civilians hurt?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so. The last I heard, sixty-five civilians were killed, and there are still some missing. Most of them were people who worked at the base, though. I haven't heard anything about any churches getting hit."

"I've got to go check on her," Reid said while trying to sit up.

"Whoa, hot-shot. You're not going anywhere, for a little while, anyway. That blast that hit you turned your body into a pretzel before you hit the water. It's a miracle you don't have a body of broken bones. Even so, you're in no shape to go anywhere right now. It'll be a few days before you'll even be able to stand.

"Now, settle down. I'll tell the doctor you're awake. I'm sure he'll want to talk to you," she said with a smile before leaving the room.

Reid wasn't satisfied with the nurse's diagnosis. Painfully, he willed himself to sit up and slowly struggled to get his legs off to the side of the bed. He'd never felt such agony and he cried out in pain as he tried to stand.

"Hey," an angry voice called out from the doorway as Reid collapsed back onto the mattress. "What the hell are you doing? Didn't the nurse tell you you're going to be bedridden for a few days?"

Reid looked over as a young man in white approached and helped him back into a prone position. "Doctor, I've got to check on my girl. I have to make sure she's okay," he explained.

"I'm sorry, but that's going to have to wait," replied the young doctor. "As you just discovered, you're in no shape to go anywhere right now. You're lucky you didn't fall flat on your face.

"Your body suffered a tremendous trauma from the concussion of the blast, as well as you being hurled into the water from that height. You have a lot of internal swelling, most of which is around your spinal cord, which is putting pressure on the nervous system. That's why you're in so much pain. We're giving you anti-inflammatories, but it is still going to take time for that swelling to come down. Any kind of physical exertion will aggravate the inflammation and prolong your recovery, so stay the hell in bed until I tell you differently, understand?"

"Yes, Sir," Reid begrudgingly agreed. "But somehow I have to contact Leilani. I have to know if she's okay."

"Look, I know it's hard but you have to put your personal wants to the side for right now. The Arizona went down with over a thousand men aboard, and the estimates are that another thousand are dead. President Roosevelt declared war on Japan yesterday, which means we'll be fighting Germany and Italy as well. This is just the start, seaman Prescott. I'm afraid we're in for a long, tough road for years to come. So, as I said, stay in bed and don't try anymore heroics until I say it's okay."

"All right, Doc." He thought for just a moment. "Doc?"

"Yes?"

"Will I be okay? I mean, will be able to get back into the fight?"

"I'm afraid so. You're in a lot of pain right now, but once that swelling goes down you'll be fine."

Between the pain killers and the anti-inflammatories, the next couple of days were tolerable. On Thursday, Reid felt good enough to pen a letter to his mom and dad to let them know he was okay but wouldn't be seeing them for a while. On Friday, he had a surprise visit from Captain Bunkley, commanding officer of the USS California.

Read was resting with his eyes closed when he heard the footsteps. They were too heavy to be his nurse. He opened his eyes to see the aged, battle-hardened, slim figure. Having not seen his commander since the attack, Reid thought he looked older, sadder, more tired. "Captain, Bunkley, Sir," Reid stated as he painfully raised his hand to salute.

"At ease, Petty Officer. I've been apprised of your condition so we can belay the saluting for now."

Hearing the mistake in rank, Reid assumed the captain was visiting several seamen that day and had mistaken him for someone else. "Sir, it's seaman first class Reid Prescott, Sir."

"That's where you're wrong, son. As of yesterday, you're now Petty Officer First Class Prescott. Congratulations, Reid."

"Wow, I... I never expected..."

"I also put you and several others in for the Medal of Honor. You did your uniform proud the other day, Petty Officer. You took out five of those son-of-a-bitches, Reid. Who knows how many lives you saved."

"Thank you. I...I don't know what to say, I only wish I could have gotten more of them. Did... did we lose a lot of men, Sir? The nurse told me around two thousand were killed, h... how many were from our ship?"

"I'm afraid we were hit pretty hard. We lost almost a hundred men, with another 60 some wounded."

"Oh, God," Reid moaned. "What about the ship?"

"Right now it's at the bottom of the harbor. We've had divers down there assessing the damage. So far it looks like most of the ships can be brought up and saved, but it won't happen overnight. In the meantime, practically every manufacturing plant state-side is retooling for war.

"I heard you tried to get out of bed the other day. You do what the doctors tell you. You'll be reassigned to a carrier as soon as you're able. They're about the only ships we still have afloat at the moment. Down the line, you'll be reassigned again to a new battleship as soon as they're set out to sea."

"Is there anything I can get for you? Magazines, some puzzles, or something to occupy your time?"

"Sir, if it isn't too much trouble, there is one thing you could do for me."

"Just name it, Reid," the captain replied.

"Sir, I met a girl Friday night. We spent the weekend together but I didn't get her last name. She lives in one of the apartments in the hills over Pearl. I'd really like to make sure she's all right, Sir."

"Do you know the apartment's address?"

"I... I never really looked. I could go to it, but I don't know the address."

"I'm afraid you're not going to have time for anything but getting on a ship as soon as you're discharged from here, son."

Reid was afraid of that. His heart was breaking at the thought of going to war without knowing she was okay.

"What's her first name," the captain asked.

"Leilani, Sir."

"I can get access to a list of the dead and wounded civilians. I'll check it for a Leilani, but that's about all I can do."

"I would greatly appreciate that, Sir. I just need to know she's okay." Just then he thought of something else. "Sir, she goes to the New Hope Church on Kilinoe Street. The pastor there seemed to know her. That's where we were going when the bombs hit. He could tell you if she's all right, Sir."

"I can't make any promises, but I'll try to get over there."

"Thank you, Sir."

Reid figured word had gotten out about his promotion and medal because the staff was treating him like royalty. Physically, every day was an improvement over the day before. By the following Tuesday, they had him up and walking, although it was still pretty painful. One of the nurses explained part of the pain and stiffness was due to muscle atrophy from not using his legs for so long. "Whose fault is that?" he joked.

That Thursday, Reid was sitting up in bed, eating lunch and looking forward to being discharged the following day, when Captain Bunkley walked in, carrying a briefcase. "Sir," Reid said as he put his fork down and quickly brought his arm up into a salute. The Captain saluted him back. "Captain, were you able to find out anything about Leilani? Is she okay?"

"I went to the New Hope Church but it was all locked up. So was the rectory. I saw the woman who lived next door so I asked if she knew where the preacher was. She said he locked everything up and enlisted the day after the attack..."

Reid's heart dropped. It was his last hope of knowing if Leilani was okay.

"But," the Captain continued, "she was at home on Sunday and saw everyone leave the church after the attack, about ten-thirty. I'm sure they all waited until they knew it was over. The neighbor said no one was hurt and the church looked fine to me. I didn't see any damage anywhere. I also checked the records and no one named Leilani shows up as being hurt or killed, so I believe your girl is fine, Reid."

It was good news, maybe not definitive, but close to it. He sighed with relief. "Thank you, Sir."

"You're welcome, Petty Officer Prescott. Now," he said, stepping forward and laying the briefcase on a small bedside table, "for my official duties." He snapped the latches on the case and opened it. "I'm told you can stand Reid, so please do so."

Anticipating what was about to take place, Reid stood at attention. Just then, his doctor and nursing staff stepped just inside the doorway, all with smiles on their faces. Reid surmised they must have been listening from outside the door. Captain Bunkley stepped forward. "Petty Officer, First Class, Reid Prescott, for valor above and beyond the call of duty, I hereby present you with the Medal of Honor." He handed Reid a box containing the medal and stepped back while bringing his arm up to a salute. "Congratulations, Petty Officer, Prescott, and thank you."

Reid held his medal in his left hand and snapped a salute with his right. "Thank you, Sir."

His medical staff clapped and congratulated him.

Once his salute was returned, the captain reached back into his briefcase, pulled out a large envelope, and handed it to Reid. "These are also yours, Petty Officer Prescott."

Reid looked inside and saw his new uniform patches. "Thanks again, Captain."

The captain nodded his head and reached into his briefcase one more time. "And these are your new orders," he said. "You've been reassigned to the USS Hornet."