It’s all rolling for Ike in 52.
Such casual references about events that preceded her life and were written about in history texts astounded Trace. Obviously the staff was the ruling council of the line. She turned several more pages, this time halting at a section that mentioned Eisenhower again.
2 May 1960
Ike is furious about Powers and the whole U-2 incident. CJ tells me that Ike somehow knows we gave Powers to the Russians. Hell, what does he expect: CJ warned him to back off with Khrushchev. Ike still thinks he can pull off the summit. I think not ant the staff agrees. However, we still have a few back up plans in case Khrushchev does not act as expected in response to the U-2 shootdown. CJ has persuaded Ike to go with the cover story. It’s all going as planned.
As Trace read on, the U-2 crisis unfolded, but with a vastly different tint than that laid out in history books. CJ was Eisenhower’s top aide — a West Point graduate who had temporarily put aside his Army green uniform for a suit and tie and the role of National Security Adviser. Trace remembered him as a three-star general in charge of the III Corps at Fort Hood, Texas, while she was at West Point.
But in reality, CJ was the link between The Line and Eisenhower.
The cover story that CJ persuaded the President to issue — that the U-2 had wandered off course — was the key to destroying the summit when Khrushchev trotted out Gary Powers and another version of what — had happened days after the cover story was issued.
Despite these later deceptions, it was clear from Hooker’s writings that Eisenhower had had the complete support of The Line from the early days of World War II. They had groomed him after the end of the war for the Presidency, and his election was perhaps their greatest coup.
But somewhere along the way, Eisenhower had begun to disregard the advice of The Line. Trace could well imagine the difference for the former general. As commander of Allied forces in Europe during World War 2, his and The Line’s goals had been in congruence. But as President of a country at peace, Eisenhower’s vision must have shifted and become larger. No longer was having a strong military the number one priority. He had the entire welfare of the country to think of.
Trace flipped back several pages. The Line had strongly opposed any attempt at contact with the Russians and most particularly objected to the summit in Paris. Hooker’s diary didn’t exactly say how they had set up the U-2 incident, but there was a later mention of the CIA getting Powers back from the Soviets and taking care of him in order to keep him quiet.
Trace closed her eyes briefly in weariness. The Line had put forward one of their own and gotten him elected President and then when he failed to heed their wishes, they had sabotaged him repeatedly. She remembered reading about Eisenhower’s final speech as President where he had warned of the military-industrial complex. It was as blunt as he could get without directly exposing the machinations that had been behind his own rise to power. And after reading what The Line had done to Patton after he stepped out of cadence with their plans. Trace had no doubt that Eisenhower had been aware of his predicament.
If The Line could threaten and coerce presidents, what chance do we have? Trace thought to herself. She turned a few more pages.
Eisenhower had two terms. She noted Hooker’s shock at Kennedy’s election. The Line had sunk its claws into Nixon and backed him with a lot of help from Howard Hughes, who certainly had a stake in the military-industrial complex.
Trace kept reading. She read how The Line had helped the CIA mislead Kennedy about the invasion of Cuba and how they had assisted bringing about the disastrous events in the Bay of Pigs. After that Kennedy had paid more attention to his instructions from Langley and the Pentagon.
Trace found a diversion in the diary. Hooker had been at West Point, heading up the history department, but in early 1961 he went to Vietnam. There had been a U.S. military presence in that country since 1951, but it was a minor one.
No one had really heard of Vietnam up to that point, despite the French debacle at Dien Bien Phu.
23 October 1961
The staff wanted me to go to Vietnam and take a look.
With Europe frozen and Korea gone cold, we need a new hot field. After a few weeks poking around, I think we’ve got one. Just like Korea except we don’t have to worry about a big neighbor like China since the two are also at each other’s throats. The North is isolated and we can take them at our pace. I envision five or six good years. A chance to check out the triangle division concept and this newfangled “airmobile” tack tic that Gerry has managed to get approved by the chief for his first Cavalry Division.
Most particularly, we can blood our junior leaders. The last of the Korean War vets are all now at least majors. Our captains and lieutenants are green. We have good solid leadership at the highest levels, all of whom saw action in World War 2, but we must look to the future. Even though running around the jungles of Vietnam might not be the best preparation for the coming war in Europe it is the best opportunity we have. I am going to recommend to the staff that we approve and implement OPLAN Burning field. I think we have Kennedy’s attention now. We can roll this thing up a notch or two so that in a few years we can get regular troops on the ground.
Trace closed the diary. In a way she was surprised that it really didn’t surprise her. She’d already considered this idea when she was planning her novel. When people studied history, they often overlooked the obvious in search of reasons they considered valid historically, instead of reasons that were valid realistically. The two were often different.
Trace knew that Vietnam had been fought in an illogical manner. Never mind all the military complaints about civilian interference, it had not been the civilians who had invented the one-year rotation plan for all troops and the six-month rotation plans for officers to field leadership positions. The Army had known better. Its own studies from World War II had stated conclusively that the average junior officer lasted less than a month in combat. If they survived longer than that, they got much better and their survival rate, and that of their men, was considerably higher than average.
In its haste to “blood” as many officers as possible, the Army — The Line, Trace amended — had not only gotten the country involved in an unnecessary war, it had implemented procedures that had killed over 50,000 young Americans.
Trace knew that Hooker and his cronies would not decry that cost. They would point to the fact that the Cold War in Europe had been won. If Europe had gone hot, 50,000 dead could have occurred in one day, never mind over the course of a decade and a half.
But it was wrong. Dead wrong. Trace flipped the pages, jumping a couple of years ahead. 1963. The Line was not happy with Kennedy, as they had not been with his predecessor.
He had not pushed the missile crisis to the conclusion they had desired, that was evident from Hooker’s tone.
Trace paused. She ran her finger down the center of the book — there were pages missing. Between September, 1963, and December there was a gap. Why would that be?
Trace turned back to the beginning of the diary. If she was stuck here, she might as well read it from beginning to end.
A few hours later, somewhere over the Pacific Ocean she was done. Trace glanced up at the cockpit then reached into her coat and pulled out the pages she had torn out of the diary. She borrowed a pen from the plane’s crew chief and wrote a brief note on top of the front page, and then pushed it back into her jacket.