Soldier Up Read online

  They were actually thinking about having a custom home built in Hayward which was about halfway between Berkeley and the Bay Area about thirty miles each way. As far as commutes were concerned it wasn’t that big a deal everyone had to travel to get to work here, especially if they wanted to afford a home.

  They visited Hayward often over the months Mel was pregnant looking at various homes and empty lots in areas they believed that would be nice to raise a family. About a month before the baby was to be born they went ahead and did it, they bought a lot in Hayward, hired an architect and contractor to build them their house. Needless to say, there was a lot going on in their lives, it was wonderful, they both realized how blessed they were.

  A few days prior to the baby being born they were wondering slowly through Walmart, Mel was waddling through the store and John was more or less assisting by pushing Kai in the shopping cart and acting like it was a race car, Kai was having a ball.

  In the sporting goods isle Mel was planning ahead and looking for some new work out gear she could use after the baby was born. From behind them they heard, “Well I’ll be a son-of-a-bitch!”

  John and Mel turned around to see who had said that, what Mel saw was some Hispanic man in a uniform standing there looking at John. What John saw was Sergeant Major Dognillo in his Class A uniform and in his hand holding a Green Beret. John’s jaw dropped, he had no idea how to respond, he had spent so much time and effort hiding the Army from Mel and now here it was literally starring them in the face.

  Dognillo couldn’t help but notice the beautiful woman standing next to the Major was very pregnant. He stuck out his hand towards here, “I’m Sergeant Major Dognillo, your husband? boyfriend? Significant other? friend? and I served together in the Army.”

  Mel laughed and shook his hand, “Wife and mother.”

  “Let me get this straight, you’re actually claiming that you’re married to him?” Dognillo thrusting a thumb towards the Major. You could hear John groan.

  “Yes, yes I am.” Mel was laughing as she could see how uncomfortable her husband was. John failed to see any humor in this.

  “Cat got your tongue Major?” asked the Sergeant Major. With that John hung his head and shook it back and forth. “What’s the problem tiger?” said the Sergeant Major.

  Mel was all but lying on the floor of Walmart laughing her ass off. “Wait.” John thought to himself, “Something’s not right.”

  John asked, “Am I missing something here?”

  “How so sweetheart?” replied Mel.

  “Well, all of a sudden some Green Beret aka Special Forces Sergeant Major shows up out of my past, says we used to work together and all you can do is laugh?”

  Sergeant Major Dognillo was now caught in the middle of something he had no idea about, “Ok what the hell is going on?”

  Mel felt sorry for her husband, she knew he must be struggling internally with what just happened and doesn’t have clue one on how to proceed, she said, “Sergeant Major it’s very VERY nice to meet you and thank you for your service. John and I have been together now for over two years closer to three actually. He’s only mentioned once to me that he was in the Army, outside of that he has refused to talk about it.”

  “Is that so?” stated Dognillio flatly, glaring at the Major.

  “It is so, but what John doesn’t know is that I know he was an Army Ranger, Army Special Forces and I think a member of Delta.”

  John’s eyes got a big as saucers and he was staring at Mel and for the second time in less than twenty minutes his jaw dropped open. Both Mel and the Sergeant Major got a good laugh at how he looked.

  “Yes John I also know you were an Officer, a Major, I wasn’t sure about that until now though.” she laughed again. Sergeant Major Dognillo couldn’t stop laughing.

  John now finally looked at the Sergeant Major, “Shut up Dog!” with that Major Clayton, US Army, stuck out his hand towards his friend and both men shook and hugged. That was the first time Mel had ever seen him hug another man, outside of his father. “Why are you here?” asked the Major.

  “Well I needed to get some toothpaste, laundry detergent, and some food.”

  Major Clayton shaking his head, “No, no why are you here in Hayward?”

  “Yeah I know I was just screwing with you.” The Sergeant Major laughed. “I’m no longer with you know who, so I took an advising position with 19th SF Group out of Los Alamitos, they’re a National Guard outfit but I’m fulltime. We’re starting a detachment up at Camp Parks and I’m working out all the logistics, the building of it and so forth. Hey! We’re looking for a Detachment Commander; it can be an O-4, interested?”

  Mel watched John when the Sergeant Major offered him the job, she saw something in his eyes she had never seen before, it was hard to describe, what she saw was a Warrior.

  “Nah, I’m sorry I can’t just too much to do.” the Major replied.

  “C’mon man it’s only part-time for crying out loud, you know one weekend a month, two weeks a year that sort of crap.”

  “I’m sorry I can’t.”

  “Well look, if you change your mind let me know, here’s my card. In fact just give me a call anytime so we can at least get together and talk about old times.”

  “Yeah, now that I can do.” John was excited about talking to his old friend. Mel thought it was good to see.

  Sergeant Major Dognillo knew it was going to be an interesting conversation between husband and wife on the drive home.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The first part of the drive was very quiet, John didn’t really know what to say, Mel on the other hand thought it best to let him bring it up. “How long have you known? Asked John.

  “I found out right before Kai was born.”

  “What, that was almost two years ago and you never said anything, why?”

  “Well I thought that if you really wanted me to know you would have told me.”

  “Ok, how did you find out?” John was puzzled.

  Mel took a deep breath, she didn’t know how he was going to respond to her snooping around in his stuff. “I want you to remember I’m the mother of your children.” She was looking at him all puppy eyes and all. “Remember right before Kai was born I had that month off and what I was doing to kill time until he was born?”

  “Yeah I remember, you were doing all that scrap booking stuff, sort of nesting I always thought.”

  “And where was all the scrap booking stuff kept?” she looked so innocent.

  “Yeah in the garage.” John was thinking. “Ohhhhh…yeah..did I leave it open?”

  “Yes I found it open and I’m so sorry I couldn’t help myself I had to know.”

  John laughed lightly, “Well we’re still married so?”

  “Yes and having another baby any day now. I looked through it all, I didn’t understand everything, and especially the document marked DD-214. I read all of the awards and medals, very impressive.” She took a deep breath, “I made a copy of the DD-214.”

  “You did what?” now John was concerned.

  “Well I didn’t know what it all meant and I didn’t want you to find out I was in the foot locker.”

  She could tell John was not happy about this part but she continued, “I took the copy down to the range and had a couple of the old Army guys look it over and explain it to me.”

  John thought, “Could the day get any worse?” He then asked her, “Well what did they tell you?”

  “That your one bad ass!” she laughed.

  John was shocked, and then laughed, “What?”

  “The Army guys at the range tried to explain to me what a Ranger was and then a Green Beret and then they thought the DD-214 looked like you were in Delta which I not really sure what that means other than it’s the best of the best.”

  “Where’s the copy of the DD-214 you made?”

  “I tore it all up in as small a pieces I could get it and threw it away. I thought about talking to you about it, but I felt if
you had really wanted me to know about all of that you would have told me.”

  John nodded, “It’s not so much that, do you remember when we were dating and I mentioned I used to be in the Army, do you remember what you said?”

  “No, not really.”

  “You said how could anyone ever go into the military? After that I was afraid to say anything I didn’t want to lose you. Also, I was trying to put it all behind me, just like I did with being that computer geek after I graduated from College.”

  “John, listen to me, you took what I said the wrong way, I admire anyone who goes into the military, that’s what I meant. And why can’t you be both? The Warrior and the Computer geek?”

  John nodded and thought about it, then looked at her for a moment, “You know I really love you?”

  She reached over and rubbed the back of his neck, “I love you too.”

  The next day John called the Sergeant Major and talked to him about getting together and talking about old times, they agreed to get together that week. He asked how everything went after he left and on the drive home. John told him it went great and relieved to have so much off his back. He said he would explain more when they got together.

  Two days later they were at the hospital and Morgan was on her way. Once he got Mel into the ER and on her way to delivery he made three phones calls, the first one to his mom to let her know her grand-daughter was on the way, and yes they knew the sex of the baby weeks before, then he called Mel’s parents who said they were on the way and then he called Sergeant Major Dognillo and told him the baby was on the way, “What hospital?” Dogillo asked.

  “You don’t have to do that I was just letting you know because we were supposed to get together tonight after work?”

  “Hey,” the Sergeant Major said. “Remember it’s what teammates do!”

  “Yeah I remember.” Said John.

  “Alright then I’ll be there in ten.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Over the next couple of weeks John had been helping Mel after the baby was born. The reality of the situation was that he was driving Mel crazy, the Sergeant Major had called to check up on them. She begged him to come and get John and get him out of the house for a few hours, even better the day. He told her not to worry, he was on his way and he would get him out-of-the-way for the day. He said he has some work for him to do. She asked if it had to do with the Army, he replied it did, she said great I think he could really use it. She told him that she believed that he really loved his job but he really missed the Army at least in her opinion.

  Sergeant Major Dognillo arrived at their home within fifteen minutes in uniform, Mel answered the door. She let the Sergeant Major know that John was in the garage which he was trying to turn into his man cave.

  “Sergeant Major what is your first name? Calling you by your rank seems so formal.” quizzed Mel.

  “Anzio.” he simply stated.

  “Do you mind if I call you that?”

  “No not at all.”

  “Why doesn’t John call you that? Seems sort of disrespectful he’s always calling you Dog.”

  Anzio laughed, “We all have nick names what we used to do required anonymity and nick names were the best way to go, mine was and still is Dog.”

  “Oh, well I still like Anzio better, what’s John’s?”

  “Professor.”

  Mel laughed, “Oh that’s good.”

  Mel showed Anzio the door to the garage and she hugged him and let the men talk. A few minutes later she heard some arguing from the two men with John finally stomping out of the garage, “Do you mind if I leave for a bit?”

  “No not at all.” Mel responded.

  John headed for the door and as Anzio walked by her he winked, “I’ll keep him busy.” She nodded and knew she had a wonderful day with the kids all to herself. She loved her husband with all of her heart but having him hovering around all day sometimes just got on her nerves.

  They took the Sergeant Major’s car and headed to Camp Parks which was about ten miles away. Dog said he had something he had to show him; of course John was interested but felt was abandoning Mel.

  It didn’t take long to get to Camp Parks which was a primarily an Army Reserve Post, but it still took either fulltime reserve, national guard or regular army folks to run the day-to-day operations. Although Dog could show his ID to the gate guards and get in John couldn’t so he had to be signed in at the office. “Ok where were going?” John wanted to know.

  “You have a meeting with the Battalion Commander.” Sergeant Major said.

  “I have a what?” John asked. “I appreciate it dog but I told you I can’t do it.”

  At that time the Sergeant Major made a phone call from his driver’s console, he had built in cell phone technology in his car, Mel answered, “Hi Anzio, what’s up?”

  “It’s time.” Was all he said.

  “Oh, ok….John I have no problem at all if you want to join the 19th, I would be very proud.”

  “There’s too much to do around the house and the kids.” Was his response.

  “Bullshit.” she said quickly. “Listen to me; we will not be your crutch. We have plenty of help around here and you know that. You have done everything for us and more, you need to do something for yourself. I listened to you talk about your time in the Army and your eyes light up like mine do when I talk about shoes.”

  The shoe reference made him laugh, “Are you sure about this? It means I’ll be gone sometimes and could be for long periods especially if we’re deployed.”

  “Well Professor let’s talk about it more when you get home, but for now know I’ve got your back if you want to join.”

  When Mel mentioned “Professor” he gave dog a look that said if I could kill you now I would. At the time when Mel called him that the Sergeant Major was taking a drink of coffee and almost spit it out his nose.

  “Alright sweetheart,” John said. “I’ll hear them out.”

  “Good, I’ll talk to you later, I love you.” She said.

  “I love you too.” Then hung up.

  “This was a set up wasn’t it?” He asked the Sergeant Major.

  “Uh huh,” He answered. “Onto the Colonel?”

  “Yup, onto the Colonel.”

  They pulled up outside of the relatively new 19th Detachment HQ; relatively new meaning that the building must have been here since World War II but the Detachment was new to it. The Battalion Commander was a Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Schmidt; he had been in 10th Group for a few years before becoming the active duty commander for the 19th 5th Battalion.

  They entered the building and hung a left on the first floor then a quick right into his office. They knocked on the door jamb as the door was open, the Colonel looked up and waved them in, “Have a seat.” He pointed to the couch and chairs in the room. He got up from his desk and walked over and slapped the Sergeant Major on the back, “How’s it going dog?”

  “Great Sir, delivering the package as you asked.”

  “Yes you did and I appreciate that.”

  Lieutenant Colonel Schmidt reached out and shook the Major’s hand, “Your reputation precedes you Major, it’s an honor to meet you.”

  John was tongue tied at first, “Aaaaaa thank you Sir, it’s a pleasure to meet you too.”

  With that the three men sat down, “Major how do you like your office?” the Colonel waving his arm across pointing to the room.

  “Sir, my office?” asked Major Clayton. “Sir I haven’t made any decisions yet, beside how do you know I can be reactivated as a Major? And wouldn’t I have to go back through all of the quals first?

  Colonel Schmidt nodded his head, “Well MAJOR I have spoken to DA and California National Guard and your rank is intact. As for your quals, I believe the Sergeant Major can take you up and throw you out of the plane to secure your jump status. No you don’t have to run through the Q-course again, no one wants that. There is a refresher course you will have to go through though at MacKal
l. It’s about a month long which should take care of weapons, freefall, tactics and all of the rest of it.”

  “And I would be a Detachment Commander?” Major Clayton asked.

  “Well yes and no.” The Colonel looking directly at the Major. “We will be setting up two Companies here; I need someone to oversee both those Companies. But, you will also have your own A-Team.”

  Major Clayton took it all in, “That’s quite a bit I wasn’t expecting so much.”

  “The job really is a Lieutenant Colonel slot, but your old D Commander believes you can handle the responsibility then so do I. He also said that if I sweeten the deal a bit you were less likely to turn it down. That’s where you get you own team as well but to be honest with you Major I don’t know how active they will be. It’ll take a lot to run everything around here.”

  “It’s a great offer Sir but I would have to talk it over with my wife.”

  “Great! Let’s get her on the phone, Mellissa right?” Again Major Clayton is feeling he was set up from the very beginning. “Yes Sir, Mellissa is her name and I’m sure she’s busy at the moment with the house and kids.”

  “Sir,” Sergeant Major Dognillo said, “I’ve got her right here on the line.”

  “Great! Can you put her on speaker?” asked the Colonel. Major Clayton was speechless.

  “Mrs. Clayton this is Lieutenant Colonel Schmidt, I’m the 5th Battalion Commander for 19th Special Forces Group.”

  “Yes Lieutenant Colonel what can I do for you?”

  “You can just call me Colonel or Alex either is fine.”

  “Alex it is then, what can I do for you?”

  “I have your husband here sitting in front of me and I just offered him a job with the 19th and he said he needed to talk to you about it. I would love to try to get this resolved today I have to head back to Los Angeles tonight.”

  “John,” said Mel. “What’s going on?”