America 1982-Chapter 418 - 57: Thank God for Blessing the Navy

"That unlucky guy had several bones broken by four people, what do you think? In that situation, let alone making him admit he was a Soviet spy, even if Dennis and the others made him admit he was Stalin, he could only nod, what else could he do? It was a NATO allied army base, with not only United States military personnel but also many European allies’ troops stationed there. When the guy loudly admitted he was a Soviet spy, half the base heard it. Under those circumstances, do you think the Americans could admit they made a mistake? Please, the Americans are the supreme commanders of the allied forces; they have to maintain absolute correctness and can’t turn themselves into a joke for those countries. So, they simply threw him into jail first, pretending it was for real, until they figured out a way to clear the guy’s name without losing face for the United States military, and then released him," Tommy looked at Tony:

"Since the United States didn’t want to admit their mistake and claimed they had captured a spy, they had to give commendations to Dennis and the four men who made the arrest. Thus, their superior announced the commendations with a face as green as iron. Less than a week after the awards, Dennis and his three friends were promptly sent to an allied radar station desolate enough for birds not to shit on, far enough from the base, just to prevent them from drunkenly catching more Soviet spies after winning their medals. Probably only Dennis and his friends had the honor of being commended yet banished like that,"

Tony, speechless, looked at Tommy, eventually flicked away the cigarette butt with force, carrying his gun and continued forward, saying as he walked, "Hearing that the Army’s performance is no better than the Navy’s, I’m reassured. What’s the other joke?"

"Life at the radar station is incredibly boring, the tiny radar base has only a dozen or so individuals, far from both the city and the base. They rely on regular supply runs from the base for survival, which is very tough compared to their previous life on the base. As a result, Dennis and his three friends felt they had to find an opportunity to win a second commendation, prove their worth, return to the main base, and escape this mold-inducing existence." Tommy carefully disposed of his finished cigarette and continued walking with Tony.

Tony commented, "I understand that feeling. In the Navy, if new recruits are unlucky enough to end up on a small vessel with only a hundred or so crew members, they would indeed feel extreme boredom and get the urge to jump overboard. So they won another commendation? Did the radar detect Soviet military movements promptly and relay it to the base?"

"That radar is older than Dennis, built by the United States in the fifties. It couldn’t detect squat, and besides, what does the Soviet Union care about flying over to Turkey to play hide and seek with the United States military? In Dennis’s words, that place was a grave with a radar-shaped tombstone, burial ground for those elite members of the United States Army," Tommy said.

"How did they get the commendation then? Shh..." Tony gestured for silence and then raised his gun.

Tommy followed the direction of Tony’s gun barrel for a long while, even using binoculars, but couldn’t find what prey he was aiming at.

"Bang—" A gunshot rang out.

A gray squirrel, blending with the bark, fell from the dense tree.

Seeing the bloody squirrel, Tommy was already regretting being in the same team as his brother. He should have chosen Susan or Sophia instead; maybe then, he could have shown off his marksmanship to the two women instead of waiting for the prey to hit the ground to realize what his brother had aimed at:

"Dennis contacted Pam, who found a junkyard owner familiar with Warwick, bought a few hundred outdated Playboy and Penthouse magazines at a low price, and shipped them over the ocean to Turkey. The recipient was a fake Turkish name, the address was a bar they frequently fooled around in owned by Turks. The name and phone number of the merchandise recipient were false, only the address was true. When the logistics couldn’t reach the recipient, they directly delivered the packaged items to the bar. Upon discovering the eye-pleasing magazines inside and knowing they couldn’t contact the recipient, the bar owner, tempted by greed, and knowing these items were in demand by military personnel, decided to make a profit. Then he went ahead and did just that, finding an officer at the base willing to buy all the magazines and preparing to offload them in one go,"

"And then?" Tony turned his head after hearing Tommy, "I can’t see how this relates to any commendation."

Tommy shrugged, "It’s indeed hard to fathom Dennis’s thoughts. When the bar owner was driving with the magazines ready to trade at the base, Dennis and three of his comrades descended like gods from the heavens, immediately arresting the Turkish bar owner suspected of smuggling obscene publications. They seized a large quantity of magazines that were strictly prohibited in Turkey and handed the bar owner over to the local police station in Izmir. Just think, that bar made its money off the base, it had long been an object of envy. Now with the bar owner in police custody, they weren’t going to let him off easily, so the position of bar owner was taken over by the family of the police chief. Dennis and the four guys even made it onto the local newspapers of Izmir. The police chief personally delivered a letter of appreciation to the base, thanking the United States Military in Turkey for proactively helping the local police department crack a major international smuggling case they had long been eyeing."

"That’s a NATO Allied Forces army base," Tony muttered as if realizing something, "As his superior, I wouldn’t waste this opportunity."

Tommy nodded, "Exactly, the base he’s stationed at is the Southeastern European Allied Forces Army military base in Izmir, Turkey, of NATO. Not only is the United States Army there, but also the armies of Italy, Greece, Turkey, Canada, and other NATO allies. The higher-ups felt that their actions could be boasted about to our NATO allies as an example of the outstanding character of American soldiers. So they were called back to the base, specially arranged to receive commendations in front of young officers from other countries, deliberately shaping these three into role models for young NATO officers."

"A perfect ending, a bright future," Tony nodded earnestly, "If they seize this opportunity well, their promotion might be much faster than other officers of the same period."

"Yeah, if only Dennis and his three buddies hadn’t tried to mitigate their losses by secretly buying back the old magazines that were supposed to be destroyed from the police station and then selling them at high prices to officers from other countries on the base. Can you imagine the expression on Dennis’s superior’s face, as he’s reading the commendations on stage, realizing that every young officer from the other countries below is holding a copy of an American adult magazine sold to them by Dennis?" Tommy said weakly, following behind Tony.

At a loss for words, Tony opened his mouth as though unsure what to say, finally asking, "So, are Dennis and his three buddies still alive?"

"They should be alive, but their superior made it clear to them in private that, should he have the good fortune of awarding them a third time, he hoped by then they would be lying in coffins." Tommy looked at Tony:

"So, the final outcome is that, using the excuse of a commendation for promotion, the superior dispatched Dennis, who had taken the lead in keenly assisting the Turkish local police to crack down on the smuggling of obscene publications, and at the same time didn’t forget to sell old American adult magazines to his Allied comrades at high prices. They were sent to the even more challenging and complex situation in Lebanon, aiming to increase the success rate of them ending up in coffins sooner."

Tony lowered his head, "So, did Turkey actually request the allied forces for protection, or are they lacking ancestors to provide for?"

"Are these two jokes funny?" Tommy said with a bitter smile, "If it weren’t for my connection with his buddies at SSD, that superior, who became the laughing stock of the allied forces at the base because of the commendation to the four idiots, would have wished to execute them right there at the ceremony."

"All I can do now is feel relieved that Dennis and I aren’t in the same branch, thank God for blessing the Navy," Tony said:

"Let’s continue hunting, switch the joke, and if we keep talking about Dennis, I’m afraid I won’t be able to resist taking my comrades and defecting to another country."