The other men nodded. It was a war machine with which they all had had very personal experiences. For all of them who flew it, they recalled times when the B-52, seemingly all at once, had tried to kill them and had saved them — such was the nature of that black monster. It was a killing machine that demanded one hundred percent from every man who touched it. Masters stared at the plane and commented on its size, but it had not taken any part of him yet — these two entities, the young scientist and the metallic black monster, were probably bom about the same time. For the others, it had affected their lives forever. The group fell silent as Fusco turned around and headed back to the Sixty-fifth Strategic Squadron building.
On the way back, Stone’s aide, Krieg, turned to Elliott and asked, “Did you fly Arc Light, sir?”
“Two years,” Elliott replied. “Sixty-one sorties. Took an SA-2 missile in the shorts and bailed out over the South China Sea in 1968. I might’ve even flown Old 100 a few times. But I wouldn’t know. I never really
There was something to be learned here, Elliott thought, and after a few sobering minutes thinking about the men he knew that had died in the Vietnam War, he was glad Fusco had brought them to the Arc Light Memorial before this new Philippine operation started. America had devastating air power back then, Elliott thought — just as now. They controlled the skies over North Vietnam, they controlled the harbors, they neutralized the NVA Air Force and ultimately defeated the dense antiaircraft defenses — but they still lost the war. They lost the Vietnam War because the decision to employ America’s massive air forces was delayed and canceled and “committeed” and “staffed” to death.
Although he did not have a direct role in the Philippine operation, and was not in the operational chain of command, Elliott knew that it was his duty to see that those mistakes did not happen again. They had the power to control the escalation and force their will on the Chinese and anyone else involved in this crisis — they had to take the lead. They had to formulate a clearly defined, obtainable objective in this crisis and do everything in their power to achieve that objective.
And it had to be done quickly.
It was very early in the morning for a White House meeting, but President Lloyd Emerson Taylor had been up for two hours and had been fully briefed on the progress of the military operations in the Philippines. He was receiving his first official visitor of the day: Hao Sun Yougao, Chinese ambassador to the United States. This meeting had been called two days earlier, and there had been several meetings between Hao and Secretary of State Dennis Danahall, but this was Hao’s first appearance with the President of the United States since the nuclear explosion.
Almost everyone in Washington liked Hao Sun Yougao. He was young, energetic, and had an infectious smile that instantly put one at ease. But that smile was dim this day, and the tension was palpable as Paul Cesare showed Hao to a seat and the President took his. They were accompanied by Danahall, Secretary of Defense Thomas Preston, and Attorney General Richard Benson, the President’s brother-in-law; Hao was accompanied by a young woman who was introduced as his secretary and interpreter, should he require one; he did not give her name.
Tea was poured as the meeting began: “Ambassador Hao, the silence from Beijing has us all concerned,” the President said. “Premier Cheung has not contacted me directly, nor has he made any public appearances since the disaster. The nuclear explosion near the Philippines, your rapid mobilization of forces, and your actions in the Philippines are cause for great concern in our country. Do you have a message for this government or an explanation of your government’s plans to deal with the natural disaster and the political upheaval in the Pacific?”
