Ecuperating - Chapter 34

A month later the Marines adopted me as one of their own and gave me a bunch of medals, including the Congressional Medal of Honor. Then they found out I was only 17. They didn’t take away any of the medals, but they did muster me out of the service.

I “retired” from the Marine Corps in 1944 as a full colonel. It shows you what a little bit of luck will do for you. That was the only action I saw in the entire war. I did get two purple hearts in the action, and I think that’s the main reason they got rid of me. I probably would never have passed the physical to re- enlist anyway.

My left foot didn’t work too well after I got shot. Eric and I are about the same age. He told me about his own escapades and how he came to be a freighter captain when he was 16. I decided to join his lodge after he offered to send me to college. I started college that fall at Northern Michigan College in Marquette, Michigan with a full scholarship from Eric Tanner. It’s good to have rich friends!

Colonel Paul Hannah U.S. Army Air Force. September, 1947. After reading the exploits of the others in this lodge, I wonder at my own qualifications for belonging. All I can say is that I responded positively to the invitation by Eric Tanner.

My only claim to fame is that of being an ace fighter pilot having had 23 kills before I was shot down over France in 1943. I was flight leader on that flight. We were escorting a flight of B24’s when we were hit by German fighters that outnumbered us. I was one of the first casualties.

I waited until I had almost hit the ground before jumping out. I barely had time for my chute to open. The Krauts were famous for shooting the pilots after they jumped from their planes, so I guess I fooled them on that score.

When I landed the French resistance was there to take me to cover. I spent the rest of the war with them participating in many raids on the Germans in France. I learned French and German along the way and served as a liaison with both, liberating several Germans who could finally see the writing on the wall.

Without spending a lot of time on it, suffice it to say the French were very satisfied with my work and gave me their highest awards. The Army did the same, and I got the Congressional Medal of Honor upon the end of the conflict.

I spent three more years with the Army before getting out in June of 1947. I was married at the time and my family and I settled in my hometown of Engadine, Michigan.

I was contacted shortly thereafter by Eric Tanner and invited to join the people of Lodge 16. I accepted immediately and continued to help with the building of that lodge while running a used car company in Manistique.

Jayne skipped a few pages of detail in Colonel Hannah’s synopsis of his action. A familiar name caught her eye. I know this guy, she thought. He’s some big wig senator today from Michigan, I think.

May 9, 1948

Major James “Hap” Andrews 5th Cavalry (Tank Corps)

I’m originally from Michigan and enlisted there in Jan of 1942. My bachelor’s degree got me into the 90 day wonder program for the Army and I got second lieutenants bars for my trouble. I took tank corps training and ended up with the 5th Army in Italy.

Heavy fighting south of Rome resulted in my captain getting killed in his tank and I was tapped as the commander of the tank corps. We saw a lot of action and I was credited for saving a company of soldiers one day during an advance. They gave me a big medal for that. The Congressional Medal of Honor to be exact.

I stayed in the Army until 1948, when certain cutbacks in the military pretty well forced me out. I mustered out as a Lieutenant Colonel and went to work in Washington D.C. in a consulting service.

Early in 1948 I met Eric Tanner and he invited me to join Lodge 16, ostensibly a hunting lodge in the Seney Swamp in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. I knew a couple of guys in the lodge and decided it was a good idea.

I probably won’t get there often with my job as a military consultant in D.C., but it looks like a good deal. Eric showed me how I could be of service to the Lodge by bringing a degree of military discipline in its organization. I like his plan of teaching the kids all he can about living and surviving. The following is what I have contributed toward this end.

Action Organization Lodge 16.

1. ACTION is defined as any organized activity in Lodge 16.

2. S-1 will be the code for the individual or group of persons responsible for on ground intelligence needed to complete the ACTION.

3. S-2 will be the code for the individual or group of persons planning the ACTION itself. S-2 will be responsible for determining the number and expertise of the personnel required for the ACTION.

4. S-3 will be the code for the individual or group of persons responsible for the procurement of the supplies needed to complete the ACTION. The determination will be reached by coordination with S-1 and S-2.

5. S-4 will be the code for the individual or group of persons responsible for the after action report of the completion of the ACTION.

6. S-5 will be the code for the individual or group of persons responsible for implementing any ACTION required should something go wrong with the original ACTION. This section is sometimes referred to as the CYA clause. (Cover Your Ass!)