Remembering Mogadishu: Conclusion

Mikey causes Mischief

Mikey Coffee* had been in and out of our lives all of our lives. He and Dalton had always had a sort of grudging rivalry/friendship. Of course, when I noticed at the age of 12 or so that Dalton seemed to see Mikey as some sort of rival. I blatenly exploited his only weakness with a vengeance. At 17 Dalton had grown into a semblance of the man he would become,with his trade mark buzz cut topping his six foot four inch frame. Unfortunately for Dalton, so had Mikey. At six foot two he was as dark and Dalton was light. Dark brown wavy hair touched the collar of his shirt and coal brown eyes gleamed with hidden secrets just waiting to be explored. He was as carefree as Dalton was serious and often led both of us on ill fated adventures. I would tag along in my ever seeking quest for new horizons and Dalton would follow in an attempt to keep me out of trouble.

We had all landed at Fort McPhearson, Georgia for what was Senior year for my boys and Junior year for myself. As the year progressed posters covered the walls of the high school announcing the upcoming prom and I remarked one day that it would be nice to maybe attend some sort of school social function before moving on life and all its seriousness. See that's the thing about army "brats"as we were called. Though it was never discussed, we learned at a very early age that for some tomorrow will never come. We lived life in much the same fashion. Our families were warriors and warriors fall in battle. So live, love them while you can and pray for thier safe return. Pray harder for Peace.

The summer before senior year both Dalton and Mikey had completed the early enlistment basic training program at Fort Benning, Georgia and as if there had ever been any doubt, insert eye roll here, both had been chosen for for "selection" or "Ranger Kiddie School" as I infuriatingly teased them both. I had managed to go in the complete opposite direction and proudly proclaimed myself the last of the flower children. Make love not war. I wanted to save the world in my own way and was seriously considering a career in Journalism or maybe Psychology, well there was always nursing school as well. But hey, those decisions could wait. I had a prom to attend.

Late one evening as I was shooting pool in the bowling alley on post with a few friends and sipping Wild Turkey 151 stolen from dad's stash and painstakingly poured into an old metal flask that fit perfectly into the back pocket of my Calvin Klein's. Mikey casually walks in looks around spots my gaggle of giggling girlfriends and I and makes a beeline in our direction. "So your serious about this prom thing huh?" He says to me as I line up a combination shot that will win the game. " Yep. I figure I should have at least one memory of high school that I can tell my friends in my old age." I reply. " Ok, what color is your dress so I will match when I pick you up?" And just like that I had a date for the Junior Prom. Oh what a tangled web we weave...when we attempt to detail the "Plan" Dalton Johnson has spent his entire life carefully plotting.

That same night some where around the witching hour my fuzzy booze logged brain registered an insistent tapping noise that brought me into full consciousness instantly when I realized there was someone at my bedroom window. Now, as "hippy" as I was I wasn't quite as stupid as I looked and one advantage of being the only girl in a generation is the self defense one learns out of necessity. Atlanta could be a dangerous place and my brothers and I were often home alone at night so my parents had signed me up for a gun class and I kept a load .32 Colt revolver in my nightstand drawer. I also, as my grandaddy (an old breed Marine with the 1/1 FEM who had survived the horrors of the Pacific Theatre) would say, I never had sense enough to be scared. So in my typical reckless fashion I grabbed my pistol threw the window open and met Mikey's cocky grin with a revolver pointed squarely in his face. He jerked back wincing in pain and I lowered the gun in shock. Mikey was a bloody mess. Two black eyes met my own one of which was swelling shut before my very own shocked blue ones and his cocky grin had a huge bleeding gash. I quickly stepped back allowing him to crawl into my bedroom while I ran down the hall for the ice packs mom kept in the freezer. "Oh. My. God. What happened to you?! Who did this?! I'll kill them! Where are they?! We have to call the MP's!". Mikey holds up a hand to stop my tirade as I'm reaching for the phone to call the military police who were in charge of all criminal matters on the base. "Dalton" he replied stopping me in my tracks. At first I was sure I had misheard him. "Dalton?" I said. As a slow comprehension fell upon me and my horror started to build into furious righteousness building it seemed, from my toes upward until my whole body seemed to burn in anger. "Why. In. The. Hell. Were. You. Fighting. With. Dalton." I almost whisper. My voice dropping lower with each word as the heat rises in my veins. "I guess I asked the wrong girl to prom." He replied sheepishly taking an instinctive step back in the face of my growing fury and repositioned the ice pack on his eye. I stepped forward and poked a finger into his chest with each word as I told him "You just wait right here Mikey Coffee. I'll be right back!" I turned and climbed out the window he had just entered a few moments before and barefoot, with only a long LSU Football jersey covering my torso, ran the half a block to Dalton's home and started banging on his window. He was there instantly opening the window wide sporting his own black eye and split lip though it was clear he had come out better in the fight. "Shhh!" he said exclaimed. "You'll wake my dad!". Just as I shoved both hands into his chest knocking him back onto his bed and stood over him with righteous indignation. "How dare you!" I yelled/whispered into his face. " How fucking dare you!" I said again as he stood to full height towering above my five foot seven frame. In response Dalton suddenly wrapped both arms around my waist and pulled my struggling half naked body up while lowering his battered face to mine and kissed me. This was not a chaste I'm your best friend kiss. It was a full blown, I'm about to lose the only girl I've ever loved kiss and despite my anger I felt my body respond much as it had when my anger had been fueled moments before. A slow burn started in my toes and I think they even, as the cliche goes, curled up a little. My feet were inches off the ground as Dalton effortlessly held me in his arms and poured 17 years of emotion into a single kiss. Fire burned though me wrapping both of us in heat that was almost painful and for the first time in my life I was powerless against the force that was Dalton Johnson. Eventually, a lifetime later and all too soon, he lowered me so that I was standing shakily on his bedroom carpet once again and in a record setting firsts for the night, I was speechless. My breath was erratic and the room seemed to spin as he whispered into my ringing ears. "He tried to take what's mine. I couldn't let that happen. You. Are. Mine!". Emotion warred with logic in my mind as thought my whirled against each other. " Wow! What was that. Who is this man? He's going to be a Ranger, he's going to war...run. Is this what love feels like? He will leave you for his country he will never be truly yours you will always share him with a mistress called the Army." All of these thoughts and emotions churned within me as I backed away staring up at him while tears ran down my face. I was poised to turn and run but he, in his stalwart wisdom, sensed the battle raging within me. Before I could slam the door shut on these new emotions Dalton effortlessly pulled me back into his embrace and in what would become his trademark, shut my mind down and effectively shut me up with another searing kiss that sealed our fate. I was lost in him. He had somehow left behind the boyhood of our youth and become a man. I realized over the next few years he had always been in control allowing me to believe I was leading our little trio (He and Mikey acted as if nothing had ever happened and remained friends though I berrated them both for weeks) while he quietly manipulated events in the background. His need was to protect his country, those he loved, and anyone else who could not protect themselves.

Both Dalton and Mikey joined the 82nd Ranger division at Ft Bragg North Carolina. Both men soon deployed to Migudishu, Somalia with a detachment of Delta Division on a UN Peacekeeping mission. Dalton was killed in action October 3rd 1993 and Mikey succumb to his demons and committed suicide on May 16, 2018. He used the very same .32 Colt revolver I had shoved in his face 29 years before. My Supermen have fallen.

Black Hawk Down

October 3/4 1993

The End

Tho this story is true. Names and places have been changed for posterity.