SILENT GUNS Read Online Free PDF Page A

considering the circumstances and the information
provided to him by the witnesses, was not only sensible and sound,
but exemplary under the circumstances. I trust the Court will not
find it in its heart to crucify this officer to satisfy the
cravings of the media, the public, and certainly not, the United
States Navy.”
    The court recessed.
    The audience grew restless in the stifling hot,
stuffy Virginia courtroom. Not a breath of air stirred. The media
people waited, eyed each other and glanced at their watches. Press
deadlines approached and passed. No one left. At precisely 2000,
two doors opened and members of the Court filed in. Conversation
died to a murmur, then silence.
    “ Please rise,” the master-at-arms
ordered.
    The audience rose and the court members were seated.
Lt. Johnson shook Trent’s elbow. The courtroom noise rose again to
a low hum. Captain Carter rose; he appeared cool and relaxed, his
tall figure markedly straight, marred by a definite paunch. He
spoke quietly of the seriousness of the offense…of lives
lost…destruction of public property…inattention to duty…the
Executive officer in command…fairness and justice in bringing the
trial to a quick conclusion…the recitation was endless and in the
end…
    …” We find Commander Anthony A.
Trent culpably inefficient in the performance of his duties. Guilty
of the charge of hazarding a vessel of the United States
Navy.”
     
    * * *
     
    “ A long, winded story, heh!
Simons. And my penance! I was reduced a grade, dropped 200
positions on the seniority list, and banned forever from sea
command. To add insult to injury, re-assigned to a non-essential
desk job at a reserve district in Louisiana.”
    “ It helps explain your empathy for
Newby,” Simons commented. “Peas in a pod.”
    He glanced coolly at Simons, “A court martial puts a
man in the limelight, grabs headlines. To a fortunate few, a less
tedious means to advancement, provided one is found innocent. There
is something to be said for notoriety, good or bad. Unfortunately,
for the guilty, the stigma sticks, follows you everywhere, like a
bad smell, for the rest of your life.” He added with swelling
bitterness, “Guilty dashes your hopes and dreams, it devastates
everything in its path.”
    “ Your world didn’t end,” Simons
chided. “You are alive: you are a free man.”
    “ Not in my own mind. I could
accept my guilt. But, not being made the ‘fall guy.’ For those
truly guilty who aided and abetted in my demise, to escape without
consequences, they cannot be forgiven.” Trent looked away, feeling
that rising helplessness again, yet unable to control it. He
drifted back in time and said no more.
    Simons broke his reverie, “So after two years, a
hateful, bitter, and broken man resigned from the Navy and swore
revenge. Just like that.”
    “ Just like that,” Trent
parroted.
    “ So, what does an ex-Navy officer
do when he is depressed, down on himself and out of a
job?”
    “ And shunned. I was rescued by an
old friend, Admiral Farr.”
    “ A Navy job?”
    “ Not a chance. Farr’s eldest son
was CEO of International Traders, Inc. out of Seattle. The Admiral
gave him a sales talk and he took me on. The job got me out of
Norfolk and out of the country to places where I was unknown. After
seven years, Anthony A. Trent, Senior-vice-president, Sales and
Contracts, was gold-embossed on a solid walnut door.”
    “ And Peter Madden?” Simons
asked.
    Trent sat quietly for a long time. “Madden was the
first to come aboard,” he said. “Peter lived in Seattle. We go back
to the Korean War. I had charge of a 5-inch gun crew on board the
cruiser Juneau . We took a direct hit. Ready service
ammunition exploded; flying fragments cut the cartridge cases of
the star shells in the fuse pots causing them to burn ‘like Roman
candles.’ Madden dragged away two badly burned gunners. I saw to it
he received the Navy Cross for bravery. He has the burn scars as
proof. When I