Authors: Patrick Robinson
“I see,” said Captain Dunning. “Well, I suppose it may be relevant. Please proceed.”
“Thank you,” said the counselor, and, turning back to Commander Reid, said flatly, “Is it not a fact that you believe you WERE Admiral de Villeneuve in a previous life?”
“Millions of people believe in reincarnation,” replied the Commander.
“And so they may,” said Lieutenant Commander Surprenant. “But that scarcely answers my question, does it? Shall we try again? Do you believe you WERE Admiral de Villeneuve in a previous life?”
“Well, even General Patton believed he had been a great warrior in a previous incarnation.”
“So he may have. But would you be willing to give my question yet another try? Do you believe, Commander Reid, that you actually WERE Admiral de Villeneuve in a previous life? That’s a yes, or a no.”
“Well, we do share some deep French roots.”
Captain Dunning interrupted. “Commander Reid, please answer the question. Yes or no.”
“No,” replied
Shark
’s former CO. “I do not believe I actually
was
Admiral de Villeneuve.”
“Thank you, Commander,” said defense counsel. “And now, if I may, I should like to read something to you—‘
Another life, another battle, so many mistakes in Bucentaure. I must never repeat them now that I have another chance. June 1980. DKR
.’ Do you recognize those words, Commander.”
“Well, vaguely, yes I do.”
“Who wrote them?”
“I did.”
“Where did you write them?”
“In a book, I believe.”
“A book about reincarnation, wasn’t it?”
“Maybe.”
“Commander, perhaps you would care to tell the panel whose ship the
Bucentaure
was?”
“It was Admiral de Villeneuve’s flagship.”
“In your own words, Commander: ‘…
so many mistakes in
Bucentaure.
I must never repeat them now that I have another chance
.’ Sir, you believe you are the reincarnation of one of the worst Naval commanders in history, correct?”
Locker Jones had had enough. He leaped to his feet and almost shouted, “
OBJECTION
! This quotation, written more than twenty-five years ago, was plainly pilfered from the private quarters of the Commanding Officer of USS
Shark
, unlawfully and disgracefully. It cannot be admissable evidence in any court of law in the free world.”
Captain Dunning nodded. But he said, “This is not a civilian court of law, where lawyers are trained to find loopholes to free guilty people. This is a United States Navy court-martial, and we have no other objective except to find the truth. We are assessing the guilt or innocence of men who are trained to take charge of ships worth four hundred million dollars. Everything is relevant in this regard.”
“But my client is not on trial, sir,” protested Lt. Commander Jones.
“I know he’s not,” replied Boomer. “Objection overruled.”
Al Surprenant continued. “Commander, do you think it might be unnerving for a crew to discover that their leader believed he was a navy disaster area in a previous life?”
“I cannot say what they might feel.”
“But do you think they
might
quite properly be concerned?”
“
OBJECTION. The question’s been asked and answered
.”
“
Sustained
.”
“Commander,” asked the counselor, “are you a spiritualist?”
“In some ways.”
“Does that mean you have merely inherited the spirit of Pierre de Villeneuve, or do you believe you have been in contact with people from…er…the other side, I believe is the phrase?”
“Like many millions of others, I may have.”
“Commander, have you spoken lately with Captain Grigory Lyachin?”
Donald Reid remained silent.
“Someone enlighten me,” interjected Boomer Dunning. “Who’s Grigory Lyachin?”
“He’s that Russian commanding officer who died with his crew in the
Kursk
submarine, Barents Sea, seven years ago,” said Al Surprenant.
“Commander Reid, would it surprise you to know that certain senior members of your crew heard you talking to him by candlelight in your cabin?”
“
DAMN THIS. DAMN YOU ALL! I’M NOT ON TRIAL HERE
.” The ex-CO of
Shark
was standing now, shouting back at the defense lawyer, all semblance of self-control slipping away.
Lieutenant Commander Jones was also on his feet. “Sir, I really must object most strenuously to this line of questioning. Defense is attempting to paint this veteran
commander of many years standing as an oddball, which is patently unfair.”
“Your word, not mine,” interrupted Al Surprenant. “Thoughtful of you.”
“
SILENCE
!” snapped Captain Dunning. “Please be seated, and listen carefully. “If I consider the questioning of a witness to be irrelevant or unfair, I shall make my views known. If you object to anything, please say so, and I will make a judgment. But I will not tolerate banter.
“And, for the record, I do think it is extremely important to know that Commander Reid has some unusual views. I was once in a ship where the Captain was known to pray extensively on a nightly basis, and it damned near caused a mutiny. Ships are like that. Little things can mean a great deal, especially concerning a CO.
“This evidence about Commander Reid matters. And I am afraid he is going to have to put up with it. He was, after all, instrumental in bringing this court-martial, and my sympathies are not with him in these instances. Please proceed, Lieutenant Commander.”
“Thank you, sir,” said Al Surprenant, humbly. “Commander Reid, have you ever tried to contact Grigory Lyachin in a spiritual way? Perhaps to seek counsel or guidance from a man who has paid the ultimate price for carelessness?”
“It was never his fault. Any more than it was de Villeneuve’s. They were both let down by others.”
“Then you have been in contact?”
“In a sense.”
“Thank you. And now I would like to return to more immediate concerns. As you know, Lieutenant Commander Headley, by the morning of June seventh, had much on his mind. His CO, a spiritualist who associated himself closely with two massive Naval disasters, had twice made decisions apparently detrimental to a SEAL operation—we have established that. He was dealing with a man who played rigidly by the book, presumably to
avoid making the same foul-ups he had committed at Trafalgar.”
This was too much for Captain Dunning. “Counselor,” he snapped, “kindly desist from this soliloquy. You are not asking questions. You are merely ridiculing the witness. Ask, or sit down.”
“Of course, sir,” said Lieutenant Commander Surprenant courteously. “Commander, would you be surprised to learn that Lieutenant Commander Headley
knew
you would refuse flatly to help the SEALs. Because of your beliefs and your record?”
“Yes, it would.”
“You will later hear that he did indeed know. It was the predictability that caused the mutiny—that they all knew you would leave the SEALs to die. I have no more questions.”
“Commander Reid, you are excused. But please do not leave the building.” Captain Dunning wrote carefully in his book.
And then Lt. Commander Jones called his second witness,
Shark
’s Combat Systems Officer, Lt. Commander Jack Cressend, who testified very briefly that he had indeed been asked by Lt. Commander Headley to take part in an act of defiance toward the Commanding Officer, in order to save the SEALs.
At the conclusion of his evidence, a short account of how they did not turn the ship around but proceeded inshore to meet Commander Hunter and his men, Al Surprenant had just one question.
“Lieutenant Commander,” he said, “if you could live June the seventh over, would you still support the XO in his determination to save the SEALs?”
“Absolutely, sir. I would. No doubt in my mind.”
At this point, Lt. Commander Jones announced that he had no more witnesses—but would confine his cross-examination to those appearing on behalf of the accused.
Immediately, Al Surprenant called Commander Rick
Hunter, who walked into the courtroom and swore to tell the truth before being seated.
After identification, the SEAL Commander admitted under oath that he had the gravest worries about the possible conduct of Commander Reid under pressure. He and Lt. Commander Headley knew each other well, and had discussed the “unreliable” nature of the CO, even before the mission began.
“When you first transmitted your distress call to
Shark
, while your men were fighting and dying in the open boats, did you think help would come?”
“Not if Commander Reid had his way. I knew it would not come.”
“Did you think you had a chance to survive?”
“Only if Dan Headley took over the ship, in a big hurry.”
“But for Lieutenant Commander Headley’s actions, would you and your men have been killed.”
“Yessir.”
“Do you think he deserves to be court-martialed?”
“Nossir.”
“Why not?”
“Because he’s just about the best officer I ever met. And he saved all of our lives.”
“Do you intend to make any protest whatsoever if Lieutenant Commander Headley is found guilty of mutiny?”
“Nossir. But I shall resign my commission immediately.”
“After a working lifetime in the Navy? And the very real prospect of becoming C-in-C of SPECWARCOM?”
“Yessir. I could never feel the same about the service if they convicted Dan Headley.”
“Thank you, Commander.”
Locker Jones arose. “You stated that you and Lieutenant Commander Headley knew each other well. That was not quite the whole truth, was it?”
“Sir?”
“You and Dan Headley are boyhood friends, correct? Best friends, correct? You went to school together, correct? Your father employs his father, correct?”
“All correct, sir. I am privileged to have him and his father as my friends.”
“Is it not probable that you would never hear a word against Dan Headley, from anyone?”
“Very probable. Because he does not do things to cause people to utter words against him.”
“He has now, Commander.”
“But not by people who really know him, sir.”
“And you think you know him well enough to say he could not be guilty of the crime with which he is charged?”
“I know him a lot better than you do.”
Locker Jones had had enough sparring with the towering wounded hero of the Burma operation. “No more questions,” he said.
Al Surprenant next called the SEAL Commander Rusty Bennett, who confirmed the counselor’s earlier contention that he had tried to remonstrate with Commander Reid about his decision not to move the ship forward in the Gulf of Iran mission to assist the wounded SEAL.
“And do you recall his precise words, Commander Bennett?”
“Some of them. I told him the rescue was at my request to go in and save the life of one of my most valued men. He then reminded me that I had no rights whatsoever on his ship. Told me he would not have this interference. Then he said, ‘
What exactly is this? Some kind of damned conspiracy? Well you’ve picked the wrong man to make a fool of
….’ Then he said we had waited until he was asleep and then flagrantly disobeyed his orders.”
“And what did you think of this outburst?”
“Seemed very strange. You know, like paranoia….”
“
OBJECTION! The witness has no idea about the meaning of such a medical term
…”
“
Sustained
.”
“How about
nuts
?” offered the SEAL from the coast of Maine.
“Better,” said Captain Dunning.
“
OBJECTION! The Commander has no right to be making wild statements about insanity
.”
“I’ll take the word of an experienced Navy SEAL commanding officer that in his opinion someone seemed nuts,” replied Captain Dunning. “
Overruled
.”
“And now, Commander,” said Al Surprenant, “let me ask you the same question I asked Commander Hunter. Do you hold a strong view about the possible conviction of Lieutenant Commander Headley?”
“Yessir. I shall resign my commission if they find him guilty of mutiny.”
“Reason?”
“Same as Commander Hunter’s. Dan Headley saved the SEALs’ lives.”
“No more questions.”
Locker Jones had none either, and the SEAL team leader left the room, clearing the way for Al Surprenant to bring in a succession of minor witnesses, Lt. Commander Josh Gandy, Master Chief Drew Fisher, Lt. Matt Singer, all offering unerring support for the XO. He brought in two more SEALs, the wounded Rattlesnake Davies and Lt. Dallas MacPherson, who both offered the opinion that they would have been killed but for the appearance on the scene of USS
Shark
.
He then called, in fairly quick succession, the three psychiatrists who had independently examined Commander Reid. One of them was definite: There was nothing wrong with Commander Reid, and on that he could not be shaken.
The other two were not so sure. Neither would say he was crazy, but they both agreed he held some very strange views, for a U.S. Navy commander.
Al Surprenant questioned and badgered, overstepped
the bounds of polite interrogation and then dived back behind them against a barrage of “
OBJECTIONS
” from the prosecutor. Once he nearly had an admission that Commander Reid was just too strange, too bound up in his perceived French antecedents, to be trusted with a modern nuclear submarine.
But a belief in reincarnation, and indeed spiritualism, simply did not constitute “crazy.” Surprenant proved eccentricity, and he proved a profound instability. He
almost
proved a long-held emotional cowardice on the part of the CO. But he did not obtain an admission that Commander Reid was so unbalanced as to have been relieved of command on that particular morning.
It was immediately after the lunch break when the defense finally called the accused Executive Officer to the witness chair to testify under oath in his own defense. And before he did so, counsel requested permission to “read just two or three lines from Section Three of Navy Regulation one-zero-eight-eight, which the prosecution apparently deemed irrelevant.”