His flight path over
North Korea hadn't been approved by command. The North Koreans were calling
that an act of war by the United States. James spent many hours each day in
front of commanding officers and high ranking politicians being grilled about
it. It might have been the end of his career, if they could have proved his
actual flight path, but not even the United States could totally confirm that
flight path. Once he had cleared Japan's shoreline he had gone low and stayed
low. The F/A-48 was called 'the ghost' because it was just that, a ghost on
radar. Even when he had come back up, once over North Korea, radar hadn't been
able to pinpoint them again. If James had spread his flight out a little more
it was doubtful they would have even caught the glimpses of the radar echo's
they had of his fight. Those glimpses weren't enough to prove it was even his
flight. James would only say that he had taken the best path to avoid
detection. Thankfully, Brig. General Samantha Johns had supported him and that
along with the lack of solid proof of his actual fight path had saved his
career. That and the fact that he had managed to force the Chinese to leave
South Korea. It was a very shameful event for China. General Sang hadn't been heard
from at all since the event. The Chinese military had been forced to back down
by a much smaller force from the United States, both in the air and on the
ground. The big dog had been forced to tuck tail and go home! A very bad
situation had gotten a lot better for some and a lot worse for others. It still
wasn't good for anyone, but it was better for some than it had been for a long time.
There were a few
other things that came out of all of that mess too. Japan had been watching and
decided that an expansion of United States bases, especially the air bases was
a good idea. They weren't alone in changing their opinions of the value of a
large and strong United States military presence. South Korea not only asked
for more troops and that they return to guarding the DMZ. They now demanded
that the United States base only F/A-48's in their nation. They had seen
China's lack of respect for Korea's jets and they had seen the way China had
regarded the United States jets currently based there. South Korea now
understood that without the United States they would likely fall to China in a
matter of months, if not weeks or even days. While James got most of the blame
for all of the bad things that had happened on the Korean Peninsula, he didn't
get much credit for any of the good things that resulted from it. But there
were those who had noticed the good things and those who did appreciate his
efforts. Unfortunately for James the
result of that notice wasn't what he would have hoped for.
James was now seen as
too good at being a warrior/diplomat to stand down with the rest of the 77th
when it finally went home. He was quietly reassigned to a newly outfitted
squadron of F/A-48's. This one was headed to Europe. He was headed to
Spangdahlem AB, Germany with the newly outfitted 480th fighter squadron, the
Warhawks. Once again he would be the Squadron commander, but this time Sarah
wouldn't be going along with him. She was returning to Shaw AFB, with the 77th.
She was to become the new squadron commander of the 77th after being promoted
to Lt. Colonel for her work in the expansion of the bases in Japan. James
wasn't happy about any of that except for her promotion, but he saw little he
could do without one or both of them resigning. Sarah talked about resigning, but
James knew she wasn't ready to leave the Air Force. She loved to fly and she
still felt like she was making a difference. The worst part for James would be
missing the kids. They were growing up faster than he had believed possible. He
couldn't begin to imagine how much they would change while he was gone.
James had been
doing a lot of praying and a lot of just plain talking to God lately. He had
spent two long duty cycles, three years in Japan. Japan wasn't a bad place to
be, but it wasn't home. Now he was leaving one big mess behind and heading into
another one in a different part of the world. Only this time he wasn't just
going to be far from his home, he was going to be far from his wife and kids
too. The world seemed to be in a nose dive towards disaster. James saw no way
to pull it up and out of that dive. Why was he doing this? Why was he the one
being sent into one mess after another around the world? James was asking the
questions, but God wasn't giving him the answers. He and Sarah had spent a lot
of sleepless nights talking and praying together. The answers still hadn't come
for them. They finally had to make a decision about these new orders. They
could resign and walk away, but what then? They could just continue to go where
orders took them too. Sarah had finally asked James if he really believed that
God had told him to go all those years ago when he had been making his choice
about the Academy. James hadn't hesitated. He said, "I know God said go. I
just don't know why." Sarah had just smiled and nodded. Then she had
whispered softly as she held him close to her. "I will miss you, but
unless you hear Him say different... I think you still need to go whenever and wherever
God sends you."
That had been what
had made him decide to go, even though it would split their family apart again.
God had told James to start this journey and until God said stop... they both
believed that the journey had to continue. They had a fine send off from Japan.
Once more they had both quietly received more commendations. Both James and
Sarah had received the Distinguished Service Medal; James for his service in
South Korea and Sarah for her service in Japan. Brigadier General Johns had
made it very clear to both of them before they left, that the Air Force needed
them both. She wasn't a Christian per say, but she did believe there was a
higher power. She and James had become friends, but she and Sarah had become
close friends. She had even become known as 'Aunt Sammy' around the house with
the kids. She had told James and Sarah that no matter what anyone said she knew
that God was the one giving them their orders and they would be fools to
disobey those orders. They flew back to Shaw AFB together and everyone in the
77th got a few weeks leave. This easy tour had turned out to be one of the
hardest tours of all for the entire squadron.
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