Of Fathers and Sons: The Web They Wove

By Bill Hunt

This is a story of Espionage
Service to Country, and Personal Vendetta.

Two fathers, two sons, all spies, all in service to their respective countries, this in turn caused them to weave those webs. Especially the strands, that caused the vendetta. In this, his first suspense story Bill Hunt lets you see and understand some of the mind-set involved in an Army occupational specialty, which is not for the weak of heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jan 23, 2015
• ISBN: 9781496958204

Bill Hunt

Bill Hunt is a retired army chief warrant officer, with twenty-two years of federal service. After retiring, he taught high school in DC and Indiana. After leaving the classroom, he and his wife, Mary, acquired a forty-acre farm where they ran an equestrian facility until he re-retired at age sixty-five. At that point, due to some good-natured kidding by friends, he took up writing and now has authored seven books with three more lying on the desktop. He has two sons, Timothy and Daniel, from a previous marriage, as well as two German shepherds, two Hanoverian horses, and three cats. This is the fourth work published by Authorhouse. The others are found at www.authorhouse.com and by searching Bill Hunt, P.A.-C.

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© 2015 Bill Hunt, P.A.-C. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse   01/22/2015

ISBN: 978-1-4969-5819-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-5820-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014921908

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Contents

Dedication

Part I    The Defense Intelligence Agency

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Part II    Defense Attaché Service

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is purely coincidental.

The passage from Marmion by Scott is included under the rules of Fair Use, The poem was originally published in 1808.

DEDICATION

To the Special Ops folks, from undercover civilian police officers to those of our military and other federal agencies whom silently and courageously, day in and day out, stand between us, and the actions of those who would, do us harm.

Especially, those whose names end up scraped out of large blocks of stone.

PART I

The Defense Intelligence Agency

PROLOGUE

J. Keith (aka) the Bear and father of Matthew Keith died when the Makarov PM barked and belched out two of its twelve projectiles. The first entered Bear’s left thigh, as the leg buckled and he fell forward, the second hit him squarely in the chest.

His assailant put the pistol back in his overcoat pocket and looked down at his victim.

Sorry Bear, but it’s always been just personal, and today I got lucky.

Bear rolled up on his side, fired one shot, and said, Understood.

The Bear missed by a wide margin and collapsed into the pool of spreading blood.

When the police arrived, Bear was dead. They moved the body to the military mortuary and from there to the funeral home for the cremation, and then it went to Arlington Cemetery for placement in the Columbarium. After the Volley, after the Taps, after Matt received the flag, on behalf of a grateful nation, Matt passed the flag to Kate. Then he followed behind the box containing the urn to the niche.

With the urn placed but before the niche cover affixed, Matt reached inside his blouse, removed the fasteners from the parachutist badge, and removed the wings from his tunic. Matt placed them inside the niche and whispered, All the way, Bear. Matt started to turn away, he stopped and faced back toward the niche, and you know Bear, it is gonna be a very long time before you get forgiveness for this stunt.

Matt shook the hand of the ANC rep and thanked him and the Arlington Lady, looked at the group, in and behind the placed folding chairs and said, Dearly Beloved, thank you for attending. The Chaplain lowered his eyes, smiled, and just shook his head.

Matt put his arm on Kate’s shoulder and walked her, still clutching Bear’s flag, to the car.

That was when he noticed the solitary figure standing under a tree, off from the gravesite.

Matt removed his hat and with the full flat of his hand wiped at the sweat on his forehead. He noticed two individuals moving in the general direction he pointed. He looked back at the tree and the person was gone. A smile curled at the edge of his lip.

He said a silent prayer of "Thanks" for having Kate disguised as a much older woman and wearing a very heavy mourning veil.

She looked like Bear’s widow or sister.

Viktor Sokolov on the other hand still looked like Viktor Sokolov.

The second of the fathers was dead and the vengeance began in earnest.

CHAPTER 1

In 1960, President Eisenhower was not satisfied with how, intelligence responsibilities, short of national reliability, and focus, remained unclear, due to poor coordination and organization. President Eisenhower appointed a Joint Study Group to find better ways for organizing the nation’s military intelligence activities.

When the new administration took over in 1961, President Kennedy directed his Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara act on the recommendations of the Joint Study Group and established the Defense Intelligence Agency. There initial job was to develop a concept plan that would integrate all the military intelligence for the department. The Joint Chief of Staff published Department of Defense Directive 5105.21. Defense Intelligence Agency on the First of August, and DIA began operations with a handful of employees in borrowed office space on 1 October 1961.

CHAPTER 2

Bert Nuffy first met Bear when they reported in to the airborne school at Ft. Benning, Georgia. We just finished our basic training. After graduation from that, we moved to the ranger school. My aspiration was to go on to Special Forces. Bears’ aspiration was to get out. Bert never quite understood why someone would enlist, go through jump school, ranger training and Viet Nam, with the personal goal of becoming a civilian.

Bert gave him the nickname Bear in part because he looked like one and in part because his favorite saying was, some days you eat the bear, and some days the bear eats you. His other favorite was, sometimes it’s easier to get forgiveness than to get permission.

He lived and subsequently died because of his belief in both.

Bear screwed up his leg on the jump into Florida and their paths separated.

Although their paths crossed a few times during the next twenty years, it wasn’t until they coincidentally attended the graduation ceremony from jump school for their grandsons.

That evening over a few, this ain’t no shit stories, and quite a few more beers, Bear and Bert decided they would reenlist to serve with the boys.

The next morning at breakfast, the boys told them that even thought they really appreciated the sentiment. They didn’t think the Army would let us back in to serve with them. We feigned indignation, while thinking, man, that was a very stupid idea.

The boys reminded them that Bear said he wanted to write a book and felt that would be a better use of his time. Since Bert already completed a couple, they agreed and this then resulted.

CHAPTER 3

My name is Matthew Keith, and they call me Matt. For better or worse, I was born into a career military family. My Dad, before his untimely demise served as a Chief Warrant Officer with the Defense Intelligence Agency.

My folks divorced as I just entered my teens. I’m the younger of two boys, and much to my dismay, I didn’t fall far from my father’s tree.

I believed he was responsible for the divorce. Whether it’s true or not doesn’t matter, as I decided to take my Mother’s part, probably because we were so much alike,