Death from the Sky: The Legend of Wilhelmina “Boomer” Simpson

By Kurt Philip Behm

General Murdock had just sworn in Wilhelmina as a First Lieutenant in the United States Armys Signal Corps, making her at seventeen, the youngest female officer in the United States Army.

She was being honored for her undaunted heroism in the skies over the North Atlantic. At great risk to herself, she had taken out four German U-boats with her very unique and accurate bombing techniques.

Her courage had been passed down to her from her famous father, Colonel William Broderick Simpson III, Medal of Honor winner and the most famous living warrior in the United States Military.

For her actions, she more than qualified for that great honor herself. The United States Congress, however, would not award the medal to an underage woman who had still been a civilian when she had performed her great acts of patriotism and courage.

Wilhelminas medal would not come until years later.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 14, 2017
• ISBN: 9781524698645

Kurt Philip Behm

Best selling author and renowned poet, Kurt Philip Behm, has been writing both poetry and prose since 1971. In this sixth installment of his historical fiction series, The Sword Of Ichiban, William Broderick Simpson III (Cutty) takes a radically new and dangerous approach to turning the tide of World War 1.

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© 2017 Kurt Philip Behm. 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 07/13/2017

ISBN: 978-1-5246-9865-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-9866-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-9864-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017910274

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Contents

Introduction

Section 1: The Tedium Of Peace

Chapter 1: He Who Can, Does

Chapter 2: Sing-Sing

Chapter 3: Hidden Deadly And Small

Chapter 4: A Warrior’s Penance

Chapter 5: A Hand Slapped

Chapter 6: Wilhelmina

Chapter 7: A Love Affair To Rival Her Parents

Chapter 8: Like Moths To The Flame

Chapter 9: One More Try

Chapter 10: A Secret Rendezvous

Chapter 11: April 6, 1917

Chapter 12: World War

Chapter 13: Clarabelle Tompkins McNealy

Section 2: A World At War

Chapter 14: Preparing For Conflict

Chapter 15: The Sky Belonged To The Red Baron

Chapter 16: An Army—In Naval Transition

Chapter 17: A Family Uprooted

Chapter 18: The Night Before

Chapter 19: A Ship At Sea

Chapter 20: The War Office

Chapter 21: Tired Of Waiting

Chapter 22: A Heart On Fire

Chapter 23: A Parent’s Worst Fear

Chapter 24: Room Service

Chapter 25: Under A Panoply Of Stars

Section 3: U-boats

Chapter 26: U-boat 47

Chapter 27: The Enemy Sighted

Chapter 28: A Final Mission

Chapter 29: The Dead And Wounded

Chapter 30: Three Days To Go

Chapter 31: The Devil Is Back

Chapter 32: Best Not To Look Back

Chapter 33: Hell Hath No Fury

Chapter 34: A Last Pass

Chapter 35: A Nervous Crew

Chapter 36: To Attack Like The Shark

Chapter 37: Adrift And Alone

Chapter 38: Friend Or Foe

Chapter 39: Too Close To The Flame—Too Far From The Light

Section 4: The Medal Of Honor

Chapter 40: An Eagle Flies Out Of The Night

Chapter 41: One Chance In The Dark

Chapter 42: Dark Shadows In The Night

Chapter 43: A Bold Plan

Chapter 44: Honors, In The Middle Of War

Chapter 45: The Enemy Divided

Chapter 46: Incoming

Chapter 47: The Hour Was Growing Late

Chapter 48: The Wolf

Chapter 49: Calm Down, Lieutenant

Section 5: Hunting The Wolf

Chapter 50: A Raptor On The Hunt

Chapter 51: Messages Of Death

Chapter 52: They Waited—And Watched

Chapter 53: Where Bravery And Lunacy Merge

Chapter 54: One Loose End

Chapter 55: A Wing And A Prayer

Chapter 56: Another Notch On His Gun

Chapter 57: A Wing And A Prayer

Chapter 58: Glory Passed Down

Epilogue

Dedicated To The Strong Women In My Life

My Beloved Wife,

Kathryn

My Daughter And Inspiration,

Melissa

My Daughter-In-Law Jami,

And To My Wonderful Granddaughters,

Kiley And Parker

A Song Of War Plays Unrestrained,

Its Melody Of Death

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INTRODUCTION

A Gloried Past

Colonel William Broderick Simpson III—Cutty to his friends—had won the Congressional Medal of Honor in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. He had been personally selected by Colonel Theodore Roosevelt for his Rough Riders. He led the assault on Kettle Hill on July 1, 1898 and had single-handedly charged, and taken out, three of the enemy’s Gatling guns that had been firing on his advancing troops.

Over Three Hundred Lives Were Saved

He was then offered a duty assignment of his own choosing, and with his father’s advice, chose to become the military liaison to Ambassador Alfred Eliab Buck in Japan. While training with the emperor’s eldest son on a cold and dreary afternoon, he saved the royal family from extinction when eleven ninja stormed the Imperial Palace.

They were intent on killing all three of the emperor’s sons and putting an end to the Meiji Dynasty forever. In a fierce battle against the invading assassins, Cutty and the young prince killed all eleven ninjas, while the prince’s two younger brothers slept in a side room off the main floor.

Cutty was then asked by the prince to become his blood brother like the Native Americans he had read about… (strike that) in books.

With Shinto monks in attendance, a tea ceremony was held along with the cutting of their flesh, as Cutty and the prince mixed their blood and became something more than any two normal brothers could ever be.

Becoming Immortal To The Japanese People

He was then called back to Europe when his fiancée went missing while on holiday in Portugal. In Lhasa—while en route to Portugal—he teamed up with his mentor, and lifelong friend and advisor, Colonel Lance Bristol. Together, they mapped out an escape route for the 13th Dalai Lama—Thubten Gyatso—to use if the Chinese carried out their threats and invaded Tibet.

Cutty went on to rescue his fiancée Adrian from her kidnappers in Portugal. They were then married in a small private service on the grounds of The Academia de Seville, where he had trained with the famous El Cristo as a boy. His family had been living in London during this time while his father served as chief United States ambassador to all of Europe.

Cutty, while training at his country day school, had become the most precocious and skilled swordsman in all of England. He had qualified for acceptance to The Academia in Spain once he had turned fifteen. It was Lance Bristol who had written him his letter of recommendation.

After marriage—and having risen to the status of a national treasure—Cutty was assigned to the United States Military Academy as a full professor of military tactics and strategy. His course was the most popular on campus and regularly oversubscribed with a long waiting list. Great warriors like Douglas MacArthur and George S. Patton had learned the finer points of war while taking his course— Advanced Military Tactics and Strategy.

In the summer of 1905, he took a thirty-day leave of absence from his duties at the academy and accompanied one of his students—Cadet James Cody Lightfeather—to help him avenge the death of his Blackfoot father and two brothers. They had all been murdered by a banished Blackfoot war chief, who had been living with the Siksika tribe in southwestern Canada.

Cutty was now a living legend not only on the academy grounds, but in Washington, D.C., and on every military installation, both foreign and domestic, worldwide.

He had been asked several times to run for public office but had always refused, saying: Compromise is not in my nature, gentlemen. It is the lifeblood of politics, but to a military man, compromise is the nesting ground for defeat.

He Was Sure That Colonel Bristol Would Have Concurred

Book One

The Tedium Of Peace

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Tranquility Can Be Deceiving

CHAPTER 1: HE WHO CAN, DOES

(George Bernard Shaw)

September 12, 1916

Cutty was preparing for another uneventful day at the world’s premier training ground for soldiers when his body was jolted upright from his chair. An alarm siren was going off all over the grounds. From the sound of the alarm, this was not an ordinary fire alarm or call to gather.

This Alarm Was Different

This alarm was only used for a general emergency, or if the academy were under attack.

Cutty flew to his open window, as he heard two gunshots in the distance. It sounded as if they came from the academy’s—still to be completed—bell tower in the Cadet Chapel. On the grounds below, cadets were running in all directions. Many carried rifles or side arms—and in some cases, both.

Cutty ran to the coat rack in the corner of his office and grabbed his katana, saber, and the holster with his Colt .45 inside. His tantō was where it always was—deep within the special waistband in the back of his pants. All of his uniformed trousers had been tailored with a special cavity in the waistband where his Japanese short sword could be hidden until needed.

He opened the large oak door to his office and ran down the long corridor toward the stairs. Cutty’s office was on the third and top floor. He always liked being situated as high as possible.

As he sprinted toward the stairway, two Firsties—seniors—ran in his direction. Sir, we’ve been ordered by Superintendent Biddle to guard you with our lives. His orders were clear, Sir. You are not to leave your office until the trouble is over.

Cutty stared into their eyes; he knew both of them personally. They had each taken his Advanced Battle Strategies and Tactics course as third-year students, or Cows. For many years, his ABS&T course had been the most popular and oversubscribed elective at West Point.

I’m assuming you were given these orders before any invasion had been declared, gentlemen?

Yes, Colonel; Major General Biddle said nothing about an invasion, just to guard you with our lives until the trouble is over.

As the words slipped out of their mouths, Cutty could hear nervousness and hesitation—but not an ounce of fear!

They both knew this would be no easy assignment. Holding the fiercest and most highly decorated officer in the United States Army at bay, during a crisis situation, would be nearly impossible. The most glorious soldier in the United States Army—and Medal of Honor winner—Colonel William Broderick Simpson III now stood between them and their duty in the darkened hall.

A Formidable Task, Even For Experienced Combat Veterans

All right then, these new orders will supersede the general’s; because I believe the threat of invasion now exists. I am ordering you both to guard my office against any unwarranted entry. You are to allow no one to enter until I return. If I do not return, you are to request new orders from the superintendent.

Yes, Sir, Colonel

"Before I go, do either of you have any intelligence regarding the current situation?"

Only this, Sir. We both heard that two criminals—having recently escaped from federal prison—are now on academy grounds and holding a woman and her two children hostage in the chapel’s bell tower.

All right, then, proceed to my office and carry out your orders. We appear to have been invaded by marauding criminals.

Cutty smiled to himself as he continued toward the stairway. "At least they remembered what they were taught about orders superseding orders. Someday, hopefully, they won’t be as easily misled as they just were."

As the two boys ran down the hall, on-the-double, toward Cutty’s office, he bolted down the stairs six at a time. That feeling was going down the center of his back again, and it always spelled trouble.

And Trouble Is What Always Called Loudest To Him

CHAPTER 2: SING-SING

At the bottom of the stairs, Cutty stopped to re-secure his weapons. Through the open stairwell door, it was a state of pandemonium outside. Most of these academy residents have never been in real combat, he thought to himself. If they had, they would be positioning themselves in secure locations, waiting for further intelligence.

It Was A True Chinese Fire Drill

Cutty looked through the open doorway again and had a clear view of the chapel and the bell tower across the wide parade grounds. The tower appeared quiet except for what looked like a woman’s skirt or dress hanging out of the top window facing him. As he squinted into the sun to get an even better view, Captain Roger Morris, the head of academy security ran across the lawn.

Captain Morris, inside the stairwell and on-the-double!

Yes, Sir, Colonel, the captain answered back.

What is taking place inside the bell tower, and how many actors are involved? Cutty asked.

There are two that we know about, Sir. We received a call late last night that two violent criminals had escaped from the federal correctional facility—Sing-Sing—and might be headed this way. Those men in the tower fit the description of the two we were notified about.

Do you have any idea what they want or what, if any, their demands are?

Yes, Sir, just ten minutes ago they threw down a list from the tower’s high window. They are demanding our fastest boat to take them down the Hudson and out to sea. Anything further at this point is only speculation. We were informed last night that both men are Irish immigrants and were radicalized in prison by an American branch of the Irish Republican Brotherhood.

What is the fuel capacity of our fastest boat that would take only two men to commandeer, Captain?

The academy has just purchased two very fast, twenty-seven-foot-long speed cruisers from the new Smith-Ryan Boat and Engine Company, Sir. The boats have a range of over a hundred miles without refueling at a top speed of almost thirty miles-per-hour.

That would be just enough to take them down the Hudson and out beyond the twelve-mile territorial limit, said Cutty. My guess is, they are planning to meet a bigger ship—most likely from the IRB—that will take them back to Northern Ireland.

What do you think we should we do now, Sir? I’m very fearful for the young Gallagher woman and her two children. They were kidnapped early this morning, as they waited at the stop for the wagon to carry them to school. I guess you have seen the young woman’s skirt hanging outside the tower’s window. Her son is nine and her daughter only seven years of age.

One of Cutty’s strongest attributes was his ability to think on his feet, and when life and death hung in the balance, to make the right decision.

His thoughts went quickly back to Colonel Bristol at the Oxford Club in London. He would now draw on the spiritual strength and guidance that his old friend and mentor had trained in him. In a flash of martial epiphany, everything inside Cutty refocused. He now had a plan to confront these demons and, if successful, to secure the young family’s release.

He ordered Captain Morris back inside the building.

He handed him his Colt .45 and katana before stepping through the door and into the bright morning sun. Cutty was now headed across the parade ground and in the direction of the bell tower.

And From Another High Place—Fate Was Calling

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When All Else Fails

CHAPTER 3: HIDDEN DEADLY AND SMALL

What kind of real man holds a young woman and her two children captive against their will? Cutty shouted up to the tower. He wasn’t sure he would get a response, but he needed to announce his presence. He knew these men were not to be taken lightly—they had just walked almost twenty-five miles.

The kind that is deadly serious about the consequences if his demands are not met, said a voice from above. If we don’t have a boat fueled and waiting within the hour—the woman and her two children will die.

Cutty knew that every word chosen at a time like this would bear the weight of thousands. He had to proceed very carefully, or the three captives might not make it through the morning.

So, is this what’s to become of the new proposed Irish Free State? Cutty shouted up to the window. It may interest you to know that the last name of the woman you kidnapped is Gallagher. You have taken Irish hostages to execute your misguided and demented scheme.

And who might you be with all this talk? a dark-haired man of about thirty-five said with his face now visible through the open window. I can see from those bars on your shoulder that you’re some kind of colonel. Your fancy rank means nothing to us. If you give a damn about this woman and her two children, you will make sure that that boat is being fueled and made ready within the hour.

I have something better to offer you two. As tragic as it is, the three captives you are holding have no strategic or military value to this institution. I have a much more valuable hostage to offer you—myself.

And what do you mean by that, soldier-boy?

"My name is Colonel William Broderick Simpson III. I am the most revered soldier in the United States Army, and the recipient of the Medal of Honor while serving with the honorable Theodore Roosevelt in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. If you know anything about MOH winners, then you know that the military and the United States government treasure them above all others and protect them at all costs.

I am here to offer myself as hostage in turn for your release of the woman and the two children.

A long silence