1968

Chapter Thirty-One: February 10th 1969

Lorelei's point of view:

The phone rang just a few days before Valentine's Day, and we were called to get back into the army. Apparently, we wouldn't be back in Saigon until the fifteenth, we would just be at the base meeting the new commander and then travelling there. The new commander wanted to get an idea on who he was working with and how the Horowitz family worked. My father said that would be fine, and we were on our way to military base in Washington. It was only half an hour away from our house, my father planned that when he bought it.

"Commander Nash will be excited to see you. He's been raving about finally meeting the war hero family," Colonel Powell said to us as we met him at the base. This statement confused me. He said commander Nash. Commander Nash was dead, so why did he say his name?

"Why did you say his name was Nash?" I asked as we entered the base building. We walked down the halls, but Powell stopped when I asked the question.

"Because his name is Commander Nash. It's his son, newly appointed Commander Flynn Nash. He's trading places with his late father," he replied. I didn't even know he had children, but my parents seemed to have. I had never met his son, nor did I know he even had one.

"Did you know he had a son?" I asked my mother as we kept walking down the tiled marble hallways. She nodded and chuckled.

"Nash didn't really talk about his personal life. Jack and I knew he had a son, but we didn't see him. He kept his family away from work, even though we were friends," she replied. I nodded, knowing Nash was quite the private man. He tended to listen to people talk about their lives rather than him talking about his. We didn't judge him for it, we didn't mind.

"How old is he? He can't be that old can he?" I asked. She shook her head.

"He's twenty eight," she replied. My head nodded as I took a breathe. We entered the commanding offices to meet Flynn Nash. I hoped he wasn't a rude son of a bitch like some of the other commanders here. Nash was a good man, but he was one of the few that rested here.

"Commander Nash, meet the Horowitz family," Powell introduced as we went inside the room. The man stood there, tall and strong. He was muscular, not as skinny as Nash was. He turned to us and revealed an extremely handsome man, tattoos popping out of his shirt. His hair was a light brown, his eyes a fascinating green, almost lime. I hadn't ever seen eyes like that before! He had stubble on his face that was turning into a beard, and he was deeply and seriously intimidating. I didn't know if he was like that in real life, but just by the looks of him, he was terrifying.

"Good to meet you all, I've wanted to meet you for a while. Although he didn't talk about me, he really spoke of you. I'm excited to be working with all of you," he said to us. He shook all of our hands and saluted my parents. He stopped when he saw me, and he said hello as well. He really was intimidating. Hopefully he wouldn't make too much trouble for me.

"We're excited to be working with you as well, Commander Nash. I'm sure you will enhance your father's honour," my father said as they shook hands once again. He nodded and gave a small smile.

"I hope I can fulfill that wish. So, if we can get started, I would like to train with all of you. I don't care who goes first, but I would like to train with you all individually," he replied. All of us nodded and waited for someone to volunteer. This was when my mother excused us to go and figure it out. He allowed us the privilege to go and talk.

"Who's going?" My father whispered. I shook my head and touched my nose to let them know I had no plans to go with him.

"Not me, he's terrifying," I replied. Even when I said that, all of them put me on the spot. Good thing Mihn was not here yet, he'd be back when he was done being shown around the base. My parents were throwing me to the wolves, I knew it. "Classy, for the both of you. Note my sarcasm. You owe me," I added and walked off. I went to Flynn, my arms crossed along my chest.