This is the part where I myself met Jules West for the first time in my life. I was a journalist for the new magazine published by Warner Media called Heroes. For two months, my team and I already published twenty-nine articles about the heroes of World War II. We interviewed James Collahan, a survivor of Dunkirk. We interviewed Harris McClaine, the survivor of Pearl Harbor and the man who fought in the island of Iwo Jima. We interviewed Captain Jonathan Keller who led the supply run from America to England, crossing the most dangerous ocean of all times, taking two U-Boats along the way and assisting hundreds of supplies ships to safety. We also interviewed so many pilots, so many soldiers, snipers, even survivors in France, Belgium, Poland, Korea, and Yugoslavia.
But I have never interviewed a story like Jules’ and his friends.
Apparently Jules West was in a coma for eight months. He woke up just two weeks before I received a call from a veteran called John Blanc.
I visited Jules West in his new home in Detroit. It wasn’t really his, But John’s. Jules had no home, no family. The last one was burned by Japanese bombers in 1941.
Jules was still on his wheelchair when I came. He was one of the friendliest veterans I have ever met. My assistant, Clane
He read a lot about my articles and said that he could give him his story, but he would want to ask a favor from me.
I didn’t reject it, of course, but I would have to know what kind of favor he wanted. He said to talk to me in person.
But the man himself was just a private. I was almost twice his age at the time, but I knew manner and I stayed and formally interviewed him.
The house’s door was wide open when I came. John Blanc welcomed me and so I entered the lovely house.
The young man with the wheelchair approached me, a sudden concern flashed within my face.
“Jules West, nice to meet you. You must be Mr. McFallon.”
“Bruce, please. Oh and this is Danny Fliyes, my personal assistant.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Sit, please,” John said.
And they talked for hours and hours. The story of these two young men was very fascinating. It was one of the best journeys in a war I have ever heard.
“Wow. I mean, just wow. You all have been through a lot. This is awesome. But if I recall correctly, on the phone yesterday, you mentioned something about a favor, Mr. West.”
Jules didn’t forget it, of course.
“That’s true.”
John stood and refilled our glasses, leaving the three of us in the living room.
“So I was shot, right. I was taken to the HFW base, but no one was there. Until now, I have no idea where they are. Were they defeated by the Japanese and sent to camps, or did they manage to flee. A bomb exploded in Hiroshima at the same day, so I think the Japanese withdrew and the HFW evacuated. But they must’ve left in a rush. Even Hal and Jai weren’t there. I know them, they would not leave us. So it was either they were forced to go by the HFWs or they were taken, I don’t know.”
John came with our drinks.
“Jules was bleeding hard. He was losing so much blood. The HFW might abandoned their base, but the medical room was not emptied. Himari did a great job tending him.” John sipped his coffee and continued, “It was when the radio started speaking that I knew we had a window to escape the island. The Japanese was withdrawing, taking so much of their forces to return home. The seas were left unguarded. We settled in the HFW cave base for almost a week until I found a local who talked English. He helped me communicating with other locals and long story short we found a boat. It was a regular-sized fishing boat with the maximum capacity of ten people. It brought us to the island of Sulawesi, and there we found another fisherman to help us get to the Philippines. From there, we docked at the US-controlled harbor and reached America a week afterwards.”
Jules frowned. “By we, John means me, him, Asher, Blake, and Mike.”
I understood what his ‘favor’ would be.
“Now to the favor. I lied when I said I need your favor. I meant I need your favors.”
I didn’t put up any expression.
“I need you to help me track down Jai and Hal. Hal was shot that day but looking at his situation before we left, he must’ve survived. Secondly, I need you to help me find my fiancé so I can marry her.”
I nodded and smiled.
“Listen, I know what you’re thinking. But if you help me find her, you can have her story too, right? You can ask her about the things I don’t know when we were at the Cathedral. You can ask her about what did she do when she helped us escape that stupid dungeons three times.”
“Mr. West, of course I will help.”
The respond was a small, short ‘yes’.
“I will help veterans like you no matter what. You guys are heroes of this country. Of course no one will dare reject your requests.”
John changed his expression. “That is unfortunately not true.”
YOU ARE READING
Darkness Dissolves When the Door Opens
Historical Fiction[60.000-70.000 words] Trapped in a Japanese occupied island, Jules West and other allied soldiers were fighting for their survivals. Facing losses and mental breakdown were not their only problems since the whole island tried to kill them. It had b...
