The final decision came within days. Along with all taking part in the mission, Joe was called to the assembly room late in the afternoon. There, they were given their brief in full and Joe was asked to give a blessing.
As darkness fell and the last quarter of the moon endeavoured unsuccessfully to pierce the heavy clouds, the combatants silently boarded their planes.
To Joe, the flight seemed quite short. They were soon landing without lights in a paddock.
Silently, the men stole across the paddock and through the maze of trees beyond. Silence hung heavily. Slowly and cautiously, they progressed to the end of the village and to one particular hut, where they had been directed. There, to everyone’s relief, they found the handful of South’s patriots. Too easy, thought Joe!
Almost at once, a child crying could be heard – at first in the distance, then gradually becoming closer. The commander gave the signal for complete silence. Joe instinctively moved forward, drawn to the child’s cry. He was immediately stopped by the commander’s emphatic signal.
For five minutes they waited while the child’s cry drew closer. Eventually it seemed to be coming from just beyond the front door. Joe looked toward the commander who, with a slight nod of his head and eye movement signalled to a small group of his men. Whether or not he was included Joe did not even consider – a terrified child wandering on a dark night was foremost on his mind. Joe burst through the door, closely followed by the commander and a group of soldiers. Joe ran the five metres in record time, grabbed the little girl and raced back to the hut. Still silence! Once inside, Joe looked down at the little bundle in his arms. He guessed she would be no more than three or four years old. She was still crying and obviously terrified.
With the mission safely carried out to this point, the commander expressed his anger – it was up to the chosen well-trained group to rescue this child, not a padre!
Through the back of the hut, they dashed back to the planes. Joe followed the silent directions to be among the first to leave. The little child settled down as they fled, her screams turning to sobs. They had covered well over half the distance to the plane when turmoil began. Shouts accompanied firing from the village. Joe continued to run with his little bundle toward the planes. Under the commander’s orders, soldiers formed ranks and returned fire. Firing from both sides continued for some minutes. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, firing from the village stopped. Soon, all had returned safely to planes, taking off and returning safely to Base. Miraculously, the only injury sustained was a shoulder wound suffered by one of the soldiers.
Why had their enemies stopped firing? How had they been so lucky? The answer came – but not until long after the war had ended. That night there had been only a small contingent of Viet Cong at that village. When they became aware of movement, they began firing.
Return fire convinced them – wrongly – of a large size component and they withdrew.
The hum of the plane returning to base soon lulled the little exhausted child into a light sleep. Joe looked down at the little face – the face of a Vietnamese girl, possibly not much older than three. Her dress was torn and dirty. At another time, in another life, Naomi and I could have had our child. He banished the thought as quickly as it had come. Naomi – he refused to think of her while on duty, but she was always present in his subconscious.
The little girl was still sleeping as their plane landed back at Base. The clouds had dispersed. The light in the east ushered in a new day. What a day, Joe thought. While the group returned to barracks, Joe carried the little sleeping bundle to the hospital. The wounded soldier had already been carried there and his wound was being treated.
“Well, Father, you do come up with surprises!” the nursing sister in charge smiled as she studied the sleeping bundle. “We have a stretcher in my office – she’ll be fine there. We’ll clean her up later.”
Rather grudgingly, Joe handed over the little girl into the arms of the nurse.
“I know you will worry about her,” she added. “Go back to the barracks and get some sleep. Come back later.”
Back at barracks, Joe fell on his bunk. He was exhausted, but sleep eluded him for some time. When sleep did arrive, it was fitful. Hours later, he showered and dressed. Suddenly bottled feelings broke loose. Tears began to fall, slowly, silently. That little girl! Was her mother still alive? Was she almost hysterical in worry for the whereabouts of her little daughter? Or was she dead? And what horrors had that little girl endured…? Oh, Naomi!
Once more he bottled his feelings. With a silent prayer, he headed for the hospital. Another nursing sister greeted him.
“Hi, Father! Before she went off duty, Marcia told me all about last night. Your little protégé is awake. Come and see!”
Joe experienced a pleasant surprise as he entered the office. The little girl was sitting up in bed, playing with a rag doll.
“She made no protest in getting cleaned up. As a matter of fact, she seemed to enjoy the bath. Initial tests show she’s a healthy little girl – although she hasn’t had much to eat recently I’d guess.”
“So what happens next?”
“Father, don’t look so worried!”
“Call me Joe,” he interrupted.
“Okay Joe. As we both know – although no one talks about it – this war is almost over. When that happens, hopefully many of these kids will be reunited with families. For those who miss out, they will be looked after in one of the orphanages. Our little girl will go to the orphanage here for the present. After the war – hopefully she’ll be one of the lucky ones with a family looking out for her.”
As Joe entered the room the little girl looked up, the first second in fear, and then, as though greeting a friend, smiled wanly.
“Hi, little mate.” He spoke softly. She lifted the doll toward him.
“Oh, and hello to your friend, too.” He smiled as he patted the doll.
“What next?” he asked the nursing sister.
“Once we’re sure she’s quite healthy, she’ll go to the orphanage here.”
“Oh!” exclaimed Joe. “I’ve never heard of the orphanage. Whereabouts?”