Masquerade

. . .and hope to die

68 . . .and hope to die Brigadier General Randolph Cummins, a second generation West Point graduate much decorated for bravery in World War II, took for granted that his son would continue the family tradition. The young man had no enthusiasm for a career in the army, but from the time his mother left her husband and three year old son, never to be heard from again, Randolph Cummins Jr. walked the path paved with his father’s wishes. At the Point he distinguished himself by graduating third from the top of his class. When you consider that Dwight D. Eisenhower, one of his father’s classmates, ranked third from the bottom and went on to become President of the United States, you would have high expectations for Cummins ’ advancement, but he chose to pursue justice rather than combat, and embarked on an undistinguished career defending soldiers accused of crimes as petty as curfew violation , as odorous as desertion; not the sort of accomplishments that encouraged promotion. His first assignment outside of the Pentagon was to a Special Services Unit in Vietnam charged with providing newsworthy items that could be used to reassure the public the war was going well. Second Lieutenant Cummins didn’t adapt well to his new environment, and began having migraine headaches. One particularly severe attack occurred during a meeting in Saigon with the publisher of the city’s 69 Edward Lewis leading newspaper. The Lieutenant was taken to a nearby hospital, and fell in love with Sung Hee, the nurse who attended him. When it became clear that Saigon was about to fall, he persuaded her to leave with him on a helicopter evacuating VIPs from the country. The General, who saw no difference between ‘Orientals’ of any nationality and the Japanese he fought in his war, did not attend his son’s wedding, nor would he set foot in his house. Once a week they had lunch at the Officer’s Club, but Sung Hee was never mentioned. Randolph and Sung Hee had one trait in common: troubled feelings were closely held, covered by a callous of outward calm. For Sung Hee it was a tradition of her culture and class; for Randolph a discipline taught by his father and nourished by military training. Undercurrents swirled beneath the placid waters of their marriage. Sung Hee resented Randolph for separating her from her family, and for accepting his father’s affront. Randolph saw Sung Hee as a moat that separated him from his father. Still the marriage remained afloat, and in a few years they had a daughter they named Angelica, for she did have the face of an angel. The North Tower of Walter Reed Hospital admits only the highest echelon of government officials and Army personnel ; it would not be far afield to liken it to the Waldorf Astoria’s Tower, doctors and nurses, most in the military, substituting for maitres’d and butlers. Randolph brought his daughter when he came there to visit his father, recovering from prostate surgery. She was three years old; the General would be seeing her for the first time. 70 Masquerade When the precocious child entered the room, she mimicked what she saw her father do, came to attention and saluted. Before the visit ended, the General was completely disarmed by his granddaughter, and promised to do as she asked, come to her house to see their Christmas tree as soon as he came out of the hospital. She hoped it would be soon because ‘the smell of medicine isn’t nice’. The General brooded over his new status as a grandfather: he would have to accept his daughter-in-law as part of the family; he needed to find something special to give his granddaughter for Christmas. The second day home, the Post ran a picture on the front page of the five-story Christmas tree in Rockefeller Plaza. That was it. He called Angelica’s mother, and as if it were a routine conversation, said he’d like to take the child to New York to see the famous tree in person. “We’ll window shop on Fifth Avenue, she can pick out her own Christmas present. I’ll want to show her off at the Officers’ Club, but with the staff jet I can have her back in time for dinner.” Sung Hee accepted the truce on his terms. She understood well the...