The first chapter of a new story. A MacGyver story in a very strange genre. This story is set in World War II. I always wanted to write a story about MacGyver in the 1940's. In fact we'll see the entire first half of that decade. How MacGyver entered the army to become a soldier, get sucked in the war and how he deals with that after the war. It's an experimental story you might say. So it might not be entirely historically correct and it's just a fanfiction.

Maybe not just a fanfiction. It took me two years to write this and I'm writing now the last three chapters. This is the first story I did a lot of research for so every now and than, mostly before a chapter begins, you'll find news articles of that time. I tried to go back as far as I could starting with the aftermath of the first World War and The Great Depression working my way into the thirties and the rise of Hitler to power. Those articles helped me out a lot to keep the story coherent though it will not always remain historically correct. There are some alterations. I also began writing again in chronological order. In the original version Mac was telling to story to his friends on how he met Kate and what the military training was like. I left that idea behind because why would he tell his friends a story about them while they were there themselves? In the rewrite the story is still told from Mac's POV. Starting with chapters 2, 3 and 4. So chapter 2, 3 and 4 became now chapter 1, 2 and 3 and chapter 1 became chapter 10. But from as soon the story starts, you'll understand.

Sources of information: Wikipedia, my 20th century encyclopedia, youtube and my book I read on the testimonies of the concentration camps. Now I mention this, I better warn sensitive readers for chapter 7. That is the chapter I wrote on concentration camps. It's still a long way to chapter 7 so I still have time to see what I'll do with it. I wrote it going down the information I found and I wanted to stick as close as I could to the horrifying reality of that time. So editing that chapter will probably be unavoidable. It's what makes the story very controversial. But we're not that far yet, when we are I'll explain it in my introduction of the chapter.

Anyway I hope you enjoy it.
On our journey we meet some very interesting (and a few historical) characters. You'll find out who. I know the rules say that fiction must not refer to real people dead or living. Well in this story it does, but I'm sure this won't be a problem. Just wanted to let you know before we begin.

It's rated R for lots of intense war violence and language.
Genres: Action, adventure, war and drama.


(The MacGyver Theme Song Season 5 starts playing)



as MacGyver

and


as Colonel Jack O' Neill

Dana Elcar

as General Peter Thornton

John Anderson

as Harry Jackson

Bruce McGill

as Jack Dalton

Michael Des Barres

as Murdoc

Amanda Tapping

as Samantha Carter

Don S. Davis

as General George Hammond

Also starring:
Martin Milner as James MacGyver
Sheila Moore as Ellen MacGyver
Dirk Blocker as Chuck
Michel McNeilly as Neill
Jesse as himself

Executive Producers
Richard Dean Anderson
Henry Winkler

Co-executive Producers
John Rich
Stephen Downing

Music by
Ken Harrison
Randy Edelman
Dennis McCarthy

Special Music Composers
Alan Silvestri
Jerry Goldsmith
James Newton Howard
Hans Zimmer
Clint Bajakian
Clint Mansell

Additional music by
David Arnold
Bill Conti
Trevor Jones
Michael Suby
Stephan Zacharias
Mark Mancina
Trevor Rabin
Mark Isham


Written and Directed by
Mario Vandermeulen

(We fade in as the texts of the Pre-war News and Headlines I appears and the track Start of the War of North and South starts playing)
Prologue
Pre-war News
The Great Depression

In 1925 it looked like the bemusement of the Great War was over and a new time of peace and economical stability was at hand. The crash of the New York stock-exchange destroyed this illusion in 1929. It called for an economical depression that would hold the entire world in it’s grip for the coming decades. During many years the price of highly needed products like grain, rubber and sugar decreased thoroughly. This meant serious difficulties for the countries who’s been exporting these products. There national salary decreased and they couldn’t afford products from Europe or the United States. Everywhere the export decreased, productions slowed down and jobs disappeared. In the industrialized countries a quarter of the employees lost their jobs. The complete recovery found place only during the preparation of World War II, when the most powerful economics in the world used all available resources for the efforts of the war.

Adolf Hitler
Our last hope

Recession and unemployment drove peoples to extreme right parties like National Socialistic Laborers party of Hitler in Germany. They hoped those parties would free them from poverty.

Economical Wonder

In the thirties, Stalin had started a series of five year plans to increase the production of steel and coal. They formed the retarded agrarian Soviet community into an industrial power. A lot of workers had to work like slaves and received a small compensation.

Demonstrating

Strikes, marches of hunger and little riots frequently happened during the depression. In France numerous strikes paralyzed the industrial production. From there on a rocky political time followed that in 1936 resulted in the election of the first French socialistic prime minister, Léon Blum, who stood at the head of Front Populaire. His government made many promises, the striking workers, including a forty hour week and a minimum salary. These reformations appeared to expensive and Blum had to step down the following year.

Economical grow in the US

When Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president in 1932, he offered the Americans a New Deal. It contained a series of measures to stimulate the economy and jobs like the Agricultural Adjustment Act from 1933, where farmers received subsides unless they limited their productions.

Headlines I
January 1933 – September 1940

Hitler Chancellor

January 30 1933
President von Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as a chancellor of Germany. The forty-four year old leader of the Nazi-party gains power on a moment that the German democracy is virtually gone. The past few weeks the country stood on the edge of a civil war because members of the Nazi-party and German communists were involved in serious street fights. Though the support for the Nazis seems to be decreasing, their intrigues led to Hitler’s chancellorship. Besides Hitler himself there are only two other Nazis in the eleven headed cabinet. The others are right nationalists.

The Reichstag Burns

February 28 1933
The Reichstag in Berlin, the building of the German parliament has been consumed today by a mysterious fire. The new chancellor, Adolf Hitler has accused the communists for starting the fire and used this disaster to convince president Hindenburg to sign a law that takes away the freedom of speech and organizing meetings.

German Jews lawless

September 15 1935
Hitler’s Nuremburger laws takes away the German state citizenship of six hundred thousand Jews. Besides that Jews will be refused in a whole series of professions like education and journalistic. Marriages between Jews and non-Jews will be considered illegal and couples who refuse to divorce will be punished with jail time.

Germans occupied Rhineland

March 7 1936
Against the Treaty of Versailles the German troops on command of Adolf Hitler entered the cities in the Rhineland during the dawn of the day. The region was controlled by France since the end of the Great War. This move was a guess because no one knew how the French would react. Hitler’s generals advised him not to take the risk and general Werner Von Blomberg, the German minister from War, ordered the troops to retreat when the French and the British reacted on one way or the other. The French politics are pleading for a military counterattack but the generals are detached. The British advise the French not to do anything as long as the action isn’t “thoroughly analyzed”. No one is going up against Hitler’s challenge for now. He proposed to form a new treaty that would reassure peace for the next twenty-five years. The British consider this as a sign of Hitler’s peaceful intentions. According to another newspaper Hitler has just ‘took in his own backyard.’

Olympics with a bitter aftertaste

August 16 1936
A mass of remarkable records of athletes out of forty-nine different participating countries has ended today the Olympics in Berlin. This big sports festivity however has left a bitter aftertaste. Despite the good organization, Hitler has transformed this sports festivities into a gigantic propaganda campaign for his Nazi-regime. Berlin got the Olympics appointed before he gained power. From as soon his dictatorial and racial politics became clear the United States considered measures to boycott the Olympics. The Nazi-regime represents no matter what on the superiority of the Aryan race – white peoples of non-Jewish descent. Hitler refused to publicly congratulate the black American athlete Jesse Owens, who was the undisputed star of this Olympics. Owens won a golden medal in two sprint contests, in jumping distances – with an amazing Olympic record of 8,06 meters – and in the courier contest. When the crowds jumped up and cheered, Hitler couldn’t stand it anymore and stormed outrageous out of the Olympic stadium.

Hitler annexes Austria

March 14 1938
Adolf Hitler has made a German province out of Austria. In a spectacular cavalcade of tanks and field cannons the in Austria born dictator rode through the streets of Vienna, the capital of his homeland. Hitler, who wore the same brown uniforms as his troops, stood up straight in an open car and brought the Nazi salute to cheerful crowd who welcomed him. Later that night Hitler appeared on the balcony of his hotel and proudly spoke that ‘the German nation will never be divided again’.

Hitlerjugend

June 8 1938
In Germany the spectacular Nuremburger procession takes place in September. It’s the highlight of the year for the members of the Hitlerjugend, who proudly presents to their leader, the Führer, how disciplined they became through the military education.

Crystal night in Germany

November 10 1938
Last night the Jewish community in Germany became the victim of never seen before assaults of violence. Over more than seven thousands Jewish stores got broken in and ransacked, synagogues got burned down and hundreds of Jews got beaten up. The German minister of Propaganda Josef Goebbels claims that the violence is a consequence of a hit on a German diplomat in Paris by a Jewish student. However it is very clear that this hurricane of violence was organized by the Nazi-party itself. Because of the piles of broken glass on the streets after the raids were over this tragic event is called “Crystal night”. The Night Of Broken Glass.

Splitting uranium-atom succeeded

January 28 1939
The German physicist Otto Hahn and his colleague Fritz Strassman made a discovery of great scientific value. During their experiments the two discovered that uranium atoms split up in two when they are bombed with neutrons, which causes more neutrons and an enormous amount of energy to come free. The freed neutrons split up on their turn new uranium atoms which causes another release of neutrons and more energy comes free. Otto Hahn called this chain reaction ‘nuclear splitting’. If someone is capable to control this energy on one way or the other, a weapon of unseen destructive force is at hand.

Prague occupied

March 15 1939
Six months ago Hitler claimed the Czechoslovakian Sudetenland and now the whole country suffers under it. Hitler arrived today in the Czechoslovakian capital of Prague and took his accommodation in the Hradzin castle, the former palace of the kings of Bohemia. The German army didn’t got the welcome of the Prague population as they got in Sudetenland or Austria. The peoples got forced to greet the German as the people burst out in tears they sang with raised heads the national anthem.

Children out of British cities are evacuated

August 31 1939
Because of the increasing chance on war with Germany, one million and a half of British children are evacuated out of the big cities and transferred to safer places on the countryside, or smaller cities that probably are less endorsed by the war violence. The children will be accompanied by their teachers, they are allowed to take one pair of spare clothes and a gasmask. With busses they will be brought to the railway stations. The ‘city children’ will be received by the officers in their quarters who will escort them to their new foster families. The operation is not always easy. Some children are very confused by all this because they are not prepared on their new situation and some have never ever seen a cow, a sheep or even a field. Others has never slept in beds or don’t know how to eat with knives and forks. Some foster parents are having their doubts because of the fact some children out of the slums are so neglected and dirty. They don’t know very well on how they should take on this task.

Invasion in Poland

September 1 1939
Hitler has invaded Poland. The invasion started when the Luftwaffe, the German air force, guided by Junkers Ju52-divebombers, were executing a mass attack on the Polish airfields, communication centers and the railway network. Whole cohorts of fast German tanks invaded on the Polish infantry to cut of their supply routes. The whole population was at panic. This is the first time the Nazis used their revolutionary tactic of the ‘Blitzkrieg’ or ‘Lightning war’, which exists to take out the enemy by surprise.

The Start of the War!

September 3 1939
On a quarter past eleven this morning the British prime minister Neville Chamberlain has notified the terrified nation that Great-Britain is at war with Germany. Yesterday the British government send an ultimatum to Adolf Hitler with the demand to have him the German troops retreat out of Poland. Hitler didn’t respond which made Great-Britain declare the war on Germany. A few hours later the French ultimatum passed as well and on five o’ clock in the afternoon France also declared the war on Germany. The allies of 1914 are standing again side by side in a war against oppression. Hardly after a few minutes after the radio message of the prime minister the first air alarm sounded off in London. It appeared to be false alarm, but it was a warning for the terrible destructions that might follow.

Invasion in the Netherlands and Belgium

May 10 1940
The German minister of Foreign Affairs, Joachim von Ribbentrop, notified the Dutch and Belgian ambassadors that the German armed troops has crossed over their respective borders. Holland and Belgium are surprised by the German invasion and according to them they will capitulate despite the request of help to the allies. The strategic Belgian fort of Eben Emael has fallen after a daring attack of the German air force and German tanks are flowing to the Ardennes on their way to the French-Belgian border. After the Nazi-invasions in Denmark and Norway op the ninth of April 1940 it appears Hitler is willing to repeat his Blitzkrieg or ‘lightning war’ in Holland.

Allied escape out of Dunkirk

June 4 1940
The evacuation of Dunkirk under codename ‘Operation Dynamo’ has been completed. The operation, started on May 26, was a measure to secure allied soldiers who were on the run of the mighty German advance. After the invasion of the Netherlands last month the unstoppable German troops crossed over the Maas and marched up to the north of the France, in the direction of the Canal where they isolated the British expedition army of their French allies. One week later the Germans reached the Canal coast and the allies fled to the harbor of Dunkirk. Under the attack of the German weaponry and the battle planes, the battleships of the British Royal Navy alongside of a fleet ‘smaller ships’, crewed by civilians were capable to evacuate approximately three hundred thousand British, French and Belgian soldiers of the beaches. Despite this many were left behind. They’re facing a certain death or become prisoners of war. About two hundred ships, including warships were lost.

French troops capitulate

June 22 1940
France has surrendered to Germany. In Compiège the French delegation agreed on a cease fire. Adolf Hitler forced them to sign the treaty in the same train wagon where the Germans has surrendered themselves in November 1918 at the end of the Great War. In front of the news cameras the German dictator did a few dance steps. From as soon as the cannons around Dunkirk has dazed the French resistance gave in and on June 14 the German troops marched into Paris. A few days later the French government fled into the south to Bordeaux. The swastika-flag of the Nazi’s is waving now on the Eiffel tower in the capital of Paris and the northern half of France is looking into an uncertain future under the oppression of the German oppressors.

German air raids in ‘Battle for England’

September 7 1940
The British capital is going through the first major air raids since the Battle of England has started on the tenth of July. Hundreds German bomb throwers, escorted by swarms of battle planes, has left their French basses to reach London early in the morning. The heaviest attacks has been performed on the docks of East End and on the air force base for battle planes in the valley of the Thames. The Germans however didn’t count on the radar system of Her Majesty’s Royal Air Force that has been in use ever since the beginning of the war. With this the English has noticed the Luftwaffe on time. According to a spokesman of the ministry of aeronautics, the Luftwaffe has lost ninety-nine planes during the attack and the R.A.F. only twenty-two. In July Hermann Goering, chief commander of the Luftwaffe has sent, German planes to attack the British havens and the ships on the Canal in the sea space between England and France. In August Goering changed his strategy and daily he let a thousand airplanes attack the R.A.F.-basses and radar installations over the Canal. The attacks of today arouses the suspicions that Goering, despite reassuring language and tactical changes, was not able to weaken the British defense and hereby did not succeed to reduce the country to it’s knees.
(The music reaches it's ending and we fade out here)

(We fade in with a peaceful view on the Minnesota forrests as the track A Fateful Meeting from the King Kong score starts playing on the background)
Chapter 1
The Meeting with Kate Malloy
The Letter of Acceptance
Leaving Home for West Point
Mission City, Minnesota
November 1940

It all happened about a year before we got into the war. Minnesota was peaceful and quiet during that winter as always. Well, it wasn’t really winter yet but it was pretty cold for the last weeks of the fall. All the troubles were on the other side of the world. I was just enjoying wild life and doing some ice fishing on my own on a frosted lake. Then I saw wandering by the lake the prettiest girl I had ever seen.
‘Howdy,’ I said.
She just nodded back friendly. She was dressed warmly with a big coat, scarf and hat from where her long blond hair came down. Her hands in black leather gloves, carrying a backpack. She was holding some notes. For a moment she looked into the trees and saw a bluebird. She quickly took her notes and wrote something down. I noticed her interest in birds.
‘Interested in birds?’ I asked.
‘As much as you are in ice fishing,’ she answered smiling. ‘Are they biting?’
‘No, not really.’
Kate looked in my bucket.
‘Three fishes? That isn’t so bad.’
‘Well…,’
‘I probably can’t even catch one.’
‘Sure you can. You wanna try it?’
‘Uh, no. I have to go.’
‘No, you don’t. Come on, try it.’
I tried to hand her over my fishing pole. A little doubtful she took it.
‘There I’m ice fishing now,’ she said laughing, her laugh suddenly faded when she felt a yank. ‘Oh, I think I got one.’
‘Really? Already?’
I helped her getting the hook out of the ice. Disappointment was to be read on her face as she noticed that there was nothing on the hook.
‘Oh, I thought I had one.’
‘That’s alright. I know what the problem is. Got any aluminium?’
‘What?’
‘Aluminium. Stuff that you wrap around food.’
‘I think so, why?’
‘I’ll show you.’
She gave the pole back to me as she started to mess around in her backpack.
‘Here I got one,’ she said and gave it to me. ‘What are you going to do with that?’
‘It’s just a little something my grandpa taught me,’ I said while I folded up the piece of aluminium and attached it to the fishing hook. ‘He calls it the Harry Jackson Dazzle.’
‘Your grandpa’s name is Harry Jackson?’
‘Yep.’
‘I’m Kate by the way. Kate Malloy.’
‘Name’s MacGyver.’
‘First or last?’
‘Yep.’
She frowned a moment on that remark. As if I was going to tell my real first name.
‘Well, it’s a pleasure.’
‘Pleasure’s all mine. Here you are.’
I gave her the fishhook back. A few moments passed and then strike. She caught a fish.
‘I can’t believe this works,’ she laughed.
‘I couldn’t believe it at first either, but hey… they work. Everything my grandpa taught me actually works. He always said they were just stories but these works.’
‘Your grandfather sounds like an interesting man.’ (Slowly the music fades away)
‘He is.’
After the fourth fish, I caught another one.
‘That’s five,’ she said.
‘Yeah.’
A moment of silence passed through.
‘Don’t you just love the silences here? Just listen how quiet it is.’
Somewhere in the woods a woodpecker was heard.
‘It makes my skin crawl.’
I don’t know why, I asked her at that moment but it just seemed the right time to do it. ‘Do you got any plans for tonight?’
She seemed a tad surprised by the question.
‘Uh, not really, except for a little working on my birds. You see, I’m a photojournalist.’
‘Photojournalist of birds?’
‘Yeah, among other things.’
‘Maybe you can do that work at my place.’
‘You live nearby?’
‘My grandpa has a cabin around here. It’s about ten minutes walking from here.’
‘About ten minutes, huh?’
‘Yeah, sure.’
‘OK, you got yourself a deal, Mr. MacGyver.’
‘MacGyver will do fine, Ms. Malloy.’
‘MacGyver. But only if you call me, Kate.’
‘Yes, Ms. Malloy.’
Kate smiled and then we left the frosted lake for what it. After walking for about ten minutes we entered Harry’s cabin. The afternoon passed by as the evening clouds showed up.
‘Bud, you’re late,’ Harry said from out of the kitchen. ‘You got the fish?’
‘Yes, Harry. Trout and salmon.’
I helped Kate with her coat, gloves, scarf and hat, then she went to the fire place to warm up. Then Harry walked in the living room. He stopped when he saw Kate.
‘Well, bud, who do we have here?’ he asked curious.
‘Harry, I want you to meet Kate Malloy,’ I said.
‘Kate,’ he said while he gave her a hand. ‘I’m bud’s grandfather, Harry Jackson.’
‘Bud?’ she asked a little confused while accepting his hand.
‘That’s how Harry calls me.’
‘Ah I see.’
‘Please, do sit down. Drink something, the food will be ready within half an hour.’
Half an hour later we finished eating and we did the dishes. Harry went to his room to gives us the necessary privacy. He said he didn’t want to be a burden.
Kate and I placed ourselves in front of the burning fire place, with a cup of coffee.
‘Your grandfather is a nice man,’ she said.
‘Yeah, Harry is the greatest,’ I said while sipping of my coffee.
‘Why do you call him, “Harry”?’
‘I asked him that same question once when I was young. He said it because that is his name and because “grandpa” made him feel old.’
‘Well, that makes sense. And why does he call you “bud”?’
‘I don’t know. He always called me that. If he didn’t like that word he probably called me “kid”, or something.’
Kate drank her smoking hot black strong coffee.
‘What about your parents?’
‘They’re living on his farm. Actually we all live there. Harry and I just wanted to take a little vacation by coming here. Things are quiet around here and I like that. The smell of nature, the little wild that runs here. I enjoy this kinda stuff.’
‘Apparently you do. You know some of this wild around is endangered with extinction.’
‘I know that. They should make this forest a non-hunting zone. But I don’t see that happening any time soon. They’re all too busy for it.’
I know. One bird that’s on the verge of extinction is the crane. They only appear somewhere in Japan.’
‘I heard that.’
‘What do you actually do for a living, MacGyver?’
‘To be perfectly honest, nothing for the moment.’
‘How come?’
‘A few months ago I registered to follow a military training. I’m waiting for an answer. There might come a letter one of these days.’
‘West Point, huh?’
‘Yeah. With any luck, Jack, Jesse, Neill and Chuck are selected as well and the five of us can join the army.’
‘Who are these, Jack and… whatever their names were?’
‘Those are my friends of high school. We graduated together, we’ve been through many adventures.’
‘So you like adventures?’
‘Yeah. You can say I’m more an adventurer and explorer. But besides a few journeys with my friends, my life is pretty dull for the moment. I’m only 22, so I’ve got plenty of time left.’
‘Not if you go to the academy.’
‘The military training takes about four years. So I can still do some exploring after that.’
‘Well, I hope you do good.’
‘Maybe. Being a soldier runs in the family. Both my father and grandfather fought in the Great War. They’ve been through tough times together.’
‘And they think it’s ok for you to join the army?’
‘They said it would be good for my self discipline.’
‘Aren’t you afraid if you need to go to war?’
‘I’m terrified,’ I admitted it. ‘There’s a war going on, on the other side of the world. Something tells me, we’re going to get sucked in sooner or later.’
‘Well, we shouldn’t think like that.’
‘The world doesn’t get it, Kate,’ I said becoming more serious. ‘Apparently something bad always must happen first but for we realise what we are doing. This is the second time Germany unleashed a war, hardly twenty years after the first one and all they talk about is killing the Jews and the supremacy of Aryan race. Hitler is crazy.’
‘Tell me about it. Have you read Mein Kampf?’
‘Yeah. The guy is a lunatic. Creating your own Aryan nation? Total domination of Earth?’
‘He has a twisted mind.’
I took another sip of the coffee and relaxed again. Also she drank of her coffee.
‘So, photojournalist, what’s your story?’ I asked.
‘Well, usually I take shots of birds and write something about them. Fun stuff, but someday I hope I can do some more.’
‘Maybe you will.’
‘I’d like to write for the newspapers some day. The world interests me, I like to travel a lot.’
‘The world is an interesting place. Too bad there are always these bad apples who try to ruin it for the others.’
‘Yeah.’
I smiled and slurped my coffee again. The whole time I sat with her at the fire, I felt this tension between us. I always knew she was the one and it was mutual. Somehow it just clicked between us and I just can’t explain it.

A couple of weeks passed by when Kate received a heart warming welcome into our family. My mother took good care of her and Kate knew she good depend on her, also on my father and my grandparents.
Then one day, almost a year later, I received the letter I was waiting for all these months. The permission of taking the training at West Point. Kate ran up to me all excited.
‘Honey, it’s here, it’s here.’
I was in the living that moment with my parents and grandparents.
‘Honey, your letter arrived,’ she said excited.
‘Give it to me.’
‘No!’ she said playfully and kept the letter away from me. I tried to get it but she reached her arm out the other way. But Harry was standing there and took the letter out of her hand.
‘Then, I’ll read it,’ he said.
‘Oh!’
Then Ellen took it out of his hand.
‘Forget it, dad. It’s his letter, let him read it.’
‘Oh, alright.’
Harry gave me the letter back. I took a seat and carefully opened my letter.
‘It says: “Dear Mr. MacGyver,
We reviewed your recommendation of entering the US army and we accepted you to join in. You are expected within three days on West Point.”

Yours sincerely,
General George Hammond.
‘Can I see it?’ my mother asked so I gave her the letter.
‘Expected within three days?’ Kate said a little worried. ‘That’s upcoming Friday. Are you going to make that?’
‘Maybe, if I leave tomorrow night.’
‘Tomorrow night?’
‘I know. But if I’m expected Friday then I better leave soon.’
‘My only son is becoming a soldier, how about that?’ my mom said.
‘I gotta call Jack and let him know. Maybe he got his letter too.’
I got up and called Jack with our telephone.
‘Hello, Dalton speaking,’ Jack said on the other side of the line.
‘Jack, it’s Mac.’
‘Mac? How ya’ doing?’
‘Great, Jack. Guess what? I received a letter from West Point.’
‘You did? You’re accepted?’
‘They’re letting me in. I’m expected Friday.’
‘That’s great news, buddy.’
‘Yeah, I called you to know if you’re accepted too.’
‘Well, Mac, for the time being, I haven’t… hang on.’
Through the line I heard a little noise on the background.
‘Uh, Mac just hang on, I think the mail has been delivered.’
‘Sure, Jack. I’ll wait.’
Seconds passed by until Jack took on the phone again.
‘Mac?’
‘Yeah, I’m still here.’
‘I got my letter.’
‘And?’
I heard Jack opening his letter, then I heard Jack cheering through the phone.’
‘Yes, yes. They’re letting me in as well.’
‘Excellent, Jack. Great news, now I wonder about the others.’
‘Jesse, Chuck and Neill?’
‘Yeah.’
‘They’re accepted as well. Believe me.’
‘Let us hope so, Jack. Then we can all go together.’
‘We will, buddy. We’re going to become soldiers.’
‘That’s right and it’s going to be tough.’
‘We’ll make it through.’
‘We’ll see, anyway Jack, I gotta go. I’m going to pack my stuff.’
‘See you tomorrow, Mac.’
‘Bye,’ I said and hung up the phone.
‘Well?’ Harry asked.
‘He’s in,’ I said proud.
(Now the music comes up when MacGyver says goodbye to his parents in Passages)
The next day, Jack, Chuck, Jesse, Neill and of course myself were ready to leave for West Point. Saying goodbye wasn’t easy. My mother was crying her heart out while my grandmother, father, Harry and Kate were trying to comfort her.
‘You see that’s why I don’t want you to come along to the station. It’s hard enough already.’
‘Just come back safely, son,’ my dad said.
‘I will, dad. I’ll be alright. I’ve got the gang with me, they’re not going to break me down.’
‘Yes, they will,’ my dad said joking.
‘Yeah.’
‘Bud, you’re going to do well out there,’ Harry said sad.
‘Thanks, Harry.’
‘Son,’ my mother said.
‘I’m here, mom.’
She came from behind my father and Harry.
‘Be safe,’ she said.
‘I will be, mom. Jack’s going with me.’
‘Is that suppose to comfort me?’
‘Well yeah. Jack is the best friend I’ve ever had.’
‘But he’s so irresponsible.’
‘Now, Ellen,’ my dad said.
‘That’s why we’re going in the army. To teach him some responsibility.’
She smiled and wiped her tears away.
‘My favourite grandson is becoming a soldier. Be careful, my dear,’ my grandmother said.
‘I’ll be careful, grandma.’
‘I know you will,’ she said and kissed me.
Then Kate came towards me. ‘Honey?’
She could hardly hold her tears back. I embraced her.
‘I’ll stay here and keep an eye on things,’ she said trying to smile.
‘I know you will,’ I said and kissed her.
‘Go,’ she said.
‘I’ll see you later, folks.’
I opened the door where the guys were waiting for me.
‘Keep an eye on him, boys,’ my mother said.
‘We will, Mrs. MacGyver,’ Neill said. ‘You ain’t got nothing to worry about.’
We all said our goodbyes and then we left for our military training on West Point.
(The music goes over to military drums and then fades away)
West Point, a couple of days later. We went for registering. There was a big bald man fully trained and well disciplined behind the desk. His name was Peter Thornton.
‘Jack Dalton!!’ Peter Thornton said from behind the desk.
‘Yes, sir!’ Jack said.
‘Age?’
‘Twenty-four, sir.’
‘And why did you wanna join the army, son?’
‘Because I wanna be part of something, sir.’
‘Alright, here’s your clearance, kid. Now get the hell out of here.’
Jack left making room for me.
‘MacGyver!!’
‘Yes, sir!!’ I replied.
‘What’s your first name?’
‘Well… MacGyver, sir.’
‘MacGyver-MacGyver?’ Peter asked out loud. ‘You trying to be funny, boy?’
‘No sir. It’s just MacGyver, sir.’
‘Just MacGyver?’
‘Exactly, sir. Just MacGyver,’ I said proudly.
‘Must be a middle name or something,’ he mumbled.
‘Actually, no sir! It’s a Scottish name and I’m proud it’s my name, sir.’
‘Scottish, huh?’
‘That’s right, sir.’
‘Good, sir. I like Scotland.’
‘Thank you, sir.’
‘Age?’
‘Twenty-three, sir.’
‘Why do you wanna join the military life?’
‘To keep an eye on Jack, sir!!’
Of course he couldn’t understand the little joke.
‘Trying to be wise again with me, son?!’ he asked while he suddenly got up. ‘Gimme twenty.’
Without hesitation I gave him a twenty dollar bill. ‘That’s not what I meant, you imbecile. I meant twenty push ups, now.’
He yanked the twenty dollars out of my hand anyway. I did as fast as I could twenty push ups.
‘You still think you’re funny?’ he asked when I was finished.
‘No sir. Absolutely not.’
‘You an a$$ kisser? Like to kiss my a$$?’
‘No sir. I don’t want to kiss your a$$. It’s too unhygienic, sir and totally not my style. I’m more of a smooth talker, sir.’
‘Good, sir. I do not wanna have any a$$ kissers in the army of the United States.’
‘I understand that, sir.’
‘Welcome aboard, son,’ he said firmly and shook my hand.
‘Thank you, sir. Thank you.’
‘Now get out of here, will ya?’
‘Yes, sir.’
On my way outside he just said one more thing. ‘And take a haircut.’
‘The hell, I won’t, sir,’ I replied back.
I went outside when he asked another soldier’s name.
‘Name?’
‘Murdoc, sir.’

When I got outside again, Jack and the gang were laughing at me.
‘You had him good,’ Jack said laughing.
‘Yeah, I did had him,’ I said enjoying my joke I pulled.
‘Very amusing,’ Neill said.
‘Guys, I think we better go and find our sleeping places,’ Jesse said.
‘Wait, we’re not finished laughing yet,’ Chuck said during his laugh.
I stopped laughing. ‘I’m finished,’ I said.
‘So am I,’ Neill said.
‘Ditto,’ Chuck followed.
‘How about you, Jack?’
‘Almost, hahahaha. All done.’
‘Then let’s move it.’
We went to our sleeping rooms. It was one of those long rooms with beds standing next to each other.
‘So this is where we bunk, huh?’ Jack asked.
‘Guess so. Get used to it,’ I said.
We placed our stuff away as we all met the others of our company. One of them introduced himself to me as Johnson. Andrew Johnson. A young tall fellow hardly in his twenties, short curly brown hair.
‘Hi, I’m Andrew Johnson.’
‘How you doin’ Andrew? Name’s MacGyver. Call me, Mac.’
‘Nice to meet you, Mac.’
‘These are my friends, Jack Dalton, Neill, Chuck and Jesse.’
We introduced each other and soon we had a few new friends.
‘These are my friends, Tommy and Charles.’
Tommy was somewhat smaller then Andrew and seemed to have some Italian blood in him. He was a half blood and like Andrew he had curly hair but in black.
Charles was taller then Tommy and came from somewhere in the South.
‘So, Charles, where you from?’ I asked.
‘State of Texas. I’m happy I’m out of that god awful hellhole. Wanted to become a soldier. Now I’m here, I can’t wait to go back.’
There was some laughter about that remark. ‘My dad said: “Charles, son, you better become a soldier now, ya hear? Or else I’ll b*tch slap you back in your mothers womb.” You see in the runs in the family, that’s why he wanted me here.’
‘Sounds tough.’
‘You wanna come over sometime and play?’ he asked joyfully.
‘No, thanks, I’ll pass.’
‘So where are you all from?’
‘All out of one state,’ Jack said.
‘The best state of all states,’ Neill continued.
‘Also one of the coldest states around,’ Jesse said.
‘The one and only,’ Chuck continued.
‘Mission City, Minnesota,’ I said.
‘Oh, right, Minnesota. I always wanted to go there,’ Tommy said.
‘Yeah, but if you go in the winter you better dress up warmly. It’s very cold up there, especially during these times of the year,’ Jesse said.
‘The reason I want to go there is because I want to learn how to do ice fishing.’
‘Well if we ever get passed here and don’t get involved in the war, I’ll take you with me. My grandpa has got a cabin in the woods, where you can do plenty of ice fishing,’ I said.
‘Hey, that would be so cool,’ Tommy said enthusiast.
‘Where are you from anyway?’ Chuck asked.
‘We used to live in Italy during the Great War but we moved from there in 1918. I was born and raised here. I like America.’
‘Andrew, were are you from?’ I asked.
‘New York City.’
‘Alright. Home base of the Statue of Liberty,’ Jack said.
‘True and it’s the most amazing statue I have ever seen. When we…,’
Andrew got interrupted by a slamming door. We all looked up to see what happened. A not so tall guy entered the room very upset. All the looks were going to his direction. Not only from our group but also from others in the room. He had this angry, arrogant and determined look in his eyes.
‘Who’s he?’ I asked when he passed by our group. (Tense music comes up here)
He went to his assigned bed.
‘His name is Murdoc,’ Andrew said.
‘Murdoc?’
‘Yeah, he’s from England. Can’t believe they let him in.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because he’s not right in his head. He likes to kill people and make pictures of it.’
‘Keeping an album is he?’
‘They say he works as a hit man for British Intelligence. Seven killings, in fourteen countries, in not even four years time. They arrested him here. He should’ve gotten the death penalty, but they wanted to rehabilitate him by making him come to the army.’
‘So? That’s good, right?’
‘I have my doubts about that but if I were you. I’d watch my back with him around.’
I just nodded and looked back to the man named Murdoc, who was installing himself at his bed. There was indeed something about this man which I couldn’t place yet at that time.
(The music reaches it's peak as we fade out here)

Original story post: June 24 2006, 04:11 AM.

Well not that the above message still matters but through this message I just wanted to say the story has now officially restarted. I know it's a lot of information on this one but this should lessen during the smaller time gaps in the future. It starts in 1925, eight years before Hitler gained power and fourteen years before the war starts. The story contains the five years of war 1940-1945 with each chapter involving a year, sometimes two chapters involves a year. And on exception three chapters. But it'll become more clear from as soon as you start reading the story, there's no need in making it more complicated than it already is.

So...when are we going to get to read the rest of it?

Soon. The next chapter might by up upcoming Saturday or Sunday. Or both.

Quite a story so far! I admire the research involved...
Keep up the great work!