High Seas Series : The Mary Joyce

From Book 13

Prince Tahuli saw what was happening and he broke away from his Uncle and went over to the tables. He was still in great pain, but he shoved it aside and called out, "This food is for us, come, join me in our first meal in Hawaii. We are free and belong to none, eat as you please, as much as you wish! He grabbed a plate, and, despite his healing shoulder, filled it with far more food than he really wanted, but he was showing the new children that they could have as much as they wanted. Pat shook his head, he knew what pain the young Prince was in and he admired the boy's bravery. He spoke quietly to his Brother, Wil, and told him of the boy. Wil just shook his head and wondered how soon that boy would be King of Tonga! Tahuli motioned to his Uncle and whispered in his ear, "I want to build a Welcome Center here, that will welcome these rescued children and let them know that someone really does care about them. Make it happen Uncle Teo, make it happen." A boy Prince had just become a man!

Prince Tahuli was as good as his word, the next week Kaiser Engineering had a contract to build a Welcome Center in the grassy area at the head of the O'Toole Pier. It was to have shower facilities, a small First Aid Station and a restaurant that would seat three hundred children. There was to be a movie screen and a small stage where someone could speak to all the new children at once. There was also to be a large cabinet to hold toys for any child who wanted one.

Pat got one request in, but the builder was to keep it quiet until the job was finished; the building was to be called The Prince Tahuli Children's Welcome Center.

As soon as the concrete was dry, the building went up and The Wil and The Pat were already out collecting children to put it to use. They had been sent back to the west coast, the thugs had been busy while the ships were in Indonesia.

Mr. 'Go O'Toole sailed on the Patrick O'Toole with his shiny new Chief Engineer's License and a pocket full of gum drops for any child who wanted a sweet! 'Go had developed a 'Sweet Tooth' and all the children around O'Toole House were calling him 'THE GUMDROP KID'! Like many of his people, he looked more like a teenager than an adult man.

Trong and Jowto had gone back to school and 'Go was on his own. The Patrick was not a difficult ship to operate and they were soon on station off the light at the Straits of San Juan de Fuca. AGAIN!

Pat had warned him that they had three possible contacts on the radar screen that they were tracking, as they all were acting suspiciously. 'Go had filled the engine Day Tanks that morning and he and his crew had cleaned all the filters and were ready to give Pat everything the ship had to give, even oars if that would save just one more child!

With 'Go, it was almost a religious experience, these folks had saved his baby Brother, the boy who had become Trong Robbins and they had taken him in as an adult man and given him a home and their name as well!

The Engine Crew knew all about 'Go O'Toole' and they both liked and respected him, they would follow him through The Gates of Hell itself, if he would be there to lead them!

Suddenly, The Engine Order Telegraph clanged and the needle swept around to ALL AHEAD FLANK!

The Ship's Telephone rang and the Bridge Talker said, "Sir, we need everything the Pat has to give, we are chasing speed boats!"

'Go grabbed a handful of wedges and slipped them under the governors, gaining another few revs out of the engines. The whole ship was shaking and the engines were howling like all the Banshees of Hell. They could feel the Pat taking full speed turns and it was all they could do to hang on.

They made a complete turn and everything loose in the engine room went sliding across the room and crashed into the bulkhead as the ship chased the fleeing power boat.

Someone said something about a 'CowBoy' up on the bridge and 'Go shouted, "No Cow Boy, just a Tiger chasing a stupid water buffalo!"

They heard the telegraph clang again and saw the order, ALL BACK EMERGENCY!

The oiler grabbed the wedges from under the governors and reinserted them as soon as 'Go had reversed the engines.

The entire ship jumped and jolted as the water through the screws reversed direction. The entire ship was groaning with the stress put on its structure and then, suddenly, they went to ALL STOP!

They heard guns firing topside and 'Go checked his own pistol hanging on his hip." Then it was all silent until the phone rang, "The Bridge Messenger said, "Mr. O'Toole, we need you on deck, FAST, SIR!"

'Go turned the watch over to the Oiler and he went racing up the ladder to the Main Deck. He found Pat surrounded by a group of young boys, Pat looked up and said, "I don't speak their language, can you help?"

'Go walked slowly up to the boys and spoke in Indonesian to them, but they did not understand. He tried several other dialects with the same result, then, as a last resort, he tried the small amount of Vietnamese that he knew. The boys' eyes lit up and began to jabber together, 'Go told them to slow down, that he did not speak their language well.

He spoke with them for a few minutes and screamed for Pat!

He explained to the boys that he had called for the Captain and they were to tell The Captain what they had just told him, he would translate for them.

As soon as Pat arrived, a somewhat older boy stepped forward and spoke slowly in Vietnamese.

'Go translated, "Gracious Captain, a big boat brought us here and there are many boys still on it. They loaded us on this small boat just one night ago. We heard them tell the mens on the big boat that this boat would return for mores boys."

Pat shouted up to Andrew and said, "Get the Coast Guard on the Horn and ask them to find a freighter just loitering around offshore! FAST!" He turned to 'Go and asked. "Will you help these boys, while I go topside and get ready for a chase?"

'Go said he would, and he first hollered down the stairwell to his Oiler, "James, you are gonna have to take the watch for a bit, I got my hands full up here right now! The Oiler, James Munroe, had his Third Engineer's ticket anyway, so it was no big deal.

The Pat got underway with a surge, the engines going back to full throttle!

'Go got the boys down to Sick Bay, where Doc Ben could look them over. He handed 'Go a bottle of bug killer, he said they were full of lice and fleas!

'Go took them to the showers and started pouring the flea soap onto each boy's hands, so they could soap themselves down. The boys had no qualms about being naked in front of this stranger, they knew that they all itched like mad and were happy to be able to get rid of their 'wildlife'!

One little boy, he could not have been more than three or four years old, couldn't reach the shower valves and he looked up, pleading at 'Go.

'Go just stepped into the shower, fully clothed and helped the child wash the critters off him. 'Go had made a friend for life, the boy stuck like glue at his side. When it was the boy's turn to be checked by Doc, the boy insisted 'Go be with him.

Doc smiled and said, "Hmm, you got the Boy Disease like the rest of us?"

'Go shook his head "NO", but the more he thought about it, the better the idea sounded.

Just then, GENERAL QUARTERS sounded. 'Go stayed topside, he knew James could handle the engines and he thought he might be of some help up here. He climbed up to where the machine guns were welded to the roof of the wheel house and one of the boys pointed to the "50".

'Go threaded the loading belt into the magazine carrier and waited.

The ship they were approaching opened fire. Being an officer, the boys all looked at 'Go. He opened fire on the old freighter and the boys followed suit with the '40's'

'Go had experience with rocket launchers, so he pulled one of the ammo handlers over to the '50' and told him to start shooting! The boy looked scared, but did as he was told and 'Go started lobbing rockets at the freighter.

He hit the Bridge square on and the entire wheel house flew apart. He had not realized he was lobbing explosive heads at the ship!

Evidently 'Go had killed the Captain and his mates decided that was enough. They started waving a white flag from the upper deck of the ship, surrendering before any more of them got killed.

Pat leaned out and shouted, "Good Shooting, guys!"

Pat sent a boat over to the freighter and they found out there were two hundred more boys chained up in the hold! Patrick O'Toole was so damned angry that he was sorely tempted to execute the entire crew!

Fortunately, a Coast Guard Cutter arrived and took charge of the ship and its crew.

They brought the boys over to the Patrick and started getting them deloused and showered. The Pat was jammed packed and they told the Coastie that they had to go back to home port and that their other ship, the Wilson O'Toole would be on station by nightfall.

Pat radioed his Father on the Wil and told him all that had taken place.

'Go had gone back down below, so he told Wil about 'Go and the boy.

Wil replied, "Good!"

The Patrick O'Toole headed for home, boys stacked in every corner. Cookie was producing food around the clock, trying to fill up starving boys. The crew went on water rationing so that the boys would have sufficient water for their showers and laundry.

Little Tan Dok latched onto 'Go and refused to be separated from him, 'Go gave in and allowed the boy to sleep in his stateroom. That was the end of his single status, Tan had learned how to say, "Me Papa"! 'Go didn't mind, he just beamed like a ray gun whenever he heard the word, "PAPA" from Tan Dok!

Pat ran the engines up as hard as he dared, not only was he anxious to get home, the boy load was eating through their food supply at an alarming rate! 'Go had run out of candy treats and was reduced to handing out soda crackers instead! The children didn't mind, it was a gift from Papa 'Go! That was a name that would follow him for the rest of his life, he was Papa 'Go to every boy who came on board the Patrick O'Toole! More than fifty years later, he was still referred to as "Papa Go"!

Pat had radioed ahead and Andrew Causey had his attorneys draw up adoption papers and got Judge Carter to sign them, awarding Mr. "Go Wilson O'Toole custody of Tan Dok, family name not known, aged about five years. It was the beginning of a new Family that would include two more boys and last of all, a baby girl who was only two years old! GendaLai's older brothers protected her like fierce wild tigers, except when she had them all, her Papa included, wrapped around her tiny fingers!

Prince Tahuli's construction project was finished, he was upset at the sign that had been put on it. He complained that he did not want publicity, only that the kids had a place they could be themselves as they tried to come to terms with what had happened to them. But, the kids themselves had final say, before his family finally insisted he come home, the young Prince had become a favorite of the young children, there was always one or two on his lap and they knew exactly which pocket he had Mr.'Huli's gum drops hidden!

For years afterward, even when he had ascended the Throne of Tonga, he would get letters addressed to Mr. Prince Gum Drop! Of course, it might also have been the result of one of the painters painting two big gumdrops beside Prince Tahuli's name on the building! In either case, every child and more than a few teens always knew where they could get a sweet when they needed one!

Christmas came and went without further crisis. The two hotels were running at about 80% occupancy and the ships had time for some much needed maintenance to get done. Operations had kept the three ships underway almost all of the time, so things were beginning to wear out. Little things, like lighting transformers and pump starters had to be "jiggled" to get their connected machines to start,

The older boys were busy planning an Easter Festival for the younger children and the adults were enjoying the peace and quiet when the alarm on the emergency radio went off! Mike Prentiss, the Chief Radio Operator went running to the "Shack" as the duty radioman was franticly writing down a weak signal and poor English message, "Me Boy Tan Li, us on big boat where ice in water be. Mens run boat all dead, us kill. Them us hurt bad, boys many sick and hurted. Us help need, assist any bodys hear me us."

Mike grabbed the mic and started speaking to the boy in a calm, unhurried voice that conveyed no alarm, even though he was wound up like an eight day clock!

Toby Giles, the Duty Operator was frantically trying to get a fix on the sender, he was sending the direction finder antenna around in circles trying to get an azimuth! He finally had two bearings, both were good and solid, he reached out and hit the general alarm for the entire property, boys came running from every direction and ships' crew members hurried to get the ships ready.

Toby hollered, "Got it - KISKA ISLAND, I am contacting the Coast Guard now!"

Before anyone could react, Toby called out, "The Coasties are in trouble, a fire has taken out both cutters and they are unable to help right now!" He added, "They THINK it is sabotage!"

Pat and Wil both headed for the piers at a dead run, a stream of crew members and boys followed them. Both Jowto and Trong were home on school breaks and they were both in the john boat, headed out to the Patrick O'Toole, anchored out in the bay!

'Go beat his brother, Trong, by about two steps and threw himself down the hatch into the engine room. He started turning on lights and checking fuel and water levels.

As soon as Pat hit the bridge, 'Go and Trong had started both main engines and started warming them up. They had the oil pumps running, ready to fill both clutches. Those on the Wil were only scant seconds behind them when smoke belched out the stack on the Wilson O'Toole.

Wil would ride shotgun on the Pat, the Mary Joyce was too slow to get there in time! Only the Motor Ships could hope to get there this time!

Oscar Robbins was on the Wil's bridge, making all checks, while Pat was performing the same task on the Patrick O'Toole.

Extra food and clothing was hastily thrown into the john boats and rushed out to the two ships. It took them less than two hours before both ships left Nawiliwili Harbor at full throttle, nearly capsizing boats in the small harbor.

Most folks in town had heard the alarms go off, the people of Lihue fully supported the O'Tooles and their kids, so many of them rushed over to O'Toole House to see if they could assist in any way.

The small surgery was fully staffed and Mrs. Tangimora was like a Field General, getting foods out of the freezers and ready to prepare.

The folks remaining at O'Toole House looked on silently as Mike Prentiss tacked up a Marine Chart on the wall and plotted where the crippled ship was located and the course and speed of the Pat and the Wil. Both were making twenty-three knots, Mike knew they had the wedges inserted under the governors on both ships! He could almost hear the engines on both ships howling as they pushed the ships through the water.

He told the assembled people, "I have coffee and sandwiches being made right now and we will keep them available until those kids are here, safe and free! Please stay and give us your support, it's going to be a long, hard haul!" He continued, "We don't know yet how many kids are gonna be coming, but every one of them is going to need all of us to get them through this!"

Mothers volunteered to put together "Kid Packs", labeling them BOY" or "GIRL" and an age group. There were appropriate under-wear, socks trousers or jeans, and shirts in each pack, along with several bags of sweets to give them instant energy. They did not realize that 'Go and Trong had grabbed two twenty-five pound bags of candy for each ship!

The two ships were running flat out as they raced northwards, towards the Aleutian Chain. Every two hours the ships sent home a sitrep (Situation Report) and a position, Mike came out and plotted their position, course and speed on the chart. The Wil was the slower ship and kept the Pat from rearing her heels to the maximum. They felt they needed to stay together on this.

Doc Ben had jumped in the Pat at the last minute, the rest of the infirmary staff was busy getting ready for hurt children to arrive. They ordered up extra antibiotics and pain killers in case of disease or the children being injured.

Doc Ben ordered another case of X-Ray film to be delivered next plane from Honolulu. He was sure he had enough, but the last time, it was touch and go for a while. They had been through this before and knew what COULD be coming their way!

They all knew it was going to be a very long night, especially when they saw the position of the crippled ship!

Some town's folk went home for a few hours, but they could not stay away, the reports from the two ships racing at their maximum speed to rescue children riveted their attention. They sat in the classroom, watching each time the chart was updated.

The cooks kept the coffee pot fresh and Cookie set out trays of sweet rolls and Danish.

Again, the State Governor started making press releases condemning private citizens getting in the way of government rescue operations. One TV reporter asked him just what, exactly was the State Government of Hawaii doing to help these children and he just growled and stomped off the stage.

Andrew Causey was having the man investigated; perhaps his comeuppance was coming soon.

The reports of the seas picking up along the Aleutian Chain were worrying, they were already pushing their ships to the limit and, perhaps, even beyond. Fortunately, both ships' power plants were in tip-top shape, the weak link was the crews. It took all of them all of the time to push the ships into their margin of safety, nobody was getting any rest. Even IF they felt they could sit and rest a few moments, the urgency of the situation had them back on their feet in case they could do something to gain even a few minutes!

The hours went by and the Engineers on both ships were praying their engines would hold together and get them there in time. They knew they were pushing the engines and all their equipment far past the designed safety limits, but that small, frightened voice on the radio was their conscience, they just could not do just nothing!

The folks back home agonized as the little dots that represented the last reported sitrep position slowly moved northward.

The next day, there were some folks who had been there since the previous day, making themselves useful in preparing for the avalanche of injured children. They had learned that it was all boys, so they opened the clothing packs and changed out the underwear and trousers. Many inserted a card or a note welcoming the boys to their island and a small plastic bag of sweets to remind them that they WERE loved!

Mike stayed on the radio, keeping contact with the boys on the stricken vessel. The ships were too far away for them to directly contact the ship yet, so Mike relayed messages using his more powerful radio and its antenna up on Mt. Waialeale.

The Navy sent up a Weather Tracker, but they were unable to make contact with the stricken ship, Mike remained their only contact throughout their ordeal.

He refused to leave, he let the duty radiomen stay in contact with the two ships, but he was getting to kinda know the boys on the ship and could understand their broken English. He understood that the boys had broken free and had killed their tormentors, his own feeling was that was a GOOD THING and that must have conveyed itself to the boys.

Over the hours they had conversed, they became more and more free and their English improved.

He warned them to conserve power, they were running on batteries and they would need the radio when the two ships arrived to rescue them. The boys, however, NEEDED to talk to someone and Mike was who they preferred.

When the two rescue ships arrived, they discovered that the old freighter was too high for either the Wil or the Pat to come alongside, plus the seas were surging and the weather report was predicting a full out storm in the next twelve hours.

Both ships swung their boats out as they neared the stricken ship, the Radio Operator on the Patrick, Mi Tung, was Hawaiian Chinese, but he had lived in Vietnam and spoke the language.

He contacted the boys on the ship and passed Pat's instructions to them, "Put on whatever clothing they could find, no matter that it didn't fit!" Then, they were to put a rope ladder over the side if they could find one, if not, the Pat would "shoot" one over to them.

The ladder they put over the side was in terrible condition, Pat looked at it in the glasses and shook his head. He commanded the helmsman to close on the ship and the Bosu'n would shoot a line across to them to pull a good ladder for them to use.

As soon as the new ladder dropped, the Boat Captains lowered their boats and raced over to the ship, boys were already climbing down to meet them. They could see the ship was riding low in the water and heaving sluggishly, there was no question in their minds that the ship was sinking and SOON!

The last boy to come down the ladder was a teen as he struggled on board the Patrick and stood at attention, proudly saluting the American Flag hanging on the halyard. He then saluted the wheel house and said, "Boy Capting me TinLi. All boys us off ship, he die!

Mi Tung came down from the Radio Shack and translated for Pat. They found out that TinLi had been a boat captain's son before the revolution. The Communists had killed his Father, but before he died, he made TinLi promise that, if he ever got the chance, he would flee to the Americans!

Pat made it a point to return the boy's salute and call him Boy Captain.

They had taken on over four hundred boys. As they watched the old freighter slip under the waves, they transferred about one hundred and fifty boys to the Wil.

The Boy Captain stayed with Pat on the Patrick and every morning, he would report to Pat that all his boys were accounted for and if any of them needed to see Doc Ben!

By the morning of the first day, they were headed for home, the Boy Captain had all his boys on both ships out doing exercises and that all the boys were properly dressed.

How he managed that for the boys over on the Wil, they never discovered, but, there was never a mistake in TinLi's morning report!

The seas were rising rapidly, and they feared a storm might catch them, so they ran their speed back up and both ships shoved wedges in under the governors on the main engines.

TinLi came up to the Bridge every morning while the Navigator was plotting their course and position. He looked on as Second Mate, Chet Dale, made the entries. He thought the boy was interested and he asked him if he knew what the chart was for.

TinLi smiled and replied, "Yes, me gots books Papa gived me." He pulled two books from the back of his trousers and showed them to Chet.

Chet took one look and screamed, "Captain Pat, we need you on the Bridge, NOW!" Pat came running, thinking some dire event had taken place.

Chet handed him the books that TinLi had shown him and pointed to the name plate on the first page. It read, "CAPTAIN TIN JE, NAVY OF THE REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM". Pat knew the boy could have been shot had he been discovered with those books in his possession. He knelt beside the boy and asked, "This book belonged to your Papa?"

TinLi replied, "Yes, Capting Sir. Sorry me not mean for trouble cause."

Pat held the boy and said to him, "Son, I knew your Papa when I was a Cadet in our own Navy. When we get to our home, I will introduce you to some other men who will help you. If they cannot, I WILL!"

In the next ONI report, was the information that they had Captain TinJe's son on board, the son of a Vietnam Hero in both their Navies!

As the two ships sailed south the weather improved and the seas calmed somewhat, making sleep at night easier for the boys.

Boy Captain TinLi continued exercising "his troops" and his continued interaction with those on the Bridge and with Pat, improved his English greatly.

The crew knew who the boy was and who his Father had been, they all went out of their way to answer any of his questions and teach him the correct way to speak English. More than a few of them owed their lives to that boy's father, including Pat himself!

When they finally reached home, just about everyone on the island was out to greet the ship and their load of boys. Captain Tollandar was on the boat landing waiting for Pat and young TinLi. He said to the boy, "I worked with your Papa during the war and had the highest respect for him. I could not save his life, but I sure as hell will help his son any way I can!"

TinLi looked a little frightened and he asked, "Good Sir Capting, please may I here stay with Capting Pat, teach he me be American Boy, mebe school me go, learn me good man be. Me want not shoots mor, me be Capting of Boy Ship?"

Pat looked up at Captain Tollandar and said, "If that is what he wants, I WILL make it so, he has been hurt enough, let's just let him decide what he wants to do."

TinLi smiled and hugged Pat, whispering in Pat's ear, "Papa me?"

Pat's eyes were too busy running as water faucets, so he just nodded his head in that universal symbol for, "YES!"

Could the Patrick O'Toole accommodate a Cadet Midshipman? There are two Merchant Marine Academies in the Western United States, Texas A & M and The California Maritime Academy, will young TinLi select one of those two?