Flying Angels(71)

Chapter 17


The nurses of the Medical Air Evacuation Transport Squadron wore their dress uniforms for the ceremony. The base commander was there, and a representative from the Army Air Forces, the Flight Nurses’ Corps, and the RAF on the British side. The roll was called and each of them was given a medal for distinguished service and bravery in combat, which they hadn’t expected. Six women were named posthumously for service to their country and bravery in combat, among them were Lieutenant Prudence Pommery and Lieutenant Audrey Anne Parker. Max accepted the medal for Pru, and Lizzie for Audrey. Lizzie couldn’t stop crying when she accepted it, and she was going to deliver it herself to the cemetery in Annapolis to be put on display.

Max had come to the ceremony to be with Emma, and Pru’s parents had come too. Ed was there with Lizzie. Dan was there for Alex. And Gonzague had come for Louise. He was proud of her when she received her medal. He had come in a dark suit and looked very proper. He was to be decorated soon by General de Gaulle as a Commander of the Legion of Honour. They all stayed together in a group at the reception afterwards, after all the speeches, and photographs were taken, and the London Times had covered it.

   The others were intrigued by Gonzague. Louise had told them the story. She was the only one who would be returning to Europe again soon, to live in France with him, as his wife. She wanted the marriage to take place in France. It would have been illegal in North Carolina, nothing had changed. And in France, she would be a countess as Gonzague’s wife. Her parents would come to France, after Gonzague went to meet them in North Carolina. The others had their lives waiting for them in the States, except for Emma, who was going to stay with the Pommerys in Yorkshire for a month. Max had a month’s leave before he was to be discharged.

It was a special event on a golden day they would never forget. Gonzague spent another day with Louise afterwards, and then left for Provence. The nurses were leaving in five days. Each moment seemed precious and fleeting in their final hours together.

They were all in Lizzie’s room with her the next day, when she was asked to come downstairs to the sitting room, and they all went with her, as though they sensed danger in their midst for a last time. An air forces commander was waiting for her, and she started to cry as soon as she saw him. She knew what it meant, and so did her friends. They had been through it too often. It didn’t seem possible that tragedy could strike again, but it had.

In the last great battle of the war in the Pacific, her brother Henry had been killed at the Battle of Okinawa. She had lost both her brothers to the war, and her parents had given both sons. It had happened to others and seemed unthinkably cruel. Audrey’s brother had been among the very first casualties, and now Lizzie’s brother was the last. She was her parents’ only surviving child now. Just like the Pommerys with Max. It was too much to give and too much to lose in a war that would leave none of them the same and had taken too much from everyone. She went back to her room, and cried all day, with her friends around her for support.

   Lizzie spoke to her parents that night. She was coming home to them. They were devastated by another immense blow. She felt dazed during her remaining days in England, and her friends never left her for an instant. They took turns sleeping in Audrey’s empty bed in her room. She was going home to console her parents and Ed would be joining her soon. He comforted her in the loss of her brother, as he had with the first one. And now he was her future. Their losses had brought them closer, as it had dome for so many.

Five days after they received their medals, they were at the airport. Lizzie, Louise, and Alex were ready to leave, and ten other nurses were flying home on the same flight. There was a crowd of nurses from the air evacuation squadron who had come to say goodbye. There was hugging and kissing and tears and promises to meet again. Leaving each other was like leaving home again. They had become a family and were returning to an unfamiliar world with their losses as battle scars, and the bond they shared one of pure love. They had brought each other safety and comfort in a place where there was none.

This was the last time they would all be together. They were going home now, forever changed, forever different, and stronger than when they arrived, forever bonded to each other. Their comrades in war never to be forgotten, the experiences they shared a part of them, their memories treasured.

   Alex, Lizzie, and Louise climbed the stairs together to the transport plane waiting on the tarmac. They waved to their friends and a cheer went up from the crowd. When the doors closed, the plane lumbered down the runway, and took to the skies. Their friends on the ground watched them until the plane disappeared. The Flying Angels were homebound at last, with their losses and all they had gained and learned from each other engraved on their hearts.