ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Short Story - In Memory

Updated on June 6, 2011

In Memory


The flashing lights glistened on the dark, wet pavement as muffled radio traffic sounded through the light rain. Above the overpass, unseen traffic roared by on I-17, bound for Flagstaff to the North and Phoenix to the south.

Daisy Mountain Fire had been the first responder, followed by the sheriff’s department, and the Arizona Department of Public Safety . Since it was on the I-17 right of way, final jurisdiction went to the DPS. Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies turned it over to their fellow DPS officers, and left the scene. Daisy Mountain had already gone.

“Well, there goes his Memorial Day weekend.” The dark humor came from Officer Hardy Wallace. He was standing on the shoulder overlooking Officer Davis and the reason for the call.

The dead man looked to be in his late sixties or maybe early seventies. He had a short, gray pony-tail, and a thin beard. His face was worn and tired. His sightless eyes stared up at the bottom of the concrete overpass. He was beyond caring.

A passing motorist from New River had spotted him in his headlights, sitting silently and unmoving. He had stopped to render aid, and then realized the man was dead. A 9-11 call brought emergency services and now Officer Wallace and Officer Davis were finalizing the report before the county morgue unit came to retrieve the body.

“I know this guy. He usually worked the Thunderbird exit ramp in Phoenix. I wonder why he's up here?”

Officer Jimmy Davis was a five year patrol officer. He had served in Iraq.

“He wasn’t a bad guy,really. He just had a few mental problems. Kept to himself mostly. I’m going to look through his backpack for ID and maybe next of kin info.”

Hardy Wallace nodded and watched as a curious motorist slowed down. He waved him on and turned back. He had served in Desert Storm, and he watched out for the younger Jimmy Davis.

A radio call reported that county morgue was fifteen minutes out. Officer Wallace responded and flipped on his unit’s headlights to see if it was still raining. It was.

“What are you and Judy doing tomorrow for Memorial day?”

Officer Wallace was divorced. Karen had endured one too many long nights alone, and she’d given Hardy an ultimatum. It was the job or her. Hardy didn’t even have to think about it. He had been with the Arizona Department of Public Safety when they first met, and Karen had known it from the beginning, so she had no cause to claim she did not know what she was getting into.

Lightning flashed close by, and Hardy counted the seconds. At one-thousand-five, the thunder roared, making the lighting strike about a mile away.

“Holy shit!”

Jimmy Davis was a Christian, so the unexpected cursing drew Wallace’s immediate attention.

“What?”

“This guy is a Marine. I just found his discharge papers. He served in Vietnam.”

Jimmy Davis was also a Marine, while Hardy Wallace was Army.

“We’ll note that on our report so the guy gets full honors.”

The radio notified Hardy that county was five miles out. Another curious motorist slowed down and he waved him on. Something had changed after learning the guy was military. There was just something about it. He thought of the TV series, “Band of Brothers’. There was something about a brother in combat.

“County’s close Jimmy. You about done?”

“Yeah, the poor guy didn’t have much….”

His voice halted, and then there was only the sound of rain and the idling motors of the units.

“Jesus Christ.”

The words were low and spoken in reverence. It was not a curse. It was more of a prayer. It was a calling on The Savior.

Officer Jimmy Davis climbed out of the ditch and walked up to Officer Hardy Wallace. His face was pale and tears were welling in his eyes. Something was clutched in his hand.

“It’s The Medal, Hardy.”

Confused, Officer Hardy Wallace stared at his brother officer with a question in his eyes.

Jimmy Davis opened his hand. “He won The Medal, Hardy. This guy was a Medal of Honor winner.”

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)