"That's what General Rawson thought you would say,"
Lauffer said emotionally, "as your
father's son, as the great-grandson of General Pueyrredon. That you would join us!"
Don'
t get carried away, Roberto," Clete said. "I'll
fly the airplane, if it comes down to that, but I'm not enlisting in your
army."
"Actually, the subject of a temporary commission did come up," Martin said. "Would you be willing-"
"I already have a Marine Corps commission," Clete said.
"This would be a temporary commission," Martin said. "It would solve a lot of problems...."
"Would I have to swear an oath? Of allegiance?"
"Yes, naturally. Of course."
"The moment I did that," Clete said, "I would lose my
American citizenship."
"That would be difficult for you?"
"Yeah, it would," Clete said without thinking about it. "I don'
t want to do that."
He happened to glance at Martin's eyes.
And saw in them that be had just closed a door that would never again be opened.
If I had accepted that temporary commission under these circumstances, where accepting it might mean that I would find myself standing in front of a
wall with Rawson, Martin, and Lauffer, even if it lasted only 3 days, they would thereafter have accepted me a bona fide Argentine. Now that will never happen.
Well, so be it. I'm an
American. I don'
t want to give thatup.
"That leaves you, of course," Martin said, cordially enough, "as the English would put it, as neither fish nor
good red
meat"
-W.E.B. Griffin p-591 (
Blood and Honor)