It is World War 2. The enemy is hitting hard. The government finally decides that the blacks would be more useful fighting than in the fields, but only doing the most dangerous jobs.
And so they were given the name, “grunt soldier”, which simply meant that they had to fight their way ahead and hopefully stay alive long enough to report back to their commanding officer.
Asaba a young black man together with many others signed up. Trained only in the basics as compared to the other white recruits, they are deployed to the field after only twelve days.
To pacify them, they are given the title ‘General Service Engineer’ with such responsibilities as building roads and supplying ammunition — whatever it took to keep the front line going. That meant they were regularly in a combat zone. Many from his recruitment group are dead before the end of three months.
Despite all the odds, Asaba manages to come back every time.
At first nobody took notice because he was just another black man and it was only a matter of time before he got his head blown off. His kind provided target practice for the enemy.
It is now eight months since he signed up and he still goes in and does not come out alone. He comes out with the injured, the dying and even the dead.
Many white men are willing to fight by his side.
Asaba has distinguished himself in every way. His exploits on the enemy speak for themselves and it was only a matter of time before it was asked why his officer status did not change. There is a challenge though – it will not do to have a black man leading a group of able white men. Besides it would strengthen the Civil Rights Movement.
To solve this problem Asaba is reassigned to another zone where fighting is very fierce…
His new commanding officer receives him in passing, but John his new platoon commander receives him as a friend.
Finally among friends, it was not long before Asaba began to distinguish himself as an anchor in the group.
It was more than three years now and Asaba was overdue for a promotion – nobody had foreseen a colored man making it this far…and so the Shadow operative was created. It was just a fancy sounding name for “grunt soldier”, however the only real advantage was that he was his own commander in the field – he depended on himself for his life for he was the sole member of the ‘team’. After one of Asaba’s daring exploits, Max a white boy with connections requests to work with Asaba. It is now officially a team of two.
Towards the end of the war the shadow operatives encounter Jimmy, a newspaper man. Jimmy is willing to risk his career to write about Asaba – if what he has heard is right, then Asaba fits the profile of a hero.
Even though he is not acknowledged by his own, the enemy has taken an interest in Asaba. The Germans have been trying to mass produce a certain trait of soldiers and Asaba had proved himself against all odds. A price is secretly put on Asaba’s head if he is delivered alive.
Through an informer Asaba’s commanding officers hear of the price on his head. They see an opportunity to solve the “high flying” negro problem and secondly an opportunity to take some money home after the war.
Asaba is secretly sold off and sent on a ‘classified mission’ from which he is not meant to return. With promotion Max is told to acknowledge credit for the exploits of the shadow operative.
Alone in enemy territory can Asaba muster the soldier within and come home.
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Last update: 09-01-2012 19:27 |
| Published in : Action |
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