The Dirty Dozen

By WildClover 27

The annual Garrison's Gorillas reunion was held in New York City in June of 1967. Casino was the one who picked up a free copy of the New York Times from the front desk of the hotel they were all comfortably checked into. He took it up to their suite and sprawled on the couch in the sitting room to read the funnies.

Thumbing through the pages of newsprint, his eyes were drawn to the title of a movie that was playing in New York, 'The Dirty Dozen.' Something made him read the summary: During World War II, a rebellious U.S. Army Major is assigned a dozen convicted murderers to train and lead them into a mass assassination mission of German officers. "Hey, doesn't this sound familiar?" he asked the occupants of the room.

That was how the five men found themselves sitting together in a row in the back of a movie theatre. The lights went out and the reel began. There were smiles as the movie progressed, until the introduction of a character named, appropriately enough, Archer Maggott. As one, the five men leaned forward in shock and stared at the screen.

"Bloody 'ell," whispered Goniff in disbelief. "It's Wheeler."

"I thought you killed him?" Casino whispered to Chief.

"I did," replied Chief, just as startled.

The five men huddled together, their eyes glued to the screen.

"Gentlemen, it cannot be Wheeler," whispered Actor. "He would be our age now. This man is too young."

Casino was stunned. "It sure looks like him. Did somebody raid our files?"

"Those are sealed," reassured Garrison.

"Since when did that stop us?" asked Actor. The four men turned their heads sharply to look at the ex-confidence man. He had a point. A strong point.

"So 'oo is this blighter?" asked Goniff.

"I wasn't watching the opening credits," said Garrison. Truth be known he had been munching on Raisinettes, a throwback to his youth on the very rare occasions they had taken in a film while in Great Falls.

The film captured their entire attention. However, if anyone had been sitting close enough to them, they would have wondered why these middle-aged men laughed during the wrong parts.