Epilogue

Klink was uncertain what to do about the letter. Hilda had placed it on his desk before she disappeared, it seemed. Whenever she'd been back last.

He'd eventually called a few other camps. They hadn't received it, but they would certainly not be doing what Hitler ordered if they did. This satisfied Klink.

He noticed a sense of unease on Hogan's face at roll call one morning soon after that. "Hogan, may I see you for a second?" he asked.

"Sure, what is it?" Hogan asked after the others were dismissed.

Klink sighed. "Hogan…I chose to ignore all the strange goings-on just before Burkhalter disappeared, Hochstetter was apparently arrested or something, and…well, you know," he said as he led the American colonel into his office. "My secretaries, it seemed everyone left. I had a Hitler youth come in to do my secretarial work."

"I noticed." And began to educate the kid about the evils of the Nazis and how nice we Allies really are, Hogan thought to himself.

"Colonel Hogan, it appears the Allies will be here soon. And, I wanted you to see this." Klink handed the dispatch that Hilda had shown Hogan to him. "It is an order…I could not bring myself to look upon it. I actually called other camps to make sure they would not carry it out."

Hogan was shocked as he read it. He'd heard from London that Hitler, in his last days, actually had ordered all Allied POWs to be shot, and that nobody was carrying out that order. He didn't know what to say now that he was looking at the actual order, except to mutter, "Thanks."

"Hogan…strange things happened here. Very strange things. I don't know if you were ever involved. But, let me just say, if you were Nimrod, or Papa Bear, or had anything to do with anything strange…well, I admire you. It took a lot of courage for me to make those calls after I saw that letter…whoever Nimrod was, I could never be that bold."

Hogan had enough pity in him to relate, "We all do our part. Theodore Roosevelt once said, 'Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.' You had a little and you could protect some people." Although Hogan knew none of the other commandants would have obeyed that order anyway, he wanted Klink to feel like he'd done something. Plus, it would help with his case. "Me, I was a simple POW. Maybe we helped to stop that duel—but we just happened to be ready and have an idea."

"I am not just talking about that, Hogan. Remember when I asked if you were a spy? I don't know what answer I expected, or what I would have done if you'd said 'yes.' But…like with what that newspaper reporter wrote about." He flailed his arms. "I'm sorry, I know I'm not making much sense."

Schultz entered the office at that moment. "Herr Kommandant, there is an officer who wishes to enter the camp."

"Well, let him in," Klink insisted.

"Really? Even though he is American?"

Klink sighed and told him to surrender, and Schultz left. Hogan breathed a sigh of relief. Now, he wouldn't have to tell—although he imagined some things would get out anyway.

"Well, now I suppose you will never have to tell me." Klink echoed his thoughts. "Perhaps it is like with that question. I don't know if I want to know."

"And maybe when you finally look at all the evils the Nazis did, you'll hope that I was," Hogan said. "And you can be glad that no matter who Papa Bear, Nimrod, or anyone else was, you didn't stop them. And that one little act with that order shows maybe you weren't so bad after all."

"Perhaps not." Finding no more words, Klink said, "Celebrate with your men—wait. I would prefer to go with you. To surrender officially."

"Sure."

Hogan knew that quite a bit would need done yet, but he'd help Klink and Schultz as they adjusted to civilian life. Schultz with his family intact, too, which was a great blessing given the problems some families had.

Klink turned abruptly to him after a few minutes. "Hogan, I just heard one soldier say you had run this camp all along. What did he mean?"

"You really want to know?"

Klink thought about it. "Maybe someday."

Hogan agreed. For now, victory was all that mattered.