THE HANGAR
By Angie Christie

     It stood proud, time had not really damaged it, still standing after so many years. All it had was its memories which had accumulated in those dark, dark years since it was built in 1939. But, it slept on. Oblivious to knowing that the airfield was no more, taken over by farming and its runways hidden. Hidden, but not forgotten.
     Throughout those days of World War II, the hangar was alive, alive to the shouts of men, the aircraft pushed out of its doors ready for another raid over the North Sea. It heard the planes returning and rejoiced, sadness creeping in when some did not make it back. It remembered the nights too, when men came and went, fastening the doors within. It felt secure and slept till daylight when more planes were brought in through the huge metal doors.
     Life carried on around it and many years were to pass. Years when men had gone back to their own country and grew old as time took its toll. The men who carried memories of that airfield in the midst of the East Anglian countryside. They thought fondly too of their comrades who gave their lives for peace and thanking the Almighty for sparing them.
     Joe Kaplinsky was one such veteran. He knew he was lucky. He was not a flyer in those far off days of war, but he knew that his contribution to the war effort was keeping the planes in the air for the raids in which many did not return. His work was vital. Not that he spoke much about it, but memories cannot fade and Joe knew this. Oh, he was asked a lot about his time over in England, but he was not a bragger so no one really knew the whole story. A story Joe had kept hidden for decades.
     In the summer of 2009, he received a letter from the Veteran's Association telling him that a nostalgic visit was being arranged to his old airfield in England and, as he was once stationed at USAF Lawndon, would he be able to accompany others for a reunion? Joe knew that he could not turn down this invitation and, yes, he had the money saved. Betsy, his dear wife, would love the trip and what else was he to spend his money on? They had no children.
     'I will be laying a ghost,' Joe thought and dully contacted the organizers and told them to keep two tickets for him and Betsy.
     When they were driven to the airfield, like many other men, Joe alighted with a lump in the throat. How time had changed the old place. The first thing he noticed was the old hangar.
     "It is still here!" he exclaimed as the memories came flooding back.
     One memory, in particular, of his comrade Virgil. The night the airfield was bombed during that terrible night so many years ago. As the siren sounded... well, a klaxon really, he thought - Virgil ran for shelter in the brick dugout, but Joe knew that in all the screaming of the bombs, Virgil was no longer running with him. He knew that he had fallen. A deadly fall where there was no return.
     As Joe stood next to the old hangar, he came upon another memory which was one he had never told a soul. He knew that Virgil's wife, Sandy, was expecting their first child when he was posted overseas and used to receive letters telling him of the progress of a little girl he knew he might never see. He proudly told Joe that her name was Virginia. Joe remembered how he tried to give Virgil a talking to for being so morbid, but the fact of the matter was, Virgil would not get rid of the fear in his heart.
     Joe knew he should go and see how Betsy was, but realized she was chatting away happily to other wives. Words came flooding back also into old Joe's mind. Before that fateful day when the airfield was bombed and Virgil lost his precious life. Words, yes, he remembered, oh so clearly, as they stood in the hangar after seeing another plane airworthy again. He thought at the time that Virgil was just being fanciful. What were those words that he'd said to Joe? Words Joe never forgot.
     "Joe, I may not make it back and I have felt this for a long while. One day, Buddy, you will meet my little girl and tell her of me."
     Virgil came from a state far removed from Joe's state of New Jersey so he, at the time, dismissed Virgil's words. As Joe walked into the old hangar, now full of farming feed and, instead of the planes, an old tractor stood, he realized a tear was running down his face. Suddenly, he was brought back to the present when he heard a very excited Betsy calling him from the hangar doors. A lady of about sixty or more stood with Betsy smiling at Joe. As she walked toward Joe, she held out her hand.
     "My name is Virginia. Mom kept all my dad's mail that he ever sent her from here. Joe, I am Virgil's daughter. My mom was called Sandy, but I lost her ten years ago."
     Virgil's prophecy had come true. Joe could not hold back the tears of joy and he knew that while there was breath in his body, he would be keeping contact with the one person he thought he would never meet.
     The old hangar creaked and the wind shook the metal doors, but it now could sleep till eternity as its secret was now revealed. A secret old Joe kept hidden deep in his heart.

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