The Uncivil Patriot

Louisiana, the 18^th state of the Union, covered over 48,000 square miles at the end of the Mississippi Valley. It’s mother pelican seal, with the motto "Union, Justice and Confidence" scrolled beneath it, was pictured on her majestic blue flag. Wings spread, her long neck arched and beak extended with food for the baby pelicans in the nest below her, the mother pelican seal illustrated family, state and democracy. In the early years, as a member of the union, Louisiana was referred to as The Pelican State.

When the French and Spanish settlers first moved into Louisiana she became known as The Creole State; then after that she also became known as The Bayou State, because of her hundreds of sluggish streams, marshes and lowlands in the ever growing delta; after that she became known as The Sugar State, in recognition of her many sugar cane farms.

From the bayou country, to New Orleans, "the cradle of jazz, to the Capital city, Baton Rouge, where Huey P. Long’s powerful political machine dictated government from l928 to l935, Louisiana passed political puberty and became a seasoned shrew. The exodus of some of the Mafia out of Chicago, during the power of Al Capone, filtered south into Louisiana. However, during Huey P. Long’s reign, Organized Crime was unable to gain significant foothold in the larger cities. Therefore, the Mafia families camouflaged themselves in the smaller outlying municipalities, where their criminal activities were conducted under a cloak of restraint.

After Huey Long’s assassination in 1935 Organized Crime boldly escalated. The Mafia became more intensified and began to plant it’s ugly seed throughout Louisiana, influencing government, forming Unions and Protection rackets in the larger cities, yet continuing their illegal activities in the outlying areas. It was then that the pelican seemed to look sternly down on it’s nest of little ones, as if she could see that "Union, Justice and Confidence" had begun to lose some of it’s identity.

Louisiana never lost any of her magnificent beauty, from the blossoming magnolias in the spring to the Spanish moss clinging to the cypress and oak trees throughout the countryside. There were gardens and courtyards of azaleas, camellias, honeysuckle, iris, lilies, orchids and passionflowers. The rural areas consisted of thousands of small farms growing cotton, rice, sugar cane, potatoes and strawberries. They raised cattle, hogs and sheep; and alfalfa, soybeans and lespedeza for feed. The markets, overflowing with figs, peanuts, pecans, grapefruits, oranges and strawberries, demonstrated the natural colors of fresh fruits and nuts. The friendly people that made it all happen had reason to be proud of their heritage.

Then there were the Scottish Clans, already proud of their heritage, who had settled in the small cities and rural areas. Being stable families and ambitious farmers and laborers, they harmonized with the friendly Louisiana environment without having to adjust. But the interference of organized crime was not acceptable to them, particularly to the Campbell Clan. Warlike, wry mouthed and still influenced by their barbaric ancestry, they demanded the continued existence of "Union, Justice and Confidence", and were the willing to die for it.

Organized crime could not find an easy way to deal with these defiant Scots. This was a difficult time for both, the Organization and the Clans. This confrontation was not a problem for Louisiana, because she knew that she had every-thing to gain and nothing to lose. The two adversaries were trying to destroy each other.

That era is when this story begins, the year 1930, the beginning of the Great Depression.

* * *

During 1937 the Soviet Union was in the process of finalizing Joseph Stalin’s purge of disloyal communist leaders and the Moscow Trials committed many of them to death. As Stalin’s power gained further control, within the Kremlin, his popularity increased enough to allow his Secret Police free reign, whereby anyone disloyal to the cause was either executed, or transferred to Siberia, depending on their physical usefulness to the industry, in that area of Russia.

The Russian Secret Police, referred to as the NKVD, spied on the people in their country, making arrests and aiding in the prosecution of those they found hostile to the Communist Party. Some of the hostile sent to Siberia were the strongest and most adventurous individualists. Others received pardon, from the jaws of death, when Stalin perceived possible benefit to the USSR by allowing them to live. As these stronger men were watched and evaluated by Kremlin Committees their efforts, and obvious commitment to their existence, eventually revealed their potential, whereby some of them were selected to study in Leningrad University. After graduation they would train with the Secret Police in order to qualify to further expand the cold war and Russian revolutionary goals abroad.

Vladimir Khrenkov was such a man. A monstrous physique, direct piercing eyes commanding attention out of a stoic face with a slash for a mouth, in a jaw that seemed to be set, but wasn’t, because his tongue had teeth marks in it.

The interrogation of Khrenkov, after his release from training, was conducted in the Russian language. Since that would serve no purpose, to anyone not familiar with Slavic, this story will use the English language.

"You have served well Vladimir," the head of the interrogation committee, Yuri Motorin said, turning over papers in the folder on the table in front of him, grunting as he read. Then, he slowly looked over at Vladimir with eyes that bored into the big Russian’s face. Yuri passed the folder to the four other members of the committee and waited patiently while they reviewed the contents, demonstrated their amazement, with grunts, and passed it on. When the folder was returned to the table in front of him Yuri removed his penetrating gaze from Vladimir and turned to each member, receiving a single nod of acceptance from each one.

"You had excellent grades in school and speak and write the English language as well as Russian. However, you are clumsy in the martial arts, although you have powerful arms and legs, but make up for it by your power in other necessary strengths, particularly your hands. You are an expert marksman with both rifles and pistols and have an astute knowledge about knives."

Vladimir Khrenkov, expressionless, nodded.

"Why did you kill the two members of the Generalissimo’s police?"

"They were shoving my mother and father around and had beaten my brother who was lying bloody on the floor of our house."

"You broke both their necks with your hands. You should have been shot for that. I saw you taken from your cell and while standing before the execution squad you raised your arms and screamed that you were dying for your country. Generalissimo Stalin stopped the execution, strode across the yard and stood before you, both of you looking at each other in silence for several minutes. Then he turned to me and said that he wanted you in his quarters immediately. What did he say to you?"

The silence of Vladimir Khrenkov was deafening.

Yuri Motorin had not smiled in a month. He did then, momentarily. His voice was with measured words. "It is our wish that you, uh, shall we say," he paused to glance up from the table to sneer while he said the next word, "volunteer to go to the United States and serve your country." When Vladimir nodded he continued. "We are the Soviet Union and find our communi