Jean-Pierre opened his eyes with difficulty, as if each memory weighed a ton.
His hands were trembling. For a moment, he seemed to forget that he was in a courtroom, in front of a judge, prosecutors, and lawyers.
He was only looking at me.
— I was with him… — he repeated in a low voice. — Your father was my best friend there.
I felt the air leave my chest.
"My father...?" I asked. "Did you really know him?"
Jean-Pierre nodded his head slowly.
"We were called 'the two Frenchmen from the South,' even though we weren't exactly from the same place," he said with a sad smile. "He talked about his wife every day... about your mother. And about the baby that was about to be born. You."
My legs became weak.
All my life, I had heard fragmented stories about my father: a hero, a brave soldier who died in combat.
But no one had ever told me what really happened .
Judge Morel struck with his gavel.
— Agent Delorme, what's going on over there?
I didn't even hear it.
— Please… — I said softly to Jean-Pierre. — Tell me what happened that day.
Jean-Pierre took a deep breath, as if he were returning to the jungle of Vietnam.
" Hamburger Hill... it was hell ," he murmured. "It was raining, the mud was up to our knees. Shots were coming from everywhere. Your father was next to me when the mortars started falling."
The courtroom fell silent.
Even the prosecutor stopped speaking.
Jean-Pierre continued:
— We were advancing towards the top of the hill. There was smoke, fire… shouts. And then an explosion fell near us. A soldier was wounded in open ground.
Her eyes filled with tears.
— I was about to run to get him. But your father pushed me to the ground.
I felt a lump in my throat.
“Stay on land,” he told me. “You have children, Patterson.”
Jean-Pierre ran a hand over his face.
— But he's the one who ran.
My hands began to tremble.
— My father… saved someone?
Jean-Pierre shook his head slowly.
— Not just one person. He saved two men that day.
The entire room was motionless.
"The first was that wounded soldier," he said. "He dragged him to cover while bullets whizzed by. Then he went back out for another comrade trapped higher up."
His voice broke.
— That second man… was me.
I had the impression that the world was turning.
- YOU… ?
