MISSION IMPOSSIBLE TO AUSTRIA (Captain Harrison, dead soldier, wreck, accident, hospital, hearse, US government, Austrian government, US embassy)

During an assignment to a major command in Germany, my boss received a priority mission. It stated that two soldiers in your command were involved in an accident in Austria. One is dead and the other, still alive, is near death. Politicians, acting on behalf of relatives of the soldiers, are vigorously protesting to the US Government to get the release of these individuals being held by the Austrian government who is asking for payment of damages caused by the accident before their release.

My boss called me, William C. Harrison, in and stated that we had been assigned a mission impossible to retrieve these individuals and you are hereby assigned that mission to go to Austria and get them released expeditiously using whatever means necessary. I didn't know at the time what I was up against but I suspected it was a tough one. You see my boss tended to favor me for the impossible tasks.

My first stop was at the US Embassy in Vienna. The lawyers there informed me that they had tried everything possible under their authority without success and that I was on my own. I realized at that moment the task was an impossible one. The US government couldn't get it done so they gave it to the military.

My first step was to develop a plan. So, I and my assistant decided to go partying that night at one of Vienna's finest nightclubs. They were dancing to Chubby Checker's Twist. The next day we set out to visit the hospital that housed the dead body and the near death soldier.  After visiting the hospital, talking with the injured soldier who had partially recovered and assessing how the hospital operated, I developed a plan to remove the dead body and the injured soldier.

My plan called for the action to take place at midnight when the security guards changed over. We noticed that there was considerable mulling around when one shift changed to the next. This gave us some ideas about what we could do while they mulled about.

Our plan called for the removal of both the dead body and sich soldier at midnight. My assistant had become thoroughly familiar with where the body was kept along with procedures for transporting the dead from the hospital. At the stroke of midnight, I, dressed in military uniform, went to the patient's room as though I'm just another physician. I walked out of the hospital with injured soldier while my assistant loaded the dead body into a hearse and we headed back to Germany

Upon arrival at the first US Military Base in Germany, I turned the dead body over to the base commander asking him to expeditiously ship the body back to the US and return the hearse back to the Austrian Hospital. Then, I drove back to my command with the injured soldier depositing him a US Military Hospital near his unit. I then reported to my boss that the mission had been accomplished and resumed my regular duties as Director of Security. I do not know how the wrecked vehicle, the damage that it caused and payment of hospital expenses were resolved. I can only assume that the two governments, US and Austria, negotiated a solution.

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