The Last Soldier of Bravo Four (conclusion)

A Halloween Story

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File Number x-2309

Date Completed: 1 November 2021

Subjects: Jerry Lofton,status: deceased, KIA Vietnam War, 4th August 1969, Location and mission: Classified; TOP SECRET.

Frank Johnson, Status: KIA Vietnam War, 4th August (?) 1969

Peter Barnes, Attorney at Law, status: Undetermined

Prepared by: Emory Lynn Alton, Lt. General, United States Army, the Pentagon

I, Lieutenant General E.L. Alton, attest that the following are true facts and concern the Glen Burnie Maryland incident and connected classified mission of Vietnam War, 1969, of Bravo Company, 4th Platoon, 215th Infantry Division.

The information contained herein is prohibited to all but personnel with Level 10 Alpha Tango Victor clearance. No photocopy, written notes, photographs nor any part of this file shall leave the storage section in which it is kept. Furthermore, any person, whether military personnel or any civilian, who attempts any such reproduction or removal of any part of this file shall be subject to prosecution, and upon being found guilty, subject to severe punishment.

I was contacted in the last hours of 31 October, 2021 concerning an incident of critical importance in the city of Glen Burnie Maryland on 31 October 2021. Initial reports indicated a major firefight in the Harundale section and I was counseled by Sergeant Major of the Army Kelly Freeman to urge the Maryland governor to permit active duty troops from Fort George G. Meade into the area. Attached is an official report from Attorney Peter Barnes. His statement says:

I was contacted by a Mr. Jerry Lofton concerning a problem the nature of which my private security company specializes in. Days before Halloween night, I knew that he was in trouble because of how he described losing a man he was protecting from an unspecified predator. In various countries it often poses as creatures from myth, folklore and written fiction. In England people often see abnormally large black dogs called “hell hounds”; in Ireland leprechauns and fairies; in Scotland, they are kelpies. In western Europe there are too many to name. Romania has had its vampires, and in the whole of European history werewolves were blamed for missing persons and other animal attacks. Throughout all of Asia, the myth of the 9 tail fox are plentiful.

It was the latter which Mr. Lofton contacted me about. Knowing from experience that he was in very real danger, I sent a shock team of bodyguards, followed by a party of household or domestic administrative personnel and a full tactical team.

Later that night Mr. Lofton contacted me to inform me he could hear a baby crying in his back yard. This indicates the presence of the 9 tail fox, in reality a shape-shifting monster of a predatory nature.

My shock team arrived at 20:13 and placed Mr. Lofton into protective custody. This consists of three personal guards which can disengage from the subject only when properly relieved, four outside guards located at weak points within a house or other structure; the number being larger for industrial or office targets. Also a fire team of twelve elite soldiers trained by the United States Army under contractual circumstances. Further training consists of three components: survival, under contract with Australian specialists; weapons use and improvisation; surveillance and tracking; executed in cooperation with Quantico training assets of unspecified U.S. agencies.

By 21:45 EDT, all units reported that they were in place and gave a status of operational. This means that an op is under command of the senior officer and further communications will be made only in the event of an emergency.

That emergency communication came to my HQ at exactly 22:00 EDT.

My command center began to receive radio calls and cell communications which indicated a firefight in progress at the location. First there was a sighting of a woman who was witnessed to “change into” a fox with a “abnormally large tail”. Followed immediately by frantic calls for medics even though every one in the field is always trained for combat medical procedures. The ensuing battle was frantic and ended with an unidentified team member calling for grenades to be used on a specific point in the yard. The target was eliminated and as trained, survivors used vision-enhancing technology to make sure no small animals or insects survived. An M-67 flamethrower was used to scorch the area as Army regulars moved in to support.

At that point it was called in that Mr. Lofton was, despite his close guard detail inside the house, gone. Once 00:00 hours came and went, all persons on the premises searched for the subject. He was not found. Two possibilities that I consider valid are:

1. Jerry Lofton was killed as the creature had intended. Victims vanish at times, presumably consumed.

2. Jerry Lofton had never been there. This theory is supported by the fact that the bodyguard detail never saw any disturbance, never saw or heard anything in their midst. Mr. Lofton had vanished while they were within inches of him. Standard procedure calls for a bodyguard detail to ignore even a close proximity disturbance up to and including weapons fire. The mission has always been such that bodyguards will give their lives to protect those whose safety they are charged to protect.

End of sworn statement by Peter Barnes.

There is no evidence that a Jerry Lofton ever occupied the house in Harundale. We did, however, find records that stated he was a member of the lost Bravo Four platoon in Cambodia in 1969.

Since the families never had any knowledge of the deaths of these fine soldiers, it was my suggestion and the Major General’s order that the soldiers of Bravo Four have their status changed to Killed in Action; furthermore, that they be memorialized at Arlington National Cemetery; that they be awarded posthumous Medals of Honor and finally that their surviving relatives be given the proper ceremonies and benefits.

Whatever happened, whether the “ghost” of Jerry Lofton and that of Frank Johnson connected to gain full justice for themselves and Bravo Four, or to finally avenge them by killing the creature they were killed by, I cannot pretend to know.

Of the Vietnam veterans who made it home alive, all have suffered, benefits withholding became widespread, and an ungrateful public abused them until many died by drugs, exposure to Agent Orange, or insufficient treatment of wounds including PTSD. They always deserved better. They did not run from the call to duty. They did not flee to Canada. They suffered through missions that often were needless and ill-advised. They were–they are–heroes. The finest and most honorable men of their generation. The men of Bravo Company, 4th platoon, shall be recognized as such.

End of Report

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Editor’s note:

There were only five survivors of the team sent in by the mercenaries under the employ of Peter Barnes. Under immediate pressure by the Pentagon, he agreed to shut down operations for his freelance protection firm. However, a follow-up visit to his office building on the afternoon of 1 November failed to locate any such law firm as Barnes and Associates. Further, no record of a Peter Barnes in New York could be found of an age matching the attorney. Looking back on the evidence, however, a journal was found. It belonged to Jerry Lofton and skipped from 1969, including yellowed and aged pages, right to the day Frank Johnson called him in 1975.

No explanation for this seems possible, and conjecture has proved pointless.