Recently, a mysterious figure known only as Commander McBragg began sending us thrilling and, he claims, true stories of his colorful life. A daring rescue by a young Hillary Clinton, late nights with Barack Obama, and, today, a little romance with a young woman named "Julia."
I remember back in 2002 when I was working as an operations research officer at the Concepts Analysis Agency at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, and lived in a little one bedroom apartment off Ft. Myer Drive in Rosslyn near the Metro. It was early May and I was dating Julia, this chick I had met in a bar in Georgetown across the Potomac two months before. I'd always liked little brunettes and she was very outgoing and vivacious, but also seemed pretty frivolous and I had the feeling that if she graduated she would end up as a flight attendant for US Air if she was lucky, or a waitress at Bennigan's if she wasn't.

She was way younger than I was and I'd normally cruise for chicks my own age at the Ft. Myer Officer's Club, but one night I'd been eating raw clams and doing shooters in a bar on M Street with a Navy buddy back from the Gulf and there she was, wearing a blue polka dot top, khaki skirt and little ballet flats, with her hair pulled back in one of those headbands all the girls were wearing back then. I was almost old enough to be her father, but lucky enough not to be and I bought her a drink as I chatted her up.

It was a very scary time back then, less than a year after 9/11, with anthrax in mailboxes and rumors galore. Girls like her on the make usually went for the political types; newly minted PhD White House Fellows, congressional staffers, or assistant deputy secretaries of whatever. But, we had just finished pounding the crap out of Afghanistan, the Taliban were on the run, and military types like me had a temporary edge over the power-wonk monkeys, at least for awhile.

She had wanted to go home with me that night, but I was forecasting ammunition requirements for the upcoming invasion and had to give a 6am briefing in Crystal City the next morning so I put her off. Those were serious times. We traded numbers though and I told her I'd call her for Friday. I figured she was probably dating some guy on the Hoya football squad and I'd never see her again, but I was wrong.

At first I felt a little creepy with somebody that young, but you only live once and given where I might end up it might not be for that long, so I figured what the hell as long as I didn't get her pregnant. No wife for me, especially a college student child-bride, so I made sure to be careful. I was making good money, but not like those beltway bandits and Internet gurus, and I didn't want to screw it all up. Still, she was hot, if kind of flighty, and my buddies were envious, especially the married ones. Not that I brought her around much.

One weekend, right before I was due to ship out overseas to my next assignment, the weather was nice and we headed out to Mount Vernon, the plantation home of our first president, George Washington. It's a 500 acre estate and National Historic Landmark right on the Potomac, with the mansion house, four different gardens, forest trail and working farm, and is a very pleasant place to spend the afternoon. Julia enjoyed touring the house and gardens, but didn't want to spend much time in the museum.

As we strolled outside, I spotted the tomb of our first president and his wife Martha and we wandered over to pay our respects before heading back to DC. This was the "new" brick tomb built in 1831 to replace the original burial vault, but the old vault was still there with large iron doors sealing the entrance. Sort of as a joke I tried to open the doors and was quite surprised when I found the latch moved easily and the door swung outwards!

There was nothing inside, just a dirt floor and the air was a trifle musty, but there were no bugs or spider webs and we quickly stepped inside. Julia was reluctant at first, but I started kissing her and soon she responded. I knew this might be our last weekend together and since I might never return this time I didn't use a condom. She was too excited to notice and if fate would have me leave this earth, I wanted to leave my child behind.

I shipped out the next Monday and we kept in touch with email and traded a few actual letters. Julia didn't get pregnant as far as I know, and eventually the letters and email stopped coming. When I got back to the States I found she had moved on to somebody far more important and we didn't stay in touch. Later, I heard she had moved to New York and a buddy said he saw her on TV once, but I never did. I'll never forget that time in the Tomb though.

This is a true story, I swear.