Mrs. Daneeka
Mrs. Daneeka is the wife of Doc Daneeka, the squadron's flight surgeon, and her story serves as a darkly comic illustration of how the military's bureaucratic machinery can transform a personal tragedy into a financial windfall, revealing the absurd and transactional logic that governs the world of Catch-22.
Grief and Sudden Wealth
When Mrs. Daneeka receives a War Department telegram informing her that her husband has been killed in action, she is initially devastated. She splits the peaceful Staten Island night with woeful shrieks of lamentation, and for almost a full week she is totally distraught. Women come to comfort her, and their husbands pay condolence calls, hoping she will soon move away. Just as she begins to find the strength to contemplate a future of dire problems for herself and her children, a letter arrives from Doc Daneeka himself, urging her to disregard the bad news. The letter, signed with her husband's signature and written in a familiar, melancholy, self-pitying tone, throws her into confusion. She is overjoyed and weeps irrepressibly with relief, kissing the crinkled V-mail stationery a thousand times. She writes to her husband and wires the War Department of its error. The War Department replies touchily that there was no error and that she is the victim of a forger. Her letter to her husband is returned unopened, stamped "KILLED IN ACTION." Mrs. Daneeka is widowed a second time, but this time her grief is mitigated by a notification from Washington that she is the sole beneficiary of her husband's $10,000 GI insurance policy. The realization that she and the children are not faced with starvation brings a brave smile to her face and marks a turning point in her distress.
A Cascade of Benefits
The bureaucratic confirmation of Doc Daneeka's death triggers a cascade of financial benefits. The Veterans Administration informs her she is entitled to pension benefits for the rest of her natural life and a burial allowance of $250, which is enclosed. A letter from the Social Security Administration states she will receive monthly support for herself and her dependent children until they reach eighteen, along with another $250 burial allowance. Using these government letters as proof of death, she applies for payment on three life insurance policies Doc Daneeka carried, each with a value of $50,000; her claims are honored and processed swiftly. Each day brings new treasures. A key to a safe-deposit box leads to a fourth life insurance policy with a face value of $50,000 and $18,000 in cash on which income tax was never paid. A fraternal lodge gives her a cemetery plot. A second fraternal organization sends her a burial allowance of $250. His county medical association gives her another $250. The husbands of her closest friends begin to flirt with her. Mrs. Daneeka is simply delighted with the way things are turning out and has her hair dyed. Her fantastic wealth keeps piling up, and she must remind herself daily that all the hundreds of thousands of dollars she is acquiring are not worth a single penny without her husband to share this good fortune with her.
Final Rejection and Disappearance
Back on Pianosa, Doc Daneeka, who is very much alive but officially dead, is having a terrible time. He finds himself ostracized, drawing no pay, and dependent on charity. In desperation, he scribbles an impassioned letter to his wife, begging her to bring his plight to the War Department's attention and to contact Colonel Cathcart for assurances that he is indeed alive. Mrs. Daneeka is stunned by the depth of emotion in the almost illegible appeal. She is torn with compunction and tempted to comply. However, the very next letter she opens that day is from Colonel Cathcart himself, beginning with the form letter: "Dear Mrs., Mr., Miss, or Mr. and Mrs. Daneeka: Words cannot express the deep personal grief I experienced when your husband, son, father or brother was killed, wounded or reported missing in action." This official confirmation, combined with the material security she has already gained, proves decisive. Mrs. Daneeka moves with her children to Lansing, Michigan, and leaves no forwarding address, effectively severing the last thread of connection to her officially dead husband and choosing the comfortable reality of her new life over the inconvenient truth of his survival.
