Aces High by Kristina Jackson

This is more of an anecdote than a short story.  A group of four young men, friends since childhood, holiday together and one evening, in a pub, are witness to the locals reverence to a heroic wartime ‘ghost’ that has frequented the pub regularly since those wartorn years.  There are a few inconsistencies and contradictions and the story lacks some detail, but it was a touching little ‘tale’ – the ‘ghost’ was afforded respect by the locals – mostly for the heroism of its origins, there was cosiness supplied by the congeniality of the pub’s happily married owners and the longevity of the four men’s friendship is heartwarming.