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They had begun to move once moreAfter a few minutes they heard a few low voices on the road, and their truck turned off and wallowed through a muddy laneIt was very narrow and a branch from a tree swept along the top of the truck"Watch it!" someone shouted, and they all flattened themselvesRed pulled some leaves out of his shirt and pricked his finger on a thornHe wiped the blood on the back of his pants and began searching for his pack, which he had thrown off when he first got into the truckHis legs were stiff and he tried to flex them
"Don't dismount till you're told," Croft said
The trucks came to a halt, and they listened to the few men circling around them in the darknessEverything was terribly quietThey sat there, speaking in whispersAn officer rapped on the tail gate and said, "All right, men, dismount and stick together They began to jump out of the truck, moving slowly and uncertainlyIt was a five-foot drop into darkness and they didn't know what the ground was like beneath them"Drop the tail gate," someone said, and the officer cambon chanel handbag snapped, "All right, men, let's keep it quiet
When they had all got out, they stood about waitingThe trucks were already backing away for another trip"Are there any officers here?" the officer asked
A few of the men snickered"All right, keep it down," the officer said"Let's have the platoon noncoms forward
Croft and a sergeant from the pioneer and demolition platoon stepped up"Most of my men are in the next truck," the noncom said, and the officer told him to move his men togetherCroft talked in a low voice to the officer for a minute and then gathered recon around him"We got to wait," he said"Let's stick around that tree There was just enough light for them to notice it, and they walked over slowly"Where are we now?" Ridges asked
"Second Battalion headquarters," Croft said"What've you been working on the road for all this time if you don't even know where you are?"
"Shoot, Ah just work, Ah don' spend mah time lookin' around," Ridges saidHe guffawed nervously, and Croft told him to be quietThey sat down around the tree and waited silentlyA battery chanel jewelry fired in a grove about five hundred yards away and it lit up the area for a moment"What's the artillery doin' up this close?" Wilson asked
"It's cannon company," someone told him"All a man does is sit around an' get his tail wet
"It seems to me," Goldstein said formally, "that they're managing this thing very poorly His voice was eager as if he were hoping for a discussion
"You bitching again, Goldstein?" Croft asked
The anti-Semite, Goldstein thought"I'm just expressing my opinion," he said
"Opinion!" Croft spat"A bunch of goddam women have opinions
Gallagher laughed quietly and mockingly"Hey, Goldstein, you want a soapbox?"
"You don't like the Army any more than I do," Goldstein said mildly
Gallagher paused, then sneered"What's the matter, you want some gefiillte fish?" He stopped, and then as if delighted with what he had said, he added, "That's right, what Goldstein needs is some of that fuggin fish A machine gun began to fire again; because of the night it sounded very close
"I don't like the way you express yourself," Goldstein prada replica handbags said
"You know what you can do," Gallagher saidHe was partially ashamed, and to drown it he added fiercely, "You can go blow it
"You can't talk to me that way," Goldstein saidHe was in a turmoil, revolted by the idea of fighting, yet recognizing the deep necessity for itThe goyim, that's all they know, to fight with their fists, he thoughtHe had the discomfort a display of emotion always roused in him"Let's take it easy," he muttered"You guys'll be getting plenty of fight in a minute"Fightin' over the ArmyAs far as I'm concerned, it's been a goddam mess ever since they put Washington on a horse
Toglio interrupted him"You've got the wrong attitude, RedIt ain't decent to talk about George Washington that way
Red slapped his knee"You're a regular Boy Scout, ain't you, Toglio? You like the flag, huh?"
Toglio thought of a story he had read once, The Man Without a CountryRed was like the man in that, he decided"I think some things aren't fit for kidding," he said severely
"You want to know something?"
Toglio knew a crack was coming, but against his rolex air king automatic watch judgment he asked, "What?"
"The only thing wrong with this Army is it never lost a war
Toglio was shocked"You think we ought to lose this one?"
Red found himself carried away"What have I got against the goddam Japs? You think I care if they keep this fuggin jungle? What's it to me if Cummings gets another star?"
"General Cummings, he's a good man," Martinez said
"There ain't a good officer in the world," Red stated"They're just a bunch of aristocrats, they thinkGeneral Cummings is no better than I am
Their voices were beginning to carry above a whisper, and Croft said, "Let's keep it down The conversation was boring himIt was always the men who never got anywhere that did the bitching
Goldstein was still quiveringHis sense of shame was so intense that a few tears welled in his eyesRed's interruption frustrated him, for Gallagher's words had pitched Goldstein so taut that he needed some issue desperately nowHe was certain, however, that he would start weeping with rage if he opened his mouth, and so he remained silent, trying to calm denim chanel bag himse |
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