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Consciously, he must have considered the patrol...
Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 9:00 AM
Consciously, he must have considered the patrol as an effective maneuverWhat bothered Hearn was that the General might not be aware of his own motives
Certainly, it seemed a little unbelievable that they could march for thirty or forty miles through unexplored jungle and hills, go through a mountain pass, scout the Japanese rear and return; the more carefully he considered it the more difficult it becameHe was inexperienced, of course, and the mission might actually be easier to accomplish than he estimated, but at best it was a doubtful business
It softened the edge of his satisfaction at being given a platoonWhatever Cummings's reasons, there was no assignment Hearn preferred moreHe foresaw the annoyances, the dangers, the inevitable disillusionments, but at least this was a positive actionFor the first time in many months there chanel jewelry were a few things he wanted again, simply and honestlyIf he could manage it, if it turned out the way he wanted, he could establish some kind of liaison with the men
It rather surprised himIt was a little too na?ve, too ideal an attitude for himselfThe moment it was established in another frame it became ridiculousto do what, to work a little better in an institution he despised, whose ligaments Cummings had exposed to him? Or perhaps because it was his platoon, his baby? The private property conceptAnd he could detect elements of that in himselfPaternalism! The truth was, he grinned, he wasn't ready for Cummings's brand-new society in which everything was issued and never owned
In any case he would discover his own motives laterNow he knew intuitively that it was better for himselfHe had liked most of the men in the platoon, quickly and replica cartier tank watches instinctively, and quite astonishing to himself, he had wanted them to like himHe had even made efforts, given little hints that he was a good guy, employing the tricks he had unconsciously absorbed from certain officers, his own fatherThere was a particular kind of buddying you could get away with when you dealt with Americans; it was close but not dangerously so, and you never let it get out of handThat was a technique you could perform and still be a bastard essentially, but he wanted to go a little further than that
What was at the core of it? To prove Cummings was wrong? Hearn wondered for a moment, then let it goTo hell with the introspectionIt never paid to think until you knew a lot, and he had been in the platoon for too short a time to decide anything
Directly beneath him, lying on adjacent cots, Red and Wilson were talkingOn louis vuitton denim purse an impulse, he climbed down into the troop well
He nodded to Wilson"How're your GIs coming along?" he askedAbout an hour ago, amid the laughter of the men, Wilson had climbed up on the side wall of the boat, and squatted over the edge
"Aw, they ain't too bad, Lootenant," Wilson sighed"Ah jus' hope to hell Ah git over 'em by tomorrow"You ain't got nothing a gallon of paregoric ain't gonna cure
Wilson shook his head, his genial face reflective suddenly, a little worried, the expression at odds with his bland features"Ah jus' hope that damn fool doctor is wrong and Ah don' have to have no op-per-ration
"What's the matter with you?" Hearn asked
"Aw, mah insides are jus' shot to hell, LootenantAh got a lot of pus in 'em, an' that doctor said he'd have to cut it out Wilson shook his head"Ah just cain't figger it," he sighed"Ah had a hermes kelly handbag dose many a time but it don' take nothin' to get rid of the clap
The boat slapped and pounded as it passed through a series of swells, and Wilson bit his mouth from a sudden pang
Red lit a cigarette"For Crisake if you believe a fuggin sawbones He stood up for a moment and spat over the side wall, watching his spittle sucked away instantly in the foam of the wake"All a doctor ever has is a pill and a pat on the back, and you stick them in the Army and all they got left is the pill"Talking from experience, Valsen?"
But Red didn't answer, and Wilson after a moment sighed again"Ah wish to hell they didn't send us out just todayIf en we gotta do somethin' Ah don' give a damn, put me on a detail, send me out on this, it don' matter, but Ah jus' hate to be sick like this
"Hell, you'll pull out of it," Hearn said easily
"Ah hope so, white ceramic chanel watch Lootena
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