| 2:48a |
@@@@@Out through the tent flaps he could see the
@@@@@Out through the tent flaps he could see the beach framed through a clump of coconut treesFar in the distance an artillery piece fired once
"You gonna give me that extra man?"
"YeahOn the sand, not a hundred yards away, the replacements were erecting their pup tentsFar off in the harbor a few Liberty ships at anchor were disappearing in the evening haze"Yeah, I'll give him to you, the poor sonofabitch Mantelli flipped through a few sheets of paper, ran his finger down a column of names, and underlined one of them with his nail"His name's Roth, and his MOS is clerkYou'll probably make a hell of a rifleman out of him
The replacements remained on the beach for another day or twoThe evening after Croft had talked to Captain Mantelli, Roth walked forlornly through the replacement bivouacThe man with whom he was bunking, a big good-natured farm boy, was still over at another tent with his friends, and Roth didn't want to join themHe had gone along the previous night and, as it usually happened, he had felt left out of thingsHis bunkmate and his bunkmate's friends were all young, probably just out of high school, and they laughed a lot at stupid jokes and wrestled with each other and sworeHe never knew what to say to themRoth felt a familiar wistful urge for somebody he could talk to seriouslyHe realized again there wasn't anyone he knew well among the replacements -- all the men with whom he had come overseas had been separated from him at the last replacement depotEven then, it wasn't as if they had anything special about themThey were all stupid, Roth thoughtAll they could think about was getting women
He stared gloomily at the pup tents scattered over the sandIn a day or two he would be sent up to his new platoon, and the thought gave him no joyA rifleman now! It was such a dirty trickAt least, if they hadn't told him he was going to be a clerkAll the Army wanted you for was cannon fodde |