It was a hot Oklahoma day, late in the day and shade was tough to find.  I met Sallie Mae, a pretty little thing, outside the candy store.  I was sixteen and she was fourteen goin on fifteen..  We were a hot number.  We had been going together for nigh on to six months.  A lot of huggin’ and kissin’ and a little feelin’ but nuthin’ much else.

I sure hankered to do somethin’ else and ah think she did too.

We sauntered down to the watering hole, holding hands and kissin’ jus’ like we always did.  The watering hole was pretty empty by the time we got there and the last two left just before we started to think about getting into the water.  It was nigh on to dark so we looked at each other, we both knew, just a little skinny dipping would be a whole bunch of fun. I took of my clothes faster than Sallie Mae. When I dropped my pants, a big hard on popped up right there.  Sallie Mae got a good look and grabbed my cock in one hand and my balls in the other. It felt so good I thought I was gonna’ come right there.  She ran to the water as fast as she could.  I could see that pretty little body kinda’ fussin’ and squirmin’. That was a sight to behold.  Everything looked mighty good.  Those little tits were just made for kissin and lickin..  Her ass was nice and tight and round.  Her legs were long a curved write up into the bottom of her ass and right around her pussy.   She was bare assed naked. I followed her with that rock hard thing of mine flopping around like it wanted to

Sallie Mae and I had a good time kinda’ pushin’ and feelin’ each other. Sallie Mae’s pussy felt real nice and her little breasts were pushin’ out like crocus blossoms.  I got real excited and so did she. I could feel that for double sure.  It got real dark and a full moon started to come up.  We got out of the water and lay down on the beach.  I reached out for Sallie Mae and she cuddled up nice and cozy. Then I bent down and started sucking on her toes.  The big toe first and the all the others on both feet  Then I sucked on the bottom of her feet. Then I started .kissin’ on her ankle and I moved up slowly to her knee and then the inside of her thigh all the time kissin’ with real wet lips and lickin’ with my tongue.  Then I licked up to her bottom and I kissed her on the ass and twirled my tongue around her asshole.  Then, I took a quick lick with my tongue right up her asshole and moved it in and out a couple of times.  Sallie Mae, she liked that and begged for more.  She shoved her ass right into my face and rubbed it around real good.. I just kept on lickin’ and moving my tongue as far as I could up her asshole, all the while playing with her clit with my finger. She really started to squirm around and then she moved that little pussy between her legs right in my face, moaning and callin’ my name all the time.  The hair around her little slit was nice and soft and when I put the tip of my tongue on her clit, she arched her back and let out the sexiest moan.  She came right then and I could taste the come. I loved it.  I just buried my face in her pussy  and started lickin’.  Then I stuck my tongue as deep as I could into her pussy and rubbed my nose real easy like against her clit.  Well, she came again and agin, a whole bunch and I licked it all up and swallowed it.  Salle Mae, she wanted more and so did I.  I moved my tongue up her belly.  I played around with her belly button and then started lickin’ real easy like on her nipples.  She really like that and so did I.  Then I moved my tongue up to her armpits and started lickin’ real easy. After that,  I started sucking on her armpit  real nice and easy and then real hard.  Daisy Mae, she was moanin’ and squirmin’ like crazy.  Then I moved my tongue and played with her ear.

Daisy Mae quieted down a little and just kept sayin’  ”More, more, more”

And then we started kissin’ and huggin’ and all of a sudden ah felt her hand on my cock. My o my, what a feelin’.  Then she leaned over and started kissin’ and sucking on that cock of mine..  It was rock hard, real big around and nigh on to thirteen inches long.  Daisy Mae took it in her mouth and did a lot of movin’ in and out.  Once  in a while she would let my cock back out and lick and suck on the very tip. My o my, what a feelin’.  Nobody had ever done that with me before. When I came she woud let the come splattered all over her face and lick as much as she could off with her tongue. Then she would suck on the tip of my cock until the last drop.  Then Sallie Mae, she opened her mouth real wide and buried my cock up her throat as deep as she could and she kept pumping on it. She was gagging’ once I a while when she got my cock real deep but she would just let up a little and come back as deep as my cock would let her.  Sallie Mae could really suck that cock. That lasted for a long time.  And she loved it and so did I.

Then we got straightened out and we started really goin’ at it.  I started kissin’ her.  She spread her legs and ah laid down between her legs and started my cock up her pussy.  She sure like that and so did I.  She started to moan and wiggle and move her butt up against me so that my cock slipped about half way up her sweet little pussy..   Then Sallie Mae let out a scream and we both pushed as hard as we could.  I was in her so deep, I felt she was gonna’ taste it pretty soon.  I was sure glad I had a big long, thick cock because she really enjoyed every bit of it and so did I   We were both have’ a real good time.  She wrapped her legs around my ass and just kept pushin’ her pussy against my cock and cryin’ out for more and more.  I was thrusting as deep and as often as I could.  It just felt so good.  I was moanin’ and moanin’.   Sallie Mae came first and she really shrieked.  It lasted one long time.  Just about in the middle of that I came.  It felt like a river, just comin’ and comin’.  And I bellered, and that made Sallie Mae come again. Sallie Mae kept moaning and moanin’ and comin’ and comin’ too.  After a while we settled down and just laid there for awhile.  This was a lot better than jerkin’ off, so we both did it as many times as we could.  When it was over we felt real good.  We got dressed and went home.  We both had trouble walkin’.  What with our knees buckling under us.

We did a lot of that from then on until one day Sallie Mae said she was pregnant.  She said that her father knew and he was mad enough to lynch me.

She told me to get out of town, make a little money, and come back when it was quieter.  She would be waiting for me.

I grabbed the first freight train out of town going west.  It slowed down for water in a town called Las Vegas. I never heard of it but it was really somethin’.  Bright lights, pretty girls, everything all day, all night, never stopped.

I was hungry.  I had no money.  I though of stealin’.  Then I thought about getting put in jail in a brand new town.  There must be jobs in a busy place like this.  I went to the bibbest hotel I could see asked about a job in the kitchen, washin’ dishes.  That would get me pretty close to some food and I sure was hungry.  Maybe they would let me eat the scraps.  The man put me right to work.  I thought it was really nice.  There was food and a place to eat until my first payday. And a whole lot of pretty girls around.

One day, goin’ to work this slick greasy funny dressed fellow came up to me and asked if I knew anything about boxing.  I told him I did a lot of fighting back home.  I tole him about the wresting and kicking and punching.  I told him that I hit a couple of guys with one punch and they laid like they was dead for quite a while.  Until somebody poured water over their heads.

The man said “No no I mean boxing with your fists with gloves in a ring”.

I said “No Sir”.

Well, he took me to a gym where everyone was in these square rings poking away at each other with their fist that were covered with gloves.  He put some gloves on my hands sand called over a smooth lookin’ guy who looked like he was used to doin’ this stuff.

We got into the funny lookin’ ring and we started dancin’ around pokin’ our fists at each other.  I thought it was kind of funny waving these gloves around like that.  ASll of a sudden, on no account at all, this guy in the ring with me, I thought he was bein’ real friendly like, got real close to me and punched me real hard a couple of times.  Why it knocked me flat on my back and I had a funny feelin’ in my head.  Well, I got real mad.  I got up and the next time he got close I hit him as hard as I could.  Well, he went down flat on his back and didn’t move a muscle.  I wondered what happened.  They took him away on a stretcher real quick like.

The greasy lookin’ fellow with the funny clothes came up to me and said “Do you wanna fight tomorrow night.  I’ll pay you ten dollars if you win and five dollars if you lose”

Well that was a lot of money to me so I said “Yes.”

The next night, there was a whole bunch of hoop la al and people and bands nd a bunch of fighter getting taped up with towels and stuff over their heads,  The would get up and jump around and shadow box.  That’s what they called it.  Swingin’ their arms and their fists in all kinds of ways as if they were hitting someone.

Well, I finally got in the ring with this great big guy who could dance around like ah never seed before.  It was kinda’ fun watchin’ him.  All of a sudden, he got up real close and hit me real hard a couple of times right in the head.  He knocked me down and everything was spining.  I could hear the crowd yellin’.  They sure liked that.  Me bein’ knocked down on my ass and the whole world spinnin’ like crazy.  Well. I got real mad.  I got up and waited until this great big dude got real close and the I hit him in he head as hard as I could.  He went down and didn’t move a muscle.  And the crowd, they went plumb crazy yellin’ and screamin’ and stompin’. And the band it was playin’ real loud marchin’ music.  I remember that.  They took that great big fella’ away on a stretcher real quick like.

This real greasy fella’ gave me eight dollars.  I asked him about he other two dollars and he said that was his percentage.  But he didn’t wait around much.  He hurried off.  I guess that was in case I got mad.  I thought it was Ok.  Eight dollars was a lot of money to me. I didn’t know what a percentage was except that it cost two bucks.

From the on I was a regular fighter.  I did a lot of training, running, working out, all that kind of stuff. These funny lookin’ guys in funny clothes told me that I would have to sign a contract.  After that, they said they owned me.

They put me in a lot of fights and I kept winning and making a lot of money.  I was happy.  I could gamble and all the pretty girls just loved me.  Once in a while, I thought about Sallie Mae.  Wondered how she was doin’.  I even sent her some money once or twice.

After a while, I was told by these funny lookin’ guys dressed in funny suits when to win and when to lose.  I didn’t like that much but the money was still good.  Losing was not a lot of fun, because there were time when I had to take a lot of punishment and be careful how hard I fought back.  Then these funny lookin’ guys in the funny suits decided I should win a long streak of fights in a row.  That felt real good.  I didn’t think about the fact that maybe these fights were fixed.

I was told that my next fight would be for the Championship of my division.  The champion was a great fighter.  He had been the Champion or a long time. But I knew I could beat him.  Just before the fight I was told that I was to lose, that I had to throw the fight.

I have never seen all the stuff that went on around that fight.  Seemed like there was a celebration, a band and a lot of hoopin’ and hollerin’ – everywhere.

Well, when I finally got in the ring, I was scared and nervous, but that went away as soon as I got hit a couple of times.  About the fifth round, he started hitting me low, right in the balls.   I doubled over and he hit me real hard a couple of times.  I went down for the eight count.

I struggled to get up.  I tried to protect myself as he came at me hard.  I recovered in a minute or two.  I hit him real hard, he went down.  He looked surprised when he got up.  He knew that I was supposed to throw that fight.  I forgot all about that.  I pinned him against the ropes while he was still woozy and hit him as hard as I could as often as I could.  He went down motionless.  I knew he was dead.  My trainer pulled me out of the ring.  He gave me fifty bucks and some clothes and told me to ski daddle.

I bugged out and caught a freight train goin’ by and ended up in Los Angeles.  Got  some odd jobs and gambled a bit.  Some fella gave me a stacked deck of cards.  I thought that was great..  The first time I tried to use them, one of the players caught on.  He tipped over the table in my face and lunged at me.  I stopped him in mid air with a solid right hook.  He fell to the floor.  They tried to revive him but he had no pulse.  He was dead.  The cops arrested me and put me in jail with a murder one charge.  The judge was sitting up high on his bench in a long black robe.  He looked like he was one strict dude.

I thought to myself. “Here I go.  I’m goin’ to the chair or spend the rest of my life in prison.”

It was December 1941.  The Japs had just attacked Pear Harbor.  We were at war with Germany and Japan.  It saved my life.  The judge listened to the charges.  The District Attorney asked for the death penalty.  My lawyer, he didn’t say much at all, except that the dude I killed was a bad guy.  An ex con.

The judge looked up at me and said. “You like to fight, well the Army needs fighters, so it’s either the Army or life behind bars.”

I couldn’t believe it. I said “The Army, Sir.

The judge replied. ”You never had much of a chance in life, son. This may be the only one you will ever get.  So stand tall, salute, say yes sir and be a good soldier. I hope the army straightens you out.  You’re a fighter that’s for sure.  I hope you can do it the army way.  Be careful who you hit with that right arm.  Make sure it’s an enemy soldier.  And stay away from stacked decks and shaved dice when you gamble or you will be right back here.”

The court clerk said “This defendant is barely seventeen years old.  He is too young for the Army. They will not accept him.”

The Judge replied” If he is old enough to be sent to prison for life, he is old enough to join the Army.  Send him to an Army recruiter, if he has a problem, tell him to get in touch with me.”

I loved the army.  I loved basic training.  I heard a lot of bitchin’ but never felt that way about it.  I saluted everyone and said Yes Sir to everbody just like the Judge said.  My buddies always made fun of me for doin’ it, but they weren’t facin’ lifetime in jail.  This was real security for me.  The army gave me food, clothes and a place to sleep. I never knew that kind of life before.  The discipline was real tough. I wasn’t used to that either. I took pretty much whatever they dished out.  I always remembered what the Judge said about life imprisonment.

Duke Sheridan was my best friend in basic training.  He got there pretty much the same way as me.  He was born and raised in poverty in West Texas. He stole a car when he was sixteen and tried to rob a bank.  He screwed up the robbery and got no money.  But he did shoot and wound a guard in the process.  He was arrested and the Judge gave him the same choice as me.  Either join the army or spend a long, long time in jail.  Pearl Harbor saved him too.

We were both assigned to the same division in Hawaii after basic training.  We were lucky to end up in the same platoon. Hawaii was a lot different than those sunburned days in Oklahoma.  And whoee!! Those pretty, pretty girls prancing around with those skimpy clothes.

We had very little time to enjoy anything. The Division was shipped to Australia and the rotten, steaming, snake infested, buggy jungles of New Guinea.  The Japanese held a strong foothold in New Guinea and they were on their way to Australia.  These Japanese soldiers ha ben ighting for years.  They were damn good in the jungles.  We were as green as the jungles and scared shitless.  The sounds and noises of the jungles drove us crazy at first.  The Japanese knew how to use that against us.  They would mix in their own scary sounds. But we learned.  We had no choice.  It was either learn or die.

Duke and I were sent on a two man patrol.  We were to move out as far as we could.  We were there to try to find out something, anything about the enemy positions and report back in the morning.  The Japanese seemed to be everywhere.  They were probing our lines day and night.  The word was that they would attack in strength soon.

Dke and I started out as soon as it got dark.  We moved slowly and cautiously for several hours.  It was slow going.  Every bush was Jap in our mind.  We had progressed only a few hundred yards.  We stopped in a shallow hole.   We lay silently, listening.   We thought we heard something.  It was the sound of a large force of Japanese moving very quietly past our hole.  At that moment, a few rounds of American artillery shrieked overhead, headed for the Japanese base on the other end of the Island.   The Japs hit the ground.  Three of them crawled right into our hole.  I stabbed one in the heart..  Duke got another.  In the darknes and confusion, I grabbedanother body and cut his throat.  It was Duke Sheridan.  I had just killed my best friend.  In a frenzy, I grabbed the last Jap and stabbed him repeatedly in the heart.  All of his was done with little or no sound.

The Japs outside the hole started moving again.  There were a lot of them.  The main body had passed and the shadows were getting bunched up, getting ready to attack.  I jumped out of the hole in a rage and started firing and throwing grenades at them.  The Japs were confused at the attack from the rear.  They could not know in the initial few moments that I was one man. They did not know what was happening.  Our lines started firing and sending up flares s soon as they heard my firing and saw the shadows of the Japanese soldier in front of them.  They broke off and retreated with the Americans right on their tails.  I got back in the hole and held Duke in my arms until they came up with the body bag. They took me back to the rear to treat my knife wounds.

The Battalion Commander came in and shook my hand. “You are going to get the Silver Star for this.  Do you know what you did? You stopped a major att..”

I interrupted him and said.” The only thing I remember is sticking my knife into my best friends heart. I don’t want no fucking Silver Star, I want Duke back.”

We had been observing the movement of the movements platoon sized groups of the enemy in our vicinity since 2300.  We had effectively ambushed the lead elements of an estimated enemy sized company.

The enemy then withdrew slightly, reorganized and then bypassed my patrol and proceeded toward their objective.  I learned later that it was outpost ‘Erie’ and that their mission was to capture prisoners.

‘Erie’ was an important outpost at the tip of the Alligators jaws.  It was separated from the American main line of resistance by the valley several miles wide.  It was one of two outposts on the jaws.  The other was ‘Arsenal’.

They were the forward element in the American outposts that were situated in tactical positions in front of the American lines. They  were always vulnerable to enemy attacks because of there isolation and there closeness to he enemy positions.  The outpost provided early indications of enemy activity. This was the part cat and mouse game of this phase of the Korean War.

The need for prisoners was always very important to both sides.  The interrogations always provided valuable information.  The command structure was always reevaluating the field of combat based on troop deployment, strength, reinforcement, and a myriad of factors.  On the ground, direct enemy interrogation was always one of the very best sources.  The source of this information was enemy personnel captured during combat operations.

The initial contact was a textbook ambush.  The enemy companies were caught completely by surprise. They were on a mission  Outpost ‘Erie’.  We were right in their way.

The initial firefight did not last long.  The enemy had bigger plans. We had established initial contact with the MLR informing them of our sightings and contact.  The enemy was moving quickly when they were first sighted.  They were in our perimeter before we knew it. It was hand to hand combat. They quickly withdrew.  At this point our radio was inoperative and we could not communicate information.

The radio was repaired at about 0200 and I established communications with the MLR.  This was also about the same time that the main enemy attack on ‘Erie’ commenced.

Corporal Greff came up to me and said “Rosie and Sgt Grole are down. They are lying on top of each other on the perimeter. They are not moving. Two dead enemy soldiers are lying on the top of them.”

I turned to Greff and said  “take over as Platoon Sergeant until we see what has happened to Sgt Grole. Get them in here where we can make a thorough check.  I’m on the radio to the MLR. They want us to keep them abreast of what is going on.  This is a large enemy force.  We will need to keep in contact, direct artillery and harass and confuse their flanks.

Corporal Greff said “yes sir “

“Greff our main job is to get artillery on these enemy forces.  We will have to move around a bit, just short distances, quickly to allow our artillery to fire on the best locations. Make sure everyone gets the word”

We directed approximately 4000 rounds of artillery and mortar on the enemy in the vicinity of our patrol.  We had suffered no casualties, except for Grole and Rosie, due to close coordination with the MLR.

This action demonstrated the effectiveness of patrolling and was advantageous to the Regiment in three very important ways.

In the first we harassed the enemy by small arms fire and grenades so that the enemy was not able to use its full strength in the attack on ‘Erie.”

In the second, we were in a position to direct and adjust mortar and artillery fire on the attacking enemy elements.

In the third, we were able to communicate with higher echelons and provide exact disposition and movement of the enemy.

I tried to get the MLR on the telephone.  It was dead.  It had probably been cut.  I grabbed the radio microphone from Rosie, and reported in. Capt..Joe Digereo, the company Commander was directly above us in the trenches at the top of the Cone

He said “split into two groups and engage the enemy to the front and to the rear.  Keep a tight perimeter. Try to push the group farther out. Try to get a little separation. We will try to bring machine gun fire on the outer enemy force.  We can see the firefight with the outer ambush, but it is hard to see who is who.

I said “wait a second Joe, we are catching a lot of hell right now.  Let me talk to Sgt. Grole. We were strung out when they hit us. He needs to get the squad leaders to set up.  We are surrounded.

“Sgt Grole Capt Digereo will be bringing in machine gun fire on the enemy in front of us, and let us direct it in as close as possible.”

Grole said ” Ok that might work. We will keep them busy with two squads to the front and two the rear.

We have no contact with the sentries at the bottom of the hill. The enemy in back of you is so close to the side of the hill that we can’t see them very well.  Keep up heavy fire on them.  We can see your automatic weapons when they fire better the small arms fire. That will help us. Force them to return fire. The more we can see the better chance we have to find them. We will start with a thirty caliber machine gun on the outer force. Try to direct us to bring it in as close as possible to your position on all three sides.  We will fire very short bursts at first. We will increase the fire and bring the fifty caliber machine guns to bear on them when you think you can direct it with minimum danger to your own patrol.  And Dave, there is no help out there. No one close enough to get there in time.  It’s too early in the night. We can get this done by ourselves. I think that they are far enough out from the base of the hill that we will be able to bring fire on them pretty effectively.  And if we do, we can make it pretty uncomfortable for them. They set up a great ambush for you.  They would love to overrun you quickly and head for home, but we will turn the tables on them. Your guys will feel better when they see our fire from up here.  When we run off the outer group, we can take care of that bunch close in. I will be sending help down the hill as soon as it makes sense. Right now it’s not easy with that enemy patrol sitting right at the bottom of the hill looking right up at us.  We could try throwing or rolling hand grenades, but the risk of hitting your patrol seems too great. We will try the machine guns first.  Once we get them distracted we will be coming down the side of the hill. Try to keep those bastards at the foot of the hill around a while.

I would love to mess them up a bit; send a message.  Maybe they will think twice about doing this again. We run a lot of patrols out of here. We can’t let this keep happening.”

“Hey Benny, we got a piece a cake, take a patrol up on baldy and get those spread eagled American bodies.”

“Aw shit, Lieutenant Smith.” snarled Sgt Benny Grole.  “Ain’t that great.  The whole fuckin’ Chinese Army is waiting for some stupid assholes like us to try to do that.”

I wasn’t happy about another tour of Baldy but it had to be done.  The American bodies on the top of Old Baldy were in full view of  the major force of Americans on the MLR,  a series of  ridges called 466.The American positions were named for the elevation of the ridges, 466 feet. Old Baldy was lower, perhaps two hundred feet in elevation, and about a half mile away.  The American soldiers manning the defensive positions saw the bodies every day.  It created a real morale problem. Old Baldy had changed between American and Chinese hands a number of times.   Each time it was a bloody event that cost many lives.  It was currently held by the Chinese and served as a forward outpost for their main position on the Alligator.  The Alligator was a series of ridges several miles long stretching across a no mans land valley that separated the American and Chinese main lines.  Old Baldy was at the open jaws of the Alligator along with a hill called Pork Chop.  Porkchop had also been the seen of vicious fighting and changed hands a number of times.  They were both currently Chinese outposts.  In the close proximity, there were also two small American outposts, called Snook and Arsenal, perched on the very tip of each of the Alligators jaws.  They were very close to the Chinese positions on the Alligator, within a few feet. It was from one of these, Arsenal, that we would launch our patrol.

“I suppose you gonna’ pick the next full moon so everyone can watch us. Lieutenant, we are all gonna’ die on that fuckin’ pile of dirt and body parts.  You remember the last time?  We damned near got skinned alive.”

“Sgt Grole, you could get the Distinguished Service Cross for this.” I replied.

‘I got two of them fuckin’ things and they still bust me to Private and send me to the guardhouse every time I get back to the states.”

‘Nobody realized what a nice boy you are.  You wanna’ go along.”

“You ain’t goin’ without me.”

“Thanks a lot Bennie.  Let’s go take a look.  At least it ain.t Porkchop.”

Sgt Grole just groaned.

Grole and I stood in the trenches 300 feet higher and about a half mile away from the top of Old baldy where the three captured American Gi’s were killed and spreadeagled in full view of thousands of American GI’s manning the MLR {main line of resistance} trenches.  It was a tough scene.  The memories of the combat on Old Baldy were vivid in mind  We had just been kicked off by the Chinese and we were trying to retake it.  The operation failed and it remained in Chinese hands.

Sgt Grole was a good man.  He knew small unit tactics well. He also knew that wih a mission as dangerous as this, the men must be the best most experienced possible. He and I talked about how to get it done. Who would be the best people to bring along.  How to get up and down.  The key was to get up the hill through the concertina wire and enemy positions with no noise and getting no attention.  American searchlights would normally be illuminating the hill.  They would be turned off or directed at locations away from our patrol to give us a chance to get up the hill, get the GI’s in body bags and get back down the hill.

That night, our patrol rode across no man’s land in an Armored Personal Carrier to the outpost Arsenal.  We were a six man patrol.

Milking and feeding the cows, feeding the horses and the hogs, shoveling the manure, putting fresh hay and sawdust on the floor.  Then a big breakfast and walk a mile or so to school.

I thought of those cold winter  mornings  sludging through the snow, fighting the wind, toward the barn.  I grew up on a small farm. We were a large family.  We were not poor. My father was a high school teacher. The farm was not big by any standard, but it provided food: milk, meat, vegetables, fruits, for the long winter minths.  He needed the farm to help feed his family. And he loved faming.  Not so me.  I knew that I had to be somewhere else the day after graduating from high school. Well, I’m somewhere else.  I guess you really never know what your asking for.

Arsensal was so dangerous it was possible to be killed just getting out of the vehicles.  There was a small firefight just on the other side of Arsenal a few hundred feet away.  That was good.  Maybe that would attract the attention of some of the Chinese we would be trying to slip by.  We got out quickly and assembled.  We were not noticed on the way up. But it was a very difficult ascent. We slipped by hundreds of Chinese soldiers, in fox holes, bunkers and trenches. We could hear them talking, smell the food, especially the garlic, a Chinese specialty.  I was next to Grole on the way up.  We were very close to the point man, Sammy.  He was one of our best men and the very best at point. That meant that he had warrior instinct.  He was always alert, had a keen sense of hearing and smell and a sixth sense that told him that there was danger ahead.  As he rounded some concertina wire a Chinese soldier appeared.  They were both taken by surprise.  Sammy grabbed him with his hand tightly over the Chinese soldiers mouth.  Grole reached out and cut his throat.

It was real cat and mouse all the way up. But these guys were good. As we approached the small clearing at the top, the stench of decaying flesh was overwhelming.  It helped us locate the bodies quickly. Getting the bodies into the bags was difficult.  They were highly decayed and fell apart easily.   Gole grabbed a leg and tried to lift it.  The leg came loose and hit me in the face.  I started to retch.  I was worried about the noise I was making.  Finally, the bodies were in the bags and we started down.  Grole stopped and pointed.  There were fleeting shadows on the other side of the clearing.  Enemy soldiers.

“We gotta get out of here.” whispered Grole.

I was still vomiting.

We did not know if they had seen us or not but we moved quickly to get down the hill. The trip down was sheer bedlam.  We had been discovered.  We would have to fight our way down through a maze of enemy soldiers. The fact that we were a small cohesive unit was to our advantage.  Having to maneuver with three heavy body bags was a disadvantage. The Chinese were shooting at every thing that moved and thankfully that included many of their fellow soldiers.  It was simultaneous screaming, explosions, shooting and hand to hand fighting.  About halfway down I called for artillery on the hill and had the searchlight turned on everywhere. It created confusion with the Chinese.

Three Chinese soldiers appeared directly in front of us. They seemed dazed. They were close enough to seize. One was quickly killed by a burst from a carbine.

I shouted “take them prisoner.”

Corporal Draff tackled one of the Chinese.  They were grappling on the ground.  Several GI’s went in to help.  He was quickly bound. The third enemy soldier had been killed with a bayonet. We  continued down the hill with our prisoner and the body bags..

A few minutes later we got back to the Arasenal outpost

I was standing alongside Tom, a friend of mine.  He was an interpreter and an interrogator    and was questioning an enemy soldier that had been captured earlier. He was very small and looked very fightened. Sgt Grole brought our prisoner into the bunker.  Our prisoner, by contrast, was a tall heavy set man.  He was very defiant. He was still struggling against the restraint of two GI.s who were jostling him along.

Tommy came over and greeted him in Chinese with a big smile.  He also pointed to the smaller prisoner who had been there for a while.  An American soldieSr had wrapped a piece of wire around the man’s neck and held the ends so that  he could tighten it at any moment.

Our guy quieted down right away.. He sat on some sandbags and waited, with two American GI’s standing next to him.

Sgt Grole looked at the the size of  the prisoner being questioned and then at our man..

“Lieutenant, I been telling you, they always save the big guys for us.”

Tommy came up to me as I was leaving.

He put his arm around me and said “one of those guys you brought down tonight was one of my best friends.  I will write the family. They will appreciate what you have done.  I know that most of what you guys do is taken for granted.  I want to thank you for a doing a tremendously courageous thing ”

I choked up and said “thanks a lot Tommy”

On the way out to the Armored Personal Carrier and home, we could hear the faint sound of what was, as we later found out, the American troops on the hills. They could see with the searchlights that the bodies were gone.  I was still retching.

“Piece of cake” Grole said grimly as he loaded the last body bag into the vehicle.

When things are quiet on line, it is a time to savor.  The war fades fast when your grabbing illusions. Memories, fantasies—this war aint real—it’s just a bad dream.  Good time to be thinking about home.  Laying on the top bunk trying to get some sleep.  Pretty boring, huh.  Not in this GI’s life.  It feels great.  Sure beats blood and guts. Sand filtering down from the ceiling when an incoming round got too close.  I had all the comforts of home. A sack, a roof over my head and sand in my face..  Maybe I could actually get some real sleep.  It’s been a quiet week.  Things were slowing down.  Time to think about getting laid on R&R in Tokyo coming up in a few weeks.  I drifted asleep.

Sunday afternnon, running cross country in the arboretum.  Lou was there waiting for me by a tree, smiling, blond hair flowing in the breeze, a torrid kiss, a frenzy to make love, on a leafy spot, soft, inviting nurturing.

Rosie was on the phone.  Sgt Grole was sitting on some sandbags cleaning his rifle, muttering to himself.  He never seemed comfortable when it was quiet.

“Ok corporal Graff, just a sec. let me talk to Sgt Grole.  This is Graff, he says he’s freezing his ass off, laying in the snow in freezing temperatures is a bitch.  His ambush is well set up. Everything is god damned boring, scary but boring.”  Rosie reported.

“Tell that fucking frenchie’ frog its better than getting his ass shot off.”  snarled Grole.  “I’m going out to check the perimeter.”

“The Patrol is hit, I can hear the gunfire!!” shouted Rosie.  “Its Graff.  He wants back up now.”

Grole was back in a second strapping on his gear.  Rosie,  get on the phone to the squad learder of the second and third squads.. Were moving out.” ordered Grole.

Rash what is this, not just a spot but spreading. all over my body.  Oh my God it’s poison ivy.  I called Lou, she was half laughing, half crying. It hurt so bad but it hurt so good.

I was rudely awakened by the noise immediately below me and putting on my flak jacket on the way down.

“Rosie, let me talk to Draff.”

I grabbed the telephone. “Draff what is going on” I asked.

Draff came back “were overrun, looks like a company size,  I’ve called artillery in artillery.  It’s coming in now.”

I could hear the explosions, could hear the confusion, the gunfire, could sense the threatening shadows.  I knew there were casualties because I could hear the screams and cries for “medic medic”.  Our ambush was 15 people.  Draff was talking about possibly one hundred enemy attacking them..

I shouted over the telephone to Draff “The backup patrol should be there in a few minute. Sgt Grole is coming out with the rest of the platoon, Battalion is sending some Ethiopian’s from one of their patrols near you.

Graff shouted back “A few minutes shit, we ain’t got that much time.  I’m too busy to talk.  Don’t really know what is going on, but… “ cursing in French,. I shouted back “You can do it. Close in the perimeter. Don’t let them penetrate. Help will be there quickly to give you some help.”

“Yes sir, I’m glad your on it. We will do the best we can”

“Draff we can bail you out.  I’m coming out with more men from company.  Just tighten up and hold on. The chinks may run if they sense that your backup is big enough to give them trouble.  I am asking Battalion to get the Ethiopians in back of the enemy force attacking you. If they think they can be surrounded, they may back off.”

I was trying to pump Draff up anyway I could. The radio was silent..  I knew that Grole and three squads, twenty men, would not be enough.  How fast would the Ethiopians get there?  Gotta get more help from company and follow Grole out.  But how much could he get from a company already stretched thin.  Angie Digereo the new company commander, gave him another squad, nine men, and said  “Smith find a way to get those men back anyway you can”

I muttered to myself “Shit, we don’t know how many chinks are out there or where they are’.  Just trying to get out to Draff without shooting at own own people is going to be real tough. No way to organize this thing. Rely on your leaders to make good decisions.”

“Rosie, you getting any information over that phone” I asked.

“No word from Draff, but Grole just reported that he is being ambushed by a chink patrol about half way out.”  Rosie reported.

“Shit ,Rosie, keep trying to get in contact with Draff” I said.

I spoke to my Company Commander, “Angie if this is really company size and they have a blocking patrol to flank it, there must be a reason. Where are they going?”

Digereo agreed “no sense waiting, I better talk to Battalion.”

Talkings’ for shit, I thought. Moving out was the only thing I could do at my level. Capt Digereo would take care of what was going on here. He’s worried about his own perimeter. I was lucky he gave me those few men.

“Rosie, get somebody to help.  Bring the field telephone and a lot of wire and a radio and a backup radio and come with me.”

I talked to the squad leaders “ tell the men to grab some rations and plenty of ammo and grenades. If we do get through, Draff will be nearly out of ammo.  Make sure the machine gunner and the BAR Man has plenty of ammo.  Let the other men carry the extra. Those automatic weapon guys will need it. And give the bazooka to Sgt Harris. Tell him I want to see him.”

“Yes Sir” Rosie said, he was excited and scared.  He muttered to himself “How am I gonna’ carry all this stuff, I ain’t no mule”

But he was also proud that I had some confidence in him.  Sgt Harris walked in.  His men were assembled just outside the bunker. He had heard most of what I had told Rosie.

He said  ”Rosie, Cpl Curtis will help you out.  He is the assistant squad leader and is right outside the door in the trench.”

Harris pretty well knew the situation.

I said, “We will be aggressive.  Move out as fast as we can. Graff needs help in a hurry. Have your point man follow the trail out of the trenches and then move directly toward the fire fights.  You stay with me and Rosie.  He has the comm. equipment.  There are so many different elements out there, we will have to rely on our guys to communicate if they can.  When we make contact we will try to make us look bigger than we are. And that will just be any way we can at the moment”.

Just as he was about to leave, Captain Digereo came in and said “Good News. that Ethiopian patrol is not big, fifteen men, but you know hose guys at night, there damn good.If anyone can break up that chink bunch, they can.  Battalion thinks the Chinese are are trying to get to the low saddle approaching the Ice Cream Cone, and then try to overrun the outpost.  Pretty gutsy, but Smith we are right in the middle of it.  Just luck that your ambush patrol disrupted there plans.  This is one time we did something right.  This is what ambush patrols are for.  But be careful, there may be other chink ambush patrol waiting for you.”   I spoke to Corporal Greff “You stay here and keep trying to get in touch with Draff.  And keep in touch with us,and the Captain.”

Dreff wanted to come. He was closest of friends with Draff.  They had fought together in the underground in WW II, but he new that communication liason not only critical but very difficult to keep coherent given the equipment they ere using.  he comforted himself by knowing that Draff would take care of himself.  Grole was being stymied by theChink ambush.  He knew he could handle it, but it delayed him from getting to Draff.  He had communications.  He knew that Lt Smth was on the way and so were the Ethiopians.  But against a company size chink ambush patrol and another ambush  patrol keeping him busy, whew.  Like shoveling shit against the tide.  No word from Draff was a bad sign.  It was a question of time!!

Draff wondered how his men could put up a fight.  This is bad he thought.  Telephone line was cutand still trying to get the radio operating. The intensity of the fight was dying down a little.  He thought he saw a firefight to the rear of the Chinese[it was the Ethiopean patrol].  He could also thought he could see a firefight back toward the American trenches[that was the ambush Grole was in].  He was hoping it was help, and a lot of it and soon.  He had no communication. He really had no idea of what was happening except he was damn busy with his own fight, trying to survive.

Grole broke through the ambush and moved on Draffs’ position. I kept the chink ambush busy.  Grole and Draff exchanged passwords.

The first words role had for Draff was”you fucking son of a bitch.  How many times do I have to save your ass.  When this is over I’m coming to Paris and I want you to get me laid , different woman, every two hours.”

Draff muttered something that he thought was very funny to him, in French. This was not over yet.  The Chinese attack resumed with high intensity.  The Ethiopeans were on the radio. They thought  that they could break through, but was not sure where the American Patrol was.  The firefight seemed to be everywhere.  Grole answered “Just come through, we will hold our fire as much as possible.  If you can get through we have a chance. If the chinks do we got big problems.  Grole made things sound simple. The Ethiopians showed.  At about the same time, I was on the perimeter with the password.  The Chinese moved back into the night at least for the time being.  I got on the horn with Digereo

Capt Digereo said “form a detachment and try to bring the wounded and dead in.  I will have a unit go out to meet them. But keep the main body including the Ethiopeans in position. Well done.  Battalion is still not sure about what is happening”.

“Sgt Drole use the least wounded to bring in the dead and wounded.  Sgt Harris take someone from our patrol and search our ambush position.  I’m sure we left wounded there.  I will help the Ethiopians.  They have dead, wounded and missing.  If we have to go out and get them, that is what we will do.  They saved our asses. Where is the Ethiopian in command?”

Incoming fire put everyone’s nose in the snow.   The perimeter returned fire. It was not heavy or sustained small arms. Just harassing.

“Nothing but trouble tonight” I thought.   “Sgt Grole, dawn will be breaking soon and if the chinks haven’t left the valley by then, we will splatter them with artillery all the way home.”

“Yes Sir, mighty good feeling. but I gotta’ see to those wounded” replied  Grole.

“Hello Joe, how goes it,” I said with.a.smile. “

I hate these daylight patrols “responded Joe, a platoon leader from the adjacent company.

”Yeah” I said “You .gotta’ have a humongous pair of balls for that daylight stuff. You’re a sitting duck out there. It’s pretty easy to get your ass shot off on a day like this.”

“I don’t have the balls, my company commander does, but I still have my ass!” Joe groaned”.

”So what’s for dinner”.

“Well, you can forget that promise give the troops a pair of dry socks and a hot meal .every .day” I joked “All our socks .either have holes in them or they are just plain rotten. And, the hot meals turned right when they should have turned left on the way up here. “

“.So what the fuck.are you saying?” Joe.asked, in no mood for.any bullshit, “We’ve been out there since four o’clock in the morning and it’s now six in the evening. This patrol is fucking hungry.”

I replied, “We have a wide variety if C rations, just delish and unopened, unseen by human eyes.  Unsmelled by the human nose”.

“So what do you have if we shoot up the fuckiing place?” Joe growled.

“Well, in that case we offer a court martial on our after dinner menu.”  I replied.

“Ok” Joe said. “You do have coffee?”

“I have to tell you it is not .on today’s menu. The sous’ chef had an .anxiety attack.”

“In other words .the fucking bastard bugged out!” Joe.angrily replied

Aiming to please I said “We have a delicious chilled assortment,”

“You mean everything is fucking frozen solid” asked Joe

“All the better to fully enjoy them. Just think of the Good Humor man” I replied.

“What would you prefer, frozen sausages or stew.”

“What about the hot dogs and.beans?” Asked Joe.

“I’m sorry, but they have been reserved for one of our regular clientele, meaning me.” I chided

“Well” Joe said “I happen to be carrying around with considerable personal discomfort, a box of homemade chocolate chip cookies?”

“And how many cans of hot dogs and beans would it take to relieve that discomfort.” I replied eagerly.

Joe quickly replied “How many you got?’

It was a hot dusty day in Wassat, Alabama, at the sharecroppers’ farm of Roosevelt (Rosie) Washington Brown’s family.  Rosie just seventeen years old, had lied about his age, and enlisted in the Army.  His brothers and sisters, all twelve of them and his mother and father were gathered to wish him luck and say goodbye.  His mother, tears in her eyes kissed him goodbye and thought to herself.  “Maybe Rosie would have a chance in this world.  He was a smart boy.  He didn’t need the specter of a lynching hanging over his head.”  His father hugged Rosie and said “You ain’t no sharecropper no’ mo’.”  You is a Uuunited States soldier. Yup a soldier, and I’m right proud of you.”

And it wasn’t easy.  He was still a nigger to the southerners in the outfit and he took a lot of shit.  He went to Basic Training and was then sent to Korea as a replacement.  He was assigned to the 50^th Infantry Division 2^nd Regiment.  This was brand new. Blacks fighting along side whites.

The Regiment was on line across a sector in the center of the line that included outposts such as Old Baldy, Pork Chop, Erie and Arsenal and the Ice Cream Cone. An enemy controlled hill stretched across the middle of no man’s land and looked like a huge alligator. (map) Snook and Arsenal were two American outposts situated at the tip of the alligator jaws in very close proximity to the enemy positions and were also facing Old Baldy and Porkchop Hill. These were flashpoints that erupted frequently in prolonged and violent firefights. They changed hands any number of times. Night patrolling was the major activity.  There were three types of basic patrolling, recon, contact and ambush.  The recon patrol was just that. Reconnoiter a sector and bring back whatever information that could be garnered.  The combat patrol was a unit probe to engage the enemy in a fire fight, and if possible, bring back a prisoner.  The ambush patrol was designed to engage and disrupt enemy activity in no man’s land.

Rosie had taken a train up the Korean Peninsula to a Replacement Depot.  From there, he was trucked to his unit on line along with a group of other soldiers.  When he got to his unit, he got off and helped load the truck with several body bags to take to the rear.  Rosie didn’t know what to say or do, but the realization that the body bags were filled with Americans killed in combat on patrol the night before frightened him.  He looked around.  He was just outside a Company Command Post.  It looked like a hole in the ground covered with sandbags.  A Sergeant started hollering in a loud voice was trying to get the new troops in line so they could be processed and assigned to a platoon and then a squad.  He was assigned to the first platoon Baker Company.

The Sergeants first comments were. “Welcome to Korea, we will do everything possible to make your stay a pleasant one”

There was no response from the new recruits.  This was a Master Sergeant and no one wanted to mess with him.  His image was not a pleasant one.  He looked like one tough dude.

Then he snarled “If your lookin’ for security, I’m it”.

And then he laughed.  Nobody else did.

He started calling the roster and assigning them to squads.  The company was about one hundred and sixty men. The company was broken down into four platoons of forty men each when at full strength. Each squad of nine men was led by a sergeant or a senior corporal. His squad leader was Corporal Draff.  I was the Platoon Leader, Lieutenant Dave Smith.  I reported to the Company Commander Captain Joe Digereo Master Sergeant Bennie Grole was my platoon Sergeant and my right arm with the enlisted men.

Sgt Grole told the new men to line up behind their squad leaders and move out.  As they approached the main line of resistance,   Draff told his men to spread out crouch low and hurry into a series of trenches. Some outgoing mortar woooshed overhead toward the enemy lines.  Rosie dove for the dirt.

A soldier came out of the trenches and pulled him up.  “Don’t worry, buddy, that’s friendly.  You’ll get to know the difference real fast”.  “My name is Josh, I’m in your squad. I hope you know your welcome” he said with a grin.

He looked at him. Josh was black too. “We haven’t got much time. We are on a combat patrol and your going with us, so let’s get your gear stowed in a bunker and get saddled up. These things are all night dusk to dawn and it’s important to get out there and set up before the chinks have time to set up an ambush on us.  Sgt Grole will be down here kickin’ our ass real soon.  Don’t worry about him. He is the best damn Platoon Sergeant in the Army.  Corporal Graff is the best squad leader”

He felt good about that.  I walked up to Corporal Draff and spoke to him quietly. We were joined by Sergeant Grole and the other squad leaders.  We ducked into the platoon bunker to review our mission for the night.

“Combat patrol all night tonight. All those artillery and mortar rounds goin’ overhead and nobody payin’ much attention”. thought Rosie.

“They wanna’ catch some prisoners.  I hope those other guys don’t catch me first..”´ he said to himself.

He peered over the trench, nothing much out there.  He also knew that there probably a bunch of bad guys over on the hill that he could see in the distance getting ready to do the same thing.    He knew that he would be spending the night out there somewhere.  It was late afternoon and it was getting cold.  Some snowflakes started to fly.  He had never seen snow before.  He grew up and trained in the south.  Maybe a smidgen of snow once in a while.  He looked up at the sky.  The black clouds looked serious and it was getting colder by the minute. Josh was getting ready for the patrol.

He slapped Rosie on the back and said “ hey, git movin’.”

He told him how to prepare.  What to take, clothes, flak jacket, soft cap, ammunition, a bayonet, grenades and a shovel.  These were all the things that he had become familiar with during training, but this was a whole lot more worryin.”

He thought back home. His daddy never knew if he could feed the family. He never knew if the owner would let him sharecrop next year.  He never knew what would happen if anybody got bad sick.  They would die I reckon. He never knew when a gang of white covered men would ride up and string him up. He only knew that everything seemed hopeless. but that he had to keep workin’.  Jus’ keep hopin’ something good would happen.

His momma just worked and worked and kept sayin’ things would get better cause’ they couldn’t get much worse. She kinda’ smiled when she said it.

He knew that too, but he wanted to dream about the good things. The trouble was he didn’t even know what they was.

Until the Army came along and maybe there’s a chance.  It seemed like the world got a whole bunch bigger mighty fast.

“I gotta’ find out how much bigger it can get.” he thought.

His first patrol was a combat patrol deep behind enemy lines.

“You’d a’ thought they would have given me an easy one to practice up on.  I guess there ain’t no more practice.  Time to git yo’ ass in gear, Roosevelt Washington Jones, this is the real thing and you is right in the middle of it.”

Several hours out our patrol was ambushed.  I was knocked down, lying face up by the side of the trail.  A figure straddles me and points a gun directly into my face.  It was an enemy soldier.

“Shoot you fuckin’son of a bitch shoot.”  I screamed.

I thought I was a dead man.

I saw the flashes from the muzzle close in to my face.  Could hear the gun fire.  I felt the bullets as they just knicked the side of my head.  His body fell on top of me.  I pushed him off.  I could see blood coming out of his mouth.  I could feel his blood on my face.

I could hear Rosie screaming “lawd a mighty, Sir.”

He leaned over and pulled me up.  He had emptied his rifle into the guy’s back just as he opened fire on me. It diverted the gunfire to the side of my head the split second the enemy soldier had fired.  He had saved my life. My head would have been blown away.

“Rosie, thanks.  Jesus Christ, that was close.  Where is the radio.  We need help and fast.”  I said.

“Green, the radio man is dead. Sgt Grole’s got the radio. He is talkin’ to Capt Digereo and he’s doin’ ah doin’ somethin’ ah somethin’ ah think  But sir, ah sure no fo’ sho we is in a pack a lot of trouble, real deep shit” replied Rosie.

I said “Rosie I owe you one. And Rosie we will take care of this.  We got nailed by an ambush.  We know what to do. ”

He felt better.

Rosie thought “ain’t no white man ever said thanks to me befo’.  And fo’ sure no white man ever said he owed me somthing.”

Sgt Grole came up behind him and kicked him in the ass.

“Hey you black motha fucka get yo’ ass in gear. Savin’ the Lt ain’t gonna’ make you no white man.  Get over thar’ and help fill that perimeter.  Sgt. Foley is dead.  Grenade. A ranger patrol is comin’ in to help.  Tell those guys not to shoot “em up when they try to come in.  And, hey Rosie, the captain is bringing artillery in real close, so stay down.”

Sgt Grole surprised him  “First time ah met Sgt Grole.  I guess that’s the way he say hello. A boot in the ass.  It don’t make no never mind.  I got no mind to be white.  I jus’ wanna’ be a good black soldier, as good as I can be. And, ise’ gonna’ be, yes Sir Sgt Grole ise’ a gonna; be.  Po’Sgt Foley dead and ah never even met him.  Sho nuff’ real scared.  Ohh mamma. Pvt. Green, the radio man dead, Sgt Foley dead. Ah don’t know how many more.  Ah sure hope I don’t git to be one of them”.

I turned to Sgt Grole.  ‘You got a funny way to say well done.  That soldier has been with us less than 24 hrs and he is doin’ great.  Not to mention that he just saved my life.  You’re the platoon Sergeant and I respect you, but maybe you could lighten up a little.  The old timers understand you.  Maybe these new guys need a little time.  I don’t think that kid is seventeen years old yet.  But he was old enough to react in a split second and kill a man. That is the only reason why I am still talking to you.”

The next morning, standing back in the trenches, Sgt Grole approached me.

“this guy looks like he is scared to death all of the time but he ain’t scared of nuthin’. He seems to know what to do and he will wade into the thick of it.  Green is dead so Rosie’s your man Lt, runner, bodyguard, radio man, you name it. If you want him..  He’s already saved your life once and he stood tall with me in that patrol last night. Yes Sir, a mighty good man. That little bastard has balls, a great big pair of black balls.”

He was standing nearby with a big grin on his face.  He was mighty proud. He started thinking about Amos his mule back home. Rosie new for sure he had great big black balls. It made him right homesick.  Amos would pull and pull until he dropped. And sometimes I made him do that because we needed that crop to eat, sho’ nuff’.  But I sure grieved for him.  But Amos he always got up the next day and he would do it all over again.  Before Amos, Rufus was my mule. He and I was like brothers.  He would pull and pull jus’ like Amos until he dropped.  And then, jus’ like Amos, he would get up the next day and pull and pull agin’.  Only one day, Rufus jus’ laid there. Sho’ nuff pulled himself dead. I done made Rufus pull himself dead.  And I grieved.  Then I got Amos and you know what, Papa needed the crops so I made Amos pull, and pull and pull.  And I grieved, ‘cause I knowed what was gonna’ happen soona’ or lata’.

He turned and muttered to himself.  “Seems like it is jus’ lak’ that here.  Except I’se the mule.”

Captain White shook my hand “you and your guys have earned a few days off.  We won’t be calling on your platoon for any patrols for the next few days. You deserve something for taking that patrol up Old Baldy to get those bodies. I will make a jeep available for you just in case you want to get your old wounds checked out at MASH.  I have put all of you in for the Bronze Star.  I hope it goes through”.

“Thanks a lot, Sir, especially for the jeep.  I think I will get my eyes checked out” I replied.

“Yes, Lieutenant Grace Henderson called me today.  She had heard about your trip up Baldy and wanted to know how you were.  Perhaps you should stop in and say “hello” Capt White said with a hearty laugh.

“Yeah, I guess I should.  I don’t want the poor girl worrying about me” I replied with a big grin on my face.

“Hey lover boy, why are you so nervous” I thought to myself.

I was waiting at the little bar at MASH.  A sergeant was tending bar.  There were two medical guys and a nurse sitting with me at the bar.  The tables were empty.  The juke box was playing Louis Armstrong singing ‘Gone Fishin’.

“Pretty appropriate” I thought.

I looked at the medical guys.  Doctors.  Clean as a whistle.  I looked at myself in the mirror.  The scars were still visible on my face.  The scent of decayed flesh still lingered in my nostril. When I smiled, it looked like the two sides of my face were unhooked.  One the good old me.  The other – pretty distorted.  I was jumpy as hell.  The door slammed.  I jumped up and turned to face the noise in a lunge position. It was Henri Limouz.

“I surrender” he  yelled.

I sat back down on the stool and started to cry.

Henri put his arm around my shoulder and said “lets walk a bit. Hey, what’s a guy like you crying for” he said.

“It’s just an allergy”  I said

“Well. I see the best allergy medicine in the world walking down the path”  Henri replied.

It was Grace.  I really started weeping.

“Hey” she said putting her arm around me “we have a weeping wall about ten miles down the road”.

“Yeah”  joked Henri  “lets try a bottle of scotch before we get started”.

We all sat down for  few minutes.  My inclination was to just leave.  This was too embarrassing. Grace sensed that.

Grace pulled at me “ come on lets get a drink.  I have a lot to talk to you about.  The first thing I want to tell you is that I am in love with you.”

“Aw shit” I said

Henri smiled and said “Dave, I didn’t know how romantic you were.  You are one smooth cookie”.

We all laughed.  It straightened me up.

Henri stood up and said “ I just remembered there is a lobotomy I must prep for”.

He walked down the path waving and smiling.

I took Grace by the hand and said ”I’m sorry”.

“Sorry for what” and she gave me a long hard kiss.

“Aw shit”  I repeated.

“You have an absolutely fantastic line you know.  Any girl would fall for it”.

“Aw shit”  I repeated.

“But somehow we must get past the first line” she joked.  “Come on lets get movin’ Davy boy.  Times a’ wastin’”.

“OK”, I said “lets get it on.  Lock and load”.

“Whoopee,” yelled Grace. And she put one arm around me, grabbed the other on out front and we jitterbugged right into the bar.

“That’s just a little more like it” she said and she kissed me again.

As we finished kissing, she put one finger over my lips and said “lets not have another ‘Aw Shit’ tonight. OK”.

I laughed, stood up, pulled her up and we kissed passionately for a long, long time.

The bartender tapped me on the shoulder ”anytime you two want to come up for air, the drinks are on the house.  You’re the guy who took that patrol up Baldy.  If I could, I would give you the whole damn house”.

“Cheers, cheers, cheers”  came from the chorus at the bar.

A couple of nurses came over to kiss me.

“Take it easy, take it easy, this guy is mine” Grace laughed.

“I wish we were in San Francisco and could dance the night away”  I told Grace.

“We are here and we are together.  What else counts” she replied

“Grace, I live for the moment.  Is there any place that we an go to be alone”.

“Well, it so happens that Major Limouz has a free recovery room open for a few hours.  Would you like to check it out”?

“Show me the way” I said

The room was small but nice.  It had the essentials.  A bed.  We were in each others arms just kind of nuzzling.  There was a knock on the door.  It was Limouz.

“I’m sorry Grace. We have a large number of badly wounded coming in..  I need you and the recovery room now”!!

“Don’t rightly know” answered Rosie.

Rosie barely seventeen and Josh goin’ on eighteen were talkin’. Rosie was leaning against the trench holding his head with his hands. Josh had seen him and he knew that Rosie was thinkin’ about those American GI’s that had accidentally killed on a combat patrol the night before.

“Well if you been laid, you sure as hell woulda’ knowed it.  What is this bullshit ‘you don’t rightly know’.  Now, God Damn it, Rosie, have you been laid or haven’t you?” asked Josh.

“Well, does doin’ it to yourself count?” asked Rosie.

‘Naw, that’s jerkin’ off, that ain’t getting laid” replied Josh

“Now, one more time.  Rosie, have you ever been laid?” asked Josh

Rosie asked “Can I lie?”

Josh just rolled his eyes.

“Cause I’m downright embarrassed. No, I ain’t ever been laid” muttered Rosie.

“I knowed, I knowed it. You out here where you might get kilt and you ain’t ever been laid.  That’s a waste of a good pecker. Sho’ nuff.  These things gotta’ be used ya’ know “ Josh put his arm around Rosie and shook him gently.

“Why? It ain’t gonna’ fall off is it?”  Rosie was funnin’ Josh right back.

Josh saw that and felt pretty good about it.  He had nudged Rosie out of his self pity.

Rosie looked right at Josh and said “Josh, you ever been laid?”

Josh replied “sho nuff, a whole bunch of times.”

“How many times?” asked Rosie

Josh repeated “a whole bunch of times”

“How many times?” Rosie repeated.

“Well, I already done told you a whole bunch of times.” repeated Josh

Rosie said “seems to me if this gettin’ laid is as good as you say it is, you would remember how many times.”

“OK” Josh said. “Once.”

They both laughed real hard.

“Hey, here come our squad leader, Cpl Greff.  He a good man. I sho’. do like him” said Josh.

“Yeah” Rosie said “an’ he French. Ah bet he been laid a whole bunch of times. Why don’t you ask him, Josh?”

“Ok, I will” replied Josh

“Corporal Greff, we got a talk goin’ on here about getting’ laid.  Rosie ain’t ever been laid and me only once.  How about you?”

Greff looked right at Josh and said “I have never been laid.”

Neither Rosie or Josh could believe that.

Rosie said “but you French, I thought you guys got laid all of the time.”

Greff looked at them both and said  ”Frenchman don’t get laid, we make love, and I have made love, wonderful love hundreds of times.”

Greff with a very French smirk on his face, then spun on his heel, and stalked away.

Rosie and Josh stood there for a second with jaws dropped, big eyes and kind of a dazed look on their faces. They didn’t know this makin’ love stuff from nuthin’.

Then Josh looked at Rosie and said “Rosie, he say hundreds of times, you suppose we should find out sumthin’ about this makin’ love stuff..  Must be whole bunch better ‘n gettin’ laid or he wouldn’t be doin’ it so much

“Fo sure” said Rosie “ but ah don’t know if am ready for this hundreds stuff, Josh.  Ah think ‘ah better take it a little easy, mebe just once to get the hang of it, before mebe’ somehthin’ happens”.

“Sho’ nuff’ said Josh “it aint right, a body getting’ kilt, before ya’ even get laid just onct..”

And then they put their arms around each other and laughed and laughed and danced a little jig in the trench.

In that instant a Frisbee like stray piece of shrapnel hit him in the unprotected throat and severed his head. He fell to the ground.  His headless body pulsing blood, fluids and pieces of lung over Lt Smith who had dropped to the bottom of the trench. Lt Smith opened his eyes to look directly at Rosie’s lifeless eyes staring at him from the severed head a few inches away.

Rosie was two days shy of his eighteenth birthday and one week shy of rotating home. He was born on  the 12th of February, Lincoln’s birthday, in the year 1935, in the town Wasat, Alabama, the thirteenth and last child born to Hussy and Lincoln Jones. He worked on the farm sharecropped by his family and was a good boy. He did his own schooling. First learning to read in the outhouse where he studied the Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward catalogs. Then by reading scraps of books and letters he found in the town garbage dump. He got to know which white folk would throw away what.  He treasured the torn pages of someone with the funny name of Shakespeare.  They were thrown away by Miss Rosenstock, the English teacher when she got drunk and had a conniption. She was also very pretty. Rosie often wondered how it would be to actually talk to someone like that. He was even afraid to look at her. He learned to write by studying some of her handwritten papers. He didn’t really know what they said, but her writing sure did sound nice when he actually got to be able to read it.  Some of it made Rosie feel kind of funny; words about love he guessed, but he didn’t have any idea about what love was. He did know that that thing between his legs would grow and grow sometimes when he thought maybe he knew what she was talking about. He hid when that happened and sometimes he had to do something about it.  He never told nobody. He didn’t know if he should be doin’ it but it felt real good so he kept right on. One day his sister’s friend saw him and her eyes got real big. So did Rosie’s thing. Rosie ran away. He was kind of scared. Hoped she didn’t tell. Rosie knew he would find a woman to show him what to do. Maybe that girl was laughing at him. Maybe his dong wasn’t big enough. When it got real big it was almost as big as Amos’s. He found out a while later in Tokyo that that was plenty big enough.

Rosie’s best friend was his mule Amos. He was surprised when he joined the Army that there were no mules. He missed Amos a lot, but he learned a whole bunch in the Army. He thought that maybe he would have a chance to be somebody someday. Some of those southern soldiers weren’t’ nice to him but beein’ called a nigger and treated real bad was nothing new to him.

He got good food, clothes and he was always hangin’ around folk that kind if interested him. He kept listenin’ to what they called bullshit. Rosie didn’t know from nothin’ but he knew there was some pretty tall stories and a lot of lyin’ goin’ on. He would laugh and laugh just ’cause it felt good, and that was a mighty nice feelin’ – feelin’ good.  Never did get to do much of that back home. Sometimes he would laugh when there was nothing to laugh at. and everybody would look kind of funny at him. Rosie didn’t care much ’cause it sure felt good to him.

Korea, was somethin’ real different. He was really scared. Saw two body bags loaded on the truck that brought him and the other replacements up front. The first man he met was Master Sgt Benny Droll and the first thing he thought of was those black bears back in Alabama. But he got to like him, but he was careful to stay out of his way as much as he could. Lt Smith was a real tough but real kind guy. He figured he would get a fair shake from him. He felt real good when he got to be the Lt’s bodyguard. Rosie served with distinction. He was awarded the Purple Heart, twice, the Bronze star. the Silver Star, and the Distinguished Service Cross, posthumously, for bravery and gallantry in action. When he was killed, the entire company passed by his body and said something to him. That was the only time that that ever happened in that company. He fought and died a hero. And he died with something he really wanted. He was somebody in death that he always wanted to be in life. They took up a collection and sent it to Rosie’s family so that part of it could be used for a gravestone with the inscription.

Rosie died as he dreamed

Rosie went home…in a body bag

Rosie went home with many decorations

With the respect of his fellow soldiers

Rosie was something in death

That he had never been in life

A hero

He brought the horror of war

The dignity of the warrior to life

He was somebody

He had also experienced for the first time

What it was like to be treated as an equal

He had also experienced the tenderness

of a woman’s love

for the first and only time in his life

Only to die before he could savor

War is not a forgiving business

It has no patience with youth

Except to deflower as gun fodder

There was no doubt that in life Rosie made a difference and in death he was somebody.