There was all lush of green grasses of every variety tickling away at my feet, you could feel the texture of each leaf of grass and the different hues did tickle you in a different way, more was the pleasure that I felt as the sole of my feet, crushing released the perfumed aroma of the grass and even made a sound rush for my ears that was admonished by the persistent repercussions of fresh grass underneath my feet; I wasn’t over one leaf of grass long enough to feel its pain just long enough to feel its pleasure.
The boys had thought I was crazy for taking off my military issued boots but me I have to feel things for it is very important to touch everything around me. My rank and name, Lieutenant Duvaye from the fifth infantry division, I was charged with a troop of thirty men, our task was to scout and destroy combatant positions behind enemy lines. There were now only 3 of us left and if you wanted to be optimistic and counted me as one of my men then there were four of us left.
Now we were walking, running, crawling, swimming, hurting, itching, scratching, hungry and hunting our way back to base through a mine field. Just a few minutes back Juan Rodriguez, to give a dead man a name, had found one of the land mines before him it had been William Redford White. Juanito was dead when we got to him there was only time to rip his name tags off or else his grim reaper would have yanked them from us as the only thing left to take back to the nether. William’s managed to send a message to his mom and five sisters, if we make it back I will find them and give them his last words; he loved them all and wanted them to take care of his 3 little girls and “…teach them right from wrong.” More or less he died saying, “right from wrong” feverishly so.
After Juanito bought it I decided I would take my boots off so as to better feel where I was stepping, don’t know why the boys thought themselves better off with boots for protection you cant feel a goddamn thing with all that army leather. I was pleasantly surprised by the wet grass, I could feel this land and its peoples they had beautiful grass. I had heard that they made lemon grass soup and other grass soups and I never had tried that stuff, grass just doesn’t seem that appetizing even in soup that can take many things but now I do feel that I have been missing something why just touching this grass between my toes feels genuinely delectable. After a while my palette was envious so I broke a grass leaf right to its roots, smelled the dirt, even the dirt had nice overtones but when I bit into the greenery, freshness everywhere the sky expanded a little, I think.
“Hey Lt how is that grass feeling under your feet?” Motioned Corporal Ralph Madden, he was our insensitive freak, he was still alive because he had thrown his dead buddy’s body on top of a grenade; during the act we all searched him with crazed eyes, his only reply, “Don’t fucking stare at me the asshole was dead already!” As he said that he sort of got wet around the eyes but we didn’t buy it, his voice dimming repetition, “Fucking asshole was dead already.” We all knew they were lovers and maybe he was just then making sure he was dead for in battle our ability to judge is severely hampered.
“Yeah isn’t that fufu grass cutting your pretty little feet sir?” Mustered Private First Class Robert Treble. Robert was always trying to fit in, he liked war or this war for sure and he wanted to be accepted, he took risks why he even saved a couple of our boys only so they could die later anyway, but his silver star for bravery was secured. Rescuing in war zones is just like fame always a temporary mission if you stay here long enough death finds you.
Robert could get all the medals he was heat seeking but none of them would ever sever his low self esteem and so he would always repeat anything anyone said to make sure that he was in line.
“Well you boys might not buy this but those boots are going to get you killed while my freshly wet toes are going to get my ass back home. You just better follow me or you aren’t going to make it out of here alive.”
Sailor, my second in command had some kind of a name we didn’t remember, he was just called Sailor because he had this love affair with boats we don’t know why this fine gunnery sergeant didn’t join the navy instead. Here he was in our filthy army where more men get and got killed, where everything goes rotten and dead wrong and while he was climbing mountains and crawling through marshes and barbed wire he kept this book of ships and their stats in his backpack. He would browse it again and again during cease fire actions or before a good night’s sleep; the navy was sure missing out on a fine and disciplined sergeant. He however was firmly with us and now noting, “Seems to me like our Lt is missing the boat upstairs.”
The other boys laughed while I stopped and turned around, “Missing the boat meaning? Meaning what Sergeant Sailor?”
“I don’t know as much as you Lieutenant Sir, I didn’t go to all those nice strategic command colleges but a man that takes his boots off in a full blown combat zone is getting too touchy feely for my nerves.”
The boys appeared to concur, PFC Treble inked on, “touchy feely.”
And Corporal Madden, “Sir, if you don’t mind I think we would all feel better if our commander were wearing his boots things are too fragile around these parts, how about it Lt Sir!” He finished that with a nice disciplined iced salute.
“Listen to me we have been losing man after man after man, the manual tells you how to dig out land mines but it doesn’t tell you where they are and the difference that metal and five thousand pellets make against my grass steeped feet as opposed to my bayonet which is metal against metal; hell I don’t expect you fools to understand all that just follow on my lead.”
Corporal Madden harked back, “It doesn’t seem right.”
Sailor loaded it up, “Sir on behalf of the men I propose that we split up, you go your way and we will go ours.”
I silently retraced my way back towards Sailor and I put my wet moist lips right to his ear, “On behalf of what men Sailor Sergeant? Haven’t you noticed you have managed to lose 27 men? haven’t you noticed that the troop has faded! So on behalf of what men do you speak? Corporal Madden is a fucking homo and PFC Treble is a fucking Star fighter or are you meaning to speak on behalf of yourself and using the lot to secure your own doubted beliefs?!”
Sergeant Sailor stood there solidly firm we were in the middle of a mine field, the landscape was flat and green where any enemy would be able to sniper pick us one by one from a mile away. The boys sort of got the message that I was still their leader but as I started to back out Sailor reiterated his stance. “Sir, with all due respect I think you could be suffering from malaria, jungle fever or just plain war but it may actually be better if you handed command of the troop to me.”
I snapped back, “Sergeant you want to relieve me of command because I took my boots off! Because I am trying something different instead of continuing to lose men to the same foolish tactic!”
At attention, sergeant Sailor held his position, “Sir I think we should put it to a vote besides right now as you say and as I see it we don’t have much of a troop so maybe we can put it to a vote.”
He didn’t want to call it a vote of confidence but that’s precisely what it was and frankly I didn’t care. “Alright then lets put it to a vote…” I Yelling, “Corporal Madden what is your vote me or Sergeant Sailor?!”
Madden sort of bowed his head looking at the grass and at my feet, “I think maybe it would be good if Sergeant Sailor were in charge for just a little while.”
I looked towards PFC Treble but I might have guessed his reply, “Yes sir it could be for just a little while, say a couple of hours and then you could have command back sir.”
I looked at Sailor, “So this is it, this is how it unfolds?…” swiftly taking out my revolver and pointing it at Sergeant’s temple, “You stupid idiots you are under military command you are not allowed to create your own hierarchy here, now put your military bodies on the ground now! On the ground now fuck-heads!”
“Lt. what are you doing put that weapon down.” Said Sergeant Sailor.
“I tell you what I am doing skipper I am offering to shoot you if what is left of the troop and you included doesn’t disarm immediately and hit the deck now!”
Corporal Madden jerked in, “Sir we cannot disarm in the middle of a fire zone.”
I fired a round that whisked past his right ear. “Me thinks that you can disarm fact is I frankly recommend that you disarm!”
PFC Robert Treble undoing his weapons belt, “I think you might be losing it Lt but I will listen to you I got no other choice.”
Lowering my tone, “Thank you private Treble, thank you.”
The three of them were there on the ground when a fighter jet formation flew overhead probably on a bombing mission. “You see those planes up there those are my planes and this is my war and you are my, my troop;…” (punctuating my chest) “…assigned to me by direct order of the commander and chief, the fucking president of our country and you cannot take that lightly men! You have to believe in the duty of command and the order of discipline, you will not turn to little nannies in the middle of a fire zone. You understand what I am saying men?!”
All three responded in alert unison. “Yes sir!”
“I cant hear you or maybe it is that you don’t mean it, louder please!”
Their voices belching into the sky. “Yes sir! yes sir!”
I took my helmet off, it was itching and it weighed too much some day they would make these helmets out of carbon fiber but only after a billion soldiers wore this fatiguing laughing metal thorns. “Well I don’t think you understand men because if you men understood the rule of command we wouldn’t be in this situation right now would we?!”
Their voices responded, “No sir we wouldn’t be in this situation now.”
I looked straight into the sun, I had seen napalm blowing up entire villages and peoples the sun was dimmed by comparison, my eyes were now sun trained. “Yeap boys this is how things start going wrong people don’t follow orders, people want to do their own thing, discipline, discipline is the order of the day and the only possible order of battle and you boys are tempted to violate that rule! Now I must make that right, you boys put me in a bad situation and I cannot allow a violation of our chain of command, I have to stop everything here and now so it doesn’t epidemically rise through the ranks.”
Corporal Madden showing a little fright, “Sir, we understand now let us just continue to march on!”
Treble reinforcing Madden, “Yes sir, lets just continue to march home, we are only a day or two away from home.”
Sailor Sergeant, “Sir we would all gladly take our boots off if that would put things right, right men?”
Resounding optimism from the men, “Yes sir” “Yes sir!” and with that they started to motion so as to take their boots off.
I aimed the gun barrel at Robert and yelled, “Not so fast private,” then I went with gun in hand towards Corporal Madden, “not so fast funny boy,” and then I pointed it straight at Sailor Sergeant. “You would take your boots off for me, I like that yeah I like that.” And with that I carelessly but willingly pulled the trigger and Sailor bought it on the forehead. The boys stiffened up as if they gave them selves for dead as well.
“Don’t worry boys you just take off those boots for we are going home, walking but we are going home.”
It was so much quieter now that the entire troop and I could feel the pretty green grass.
RC
1 comment:
sad.
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