will i live to see tomorrow? in a crowded waterproof tank we float slowly away from our mothership receding from the guarantee of life into what in a few minutes will be a living hell in our pockets are letters to loved ones cigarettes in place of nutrition and around our necks dogtags to tell our men which soul our corpse belonged to we sing psalms and laugh nervously suddenly the coxswain gives a yell the front ramp comes down and we in our little wooden rickety boats are shoved into the open sea to sail for the black beach underneath the smoking volcano black sand its volcanic ash there is no sound of gunfire we make the beach and secure a space for materiel behind us just minutes away then we dig foxholes we try to dig foxholes but the ash wont hold and we cant hide and then it begins to rain bullets cries of agony fill the air the man on my left is hit the sergeant is hit the radio is hit the rest of us fall flat onto the ash we breathe it in and make snow angels try to bury ourselves faintly ever so faintly a whistling sound is heard it drops in pitch it grows in volume it disappears with a soundshockwave blasting me numb and punching up a wave of ash that covers me in front of me lands an arm bleeding out the elbow the fingers still twitching cries of medic! sound like acapella again and again the mortars keep falling blood and brains and intestinal fluids darken the ash i turn to seek our materiel only to see burned out transports sinking with all our hopes of living through this hellhole the mortars stop the gunfire stops i start the lords prayer our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy the japs are charging! someone shouts as if we couldnt see the swarm of fierceeyed suicidal men closing distance much too fast i shoot one down then another then another but they keep on coming theyre too close i pull out my bayonet no time to attach it a jap jumps on me i roll over he stabs the ash i slit his throat blood splatters the ash covers my face gets on my rifle so i wipe it off with my hands the M1 Carbine is my Lifeline my Fifth Limb the only limb worth protecting congealing bloodash can jam It so i wipe it off and leave it to congeal on my hands on my face more gunfire more mortars explosions behind me surrounded! i turn prepared to fight to the death and see our Navy those Guardian Angels blasting shells at newfound jap positions as they shoot over my head each one a prayer a shooting star they hit the fortified hills with an almighty roar shrubs fly into the air the sky is a screen of dirt and ash the earth quakes not the volcano erupting but the full fury of our cover a heavenly earthquake thank god for our Navy we fight on we inch forward in yards-per-hour we die in dozens-per-minute but forward we inch onward we fight blood flowing from my shrapnel wounds weary oh so weary water food rest my rifle grows heavy my eyelids droop i turn my head to lie flat and rest just ten short minutes thats all i ask and in my blurring vision i see on the volcano summit a flag slowly rising twenty degrees forty sixtyfive ninety degrees the wind blows it open its ours! Old Glory shining bright! all around me erupt not blasted ash but cheers and with a howl i push myself up to win this goddamned war not for freedom not for country not for family for those crazy flagraising bastards not to have risked their lives in vain for the dead and dying that litter the beach for the weary and shellshocked who can still give a cheer i fight because they too are fighting for me so i pick up my rifle and soldier on. -- 英语文工作室 http://www.wretch.cc/blog/jsengstudio/ 个板 defenestrate --

※ 发信站: 批踢踢实业坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 1.161.16.182 ※ 编辑: spacedunce5 来自: 1.161.16.182 (08/22 22:39) ※ 编辑: spacedunce5 来自: 114.42.248.139 (08/24 10:38) ※ 编辑: spacedunce5 来自: 114.42.248.139 (08/24 10:40) ※ 编辑: spacedunce5 (114.42.213.171), 05/09/2019 12:52:29