Fixed Bayonets! Page #3

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Get out there

about a hundred yards...

keep your eyes open and stay there

till I send a relief.

If you see any people that don't look

exactly friendly, send up one flare.

If they got tanks,

send up two flares.

Oh, and, Bigmouth, be careful of the

minefield. I'd hate to lose you, all right?

Move out, Bigmouth.

Hey, you guys,

on your feet.

Get out there

and spread the word.

One flare, people.

Two flares, tanks.

- Tanks?

- You mean we're fighting tanks?

Spread the word.

Hey, you guys.

Okay up there?

They told me this was

going to be a police action.

Why didn't they send cops?

Sarge.

I've been watching you, Sarge.

I've been watching you out there...

and you came close to stepping in

some of the land mines.

- Come on, Fitz. Will you cut out worrying?

- I mean it, Sarge.

You know, I got used to Lieutenant Gibbs,

and he got it just like that.

So?

Well, I feel like I'm a bad luck piece

'cause I'm getting kind of used to you.

All right,

kill that fire!

- I thought the smoke would go down

that drop. - I cook the hot chow.

- I just want to get some heat.

- Well, kill it!

Bunch up. Heat will

come from your bodies.

Wolowicz,

did you find Lemchek?

Yeah. You were right, Corporal.

He was on the 30.

- He's had it.

- Yeah. What about my helmet?

Oh, I couldn't find yours.

Hey, how come we weren't

issued those stoves?

You're too young

for this kind of luxury.

- You looted that in Germany, didn't

you, Rock? - Yep. Aachen.

- Sarge, you know the fellow you got?

- Yeah. Which one?

The one that got

Lieutenant Gibbs.

A funny thing

about that joker.

When I stuck him,

he made a booming sound.

- Yeah, like a bass drum.

- Yeah. How'd you know?

Well, I heard it.

- What about him, Wolowicz?

- He had an extra pair of shoes on him...

just like my old

bowling sneakers.

- Let's see. - Wolowicz, did he

have any dry socks on him?

I never could figure them Chinese.

Well, you know what I heard? I heard they're

doped up before they're sent into charges.

Oh, it isn't a question of opiates.

Now as a student of atavism-

What a crock! Mr. Belvedere

knows everything. Ha! I need a fumigator.

You've been around

a lot, Whitey.

When you get out, are you going on another

safari to Africa in your private plane?

No. All I want to do

is roll a couple of lines.

You mean, you like to bowl?

Wolowicz, there's nothing like

the thrill of a good, clean strike.

Good, clean strike. Instead of pulling that

dope's leg, why don't you drop dead, Whitey.

- Give your mouth a 10-minute break.

- Is that an order, Corporal?

- If you're looking for a fight,

there's a lot of people outside.

- Let's go.

- Who's gonna follow who?

- Meaning what?

- Whatever you think it means, Corporal.

- I think I'll slap your ears in.

There they are.

You bucking for his stripes? You want him

to get busted for taking a poke at you?

'Cause if he does, I didn't see a thing.

I'm snow-blind.

What's the matter with you, Mainotes? We've

got a good cover here. Ain't you happy?

I just don't

like that guy.

Well, then why don't you

get a transfer?

They got the buddy system now.

If you got a buddy, they'll put you

both together in the same outfit.

I got a buddy

in Pittsburgh.

She's a blonde and operates

her own pool hall.

Tell me, Sarge, whywere we picked

for this job?

Regiment's saving the cream

for the rougher stuff ahead.

Cream? Well, what are we,

skimmed milk?

So far,

we've just been lucky.

They blew them horns

to make us jumpy.

They knocked us off the hill

to see if we'd answer back with artillery.

They shellacked the pass

hoping we'd start a rout.

But we're still in luck.

Know why?

'Cause they think

we're the whole regiment.

So far, we got them fooled.

I wonder how long it'll be

before they get wise to us.

When you hear a tank, that's the main

event. That means they're wise to us.

A tank means they'll hit us with

more tanks and a lot ofpeople.

A tank means they'll push through us

like we were a paper bag.

So until you hear one,

take it easy.

We'll each take

two hours on O.P.

When I come off, it'll be time

to pull out for the bridge.

- Who's relieving Ramirez?

- Denno.

So you're putting

the corporal to work, huh?

Corporal's got to be able to do

something besides draw extra pay.

How did you get those stripes, Denno?

Dog rob for the colonel?

Only three things you got to worry about

in the infantry-your rifle and your two feet.

Pull off your boots and your socks.

Both pairs.

Come on. Bunch your canal boats

together like bananas.

Massaging's good

for beetle crushers.

Yours is purple, Denno.

Next, it'll be blue,

then trench foot, then frostbite.

Then they got to be chopped,

all 10 of them.

You've got to rub

harder than that. Here.

All we've got to worry about's where the Reds

are gonna hit us from in the morning.

If we can draw their fire without

losing a guy to locate their guns...

that's using our noodle.

- How's that?

- I don't feel anything.

Oh, yeah?

- Feel that?

- No.

Doc, come here.

Take a look

at Denno's foot.

You got it bad,

Corporal.

Hey, you better start

stomping around on that, Denno.

Get the blood circulating.

That one always

did go to sleep on me.

Let's hit the sack.

Whatever made you

stay in the army?

You woke me up

just to ask me that?

Well, I've been meaning to ask you,

but I just never got the chance.

Get some shut-eye before those

people start hitting us again.

- You want to gab, huh?

- Yeah.

That's something I been trying

figure out myself for a long, long time.

What makes a guy

stay in the army?

I wish I knew the answer.

Some of us 'cause

we're dumb, I guess.

Some are poor.

Some are a little lazy.

Some of us got some vanity.

Know what I mean?

Some of us old pros stay in even when we

know that after the fighting's over...

some of us will rest in peace

and rot in hospitals.

Even when we know all that,

we stay in 'cause-

I don't know.

It's hard to explain.

Maybe it's something

that just happens to you.

Maybe it's the pension.

I wish I knew the answer.

- I don't want to be a corporal.

I want to get busted. - You what?

I always wanted to lead.

When I was in officers' school,

I was head of the class.

They said I had the makings of a leader-

the education, the brains...

the knack of solving

tactical situations.

And one day, we had a problem with

live shells. We had to knock out a tank.

There was a red flag there warning

not to send any men in that area.

I was in command

of the platoon.

I don't know

what happened, Rock.

The minute that stuff started flying through

the air and I had to deploy my squad...

something happened

right in the pit of my gut.

I got panicky and I sent a squad

to the danger zone.

Four men were hit,

one seriously.

I was there when

they amputated his leg.

They gave me another chance. Again I got

into a sweat the minute I had to give orders.

Then they found out

what I'd known all the time.

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