Battle Cry - Leon Uris [191]
“They kept going. Malaria, starvation, Japs—nothing could stop them. Until there were only four men left. Seymour, that battle-happy sergeant who boarded our ship on the way to the Canal—remember him?”
Wellman nodded.
“He saw the four of them come back in. They were naked skeletons. Bloody and inhuman looking. They couldn’t even speak coherently.”
Huxley arose and walked to the window. “Sure, I know I’m getting a hot potato.” He wheeled about. “But I’ve got a feeling that Shapiro is going to pay off one of these days when the chips are down.”
My squad gathered around the large shack which housed the Battalion office. There was rampant excitement. Captain Max Shapiro had been transferred into the Second Battalion to take over Fox Company. The notorious and glorious Two Gun Shapiro from Coleman’s Raiders who had earned his first Navy Cross in the Makin raid—and a court-martial. He had more decorations and courts-martial than the next three officers in the Corps combined. He was a legend. As the jeep swung into our street we were bursting with excitement to get a glimpse of him.
The jeep stopped before the Battalion office on the dirt road. Our mouths fell open. There sat a short, pudgy man with ringlets of curly black hair, a heavy moustache, and thick-lensed glasses.
“Jesus, is that Two Gun Shapiro?”
“Must be.”
“Looks like a rabbi to me.”
“He sure doesn’t look very tough, cousin.”
Shapiro debarked from the jeep ungracefully, bucking under the weight of his officer’s bag. He asked for instructions and headed for the office, tripping over one of the steps. Disillusioned, we went back to our tents.
Captain Shapiro set his gear in front of the door marked BATTALION COMMANDER, knocked, and without waiting for an answer entered. Sam Huxley glanced up from the paperwork on his desk. The little man stepped up and thrust his hand forward. “Shapiro’s the name, Max Shapiro. I’m your new captain, Huxley.” Highpockets was on guard. He had just finished pouring through the Captain’s fabulous record book. Max withdrew his hand under Huxley’s stern glare, seated himself on the Colonel’s desk and threw a pack of cigarettes down. “Have a weed, Huxley. What’s my company?”
“Have a seat, Shapiro.”
“I’m sitting. Call me Max.”
“Let’s chat, Captain,” Huxley said. Shapiro shrugged. “You have quite a record preceding you into this battalion.”
“Don’t let that scare you.”
“On the contrary. I grabbed you out of the replacement pool as first choice. Seems like I had a clear field. No one else wanted any trade with you.”
“Call me Max.”
“I think we’d better come to a quick understanding. First, you are not in the Raiders any more. Let me say that no man in the Corps respects Ed Coleman more than I do. However, we aren’t a roving band here and we like to play Marines.”
“Pep talk, huh? Listen, Huxley, I don’t aim to give you a bad time if you don’t give me one, so just can all the chatter.”
“In this battalion we observe military courtesy. You address me as Colonel Huxley at all times. The only time I want individualism is under fire and that is why I asked for you. You can give me the type of company I want out of Fox. However, as long as you are in my command you will observe all rules and regulations down to the letter. Do I make myself clear?”
“Chickenshit outfit.”
“Not quite. I realize that we may never gain the stature of the Raiders, but this battalion will take a back seat to none in the Corps. We can outhike, outshoot, and when the chance comes, outfight anyone. We also know how to behave like gentlemen, something you overlooked in your previous tours of duty.”
Shapiro reddened and snarled.
“Don’t think, Captain Shapiro, you are going to run a three-ring circus here. I’m not going to get rid of you because you’re a hot potato, either. You are going to take over Fox Company and you are going to make them the best riflemen in the world, but under my rules.” Huxley drew himself to his towering height over the little captain. “If military discipline holds no awe for you let’s just go to the boondocks right now and see who is