Battle Cry - Leon Uris [241]
But, my darling, I must ask you to wait once more. It would be impossible for you to come to Hawaii. Jean, when I returned from Iceland and was given this command I had to whip a green bunch of kids into Marines and it wasn’t an easy job. But now my boys are Marines, the finest on God’s earth. Perhaps they don’t like me, perhaps they hate me. I don’t really know but I know we’ve been through a lot of hell together. These boys are not professional soldiers like I am. This business of saying good-by knifes them more deeply than it ever will us. They want their wives and their mothers as badly as we want each other. But the path is not as easy for them as it has been made for us. They must stay and do their job.
Lord knows I’m not punishing myself for their sake, but what kind of love would it be if I had to face them knowing I’d stolen something that is denied them? Could we cheat? I must see it through with them, Jean. I am their skipper. Darling, you must understand.
I have never written this before but the time has come now. Since we were kids at Ohio State and you chose to become my wife you must have learned that I am married to two persons, you and the Corps. Many’s the time you have had to step back and take it on the chin and you’ve never complained about it. Many’s the time I’ve wanted to tell you what a brave soldier you have been. You have taken a long hard road—yes, we are always saying good-by.
And many’s the time I’ve cursed myself for bringing you into all this. I have never been able to give you the home and the children I know you long for. It has always been “Take care of yourself, see you soon.” But without your courage I never could have made it.
No matter where the call of duty has taken me, no matter what the situation, I can always find comfort in knowing that way back in the States there is a woman waiting for me. A woman so wonderful I surely do not deserve her. But as long as she is there, nothing else matters for me.
And I’ve thought in anguish of the day I can come back and know I’ll never have to leave you again and I can spend the rest of my life making up for every lonely day and every lonely night.
Our die is cast and for the while we must get our bits of happiness when they are doled out to us. I am not sorry for the life I have chosen, only for the misery I’ve caused you.
And so, once more. Just a little longer, darling.
I adore you,
Sam
The letter fell to the floor and Jean Huxley gazed blankly out of the window. She felt she would never see her husband again.
Something big was brewing for the Sixth Marines. The tip came during maneuvers when the regiment was introduced to the newly developed “buffalo.” The buffalo was an amphibious tractor bigger, faster, and more heavily armed than its predecessor, the alligator. The Sixth was drilled in the buffalo while the Second and Eighth Marines drilled in the mountains. This meant the beachhead for us. The big dress rehearsal, as usual, ended in a mess.
Happy with the hope that this would be the last campaign, we prepared to move out again. We were in a fighting mood. Already a rotation plan was in effect for members of the Second and Eighth who had been overseas many more months than we had.
We waited tensely as camp broke and battalion after battalion took the slow torturous trek down the mountainside to the Hilo docks. From Hilo we figured that the transports would proceed to Pearl Harbor, and down the islands for final staging.
Then came shattering news. Five LSTs had been blown up at Pearl Harbor. At the last moment we were ordered to stay put in Camp Tarawa. It was obvious that Huxley’s Whores had originally been assigned to one of the destroyed ships. Highpockets took a plane for Honolulu while we sat alone in the cold mountains to sweat it out.
The stiff orderly at Major General Merle Snipes’ office in Pearl Harbor snapped the door open.
“Sir, Lieutenant Colonel Huxley to see you.” He closed the door behind Sam who stood rigid