TDTLBU Chapter Twenty-Five

Part Three: War in the Desert (1942-1943)

Fort Benning, Georgia

February, 1942

Ronnie stumbled as someone bumped heavily against his back. He grabbed the door of the bus to keep from falling on the man in front of him as he stepped out into the Georgia sunshine. Turning, he glared up at Josh who still stood on the step.

"Quit shoving, will ya?" 

Josh grinned impishly and jumped from the step, narrowly missing knocking Ronnie over. A middle-aged man in military uniform was screaming orders and the new recruits fumbled to follow them. They were unused to following such commands. Their incompetence angered the sergeant and he screamed louder, his face beet red. 

With much jostling and pushing and muttered curses, the boys managed to line up in correct order at the high gates of Fort Benning. They were a motley mismatched crew, this jumble of new recruits. Some wore business suits, others overalls, jeans, flannel shirts… some dressed characteristic to their background while others were deceivingly spruced up in honor of the occasion. It didn't matter. When they passed through those gates and came out on the other side of the registration complex, they would all be nearly identical. 

The gate swung open and the recruits were met by what could only be called organized chaos. Men in drab green uniforms marched in orderly columns along the gravel path. Rifle squads drilled in the grassy squares carefully sectioned off between rows of double-storied wooden bunk houses. Military vehicles of every size and description were parked in rows behind sheds and supply areas. Some of the soldiers glanced over to stare at the newcomers. Most of them laughed and a volley of jests and insults flew between the two groups.

"Ay! Jeeps! Get out while you can!"

"Uncle Sam catch you too, eh?"

"You'll be sorry!"

"Get ready to go blast some Nips and Krauts!"

Most of it was good-natured, but a few tempers were riled. Josh did his fair share of yelling though Ronnie tried in vain to shut him up. The sergeant only added to the disorder as he barked and shoved at the new men, eventually managing to get them into the registration buildings.

"Glad that's over, damn those infernal exams," Josh groaned as the recruits were ushered into a supply room after the final medical tests.

"What, one day away from home and you're swearing already?" Ronnie laughed. "I oughta tell your mom."

"Nah, you wouldn't," Josh grinned wickedly. "You know better than to cross me."

Ronnie shrugged and shook his head. Josh had likely come to camp with a boatload of pranks and jokes shoved up his sleeve. He'd end up getting them all in trouble if he wasn't careful.

"All right, men, grab your uniforms and get them on double quick!" the sergeant yelled as boxes of olive drab were laid out. "All personal belongings to be set in those bins and labeled with your name and serial number. That's the number on your ID tags. They'll be packed up and sent home."

"Told Mom I didn't need those pajamas," Josh muttered.

It sounded simple enough to exchange street clothes for military uniforms, but no one had been prepared for the gaiters. The officers were increasingly frustrated as the new soldiers struggled with the lace-up canvas leggings. The few who managed to figure them out were immediately enlisted into teaching those less fortunate. Ronnie cast a sideways glance at Josh who had his laces all in knots, rolled his eyes, and moved on, hoping that someone else would take pity on the boy. He was plain worn out after hours on the bus with him. Josh was his best friend but everyone has their limit and being with Josh was like babysitting a monkey.

"Did you figure them out?" Andy looked up at Ronnie pleadingly as he passed and the older boy stopped. He had met Andy on the bus… a scrawny little specimen of a farm boy with a permanently frightened expression. He came from Iowa and was only barely eighteen… the youngest of eight brothers and the only one drafted. Four of his other brothers… the single ones… had joined up with either the Navy or Air Force and he was left alone in the army. He hadn't wanted to go and he was terrified. 

"I think so." Ronnie knelt beside him and laced up his left gaiter for him. "See? It's not so bad. Now you try the other."

"Sure would make it easier if they just gave us normal boots," the man beside Andy groaned as he bent over his laces, one leg up on the bench. 

"Well, when you realize that we could be off getting shot at in a couple of months or so, this isn't all that bad," Ronnie shrugged and glanced around the room. Josh was still fighting with his laces and the sergeant was getting impatient. Half the recruits were already lined up against the wall and ready to move on.

"Very true." The stranger answered as he finished, rolling the "r" on his "very". He straightened to his full height and ran his fingers through his dark hair. "I think your friend needs help over there," he nodded at Josh and grinned. Ronnie laughed ruefully and hurried to get to Josh before the fuming Sergeant did. 

The recruits went through even more processing before they could be released into the camp. They had to be assigned to specific units and given certain duties. Ronnie wasn't sure whether to be relieved or annoyed to find that he and Josh were assigned to the same unit. Andy was with him too and he shadowed Ronnie like a faithful servant as they moved through registration and finally stood on the other side–soldiers at last.

✯✯✯

Lissie curled up in the window seat, leaning her head against the window pane. Her book, neglected, had slid from her lap and lay face down on the cushion beside her, it's pages splayed out hap-hazardly. Normally such treatment of books horrified her, but she hadn't even noticed. Raindrops slowly trickled down the glass and she traced the water trails with her fingertips. Involuntarily she sighed, letting her head slide a little further down. Her mother, sitting in the opposite corner in a rocker by the fire, glanced up from the sock she was knitting. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask her daughter if she was all right, but she bit back her anxious question. All in good time. Better to wait and let Lissie confide on her own than to try and force answers out of her. 

Lissie closed her eyes to the rain and a distant memory flitted through her mind. It had been the last time she had set foot in her father's clinic… eight long years ago. A man had been brought in after a hunting accident, shot through the side. She would never forget the look on his face as he staggered in, leaning on his companion, his shirt covered in blood. She couldn't stand the sight or even the thought of blood, and she shuddered inwardly, shying away from the memory. 

But one grisly thought led to another and she found herself for the hundredth time thinking of Freddy. What must her poor cousin have suffered before he died? They didn't even know how exactly he had died. His body had never been recovered. He now lay buried beneath the waters of Pearl Harbor with the wreck of his ship… the once-proud USS Oklahoma.  

Even her dreams haunted her now. Every time she closed her eyes, she pictured Ronnie lying dead on a battlefield. She couldn't bear the thought of those blue eyes closed forever. If he died, she would never forgive him. She wondered if she would ever even see him again.

How she had begged him not to go and he had gone anyway! She felt betrayed. Wrapping her arms around herself, she curled up in the fetal position and wept silently. He had left her alone even after telling her he loved her and would take care of her forever. She was angry at him… she hated him! She lifted her head, her eyes blazing behind the strands of hair that had fallen in front of her face. The memory of his deep blue eyes flashed through her mind and she cried softly aloud.

"No, I don't… I don't… I take it back… I love him.." and she dropped her head and cried harder. Why hadn't he listened all those times she had told him how much she hated war and death and killing? It was a horrible evil thing… this conflict. And now Ronnie was a part of it. She would resist the war with every fiber of her being. To fight for the way of peace as surely as they fought for the way of violence.

But to do it alone… without Ronnie! The pain was more than she could bear.

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