In the middle of the war

2nd January 1945, it is early in the morning near the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium. The American troops of 117th Infantry Regiment are making their move to seize the land from the IIIrd Nazi Reich. Soldiers are waiting in the trench and the nearby scattered bushes to make a move as the view is obscured due to dense fog.

There is distant sound of random gun fire; so the soldiers of 117th Infantry Regiment know that the enemy is nearby. A group of 15 soldiers with Sergeant Jeffrey is sitting quietly waiting for the enemy to make the move. Two American soldiers from Omaha, Nebraska named Derek and John are together in a trench holding M50 Reising. They both know each other as have graduated from the same high school but barely spoke with each other when they were in school. I guess the fate got them together in this hostile freezing environment facing the enemy.

‘Damn it’s so cold, I miss my house right now.’, Derek says ‘You’re such a pussy, Derek.’ John whispers. ‘Oh fuck off John; you’re an ass.’ Derek replies with anger. Antonio hiding behind the bush says ‘Que pasa amigo, are you guys again fighting or what huh?’ Derek turns his head right as he knew where Antonio was hiding although he could barely see anything and replies ‘Hey Mexico shut your mouth will you.’

‘Hey Tony, our pussy is crying as our pussy is missing his mommy.’ John says mockingly and bursts to laugh. Derek does not like this remark from John and puts the gun on his shoulder and says ‘What is your fucking problem, huh what is wrong with me missing my home?’ ‘Nothing is wrong; it is just that you are such a pussy.’ John says.

 ‘It is so cold here, it is never so cold in Mexico.’ Antonio says.

Then there was a silence for a few minutes and then Derek says ‘You know whom do I miss the most; ever since I am here in this god forbidden place? Gisele from high school; God she was pretty, if I ever go back home, I’m gonna got to her place and ask her out.’ John takes a deep breath and says ‘Mmm… Gisele… Gisele, oh yeah I remember, the one with the big boobs; right, damn she was hot.’

Now Derek is all frowned and says ‘Fuck you John. What is your problem man, what the fuck is your problem?’

And then John slowly whispers in Derek’s ears ‘That was a compliment.’ and giggles.

After a silence for a few minutes; John drops another bomb ‘She had nice ass though.’ John says. ‘I’m gonna kill you.’ Derek says. Antonio couldn’t possibly wait anymore and says ‘Hey you two cowboys talking about gals without me? Hey was this gal your galfriend man, huh… your lady, your flower, huh… su flor silveste bastante?’ “No Tony I wonder if this douchebag even had the guts to open his fuckin mouth in front of her’ John says and then they both laugh.

‘Lo que está mal con usted mi amigo’? Antonio says in Spanish and listening to this John and Derek say, ‘English dude english’.

And a few feets from John in the trench is Joshua who is from Chicago and says ‘I ain’t no getting what you bitches talking, huh.’ Derek says ‘So one thing for sure Josh is not dead.’ and laughs. ‘Yeah a happy new year to you too, bitches.’ Joshua groans and says.

Joshua who is holding M18 57 mm Recoilless Rifle rests the rifle on the tripod and says ‘Once I’m done with this war, I’m gonna take my mumma to Hawaii for a long vacation. My mumma loves beaches and cold beer.’ ‘And guys this was our Alice crawling back to wonder fuckin land.’ John says which makes everybody laugh.

And then everybody goes quiet and concentrates on what lies ahead of them.

Derek goes deep into the thoughts and is very quiet and John who is next to him in the trench observes him for a while and then comes close to Derek’s ear and says, ‘Hope you’re not dry humping her in your thoughts.’

Derek couldn’t bare such an insult about himself and the girl who is the only hope and the reason to keep him from not dying. He drops his gun and jumps on John and punches him. John screams with pain and says ‘fuck… dude that hurts.’

Sergeant Jeffrey who was listening to the nonsense for quite some time loses his temper and puts his M1918 Browning on the ground and yells ‘Hey… hey you two cocksucking motherfuckers, would you please shut the fuck up and do your job or I come and give you one.’ John says ‘Sorry Sarge it just that pussy is missing his mommy.’ Derek keeps his mouth shut for a while and says ‘I feel like giving you away to the krauts.’

John says ‘I’m sorry friend I though we’re just having some fun as there isn’t much to do right now but I’m sure your Gisele would have a good time with someone right now.’

‘Hey you dumbfucks, you are in the middle of war and you’re fighting for some girl sitting 5ooo miles away; probably she doesn’t even know that you two exist.’ If the krauts don’t kill you; I will blow your fuckin brains out with my gun.’ Sergeant Jeffrey yells.  Sergeant then gets into position and holds his M1918 Browning. He is tensed as he knows the enemy is near but he can’t see because of the fog. He is impatiently waiting for the reinforcement to arrive. The climate is freezing and they are all out of food and water.

Sergeant slowly whispers ‘Where are you, you sick bastards, I can smell you but can’t see. Come on… come on lets finish this war once and then we can all go home. I gotta go my wife is sick and I need to be there, this war is killing me from within. I know there is a bullet our there with my name on it. It is just the matter of time, just the matter of time.’ He sighs and says ‘Put me in the goddamn wooden box and send me home, you Zweiback munching krauts, although I can’t wait to shove some sausages up your fuckin asses before I die.’   

And suddenly there is an explosion made by the german grenade launcher Schiessbecher near the trench. There is dust everywhere and the sound of coughing can be heard. Antonio says ‘oh Jesús lo que pasó.’

Sergeant Jeffrey yells ‘Is everybody alright, huh?’ John who is coughing clears his throat and says ‘Yeah Sarge our pussy is still alive.’ Sergeant Jeffrey says ‘C'mon boys hold your positions and open the fire, this is what we all are destined for and this is what we do for living, so kill every fuckin kraut you see.’

Then there is another explosion where the soldiers are hiding, there is dust and smoke everywhere and the sounds of gun fire can be heard from both the sides. And a distant sound of german soldiers yelling ‘Ficken die amerikaner.’

A war is fought among two nations and it is a nation which wins the war to another, I really wonder what has it got to do with an individual soldier. It is when that this war becomes his and decides his fate to live or die? The only victory a soldier can have from any war is to go home alive and see his family. We talk of this epic wars and battles that our human civilisation has fought for centuries, but what about the war which is going inside the minds of every individual. There is no way to fathom the magnitude of that war, the war for love, pride, lust, ego and fame.

We all fight this inner war for all our lives and die with them, I guess no person can ever win that war completely and be free from all worries. The salve seems impossible. The protagonist here has displayed the same characteristic, being tormented from within with all the personal problems and yet here he is active brave and strong and ready to face the inevitable.

I have heard wise men say that the war can bring the worst out of any man; do these wise men take into account the impact of that inner war which we all undergo?

In honor of every soldier who has fought any war for the right reason or not, for every soldier who is guarding the land, sea or air of their nation away from their family.

~nilesh