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Let it die silent sniper7/26/2023 The Japs had killed too many Americans for that, starting with their sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Deke was a natural-born fighter.īut even if he respected the enemy, he sure as hell didn’t like the enemy. In a sense, he should have been dead a long time ago and he had the scars to prove it. As a stubborn young man from the Southern hills, he knew what it meant to have your back against the wall and keep fighting. He might be a living, breathing man, but Emperor Hirohito was the heart and soul of Japan.ĭeke could understand the determination of the Japanese to fight to the death, even respect it. Lieutenant Steele had explained that the Japanese saw their Emperor as a god, not to be questioned, but only obeyed. They would much make a last-ditch banzai attack or even starve to death, all in an effort to die for the Emperor rather than give themselves up. You had to hand it to those Jap troops-they were nothing if not fanatical. Still, they were able to enjoy a few hours on the beach because the fighting on the island of Guam had subsided, except for pockets of resistance deep in the jungle-covered hills, where a few diehard Japanese didn’t have the sense to give up. On this Pacific island, the damn sand got into everything and the air dripped with humidity. He missed those mountains, with their brooding, rocky faces and crisp autumn woods. There was something comforting about hearing Philly talk, like listening to a familiar radio program.ĭeke looked around at the sun-washed beach, which was still a strange sight for him, about as different from the mountains where he had grown up as one could get. Then again, Deke couldn’t help but smile at Philly’s stories. That damn city boy-Philly was short for “Philadelphia”-never shut his mouth. Wanda was a whole different situation, let me tell you.”ĭeacon “Deke” Cole just shook his head and tuned Philly out, which was easy to do. “Maybe three or four times, come to think of it. “Sure, there was that time with Betty, under the boardwalk in Atlantic City,” Philly said. Deke had been around him long enough to know Philly’s tricks. Philly just shook his head, like he often did when he was buying himself some time to make something up. “The other three times you’ve told this story, her name was Betty,” Deke interrupted. There was this one time, I met a girl on the boardwalk named Wanda-” “You know how I can tell this ain’t the Jersey Shore?” Philly asked. Although the war was far from over, with a large swath of the Pacific still in Japanese control, it had taken a respite in this corner of the world, and the men were taking whatever R&R they could. The men lay sprawled on the beach, enjoying some long overdue R and R. Now, for once, they were truly living up to that name.
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