Croft was tough, all right, Hearn told...
Croft was tough, all right, Hearn told himself
The boat was turning now, angling against the swellsHearn grasped a strut more firmly as it jarred against a wave
There was Sergeant Brown, whom he knew slightly; he was the one who looked like a boy with his snubbed nose and freckles and light-brown hairThe Typical American Soldier -- the agreeable composite hatched out of the tobacco smoke and hangovers of the advertising conferencesBrown looked like all the smiling soldiers in the advertisements, a trifle smaller, perhaps, plumper, more bitter than was permissibleBrown had an odd face actually, Hearn decidedUp close there were jungle sores on Brown's skin, and his eyes had become dull and remote, his skin had begun to wrinkleHe looked surprisingly old
But, then, all the veterans didIt was simple to pick them outThere was Gallagher, who probably had always looked that way, but still he had been in the platoon for d&g knockoffs some timeAnd there was Martinez, who seemed more fragile, more sensitive than the othersHis fine features had been nervous, his eyes had blinked as he talked to Hearn that morningHe was the one you would pick instantly to crack up, and yet he was probably a good manA Mexican had to be to become a good noncom
There was Wilson, and the one they called RedThat one had a craggy face with a rough boiled look about it which emphasized the blueness of his eyesHis laugh had a hoarse sarcastic edge as if everything disgusted him exactly the way he had known it would disgust himValsen was the one who was probably worth talking to, and yet he would be unapproachable
Collectively, they lent something to each other, seemed harder and meaner than they would if isolatedAs they lay on their cots, their faces seemed the only things alive in the troop wellTheir fatigues were old, faded to a pale green, and the boat walls had rusted white leather prada handbags brownThere was no color, no movement in anything but the flesh of their facesHearn threw his cigarette away
On his left was the island, not more than half a mile across the waterThe beach was narrow at this point and the coconut trees grew almost to the water's edge; behind them grew the brush, a dense tangle of roots and vines and plants, of trees and foliageInland there were hills, set heavily on the earth, their ridge-lines lost in the forests that covered themTheir lines were ugly, broken and scraggly, with bald patches of rock like the hide of a bison when it is shedding in summerHearn felt the weight and resistance of that landIf the terrain was similar at the place where they landed tomorrow, it would be hell working through itAbruptly, the idea of the patrol seemed a little fantastic to him
For a moment he became aware again of the steady grind of the assault craft's motorsCummings had sent him out on this, and rolex watches on sale therefore he could distrust the mission of the patrol, distrust Cummings's motives in initiating itIt seemed a little inconceivable that Cummings should have made the mistake of transferring him; certainly the General must have known that this was what he preferred
Was it remotely possible that the decision to transfer him had come from Dalleson? Hearn doubted itWith ease he could imagine the scene in which Cummings had given the idea to DallesonAnd the patrol was quite likely an extension of the General's motives in assigning him to recon
But that seemed a little extravagantHe had discovered the hatred Cummings was capable of bearing, but he could not imagine Cummings expending a platoon for a week in order to work out a minor vengeanceThere were other and easier ways; besides, Cummings was too much of a military craftsman to be wastefulConsciously, he must have considered the patrol as an effective maneuverWhat chanel j10 watch fake bothered Hearn was that the General might not be aware of his own motives
Certainly, it seemed a little unbelievable that they could march for thirty or forty miles through unexplored jungle and hills, go through a mountain pass, scout the Japanese rear and return; the more carefully he considered it the more difficult it becameHe was inexperienced, of course, and the mission might actually be easier to accomplish than he estimated, but at best it was a doubtful business
It softened the edge of his satisfaction at being given a platoonWhatever Cummings's reasons, there was no assignment Hearn preferred moreHe foresaw the annoyances, the dangers, the inevitable disillusionments, but at least this was a positive actionFor the first time in many months there were a few things he wanted again, simply and honestlyIf he could manage it, if it turned out the way he wanted, he could establish some kind of liaison with the replica louis vuitton purses men