War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 454 Maybe They Are All Heroes
On August 8th, the stretcher soldiers Randy and Wei Ran were notified before they had breakfast and were kicked out of the camp patrol.

Although it was unavoidable to be a little disappointed, both Wei Ran and Randy knew that it was actually Captain Lewis who was protecting them, lest they be implicated by what Marshall did.

But the black Will, not only was he not affected, but even the company commander Lewis personally came forward and officially handed over the post of chaplain of the engineer battalion to him.

Although the pastor was a black man, he had won universal respect because of the previous events, his singing voice and honest personality. After all, as Tom said before his death, black people are also children of God.

Only Wei Ran and Randy were left in the tent. Bored and restricted in their range of activities, the two silently sorted out Tom's belongings and Marshall's things.

There is the blood-stained Bible with two bullets in it, the pistol Sean left for Marshall, Tom's pistol, and the white skull written with shoe polish, Marshall's friend , a photo of Greg with his wife Caroline, and the address of Tom's wife and Caroline.

"What should I write in my letters to them?"

Randy took Tom and Marshall and asked a question that Wei Ran didn't know how to answer.

"Or send me a picture"

Wei Ran, who had been silent for a long time, picked up the bedside camera and handed it over, "I took a lot of photos for you before, you find a way to print them out, and send them a photo every once in a while, it should be able to last for a while."

"we can only do this"

Randy held down the camera, looked at the wooden board with bets on the tent and said, "When I was having breakfast just now, I heard from the wounded who came back from the front line that they will soon hit Guam is the northernmost point."

"It's a pity." Wei Ran couldn't help but sighed.

"It's a pity Tom couldn't wait for that day"

Randy picked up the helmet on the bedside and put it on his face, and said in a dull voice, "I made an appointment with him to go to the strip bar opposite his house to drink with him when the war is over and return to Pearl Harbor. He also said that he would introduce to me the girl who used to work in his family's weapons store, and said alas."

"The living must live. In the past, we lived for ourselves, and now we will live for those friends who have not survived." Wei Ran comforted him almost raving, but he couldn't help but think of more people in his mind. .

"Exactly as you said"

Randy took a deep breath, threw the steel helmet that had just been buckled on his face under the bed, and asked a question that would never be outdated on the battlefield, "Victor, what are you going to do after the war is over?"

"Maybe I will be a photographer." Wei Ran absent-mindedly replied, "What about you?"

"I'm going to be a doctor like you"

Randy gave an unexpected answer, "I'm tired of carrying a stretcher back on the road these days, watching the wounded die before my eyes."

"But aren't we talking about things after the war?" Wei Ran asked puzzled.

"It is indeed after the end of the war." Randy rubbed his face vigorously, "But what if there is another war in the future?"

"At that time, you will still join the army?" Wei Ran's heart sank. After the end of World War II, Shalomei joined the war again, but it was the peninsula war next to China. If Randy really had this idea, then it would not be possible in the future As an enemy....

"Join the army? I won't join the army again."

Randy gave Wei Ran a moment of relief, "I'm just worried, no, maybe I should say afraid. I'm afraid that one day the war will spread to the mainland of the United States. If there is such a day, if I am a doctor like you, Even being a veterinarian would at least save more lives."

"The veterinarian provoked you," Wei Ran muttered to himself.

"Don't know what Marshall and Will will do after the war"

After Randy finished speaking, he became interested, sat up and lit a cigarette from Guzi, puffing and puffing, "Will will definitely continue to be his music teacher, but I don't know what that bastard Marshall has." Intend."

"Maybe he will become a gold miner, and find a gold nugget the size of a grenade in a tributary of the Mississippi River." Wei Ran joked happily.

"Then when you woke up, you found that Ji Nu had stolen your wallet?"

After Randy finished speaking, he couldn't help laughing, and the gloomy mood accumulated in the past two days was a little better, "But before that, I'm afraid Marshall will spend some time in prison."

"Because of those things yesterday?" Wei Ran turned his head and asked.

Randy nodded, and said worriedly, "Torturing prisoners of war is not a trivial matter. Even if someone speaks for him, I'm afraid he will have to be locked up for a while."

"That's not bad." Wei Ran said with a smile, "I guess when he gets out of prison, the war will be over."

"I hope so"

The young Randy sighed. After experiencing that unforgettable birthday, he has matured a lot in just two days, but the smile on his face has also decreased a lot.

Time seems to move more slowly in the inconsequential small talk than on the dangerous front.

Near noon, the black Will brought food to Wei Ran and Randy who were hiding in the tent, and brought the latest news about Marshall by the way.

"What did you say?" Randy looked up in surprise, "Marshall will follow the wounded back?"

Will nodded, "It was the company commander who told me that what he did this time caused the battalion commander a lot of trouble, so he will be court-martialed after he returns."

"What are the consequences?" Randy asked nervously.

Will shook his head, "I don't know, I'm afraid Mr. Battalion Commander doesn't even know."

"Can we go and see him now?" Wei Ran asked.

"That's what I'm going to tell you"

Will bit open a bottle of Coke and took a sip, "Mr. Company Commander asked me to remind you two not to have any contact with Marshall before he leaves, otherwise it will not only cause trouble for you, but also cause trouble for Marshall. "

Hearing this, Randy opened his mouth, and finally nodded with difficulty.

During the unbearable waiting, the time came to the dusk of August 8th, and the entire camp was filled with music and carnival. Everyone was holding Coke or slightly stinky beer to share the joy from the front line—— The last position of the recruiting nuclear army was conquered, and the "surprise attack" related to the Battle of Guam was successfully concluded.

Of course, this so-called successful conclusion is probably only the opinion of those generals who Wei Ran has never met.For those wounded, for those who died, this war has caused them to lose too many things.

Half a month ago, Wei Ran stood beside Tom's grave at the beachhead landing site full of blood and blood. Looking at him saluting to everyone, beckoning, and drawing the cross on his chest.Finally, after Wei Ran pressed the shutter on him, it was frozen on the film.

"The war ended on the 12th! Tom testified! Veterinarian Victor won the bet!" Randy shouted abruptly.

Marshall, who was already standing on the landing vehicle, froze for a moment, waved his hands more vigorously, and also shouted loudly, "God bless you! He will definitely bless you! Otherwise, I will drive a bulldozer and demolish his paradise!"

"This bastard." The three of Wei Ran cursed in unison, and couldn't help but smile on their faces.

Until the landing vehicle approached the warship on the sea, Randy also took out an extraordinarily decorated pistol from his satchel, "Victor, take it, you won it."

"I won?" Wei Ran asked in surprise.

"After all, only you guessed the time correctly"

The black Will stroked the steel helmet supported by the Garland rifle in front of Tom's grave, and said apologetically, "I originally bet on that harmonica, but I didn't expect you to be able to guess the time correctly." , so I gave it to Randy as a birthday present. But don’t worry, after the war is over, I will definitely give you a harmonica of the same style.”

"Then I'll wait for that day." Wei Ran said with a smile.

"My bet with Marshall is those photographs." Randy said with a painful face, "It's a pity that they were all confiscated by those bastard military police, and I didn't even leave a single negative."

"So you are also prepared to wait for the end of the war"

"Even if the war is over, I'm afraid I won't be able to find so many actors." Randy responded to Wei Ran's joke angrily.

"In this case, I will let you and Marshall go."

Wei Ran shook the gun that belonged to Tom in his hand, "I will keep it well, just like keeping the memory about Tom."

"If it wasn't for Tom and you, I would really rather forget my experience on this island." Randy looked at the warships on the sea in the distance, and then looked back at the direction of the camp, "Now this war is over, I don’t know where we will fight next.”

"Speaking of which, I have good news."

Hearing this, Wei Ran and Randy looked at Will one after another, and Randy asked strangely, "Will, when did your news become so well-informed?"

"Because Captain Lewis was a devout believer"

Will looked around and said in a low voice, "In view of what Marshall did before, of course, and in view of the two of us being injured, we will probably be left in Guam and not need to participate in the next battle on other islands."

"Stay here?" Randy's eyes widened. "What are you doing here?"

"I do not know then"

Will spread his hands, "To be precise, the entire engineer battalion will stay. It seems that there are follow-up construction tasks, but Captain Lewis will not tell me what to do."

"If there is no accident, it should be preparing to build an airport."

Wei Ran, who had been listening in just now, said that although he didn't know too many details about the Battle of Guam, he remembered some key things as if he knew when the battle ended. The multiple sorties of B29 BBQ Master took off from the airport in Guam.

It's just ironic that Marshall, who just boiled a devil in an oil barrel, is already on his way to a court-martial, and a few months later, on the same island, the man who regards the bomber as his lover Master Li, after throwing thousands of tons of incendiary bombs in Tokyo, was regarded as a well-deserved hero.

Maybe they are all heroes.
Wei Ran looked at the tombstone propped up with rifles and helmets beside him and sighed. Whether they were heroes or not, for those who died before the end of the war, it was just the first time they died before they stopped breathing. It's just a false name that has been ignored.

(End of this chapter)