We were in a mortar position among low rolling hills, hedgerows and trees in
France when I remember 14 replacements showing up. We were all getting acquainted
when everything seemed to get quiet. The war, as such, was not going on for us at
the time. Things just seemed to get quieter than usual. All of the regulars dove
in their holes apparently for no reason. I recall after I dove into my hole and
about half way down, I thought to myself, "What am I doing this for?" At almost
the same instant an enemy shell exploded and when the noise and debris quit, I
believe three or four of the replacements were dead and the rest were wounded.
I thought about this quite a few times. When this thought occurred to me, I was
half-way down into the hole. The thought hadn't fully occurred to me and I was
already in motion within seconds. Amazing! I was becoming an animal. You were
never fully asleep or fully relaxed. You were always, mentally at least, looking
over your shoulder for something real or imagined. The only education you needed
was being there, and the replacements didn't have that luxury yet.
Art Pranger
(1/18/98)
