The Words of The Silent The stories of three brave men

To say that this was unexpected is an understatement. Here I am, in the U.S. Navy fighting the Japanese. I never realized how well off we were in the world until coming here. The U.S. has it wonderful, even with all the rationing I've heard about.

I know my mum wasn't happy to not be able to bake as often. Thats what she always did to relax. Now she must be doing the wash more often. Her linens must be spotless.

I worry that I won't be able to handle the selfishness of everyone when I go home. Being here, in this hell, has taught me to stop taking things for granted.

Mother won't understand, but my schoolmates should. I believe they are all over here now, mother has been writing me updates on everyone.

There were planes everywhere. The hum of the ships engines couldn't dwarf the sound. Water lapped over the edge of the ship splashing onto the decks. The waves rocked us into our neighboring soldiers.

We weren't just any soldier though, we were the newly formed Marines.

They assigned us an infiltration mission to Nagasaki. This would end the war for good. Well, end the last few combatants after the bomb in Hiroshima that is.

We had done countless training maneuvers and were ready to fight.

Well, we were ready until the ship turned around. The only thoughts I had were, Had the Japs given up? Was the war already over? Were we retreating? These questions raced through my mind as I watched the shore get smaller and smaller.

Thats when I saw it. The large bomber flying over head with a heavy payload. I recognized that plane from our post drop training.

They were going to bomb Nagasaki. They were going to blow the Japs sky high. The men around me started to cheer as the plane neared the coast. The cheering continued as we watched the bomb fall and the cloud mushroom up. The cheering stopped after that. There were almost invisible waves blowing across the land and water.

We were luckily far enough to not be effected by the blast but the Japs weren't. The cities were gone now. The people with it. The men remain silent as we watch the bright cloud slowly settle. I could barely hear the murmurs of the men around me saying it was over.

The war was over and I could finally go home.

I never realized how rough the ocean could be. I’ve been out on the boat before, but this was nuthin' like that. I've puked more times than I can remember, and the doc said it was maluria malaria. I have no idea what that is, but it must be bad because they have me here in the med area and told me I couldn't watch as we crossed into the Pacific.

I've never been to the west before. Well the west or the 'far east', never been one for travel. The good ol' downeast was enough for me. I knew nuthin' good would come from traveling, what with this illness and all.

The nurse just said my fever was rising. Must say, I've never had a fever like this before. The kids back home would get a fever and if it didn't break by night they were a goner. Mine has been pretty long now. Any longer and I might not make it to the war. Not such a bad thing. I'd rather not have to meet any of those yellow bastards.