{"id":19387,"date":"2025-04-30T19:19:48","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T00:19:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/?p=19387"},"modified":"2025-04-30T22:45:53","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T03:45:53","slug":"making-deals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/2025\/04\/30\/making-deals\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Deals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>Making Deals<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-social-links is-content-justification-right is-layout-flex wp-container-core-social-links-is-layout-765c4724 wp-block-social-links-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"wp-social-link wp-social-link-facebook  wp-block-social-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=61556140010887\" class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M12 2C6.5 2 2 6.5 2 12c0 5 3.7 9.1 8.4 9.9v-7H7.9V12h2.5V9.8c0-2.5 1.5-3.9 3.8-3.9 1.1 0 2.2.2 2.2.2v2.5h-1.3c-1.2 0-1.6.8-1.6 1.6V12h2.8l-.4 2.9h-2.3v7C18.3 21.1 22 17 22 12c0-5.5-4.5-10-10-10z\"><\/path><\/svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n\n<li class=\"wp-social-link wp-social-link-instagram  wp-block-social-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/boudin_mcneese\/\" class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M12,4.622c2.403,0,2.688,0.009,3.637,0.052c0.877,0.04,1.354,0.187,1.671,0.31c0.42,0.163,0.72,0.358,1.035,0.673 c0.315,0.315,0.51,0.615,0.673,1.035c0.123,0.317,0.27,0.794,0.31,1.671c0.043,0.949,0.052,1.234,0.052,3.637 s-0.009,2.688-0.052,3.637c-0.04,0.877-0.187,1.354-0.31,1.671c-0.163,0.42-0.358,0.72-0.673,1.035 c-0.315,0.315-0.615,0.51-1.035,0.673c-0.317,0.123-0.794,0.27-1.671,0.31c-0.949,0.043-1.233,0.052-3.637,0.052 s-2.688-0.009-3.637-0.052c-0.877-0.04-1.354-0.187-1.671-0.31c-0.42-0.163-0.72-0.358-1.035-0.673 c-0.315-0.315-0.51-0.615-0.673-1.035c-0.123-0.317-0.27-0.794-0.31-1.671C4.631,14.688,4.622,14.403,4.622,12 s0.009-2.688,0.052-3.637c0.04-0.877,0.187-1.354,0.31-1.671c0.163-0.42,0.358-0.72,0.673-1.035 c0.315-0.315,0.615-0.51,1.035-0.673c0.317-0.123,0.794-0.27,1.671-0.31C9.312,4.631,9.597,4.622,12,4.622 M12,3 C9.556,3,9.249,3.01,8.289,3.054C7.331,3.098,6.677,3.25,6.105,3.472C5.513,3.702,5.011,4.01,4.511,4.511 c-0.5,0.5-0.808,1.002-1.038,1.594C3.25,6.677,3.098,7.331,3.054,8.289C3.01,9.249,3,9.556,3,12c0,2.444,0.01,2.751,0.054,3.711 c0.044,0.958,0.196,1.612,0.418,2.185c0.23,0.592,0.538,1.094,1.038,1.594c0.5,0.5,1.002,0.808,1.594,1.038 c0.572,0.222,1.227,0.375,2.185,0.418C9.249,20.99,9.556,21,12,21s2.751-0.01,3.711-0.054c0.958-0.044,1.612-0.196,2.185-0.418 c0.592-0.23,1.094-0.538,1.594-1.038c0.5-0.5,0.808-1.002,1.038-1.594c0.222-0.572,0.375-1.227,0.418-2.185 C20.99,14.751,21,14.444,21,12s-0.01-2.751-0.054-3.711c-0.044-0.958-0.196-1.612-0.418-2.185c-0.23-0.592-0.538-1.094-1.038-1.594 c-0.5-0.5-1.002-0.808-1.594-1.038c-0.572-0.222-1.227-0.375-2.185-0.418C14.751,3.01,14.444,3,12,3L12,3z M12,7.378 c-2.552,0-4.622,2.069-4.622,4.622S9.448,16.622,12,16.622s4.622-2.069,4.622-4.622S14.552,7.378,12,7.378z M12,15 c-1.657,0-3-1.343-3-3s1.343-3,3-3s3,1.343,3,3S13.657,15,12,15z M16.804,6.116c-0.596,0-1.08,0.484-1.08,1.08 s0.484,1.08,1.08,1.08c0.596,0,1.08-0.484,1.08-1.08S17.401,6.116,16.804,6.116z\"><\/path><\/svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">Instagram<\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Harvey Huddleston<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><br><strong>July 23, 1944<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Brit paper says when the Nazis invaded Russia they murdered every civilian in their path.&nbsp; But painting all Germans as evil is the same as what Hitler did to the Jews and if we\u2019re no better than that how can we expect to win?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Had one on my crew yesterday to Bad Kreuznach.&nbsp; Bragging how much he likes bombing these filthy bastards.&nbsp; Probably hopped up on bennies anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Just across the Channel some of that old stuff comes sneaking in.&nbsp; Out my window is the most beautiful sunrise.&nbsp; Sky a pearly gray with every color of the rainbow.&nbsp; We bank hard.&nbsp; Some sunlight falls across my table and for a second there I\u2019m a normal person in a normal time.&nbsp; Maybe on a business trip to Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Then I remember I\u2019m on my way to kill people or be killed by them.&nbsp; I force myself back but not before that old ache finds its place again deep inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>July 25, 1944<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Less distance allows for more bombs so for Montreuil they load us up with the full four tons.&nbsp; Mission is to destroy a German tank division in a plan to break our guys out of Normandy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">They send us in a solid overcast in the hope it clears on the way but then when we get up there the clouds are even thicker.&nbsp; We\u2019re set to be turned back but the order never comes so we go in for our bomb run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Bombardier asked me earlier to help pull the arming pins since he has more bombs and less time to do it so I pull my pins and drop them in the toolbox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">It\u2019s right when our bomb doors open we get that Morse to abort.&nbsp; I relay it to the pilot but the bombardier cuts in saying we need to replace those pins quick.&nbsp; So I\u2019m in the bomb bay shoving in pins when I see the last one missing.&nbsp; I double time it back to the toolbox.&nbsp; Find it at the bottom and disarm the bomb just before the Channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Still shaky at debriefing but all they care about is that abort message and each one of them checks my log.&nbsp; Word is there was a major screw up that someone needs to pay for.&nbsp; There\u2019s also some talk those guys on the ground already did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>July 28, 1944<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I\u2019m on a merry-go-round when the next horse tries to push mine out of the way.&nbsp; I yell at its rider to rein in but then I see it\u2019s that tail-gunner just staring at me.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">And then there\u2019s Fred from my first week asking how I feel about bombing civilians.&nbsp; He had that same look in his eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">We don\u2019t think about the people down there.&nbsp; Only the factories and railroads and bridges but if you don\u2019t take into account the people too it\u2019s a lack of imagination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Will I carry this death and destruction forever?&nbsp; I carry everything else in my life with me so how is this different?&nbsp; All we have is what we know and what we do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>July 29, 1944<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Worse than we thought.&nbsp; Those lead bombs fell on our own troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Next day skies are clear so our group goes back on that same mission.&nbsp; We destroy that tank division so our western flank now is finally moving inland.&nbsp; The plan worked even though we can\u2019t send out a goddamn message on time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>August 2, 1944<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\" style=\"text-decoration:underline\">QUOTA UPPED TO THIRTY FIVE NO GOOD FILTHY STINKING SONS A<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>August 4, 1944<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Half incendiaries for the V-1 rocket site at Coubronne.&nbsp; Guess they figure since we can\u2019t hit anything anyway may as well try burning it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Corporal says go right in and there I am in front of Preston.&nbsp; I say my first eight missions were without any fighter escort at all and that should be taken into account.&nbsp; By his look I hope he just gets rid of me quick but then he asks if I think everyone here should be treated on an individual basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I say no sir but add that just before I got here the quota went from twenty five to thirty.&nbsp; Now it changes again.&nbsp; So how do I know it won\u2019t change a third time when I get to thirty five? He answers you don\u2019t and that was pretty much it.&nbsp; Before I leave he mentions seeing a report that my fort had some trouble over Leipzig.&nbsp; I say we made it back but now here on my bunk I remember that\u2019s not true.&nbsp; One of us is still back in the North Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Is that how it goes?&nbsp; Time passes until nothing about someone connects to anything else.&nbsp; Is that how people disappear?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">But that\u2019s not true either.&nbsp; People don\u2019t disappear.&nbsp; We just forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>August 8, 1944<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">In my sleep I accuse this CQ of stealing my watch so today he confronts me with it.&nbsp; I show him my watch and he walks off but it\u2019s true.&nbsp; He\u2019s just waking guys up and I accuse him of stealing.&nbsp; So that\u2019s it.&nbsp; I need those pills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Hit some troop concentrations near Paris.&nbsp; Light flak over the coast but nothing inland.&nbsp; They\u2019re pulling out their Eighty-Eights now before they\u2019re captured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>August 17, 1944<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Can\u2019t sleep at all.&nbsp; CQs come and I lie there awake with my eyes closed.&nbsp; Used to sleep when they left but not anymore.&nbsp; Even when they don\u2019t come I can\u2019t sleep until the first light of morning hits that window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>August 20, 1944<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Close call over Maastricht.&nbsp; A fort falls through us just off our wing.&nbsp; As it goes past I see Everybody\u2019s Baby on its side.&nbsp; No chutes.&nbsp; Only sure thing about Everybody\u2019s Baby is now it\u2019s nobody\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Got those pills.&nbsp; I can sleep now but in the morning feel underwater.&nbsp; One thing though.&nbsp; They sure take the edge off in the dawn\u2019s early light with all those hundreds of thousands of horsepower cranking at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>August 23, 1944<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Kimbolton Village.&nbsp; You can see the castle from High Street.&nbsp; It\u2019s just a big mansion now but back in Henry\u2019s day he kept his wife there so he wouldn\u2019t have to chop her head off.&nbsp; Further down High Street is the pub where she works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">She says hello like always.&nbsp; I ask for the meat pie like always and she asks is that all luv?&nbsp; I nod and she gives me that look.&nbsp; She probably keeps about ten guys on the line.&nbsp; She\u2019s very pretty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">My first week here Kal sees her through the window and I follow him in.&nbsp; You can tell right off they don\u2019t want us there so Kal walks back out but I stay to explain we have the wrong place.&nbsp; That\u2019s the first time she gives me that look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I think the bartender is her father.&nbsp; I was going to ask.&nbsp; And she\u2019d answer too but she\u2019s got her whole life ahead of her while I don\u2019t even know if it\u2019s my last time there.&nbsp; There\u2019s a million miles between us and I don\u2019t try to cross that distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Meat pie has no meat but I still go back now and then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>August 27, 1944<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Half incendiaries for the synthetic oil plant at Gelsenkirchen.&nbsp; I see a hole above my window with the edges flared out.&nbsp; Never did see where it came in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Flight Engineer comes on with a pink teddy bear in his belt.&nbsp; Lots of superstitions here.&nbsp; This ball turret shows me his rabbit\u2019s foot and asks if I want to touch it.&nbsp; I still offer gum to everyone but that\u2019s mainly to see who I\u2019m going up with.&nbsp; Then again maybe I do have a superstition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I made a deal today.&nbsp; Not sure with who but I promised to give up smoking if I made it back and to prove it I threw out my coffin nails right then and there.&nbsp; Now what that\u2019s got to do with getting back I don\u2019t know but that\u2019s the deal and I\u2019m sticking to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">That teddy bear.&nbsp; He brings it in case it\u2019s the last thing he ever sees.&nbsp; There\u2019s talk whether guys like him with kids should have to fly combat at all but there\u2019s another side to it.&nbsp; He already has a kid while the rest of us never even got the chance.&nbsp; Follow that out and maybe we have more of a right to live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">But that don\u2019t work either since those guys with kids want back just as much as we do.&nbsp; The truth is you can\u2019t put a value on someone else\u2019s life.&nbsp; That\u2019s your idea of what\u2019s important and not theirs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>August 31, 1944<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Good news is the Krauts left France.&nbsp; Bad news is they took their Eighty-Eights with them so now they\u2019re back in the fatherland waiting for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Couldn\u2019t shake those cobwebs so I lay off the knockout pills but then I\u2019m staring at that window again.&nbsp; So before Gelsenkirchen I drink more coffee but halfway there I need to pee so bad I use the piss tube in the bomb bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">So I get it going when some turbulence hits and my dick sticks to the funnel.&nbsp; I have to peel it off before it freezes solid.&nbsp; Back here some Iodine and a band aid help but then I still got those cobwebs from the knockout pill.&nbsp; So before Fiefs this morning I swallow one Benny from my survival kit and by takeoff I\u2019m okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">New plan.&nbsp; On mornings with a mission one Benny at breakfast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>September 2, 1944<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Sat with two guys at chow.&nbsp; One a ball turret gunner I flew with a few missions back.&nbsp; Before takeoff he sees me looking at the Jewish star on his sleeve and says if he goes down he wants those Nazi bastards to know exactly who he is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">So I sit down and he picks back up with the other guy.&nbsp; Says he\u2019ll take it to Preston himself while the other guy steadily shakes his head no.&nbsp; Ball turret then asks me what I think of Preston and I say it depends on what you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">He says back the Nazis are exterminating every Jew in those camps so we need to bomb them.&nbsp; I ask how bombing them helps and he almost yells at me NOT THEM!&nbsp; THE FENCES!&nbsp; GUARD TOWERS!&nbsp; GIVE THEM A CHANCE TO ESCAPE!&nbsp; So now I know he\u2019s nuts since he knows as well as me we can\u2019t hit anything that precise.&nbsp; I tell him no one here wants to bomb prisoners in the hope some might escape and he just stares like I\u2019m hopeless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I don\u2019t say much else but I\u2019ll bet a paycheck he goes to see Preston and I\u2019ll bet two more it don\u2019t change a thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>September 2, 1944<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">All incendiary for Ludwigshafen.&nbsp; Synthetic oil again.&nbsp; Saw one of their new jets so they keep me at debriefing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I tell them it\u2019s no more than three seconds from seeing it and it flashing past so that\u2019s maybe twice the speed of a regular Me109.&nbsp; I say I have an image of it with swept back wings and that nails it for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Benny this morning doing some overtime.&nbsp; Waiting for that other one to kick in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>September 8, 1944<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Back to Ludwigshafen.&nbsp; Just hope those people had sense enough to stay away.&nbsp; With all the incendiaries we\u2019re dropping there can\u2019t be much to come back to anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>September 10, 1944<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Another deal today.&nbsp; That 16 gauge I got for Christmas.&nbsp; Squirrel just being a squirrel when out of nowhere BLAM!&nbsp; I didn\u2019t have to kill it but I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Some people call hunting a sport but they\u2019re liars.&nbsp; Where\u2019s the sport in killing a defenseless animal?&nbsp; Killing makes them feel powerful and I shot enough to know.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I\u2019ll never kill an animal again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>September 14, 1944<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Brux Czechoslovakia is over thirteen hundred miles.&nbsp; Then yesterday right back up to Merseburg almost as far.&nbsp; Vibrating in my bunk like I\u2019m still in the air so I take another pill and get some sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Worst flak yet over Merseberg.&nbsp; Estimates have over two thousand Eighty-Eights throwing flak up at us.&nbsp; Fuel production again.&nbsp; Just hope it\u2019s worth all these losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Over Germany Bass keeps popping up.&nbsp; One day he walks out of the woods.&nbsp; Eats my sandwich and follows me home.&nbsp; I build him a house and then in a hard freeze I run a work light out to keep him warm.&nbsp; He\u2019s some kind of bulldog terrier but Tippy calls him Bass because his brown splotchy coat looks like a fish she caught.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">In the woods it\u2019s just him and me.&nbsp; He\u2019s no good at hunting but there\u2019s this one thing he can do.&nbsp; In the barn I turn over a barrel and he kills five rats in maybe a second.&nbsp; It\u2019s all a blur and I still can\u2019t believe he did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">There comes a day when he starts staying in his house more so I take his food out to him.&nbsp; Then one night he won\u2019t eat at all.&nbsp; I sleep next to his house and he goes to sleep as I talk to him.&nbsp; I wake up at the first light of dawn and hear him crying softly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">His breathing is fast but shallow.&nbsp; My hand stays on him as his breaths get weaker.&nbsp; Then they stop but I don\u2019t move until the sun is high.&nbsp; I build him a box and bury him out next to the fence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">In that Pentothal session with Spencer when I say it\u2019s not okay to cry it\u2019s Bass I mean.&nbsp; Crying is to admit he\u2019s gone and that\u2019s just too much to take in all at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>September 19, 1944<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Betty took her sister Alice to see Gone With The Wind.&nbsp; When it first came out Betty sat through it twice and I ask how she did that.&nbsp; She likes it that\u2019s how.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Her oldest sister Carmie has a jewelry store.&nbsp; Betty says only Carmie would open a jewelry store during a war and she hasn\u2019t had one customer yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Egghead Babe is still doing technical work for the Air Corps while her oldest brother Ray still drives his tractor-trailer.&nbsp; Army says his trucking work is more important than carrying a rifle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">That\u2019s how her letters go.&nbsp; Then I write back and tell her what I think.&nbsp; We don\u2019t write about the future and her not bringing it up makes me feel even closer to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>September 26, 1944<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Frankfurt.&nbsp; I could say I been there but probably won\u2019t.&nbsp; Normal people don\u2019t go places to destroy them.&nbsp; No doubt anymore what we\u2019re up to.&nbsp; We intend to bomb these cities and then bomb them again until nothing\u2019s left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">War is the most useless thing ever invented.&nbsp; Nothing new there but that don\u2019t make it any less true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>September 27, 1944<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Navigator says Cologne has a flak field continuous for eighty five miles.&nbsp; Seems the more Germany pulls back into itself the more dangerous it becomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I have Cologne down as my twenty fifth mission.&nbsp; Need to go over and make sure my count lines up with theirs.&nbsp; Need to double up on these knockout pills too.&nbsp; Or get something stronger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>September 29, 1944<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">On the way back from Magdeburg I see a Messerschmidt in the distance flying level with us.&nbsp; Then he\u2019s gone but when I look back there he is again this time only fifty yards out.&nbsp; I start to squeeze off some rounds but realize he can\u2019t hurt us there with his cannons face forward so I let off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">He drifts in closer and then even closer so now I see his face.&nbsp; He\u2019s looking straight at me.&nbsp; Then he salutes and peels off without me ever firing a shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Back on the ground top turret asks why I didn\u2019t fire.&nbsp; I ask him back the same thing so we leave it there.&nbsp; Maybe that ME pilot\u2019s as tired of it all as we are.&nbsp; Then again he looked to be enjoying himself so maybe he\u2019s just crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>October 1, 1944<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Muenster.&nbsp; Where they make the cheese.&nbsp; Or used to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Still thinking about that ME pilot.&nbsp; Us not firing when he\u2019s out of range tells him we\u2019re not rookies so then it\u2019s a game for him to see how close he can come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">You know he\u2019s on his throttle the whole time but we still don\u2019t fire and that tells him we don\u2019t want to kill him if we don\u2019t have to.&nbsp; Then he drifts closer to see our faces.&nbsp; Maybe it surprises him that there\u2019s still people in the world who don\u2019t want him dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Not that it matters.&nbsp; He\u2019ll kill us tomorrow without hesitation but saluting us like that somehow makes it better after all we done to each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>October 3, 1944<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Another deal today.&nbsp; No more pills.&nbsp; As for sleeping and waking I don\u2019t do much of either anyway so what\u2019s the difference.&nbsp; I concentrate when I have to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I\u2019m starting to see it.&nbsp; I try not to look but it\u2019s out there.&nbsp; A tiny speck getting bigger and bigger every time up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Will I see it whole?&nbsp; It\u2019s possible.&nbsp; Something has changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Harvey Huddleston<\/strong>&#8216;s short fiction has appeared in <em>The RavensPerch<\/em> and <em>Mystery Tribune<\/em> among many others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>__________<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"438\" height=\"211\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/boudin-logo-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15484\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/boudin-logo-1.jpg 438w, https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/boudin-logo-1-300x145.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 438px) 100vw, 438px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-large-font-size\">\ud83e\udca0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/2025\/04\/30\/ice-cream\/\">Back<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/2025\/04\/30\/dark-academia\/\">Next<\/a> \ud83e\udca1<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">To learn more about submitting your work to <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/boudin-submissions\/\">Boudin<\/a><\/em> or applying to McNeese State University&#8217;s Creative Writing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/mfa-application-submissions\/\">MFA program<\/a>, please visit Submissions for details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Making Deals Harvey Huddleston __________ July 23, 1944 Brit paper says when the Nazis invaded Russia they murdered every civilian in their path.&nbsp; But painting all Germans as evil is the same as what Hitler did to the Jews and if we\u2019re no better than that how can we expect to win? Had one on&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[229],"tags":[75,146,26],"class_list":["post-19387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blooms-in-dusk","tag-boudin","tag-fiction-2","tag-fiction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19387"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19472,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19387\/revisions\/19472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}