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Show Flying - 174 sternly. "You probably stopped off at some bar and you were all drunk. That's why you ran the truck off the road." Master of the r h e t o r i c a l pause, the captain l e t s his shot in the dark seek i t s target and examines their sweating faces for traces of fear or g u i l t . The three stand rigid at parade r e s t , feet apart, hands behind their backs, swaying back and forth gently, dizzied by the moist air and the smell of hot canvas. They stand and wait for the man to hand down his verdict. We have destroyed government property. Grievously have we sinned, and s t e r n l y must we be punished. But John Henry, search his soul though he night, can discover no sense of sin, no qualm of g u i l t . If flagellation there must be, it will have to come from the outside. This time. We are e n l i s t e d men and i t is the nature of enlisted men to destroy and drink, to be i r r a t i o n a l , governed by the impulse of the moment. To die with a will and k i l l when we have to. We've destroyed and been drunk-we're willing to do the r e s t of i t if we're asked. We've kept our side of the bargain. Where's the guilt? Privates drink, and we drank. Privates are destructive, and we wiped out a truck. Enlisted men are picturesque, and what could be more colorful than our odyssey through the foothills this fine California morning? We have acted according to our nature, and what more could anyone ask of a man? John Henry feels that he has fulfilled |