War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 457

With the crisp shutter sound, Wei Ran's field of vision was once again filled with intense white light, and when his vision returned to normal, he immediately saw the metal book still illuminated by the light of the mobile phone slowly turning to the first page.

"Could it be that I was promoted?" Wei Ran immediately became excited, looking eagerly at the metal quill floating on the page.

However, what made him laugh and cry was that the quill actually wrote the words "Nickname: Veterinarian" under his military rank on the first page after some serious preparations.

"Your uncle. It's not over, is it?"

Wei Ran cursed with an ugly face, and watched the pages of the metal book flip through quickly, and finally stopped at page 19.

In the soft sound of brushing, the metal quill wrote the follow-up story under the photo on this page:

cocooned sea bee

Army chaplain Tom was killed in a cold gun attack at the Asan beachhead camp in Guam on August 1944, 8. He was awarded the Purple Heart Medal and was posthumously awarded the Silver Star Medal in August of the same year.

Randy, a stretcher soldier, was awarded the Purple Heart for being wounded during the battle.After the Battle of Guam, he stayed in Guam and continued to serve as an airport ground handler until the end of World War II. Decommissioned in August 1945, and worked as a welder in Houston Shipyard in December of the same year. In April 8, he died in a drunk driving accident.

Will the stevedore, on August 1944, 8, was recommended by Tom before he died, and became the chaplain of the Seabee Battalion. During his service, he was awarded the Purple Heart Medal due to injuries.After the Battle of Guam, he stayed in Guam and continued to serve as a stevedore until the end of World War II. He retired from the military in August 9. In September of the same year, he returned to his hometown to serve as a pastor of a local church. He died at home in October 1945.

Bulldozer driver Marshall, in August 1944, was tried by a military court and imprisoned for one year and six months for the crime of killing prisoners of war.After being released from prison, he returned to Texas to run the farm left by his grandfather. He was unmarried all his life and raised the only son Brown left by his comrades in arms and his sister. He died in his sleep on Christmas Eve in 8.

Brown, the posthumous son of Seabee Battalion Engineer Greg, was raised by Marshall. He joined the Odessa Police Department as a forensic doctor in 1973. In 1982, he resigned and returned to the farm to take care of Marshall. In the summer of 2009, he died of a sudden cerebral hemorrhage.

At this point, the metal quill listed the details of the medals Tom, Randy and Will received on a separate line.A detailed address in Hawaii was then listed.

As for why Marshall did not receive any honor in these two pieces of information, Wei Ran was not surprised at all. The lawless bastard was only sentenced to one and a half years. the price paid.

After a short pause, the metal quill wrote in a new line: "War has created killing and hatred, war has annihilated humanity and morality, war has also eliminated prejudice, and war has witnessed unbreakable friendship and awakened conscience and faith.

War always brings something and always takes something away.But most of the time, those are not the targets of the original war. "

In Wei Ran's sigh, the light yellow paper page full of words was gently turned to the back, and the quill also wrote unhurriedly under the red swirl, "This is the bet you won, God bless, May it bless you to survive the battle."

However, before Wei Ran stretched out his hand, he discovered that there was a second red swirl on this page, and the metal quill continued to write under this swirl, "This is the bet you won , God bless, may it bring some solace to the soldiers wandering the field."

Tom and Will?
Wei Ran just glanced at the ups and downs in the vortex, and he has already judged that the things inside are Tom's 1911 sidearm and the white harmonica that Will promised to give him.

However, what he never expected was that the quill that was supposed to complete the task was raised slightly, and then the light yellow pages that recorded too many stories began to flip forward quickly, and finally stopped at Painted the seventh page of the Junior Battle Angel Medal!

"Is this medal going to be upgraded?"

Wei Ran immediately became excited, this time he had experienced the whole battle of Guam as a medical soldier.He himself didn't know how many wounded people he had treated during that nearly one month period.

However, as the saying goes, there are as many disappointments as there are hopes. In his expectant eyes, the metal quill just simply wrote "Accumulated Rescue: 309" under the red swirl where the medical kit was stored. , and then slammed it on the metal book with a bang.

"That's it? Are you kidding me?"

Wei Ran, who was being tricked for the second time in a few minutes, muttered dissatisfiedly, looked around, saw no one noticed him, and immediately took out the medical box from the metal book.

When he saw the medical box on the ground, his dissatisfaction at the last moment turned into a satisfied smile like that of an old farmer with a good harvest.

"No loss, no loss!"

While muttering, Wei Ran picked up the helmet on the medical box. Not surprisingly, this helmet was exactly the one he wore on his head every day during the Battle of Guam. The only difference was that There is no sea bee camp logo above the head, only the red cross on all sides is left.

Apart from this slight difference, the net on the helmet, the playing cards fixed on it by the net, and the pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes are all there.What made him even more dumbfounded was that there was actually a color photo that had been sealed in plastic.

The shot that was frozen in that photo was precisely the last moment, the moment that he, Marshall and others took in the bar that was booked out.

It's not just Marshall, Randy, and Will, but also those scantily clad sexy girls behind them, and the bartender with the bottle on the tray, and the stroller surrounded by everyone.

Even Brown, who was lying in the stroller, was like a gangster in the baby world, pressing his white and tender little hand on a 1911 pistol with flame marks!
This is the first time to be photographed in a photo. Wei Ran muttered to himself, but he made up his mind that this photo must not be taken out.

On the other hand, if it was just such a helmet full of memories, it would not make Wei Ran so happy. What really made him smile was the two extra iron rings on the side of the medical box that looked like car cup holders It was stuck in two large cans of freeze-dried plasma powder!

When he used this thing for the first time, his eyes were particularly hot. In the era of World War II, when people's brains were smashed into dog brains, plasma and penicillin were well-deserved life-saving artifacts!

Seeing enough freshness, Wei Ran put the helmet back on the lid of the medical box, put it back in the metal book, and then took out the first thing in the red vortex.

As he expected, it was Tom's 1911 pistol with intricate decoration and expensive ivory patches.

Even the trigger guard is engraved with the phrase "God be with you" in cursive English.

But at the same time, like the weapons that Wei Ran had obtained before, the production information had been erased, so that he couldn't tell whether it was Tom's original sidearm or a fake that was engraved from the metal book.

Pulling out the magazine and looking at the full bullets inside, Wei Ran restored it to its original shape and put it back into the metal book.

"Then it's the harmonica that Will gave you." Wei Ran muttered to himself before reaching into the second red vortex.

Almost at the same time as he took the harmonica out of it, he unexpectedly experienced the uncomfortable feeling of brain shutdown again.Fortunately, this uncomfortable feeling came and went quickly, and finally he didn't let his butt sit on the ground.

Supporting the big rock beside him to stand firm, Wei Ran looked at the white harmonica still in his hand.

This harmonica is much shorter than the harmonica that the music teacher asked them to buy when he was in junior high school. On the matte metal cover, it is engraved with the same sentence "God is with you" just like the pistol just now. ", other than that, there are no other signs or patterns.

"Is this teaching me to play the harmonica?"

Wei Ran shook his head dumbfoundingly. Speaking of which, the Guam battle he had experienced this time was almost the longest he had experienced since he got the metal book. It was so long that he almost forgot the bonfire camping that was still going on in the distance, and that The content of the Indian aboriginal legends being told by an American folk martial arts master Jerry Sr.

But on the other hand, he had to admit that the wicked metal book that always wanted to kill him was a rare and generous one.

Whether it's the English he has mastered, or the extra plasma and helmet on the medical kit, even if it's just the rare group photo on the helmet, and the harmonica given in the extra red vortex, he is already extremely satisfied.

So the little baby in the group photo is the old Mr. Brown who Makar said died on the woman's belly?
Wei Ran belatedly remembered the gossip he had heard from Makar at that time, and then couldn't help but shook his head. It was obvious that Marshall had really trained that little guy to be as good a bastard as he was.

After tidying up his mood, Wei Ran put the harmonica in his pocket, untied his belt and urinated on the big rock that was used as a cover, and then recalled the content of the bonfire camp "nearly a month ago", One side walked towards Sui Sui who was still doing translation work with the help of Katenka.

"You hiccup! Why did you go?" Sui Sui, who was somewhat confused by the two big glasses of beer, asked belching.

"Going to save the world." While Wei Ran had a playful smile on his face, he probed and took away the oak cup that the other party had been holding.

Sui Sui wrinkled her nose in dissatisfaction. Seeing that she had no way to get back her own cup, she muttered, "Pee, pee, and save the world."

"I know but ask"

While Wei Ran was talking, he was about to drink up the remaining beer in the glass. The familiar texture and taste did not remind him of the bonfire camp that he almost forgot the details, but it reminded him of Guam Asan Beach, In that tent full of bullet holes, those friends who secretly drank together, chatted about women, sang together and fought side by side.

(End of this chapter)