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561
This
friendly
assurance
was
n't
very
reassuring
.
That
500th
bullet
turned
tedious
exercises
into
large-scale
Russian
roulette
;
you
stop
being
bored
the
very
first
time
you
hear
a
slug
go
wheet
!
past
your
ear
before
you
hear
the
crack
of
the
rifle
.
562
But
we
did
slack
down
anyhow
and
word
came
down
from
the
top
that
if
we
did
n't
get
on
the
bounce
,
the
incidence
of
real
ones
would
be
changed
to
one
in
a
hundred
...
and
if
that
did
n't
work
,
to
one
in
fifty
.
I
do
n't
know
whether
a
change
was
made
or
not
--
no
way
to
tell
--
but
I
do
know
we
tightened
up
again
,
because
a
boy
in
the
next
company
got
creased
across
his
buttocks
with
a
live
one
,
producing
an
amazing
scar
and
a
lot
of
half-witty
comments
and
a
renewed
interest
by
all
hands
in
taking
cover
.
We
laughed
at
this
kid
for
getting
shot
where
he
did
...
but
we
all
knew
it
could
have
been
his
head
or
our
own
heads
.
563
The
instructors
who
were
not
firing
rifles
did
not
take
cover
.
They
put
on
white
shirts
and
walked
around
upright
with
their
silly
canes
,
apparently
calmly
certain
that
even
a
recruit
would
not
intentionally
shoot
an
instructor
--
which
may
have
been
overconfidence
on
the
part
of
some
of
them
.
Still
,
the
chances
were
five
hundred
to
one
that
even
a
shot
aimed
with
murderous
intent
would
not
be
live
and
the
safety
factor
increased
still
higher
because
the
recruit
probably
could
n't
shoot
that
well
anyhow
.
A
rifle
is
not
an
easy
weapon
;
it
's
got
no
target-seeking
qualities
at
all
--
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564
I
understand
that
even
back
in
the
days
when
wars
were
fought
and
decided
with
just
such
rifles
it
used
to
take
several
thousand
fired
shots
to
average
killing
one
man
.
This
seems
impossible
but
the
military
histories
agree
that
it
is
true
--
apparently
most
shots
were
n't
really
aimed
but
simply
acted
to
force
the
enemy
to
keep
his
head
down
and
interfere
with
his
shooting
.
565
In
any
case
we
had
no
instructors
wounded
or
killed
by
rifle
fire
.
No
trainees
were
killed
,
either
,
by
rifle
bullets
;
the
deaths
were
all
from
other
weapons
or
things
--
some
of
which
could
turn
around
and
bite
you
if
you
did
n't
do
things
by
the
book
.
Well
,
one
boy
did
manage
to
break
his
neck
taking
cover
too
enthusiastically
when
they
first
started
shooting
at
him
--
but
no
bullet
touched
him
.
566
However
,
by
a
chain
reaction
,
this
matter
of
rifle
bullets
and
taking
cover
brought
me
to
my
lowest
ebb
at
Camp
Currie
.
In
the
first
place
I
had
been
busted
out
of
my
boot
chevrons
,
not
over
what
I
did
but
over
something
one
of
my
squad
did
when
I
was
n't
even
around
...
which
I
pointed
out
.
Bronski
told
me
to
button
my
lip
.
So
I
went
to
see
Zim
about
it
.
He
told
me
coldly
that
I
was
responsible
for
what
my
men
did
,
regardless
...
and
tacked
on
six
hours
of
extra
duty
besides
busting
me
for
having
spoken
to
him
about
it
without
Bronski
's
permission
.
Then
I
got
a
letter
that
upset
me
a
lot
;
my
mother
finally
wrote
to
me
.
Then
I
sprained
a
shoulder
in
my
first
drill
with
powered
armor
(
they
've
got
those
practice
suits
rigged
so
that
the
instructor
can
cause
casualties
in
the
suit
at
will
,
by
radio
control
;
I
got
dumped
and
hurt
my
shoulder
)
and
this
put
me
on
light
duty
with
too
much
time
to
think
at
a
time
when
I
had
many
reasons
,
it
seemed
to
me
,
to
feel
sorry
for
myself
.
567
Because
of
"
light
duty
"
I
was
orderly
that
day
in
the
battalion
commander
's
office
.
I
was
eager
at
first
,
for
I
had
never
been
there
before
and
wanted
to
make
a
good
impression
.
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568
I
discovered
that
Captain
Frankel
did
n't
want
zeal
;
he
wanted
me
to
sit
still
,
say
nothing
,
and
not
bother
him
.
This
left
me
time
to
sympathize
with
myself
,
for
I
did
n't
dare
go
to
sleep
.
569
Then
suddenly
,
shortly
after
lunch
,
I
was
n't
a
bit
sleepy
;
Sergeant
Zim
came
in
,
followed
by
three
men
.
Zim
was
smart
and
neat
as
usual
but
the
expression
on
his
face
made
him
look
like
Death
on
a
pale
horse
and
he
had
a
mark
on
his
right
eye
that
looked
as
if
it
might
be
shaping
up
into
a
shiner
which
was
impossible
,
of
course
.
Of
the
other
three
,
the
one
in
the
middle
was
Ted
Hendrick
.
He
was
dirty
--
well
,
the
company
had
been
on
a
field
exercise
;
they
do
n't
scrub
those
prairies
and
you
spend
a
lot
of
your
time
snuggling
up
to
the
dirt
.
But
his
lip
was
split
and
there
was
blood
on
his
chin
and
on
his
shirt
and
his
cap
was
missing
.
He
looked
wild-eyed
.
570
The
men
on
each
side
of
him
were
boots
.
They
each
had
rifles
;
Hendrick
did
not
.
One
of
them
was
from
my
squad
,
a
kid
named
Leivy
.
He
seemed
excited
and
pleased
,
and
slipped
me
a
wink
when
nobody
was
looking
.