| Show BOYLES BOYLE'S NOTEBOOK I J Colonel Corporal Form Farm Tie Tiei j Forged in Battle BatHe Heat bleat By HAL BOYLE WITH VITI AMERICAN MARINES MARINES MARINES MA MA- RINES IN JAPAN Delayed At UPI At night when sleep comes slowly I often think of the colonel colonel colonel colo colo- nel and nd tho the corpora corporal I never met them and I have forgotten their names Even if Jt I Idid Idid Idid did remember them I wouldn't tell Nothing would be gained d. But I would like to pass pans on to you their story as it was told to tome me months ago ngo in Germany They wore wera an inseparable team team the the colonel and tho corpora cor cor- pora That's the way everyone who knew about them spoke of them them the the colonel and tho the corporal Few people who asked about the colonel ever failed tailed to to add and hows how's that corporal of his hlll too too Close friendships C between officers of- of and men are unusual in army anny life Ute but not exactly rare Differences in rank Tank ordinarily make too high a hurdle for lor such auch friendships because of ot the grindIng grinding grinding grind- grind I Ing social distinctions drawn in military circles by an Inflexible caste cate system which is as old as war Battlefield Tie But the tho friendship of at the colonel and the corporal was a battlefield friendship not a parlor parlor parlor par par- lor friendship and it was was was- built on a mutual trust and lo loyalty alty in time of danger that had been tested and found true steel in more than one c combat They belonged to an outfit of picked men who were assigned the tho most perilous of ot missions tasks which required brains a sense of battle time and stoutness stoutness stoutness stout stout- ness of ot heart as well as muscle The colonel was an organizer of at high ability a sensitive skilled planner He set ct up the initial operation for his outfit in Normandy but when the time Ume came to go into action he in insisted insisted insisted in- in on going in with them too although that hadn't been Inthe Inthe in inthe the plan His superiors hadn't wanted to risk himI himI him I r want to go along with you sir said the corporal And that's how the friendship be be- gan The colonel and the corporal corporal corporal cor cor- cor- cor w went t in together At the very start stall they found th themselves themselves them them- m- m selves in desperate straits and before they broke through encircling encircling encircling en en- circling Germans with their men the corporals corporal's carbine had saved the colonels colonel's life Hie and the colonels colonel's 45 automatic had preserved preserved pre pre- served the corporal Doglike Devotion There were tight spots and Ind close calls after that as battle followed battle The colonel came through them all with the corporal a loyal shadow hadow at his side At night the he corporal stayed up to help the colonel work out details ot of of th the next days day's troop movements It was a friendship nev never r put Into words Each understood the other Other soldiers often kidded the corporal for tor his hiB almost doglike doglike dog dog- like devotion to his officer He never resented it I 1 I would go with him whore where he always aAn a ns An Anywhere he wanted Nobody guessed a GiS th the wore on to its Us close cloae that colonel was WM cracking Th The of strain In the field a ne d midnight hours of worn him down g Yet Yeth he P Pas It i 8 aa as light and easy as nil ever eras never gave the usual sl 1 JC temper P outbursts outburst i 1 t over small matters So it came as aa a shock to particularly the when when the colonel t o gun to his temple ji ri one nIght rt pulled the trigger Ho He h lied had A organizing a major fettle battle i tion and in the middle of It HI knew he hadn't t the he go on And rather than u bluff and risk rok hia men mens i when he no longer had c ec Bence in his hla own power to through he ho chose cho this way y It wa wasn't nt cowardice In m sense ene No one felt it wo way Girl Weds Wed The corporal was waa i few daya days later he got ant c blow A letter came cama from girl home telling him asas as g n nas as she could she eho had fali falles i love with someone else d 4 diW his absence The Tho letter fuss u j tell him she ahe he was getting na red ried She hoped he wi vb O blame her too much The corporal wasn't the who gets get hurt easily But were two props gone gOnG frost from life Ute He caught himself t blindly with the letter to colonels colonel's tent to ask hI his hia a ad But the colonel was burled buried And it wasn't the with the new colonel For a long time the co thought It over all aU alone k ing it all to himself Theo acted He took the carbine i had saved his colonel cleaned and polished it mn and andon andon on a clean uniform He Fie put barrel of the tho carbine carnine to hU his hand h hand hand and reached his hand dorythe down dory the trigger like Uke a lover and end he Joined his old colonel They were two men I n I met It seems seema strange to that lying at night now h hat world away I think often sleep comes slowly of t- t colonel and the corpt corporal In the endless camaraderie the grave |
