Them Bones

THE BOX II

Smith’s Diary

We have music now, if you can call it that. Specialist Jones, against orders, brought his portable minicassette deck, and what he thought were twenty of his best tapes. He’d stashed it in his combat gear.

Only before he left, somebody went through his stuff, took all the music he’d picked, and left him with three tapes.

They are: Great Movie Love Themes sung by Roger Whitaker, 16 Hits by Glenn Miller and Rip My Duck by Moe and the Meanies. That’s about as eclectic as you can get.

We know all this because Specialist Jones brought the deck to us on the sixth day of our exile. He wasn’t the only one who noticed people going out of their minds from boredom. He volunteered his music for morale.

Sergeant Sigmo, the commo NCO, rigged it to the PA and alarm system. From 1400 to dusk every day, we have music.

The Miller tape is getting the most wear. Moe and the Meanies drive you right up the tent walls in thirty seconds, but then, that was their stated aim. I’ve seen people jokingly ease the safety catches off their carbines every time Roger Whitaker comes on. It beats staring at the bayou, or filling sandbags, or feeding the horses, or whatever else there is to do while we wait for the scouts.

Spaulding just called an officer’s meeting. The recon from the north just returned.