Word: alertness
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...State of Alert...
...sense of distance from their Government. One might not mind taking responsibility for one's nation's actions, if they could be understood more readily or completely, but as yet that was not to be. This much was certain: summer was over, and the nation was on alert. In the near future, inevitably, would come charges, investigations, recriminations and a serious examination of national tendencies and intentions. For the moment there were images of airports again, this time American airports. Medical students bounded from the aircraft, kissed the ground and gave thanks for being home. The Marines returning...
...Muslim slums would ring out, sending the searchers scurrying for shelter. Then, two days after the blast, came terrifying news. A rumor spread that three vehicles reportedly laden with high explosives were cruising the neighborhood. The Marines were immediately placed on "Condition One," the highest state of alert. Huge amphibious personnel carriers blocked off the roads leading to the base, while the highway curving past the airport was barricaded with boulders of concrete. Several hours later, without explanation, the alert was downgraded...
...week went on, the wounded spoke about the tragic night, about miraculous escapes and comrades suddenly gone. Although the Marines appeared alert and energetic, their shaking hands betrayed their emotions. Lance Corporal Mike Balcolm, 20, of Vernon, N.Y., was lying awake on his bed on the fourth floor when the bomb went off. He blacked out; when he revived, he found himself pinned under a jumble of concrete. After his cries for help went unheeded, he grabbed a wire and painfully pulled himself through a crack in the rubble. While Balcolm was being treated at a makeshift hospital, however...
...hesitantly mundane, as if the conversants had only recently recovered the use of thier tongues after an enforced silence, and weren't exactly sure what should be said. Humor is a welcome leavening in such situations, and Bobbie Ann Mason's "Graveyard Day" is particularly adept at keeping readers alert...