Word: platoons
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...attack, with live ammunition, on a line of dummies "defending" a hill. Rifles banged. Artillery shells moaned overhead and exploded in "enemy" territory. Amid the excitement Edgar had an odd impulse. He aimed his M1 rifle at the back of 2nd Lieut. Richard Davenport, 22, the officer commanding his platoon. Then he pulled the trigger. The officer toppled over dead with a bullet through his heart...
...after the autopsy, a brass M1 shell was found at a point near which the fatal shot had obviously been fired. The rifles of 21 men who had been nearest the position were checked by the New Jersey state police. The shell matched Edgar's Garand. The platoon was taken back to the area of the exercise and ordered to reconstruct the attack. Everyone turned up but Edgar, who had stolen a car and gone over the hill again...
...course, whether the games will be more or less enjoyable next season is another question. The theory has been advanced that there is some correlation between the abandonment of the two platoon system and the female increment. Many people found it difficult to explain to their curious dates who all the people running around down on the field were. But then, on the other hand, there is the question of how these thrill seeking young girls will react to the lower scoring games which are almost certain to occur...
...Marine Corps major put it another way: "We just don't know how strong the enemy is. The people who have been running the war haven't let us find out. The way we have to hit him now, with platoon-or company-size attacks, the going is damned rough and bloody. But if somebody would give the word and really let us hit him . . ." The major shrugged and left the sentence unfinished...
...platoon leader bound for a short leave in Japan, and wearing the Purple Heart with cluster, scoffed at the enemy. "I've been into the Communist positions three times in less than a month now. I get the shakes before every attack, but I still think he's weak. His grenades are no good; they bounce around like pieces of lead pipe. They kill some of our guys, sure, but lots of 'em are duds and others don't fragment properly. Lots of their mortar shells are lousy, too. I don't mean that hitting...