Friday April 21st.

After a few uneventful days it is now cool late morning. I sit in my cot reading Daunte's Inferno. Obrenski sits on his cot and draws yet another scandalous pinup to hang on our walls. He is really a good artist when he is not so perverse. Kurtz plays with a small model airplane, making propeller noises with his mouth.

Suddenly we hear a truck stop and hear a vehicle door slam. We stop our activities and step outside to observe the commotion.

A man in a gray army uniform walks down the ramp with letters in his hand. It is Supply Sergeant Rudenstoff. "Mail call!" he exclaims, waving the letters in his hand. The Lieutenant walks up to greet him. "Odel you haven't changed a bit." Sergeant Rudenstoff says in a jolly tone. The two men shake hands. "It has been a while Rudy." The Lieutenant says. I look to Obrenski and ask whispering, "How do they know each other?" Obrenski replies in whisper, " They were in North Africa together." "Oh." I whisper back. The Sergeant hands the Lieutenant the letters and gives a half hearted salute, the Lieutenant returns the same way before examining the envelopes in front of him. Sergeant Rudenstoff returns to his truck and drives off.

As Lieutenant Sprieg examines each letter individually, he says aloud, "Kurtz this is from your grandmother. Obrenski another one of your many concubines. And Franz....this is new, the address is local." We walk up to the Lieutenant and receive our perspective pieces. Kurtz acts like an excited child receiving a new toy. Mail, I never receive mail unless it is from my father. I take and examine the envelope. I don't recognize the address but it is handwritten with my first name in bold letters. I carefully open the envelope, and pull out a folded light blue piece of stationary. I unfold it and it reads:

Dear Franz,

I hope this letter reaches you. I got your post address from a family friend in the postal service. How are you? I wanted to let you know that I had a wonderful time with you the other day and I would like to see you again. Please write to me when you receive this, my address is 143 Erikson Street. I know you are busy with your duties but I would like to meet somewhere when you have spare time.

Sincerely,

Irina Gänseblümchen

A letter from Irina, my heart soars! I am so excited to write back that I rushed back inside the barracks. But I am stopped by Lieutenant Sprieg, "Franz." he says, "Come with me I have an errand to run". I stop and my excitement fades for my eagerness turns to disappointment. I turn and quip, "But but." "It won't take long." he calmly reassures me.

I sulk and follow him up the ramp to the kubelwagen. "Obrenski." he shouts, " Behave yourself while we are gone. And don't extort Kurtz again." Obrenski responds slyly," Don't worry Sprieg, how much trouble do you think we can get in stranded out here."

I hop into the driver's seat of the Kubelwagen and the Lieutenant takes the passenger seat. He says, "Alright Franz follow the road west." West? "Are we not going into town sir?" I ask. "Not today Franz." he states. I start the vehicle and it growls to life. He directs me up the dirt road away from the city. The road runs parallel to the farmer's field for the field itself probably spans several hundred yards.

After about ten minutes of travel, we come upon the farmer's residence. His home is a two story mustard yellow building with a sloping shingled roof. There are four windows, two on the bottom floor and two on the top. The front door sits firmly evenly spaced between the windows. A large swastika laiden flag hangs from the second story. A chimney rises on the left side of the house. Not far away sits a large wooden barn and behind a wire fence we can see multiple cows grazing. I stop the vehicle and me and the Lieutenant step out and approach the house. The Lieutenant gives a knock on the door while I wonder why we are here. After a while the portly Farmer in dusty overalls opens the door and exclaims embracing, "Ah Lieutenant Sprieg pleasure to see you here." He asks, "What do I hold the honor?" "Reparations." The Lieutenant utters calmly. "Reparation?" the Farmer asks inquisitively. "Yes, may we come inside?" the Lieutenant asks politely. "Why certainly." the Farmer replies.

We enter the Farmer's home, we walk into the dining room. There sits a large mahogany table long enough to seat ten people. There are family portraits, of which are spaced haphazardly, across the teal blue walls. What caught my eyes the most was the large portrait of Hitler sits over the fireplace banister and several party paraphernalia hangs on the wall. The Farmer pulls out a chair and sits. He asks, "So what kind reparation are we talking about?" "We had to destroy your fence on the south side to rescue a downed pilot." the Lieutenant says standing over him. "Really, I've had a hell of a time getting officials to clear the wreckage. I was wondering what happened." The Lieutenant says, "I would like to say we are deeply sorry." while reaching into his trench coat and pulling out an envelope to hand to the Farmer. The Farmer takes the envelope and opens it to reveal several reichsmarks. The Farmer's eye brighten and he smiles flipping through the individual notes, "Well you are mighty generous Lieutenant." the Farmer says. The Lieutenant nods.

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The Farmer speaks in a jubile tone, "Well all can be forgiven. Is the pilot alright?"

"He died." the Lieutenant says somberly. The Farmer replies, "The fatherland lost another good pilot. May his sacrifice bring us closer to total victory, Seig Hail!" he says standing up giving the hitler salute. Me and the Lieutenant look at each other uneasy before the Lieutenant gives a half hearted salute in return. The Farmer once again takes his seat and asks, "So Lieutenant Spreig why don't you ever wear that medal they gave you?" My eyes pop wide, I didn't know the Lieutenant had a medal. The Farmer obviously noticing my surprise, "Yeah boy didn't you know you are in the presence of a war hero. It was all over the papers." I look to Lieutenant Spreig in amazement. The Lieutenant looks down humbly and utters, " I didn't deserve it." "Why sure you did." states the Farmer. The Farmer looks to me and says, "Didn't you know your Lieutenant took out thirty tanks in Tunisia single handedly. He was captured and then escaped and fended off another attack." I look at him amazed. The Lieutenant looks almost embarrassed and ushers, "No, it was only twenty. But I prefer not to talk about it." "Why not? You should be proud of the service you have done for the fatherland by killing the dirty American and British pigs." the Farmers says. The Lieutenant repeats sterner this time, "I prefer not to talk about it." The Farmer takes note and rises saying, " Well Lieutenant, thank you and long live the Fuhrer." Me and the Lieutenant exit the residence and re-enter the kubelwagen with me in the driver's seat and the Lieutenant in the passenger's seat. The Farmer waves us goodbye as we depart.

As me and the Lieutenant travel down the dirt road when suddenly speaks," War isn't a game Franz. Good people died and no medal is going to bring them back." I silently nod in agreement.

We drive back to the gun post and find Obrenski sunbathing shirtless in the Lieutenant's outdoor chair, glasses covering his eyes from the hot sun, his legs kicked up on the table with the radio, Kurtz is seen fanning him with a tarp. I stop the vehicle and look over to see an annoyed expression on the Lieutenant's face as he exits and makes his way down the earthen ramp in which I follow. He stands over the obviously sleeping Obrenski and Kurtz stops his fanning. The Lieutenant crosses his arms while the high sun beams down casting his shadow over Obrenski. Obrenski awakens and takes off his shades, his face turns to shock and then he utters, "What? He volunteered." The Lieutenant looks to Kurtz as Kurtz eagerly exclaims innocently, "Obrenski said he would let me look through one of his adult magazines!" The Lieutenant glares back at Obrenski with a blank expression. I'm shocked but not surprised that Obrenski is willing to bribe the minor with pornography even though Kurtz probably doesn't even know what that is. "Obrenski." ushers the Lieutenant, "What was the one thing I told you not to do." " What I said he volunteered." Obrenski repeats. "You were supposed to be manning the radio." The Lieutenant says agitated. "I was." Obrenski claims. The Lieutenant looks extremely annoyed before commanding, "Out of my chair." "But..." Obrenski pleads before being cut off. "Out of my chair." The Lieutenant repeats sterner. "Fine, fine." Obrenski says rising, The Lieutenant starts toward his shack. Kurtz asks from behind him, "Can I still see the magazine?" The Lieutenant utters annoyed, "No Kurtz they're not for you." Kurtz sighs disappointingly, "Awwwww."

I head to my cot in the barracks excited to write a letter to Irina. I take a piece of stationary and write.

Dear Irina,

I am glad you were able to find me for I had hoped to see you again. I would like to meet at the lake but I am suspended from leave for two weeks. We got in a lot of trouble that day for being late to our posts. We also....

I pause and think, should I tell her about the pilot? I decide not as the image of the pilot's bloody face flashes in my mind. I scratch out "We also" And replace it with "I would be very excited to see you again." I sign it with Sincerely, Franz.

I look over to Obrenski and ask, "Can I borrow a envelope?" "What for?" he asks. I pause and decide that if I tell him about Irina he would insult me. " No reason, its for my father." I say. " Uh huh." Obrenski says suspiciously, "Who is she?" "Wh... what do you mean?" I ask nervously. "You know exactly what I mean." He says confidently, " I saw you with her and you disappeared for a while." I decide that he has already figured it out. "Her name is Irina." I say. "Ahhh, and how was it?" he asks grinning. "What do you mean?" I ask. He says winking," You know exactly what I mean." I feel myself blushing, I know my cheeks are turning red because Obrenski's grin grows wider. "She is not that kind of girl!" I shout embarrassed. Obrenski raises his eyebrow. "We just kissed." I say shyly. Kurtz overhearing exclaims, "Franz kissed a girl!" Obrenski grins wider then before. "Well how was it? Details boy." Obrenski demands. I uncertain of how to answer say, "It was nice." Kurtz exclaims in disgust, "Gross."

Obrenski places his hand on my shoulder and says, "You are one step closer to becoming a man Franz." He gives me a stern look in the eyes and says, "Keep me informed." before leaving the barracks. Kurtz looks to me wide eyed and says curiously almost in a whisper, "Did she get pregnant, you get pregnant from kissing, right Franz?" I smile a little bit before saying, "No Kurtz, that is not how that works." He asks even more innocently "Well how does it work Franz?" I swallow hard and say " I'll tell you one day. Just don't ask Obrenski." " Oh... ok." He says before jumping off his cot and leaving. Before leaving he pauses and asks, " Do you think the Lieutenant knows?" Before I answer, I decide it would be fun to prank the Lieutenant. "I don't know Kurtz, why don't you go ask." He smiles before gleefully exiting. After a few minutes I hear the Lieutenant exclaim loudly, "WHAT?!.......FRANZ!" I chuckle a little bit at the Lieutenant's expense.

After a couple days the mail truck returns and I am able to send the letter. A few more days later I receive correspondence form Irina stating she would like to meet at the lake. We pass letters back and forth and one of her letters includes a small picture of her in a sunday dress. Course I attempt to hide it from Obrenski, opting to use it as a bookmark. Now all that is left to do is wait for the next Saturday.