1000 word excerpt
Daniel sat quietly against the bulkhead of the roaring, tossing, landing craft, his rifle resting against his shoulder. Wally sat next to him, his head tilted back a little and his eyes closed. Daniel noticed Wally's hands clasped close together, his lips moving almost silently.

Wally opened his eyes. Daniel noticed they were fiery red and tears were streaming down his cheeks. "I don't want to die," Wally said. "Do you think we'll get killed today?"

"I hope not, Wally. I hope not."

Wally turned toward him. "Are you praying, Dan?"

Daniel nodded, but stared straight ahead, praying for courage, not for protection. "Yes."

Courage is what he needed. Courage not to run away, as he had done so many times in his life. In school, kids would pick on him because his glasses made his eyes appear huge. They would call him bug eyes, and he would run away crying. When he complained to his parents, his father told him just to stay and fight. He had always chosen to run away.

I'll get behind Stench when the ramp goes down onto the shore, he thought. He's broad and his 220 pounds of solid muscle will be very good protection. There'll be so much confusion that no one will notice I'm using him as a shield. Of course, I'll know. Then he thought of John, poor dead John. He remembered the last night John was home; they went to the carnival and rode the Ferris wheel. He wasn't afraid because John was sitting next to him. John would never hide behind Stench or anyone. His father was so proud of John, and he hoped his father would be proud of him. But John was dead.

But what good would it do anyone if he were killed too? He remembered the day the Navy officer brought the telegram from the Navy Department. which read, "We regret to inform you of the death of your son, Lt. Comdr. John Monroe." John died a hero. So what? His father didn't cry, at least Daniel never saw him cry. Men don't cry, he had been told many times. His father got in the car and was gone for several hours. But when he came home, Daniel noticed his father tried to hide his red, swollen eyes.

His mother cried for days and days. She didn't care if John were a hero or not. She only cared her older son had been taken from her forever. When Daniel left, she put her arms around him and whispered in his ear, "Don't be a hero."

Daniel wondered if Linda would cry if he were killed. Yes, she might be a bit sad, but only for a day or two. He loved Linda so much, but she held him at arm's length. "I can't even consider marrying any boy of a different religion, she told him. He wasn't even thinking of marrying then. After all, they started going together when they were 15. He met her at band practice. She played clarinet and he played trumpet. He had asked her to go to a school dance, and she said yes.

He was so shy that he never even kissed her for a year. Then one night he suddenly kissed her before she had a chance to say no. After that first kiss, he kissed her at every opportunity, but only once did he go any farther, touching her breasts under her dress.

He wiped his eyes with his sleeve, as he said almost out loud, "I'll probably die today, and I've never even seen a woman naked, much less made love to one." If I got killed, would Linda say she really did love me, he wondered.

"Did you say something?"

He shook his head. "Just thinking out loud." Wally went back to praying in silent desperation.

He put his head down between his knees, and muttered in almost no voice, "Oh, John, I wish you were here."

When the helmsman cut the motor to half speed, Sergeant Tank stood up in the front of the barge. "Everybody up!" he yelled. "You men, check to make sure you have a full clip in your weapon. And take the safety off. Now!" As he turned away, he shook his head slightly, and in a low voice, said, "And good luck."

With a scrunch, the bottom of the landing craft scraped the sandy beach. The helmsman gunned the motor to drive the craft a few feet farther onto the shore.

As the ramp started to drop, Stench cried out, "I ain't goin'. I didn't lose nuthin' over here."

Daniel looked at him in amazement, realizing what he saw in Stench at this moment, was what he feared most in himself. It made him sick.

"I ain't givin' my life for no gooks. I ain't going," Stench cried again.

Breathing hard, Daniel turned his 150 pounds into a powerful dynamo. As the power of his body and soul united in one explosion, he jabbed his rifle butt into Stench's rib cage and yelled, "The hell you're not going!"

Then raising his rifle high above his head, he pushed his way through several rows of soldiers, past Sergeant Tank, past the lieutenant. His boots pounded on the lowered ramp as he ran down it toward the beach. Waving his rifle in the air, he turned and shouted to the others, "Come on! Come on!

He knew he was doing the right thing, and hoped somehow that John was watching. But even if no one saw him, he knew this was what he was meant to do. At that instant, he didn't care if he had sixty years to live, or only sixty seconds. It didn't matter for this was his chance at redemption, his great moment, and he intended for it to stand alone as the meaning and sum of his whole life.