It was the day we got called in to help evacuate the soldiers in Dunkirk by boat. As we approached the dead, cold bodies floating in the water, I noticed a boy. He was particularly young, and was very weak willed. I could tell by the look in his eyes he couldn’t handle the horror of seeing these dead bodies. “Just walk away son, it’ll only get worse” was what I said to the boy I’ll never forget, Philip J. Butler.
The name’s Hugh, Hugh Colt. I am quite a young fellow myself. I grew up in ze slums of Dunkirk. I never considered myself to follow in the footsteps of my father. He was a great father, but even a better general. I always looked up to him and hoped one day I would be as great as he was but I knew I wasn’t good enough after he died in World War I. That just crushed my little heart. When I was 15 my brother was 18, the man of the house. It was time for him to go and join the military so I knew it was my turn to take over the household. A few years passed and it was my turn to join. My mother was devastated. She couldn’t stand the fact she might lose her children too. My story begins here.
It was quite a foggy day, not like the others. We were camped out by a river. I came out of my tent to just sit and get some fresh air. There weren’t many of us, maybe 4,000 or so. We were on our way to France. General Adaams approached me; he was my father’s dear friend. “You know, following in your father footsteps is quite hard, but I think you got what it takes to be a general like him.” I then knew it was my duty to fulfill my father’s wish. I went back to my tent and could barely sleep that night.
The next morning we were awoken with sudden yells of the generals. General Adaams took me with him and gave me my fathers pin. I put it on with pride and took a few troops with me to head on towards France; when we suddenly got an urgent message:
“Dépêchez-vous! Les Allemands envahissent la France. Nous avons besoin de troupespour venir l'aider à évacuer la ville de Dunkerque!”
It read to us that we must hurry to Dunkirk. The German’s were invading and we were needed immediately to help evacuate Dunkirk by boats. We set off right away.
It’s that point in the story now where everything’s all caught up. Philip J. Butler was like a little brother to me. I barely knew him but I could see a part of myself act as he does. We were both determined to save these soldiers. But when I saw him look at those soldiers, dead, I didn’t think he could handle it. But I knew he was strong like I was. We got to Dunkirk and it was time to start evacuating the soldiers, loading them onto the boats as fast as we could. Until one soldier, one soldier I just had to save. One more, one more I thought could be saved. I jumped into the water with hope this soldier and I would make it. I jumped. It felt like I was falling in slow motion, until I hit the water. My whole body just went numb. I couldn’t give up now, I had to save this one soldier and get back to the boat. I felt like I was slowly dying. Freezing to death. But I got that soldier and paddled back to the boat as fast as I could. My soldiers grabbing my hands pulling me in. I didn’t think I’d live. I pulled Philip in closer to me, “I hope you can be as good a general as a soldier.” Handing him my pin, I was gone.
3 comments:
Dear Hugh Colt,
It's been ten years since the last time I saw you. Ha, I hope you remember me, It's Phillip, Phillip J. Butler. I can't believe it's been so long. I remember that day so clear, it's the only memory that I can remember clearly, actually. I hope you're doing well. I've always heard stories about what heavens supposed to be like. They say that everything is beautiful there. I wish you were here though. I wanted you to be my best man at my wedding with this girl I met at a bar the first day I was let out of the war. She's something. I really love her, I honestly wouldn't know what to do without her. She's perfect in almost every way. I just can't take my eyes off of her. It's like, even when she's mad at me, she's still beautiful. But anyways, I also wanted to introduce you to my newborn son, Hugh. He was a little guy but we're sure he's going to be big just like his father. Everything's better now, after the war was over. We were in a big recession for a while but there's this new band called The Beatles that I really love. And so does my wife. There really isn't much to say other than that I wish you were here so we could enjoy all of this! I'll write to you again soon, I promised I would.
Sincerely,
Phillip J. Butler
That day, we both know it all too well, don't we? It has been years since I've had to remember that day, many years since I have visited the shores of Dunkirk on that morning day. It was hard for both of us, but as generals, our boys look up to us; we are all those lads had back then. We were the only ones who could aid them in this war of all wars. It is sad to loose someone who is close to you; young or old, soldier or general. As a front lines general myself, I have seen many young lads devastated by the deaths of those around them. I remember constantly thinking that I want to help them, I'd give anything to just give them some hope. You are a brave man, I just wish that we could have communicated on those days oh so long ago. I shall forever look up to you, the brave man that you are, and always remember your life, just as I have all the others who have gone.
Post a Comment