Vinnie Hansen's Blog - Posts Tagged "veteran-s-day"
Private First Class
In honor of Veteran’s Day, I offer you the free story below titled “Private First Class.”
Long ago when I took “Private First Class” to my critique group, one member said it was “inane” while another proclaimed it the best thing I’d written. I’m sure this thinly fictionalized account of my dad’s World War II experience lies somewhere in between.
The story is part of a collection of fictionalized autobiography called The Celestial Division of Instruments. Many of the pieces have been published individually. Some day I hope to see the whole collection in print. Certainly, “Private First Class” is a work which gathers poignancy in context with the other stories.
Private First Class
1945
Private First-Class Mitchell Nelsen, 37773149, lay in the hull of a boat. To conserve oxygen, the new recruits had been ordered to lie down except to go to the bathroom. They were packed in, Mitchell thought, like the slaves must have been, only the soldiers had cots and wool blankets and weren’t chained.
They had two and a half weeks to wonder what Germany would be like and whether they would ever see their families again. Sometimes they murmured back and forth, but often they retreated to their private sadness and fear, listening to the powerful engine that propelled them across the Atlantic to fight Hitler’s army.
(to continue follow this link to my website)
https://vinniehansen.com/2021/11/priv...
Long ago when I took “Private First Class” to my critique group, one member said it was “inane” while another proclaimed it the best thing I’d written. I’m sure this thinly fictionalized account of my dad’s World War II experience lies somewhere in between.
The story is part of a collection of fictionalized autobiography called The Celestial Division of Instruments. Many of the pieces have been published individually. Some day I hope to see the whole collection in print. Certainly, “Private First Class” is a work which gathers poignancy in context with the other stories.
Private First Class
1945
Private First-Class Mitchell Nelsen, 37773149, lay in the hull of a boat. To conserve oxygen, the new recruits had been ordered to lie down except to go to the bathroom. They were packed in, Mitchell thought, like the slaves must have been, only the soldiers had cots and wool blankets and weren’t chained.
They had two and a half weeks to wonder what Germany would be like and whether they would ever see their families again. Sometimes they murmured back and forth, but often they retreated to their private sadness and fear, listening to the powerful engine that propelled them across the Atlantic to fight Hitler’s army.
(to continue follow this link to my website)
https://vinniehansen.com/2021/11/priv...
