A Walk in the Park
My bones creaked as I stretched. Being a 90 year old really does take a toll on your body. I slowly walked through the door on my way to the park. I go there many times a week. It’s where I can dwell on my feelings, a place of peace and quiet. I used to be a soldier, you know. I served in World War 2 and a couple wars after that. But the real stickler was back then in the 40’s, serving my time. Nowadays, I’m just spending my days carefree, in good health and happiness. I walked down the path, and bumped into a group of young men.
“George” the leader said, “good morning!”
“Indeed.”
“So how about that game you’ve always promised us you’ll play?”
“Not now, Marcus.”
He grinned. “Not likely ever, right? When I’m your age, I’ll be much more active than you.”
“Ha!” I countered, “Not likely! When I was your age, I was serving in the Army.”
The group was very surprised. I told them if they bought me lunch, I would tell them a story. They, being still young at heart, were excited beyond measure at the prospect of a war story. They brought me to a local diner, where I sat down and ordered some food. The youngsters did likewise.
“Come on George, tell us this story!”
I sighed, and put down my fork.
[July, 1940]
I don’t remember there being many parks where I had been. I was Part of the “109Th Platoon”, a platoon theoretically stationed somewhere in France, a place where Canadian soldiers wouldn’t usually go. We were actually the 1St Elite Special Forces Platoon, A group of the best soldiers that Canda, the United States and Britain had to offer. We went on the most dangerous of missions that was nowhere near as adventurous as they might sound. We were stationed somewhere north of Germany, near a semi-permanent Nazi base camp, so close to the enemy we could have extended a hand and hit them in the face. Part of our “team” was 16 people, 4 British, 6 Americans and 6 Canadians, surrounding the complex in teams of four. Back then the secret missions weren’t like the ones you see today in the games, with outer space surveillance, ability to shut down the enemy’s power using electromagnetic pulses, jam communications or things like that. Suppressors on our weapons were still somewhat of a new creation, and we had to be careful with them. We had just been handed this fantastic creation named the “walkie-talkie” made not but a couple of months ago. It was a bit bulky, but we could converse with other squads just fine.
“Big Jack, come in.”
“Big Jack here. Is this Little Bird?”
“Confirmed. We’re going in 5.”
“Roger that. I will alert Star Fox and White Wolf.”
“Confirmed.”
Five minutes later we were ready to crack the place open. There were tents, some small structures and some cabins. We were in to grab some secret files, and then get out. Sounded simple enough, but it never was. We quickly geared up and loaded our weapons. Advancing quickly through the woods, we tried to only step on the softest pieces of earth and not crack the branches. Soon enough, we were at a clearing where we quietly watched the camp. My squad consisted of four men, two Canadians, Willis and I, and two Americans, Steven and Andrew. They were much older than I, almost by a decade, but I had a natural flair for this sneaking around. A slight wind and heavy shower started several minutes later. Perfect, I thought. We watched the two Germans by the fire, taking a smoke. Their fire went out, and their curses floated up to us. Our team agreed to split up and we moved away. Steven and I quietly moved up close to the two Germans, and we pounced, sticking our knives into their throats. They thrashed around for a second then went limp. Steven grinned at me. We moved up. Further ahead, Willis and Andrew had already secured the area, going around and quietly killing the other enemies in their sleep. We exchanged a couple hand signs and split off. We were now “switching squads”. Our squad was originally an all attack group, with no medics or engineers. By switching partners, we were all given a better chance of survival in the second part of the mission. Steven and I quickly found our partners, and whispered a few words.
