It was the beginning of the end of an American era. The naivete and delightful curiosity that were characteristic of the American people would begin to fade, finally vanishing entirely in a decade that not a single person emerged from unscathed. The whole world, it seemed, went mad.

These changes were all touched off by a single event. And, while this singular war would wind up one of the most important in history, the boys who fought there were not aware of it. They simply wanted to get home alive. These are the stories that are never told--those of the men who fought and killed out of desperation. In the end, they weren't fighting for their country or for their families at home. They were fighting for their lives.

****

"Max...Max, wake up. A bunch of the boys and us have been given leave. We can go to town today!"

Max groaned and rolled over in his bunk. "Go 'way."

Alex nudged him. Max ignored him. Alex shrugged and looked around to the others crowding around Max's bed. "Max, if you don't get up, I won't be able to stop them."

Max struggled to look up, but the sun was too bright. "Stop who?"

"On three...one, two, three!"

The ten men picked up one end of Max's bunk and unceremoniously tipped him out of it. He rolled to the floor, taking his blanket and sheets with him. He moaned and sat up, blinking furiously. "I'm up! For Christ's sake, I'm awake!"

The soldiers just laughed. Alex smirked. "I tried to be nice about it, buddy."

****

Max had just finished dressing when he heard the mail call. Cursing inwardly, he rushed outside just as he heard "Evans!"

Alex looked a little crestfallen when he realized he hadn't received anything. "What did you expect? You don't write her, she don't write you."

He shrugged. "I don't know. Things are just too weird."

Max ripped open the letter unceremoniously, scanning it quickly as the other men headed for the truck that would take them to town. It seemed to be a normal letter from Liz.

"Max, I may not be able to answer your letters for quite some time. I will write to you if I can, as I will most likely be traveling a lot. Please don't attempt to write me. I will write you."

Max gaped at the last line. Where was she going that she didn't know her address? What was he supposed to do if he couldn't write her? He read the rest of the letter - "Send Alex my love" - and barely resisted

the urge to crumple it and toss it to the muddy ground. What the hell was wrong with her? What was wrong with Alex? He couldn't understand what was going on between his two best friends, but he was certain that the undercurrent of tension in Liz's letters was there because of Alex.

After all, she didn't have any reason to be tense about him.

Except for that kiss...that kiss that Alex could not have missed, on their last morning at home.

****

Max confronted Alex on the way to the truck. "So what is going on between you two?"

Alex frowned. "Why?"

Max shoved the letter at him. Alex read it slowly, his frown deepening as he scanned the lines. "Shit. I was afraid she'd do something like this."

"Why? Is she trying to get away from her parents?"

"Yeah. I guess...she never really told you how much they hate me."

"If they knew where she was your last night home, I bet I do."

Alex started to crack his knuckles, always a sign he was getting upset. "Just leave it alone, Max. It's none of your business."

"Fuck," Max muttered to himself as Alex walked away, then started to run as the truck began to pull away. He watched as it left his best friend behind in a cloud of thick dust. He looked sadly at Alex as he shook dust out of his hair, wondering if they could even be called best friends any more.

****

"And one, and two, and three...GODDAMNIT, PARKER!"

Liz winced and ground to a halt. If their dance instructor got any louder, she was pretty sure the boys fighting in Europe would be able to hear her.

And she was in Delaware.

"Parker, for Christ's sake, if you put your toes out of line there, you'll be in Miss Moore's light."

The girl next to her snickered. "Gee, we couldn't possibly block her light. Then the reflection off her teeth wouldn't blind everybody!"

Sarge scowled deeply and looked around. "Who said that?"

Liz pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh. She didn't need to anger Sarge, as all the girls called her. The woman hated her with a passion as it was.

"Was it you, Parker? I swear to God, if it was you...you'll be out of here and on desk duty so fast you won't know what hit you!"

Everyone was quiet. Sarge looked around, her eyes narrowing as she focused on Liz and the girl next to her. "Practice is over. You two come to my office at three on the dot. And don't be late."

The women all watched as Sarge departed in a huff. Then they broke into giggles. "Good one, Parker," one said. "Just hope you don't get into too much trouble."

Liz scowled. Why should she get in trouble because the ditz next to her made a comment? She was honestly trying to get along with everyone. She didn't want to go home. In fact, that was just about the last things she wanted.

****

The next day they had more training. Max was beginning to wonder if they were ever going to go into combat. There was supposedly a war being fought around here somewhere...if only they would be allowed to see it!

Alex and Max were sitting by each other, not really talking, although Alex seemed mostly to have forgotten about their conversation the day before. He had even seen Alex writing a letter, though he suspected it was to his mother, who was a little bit hysterical and, according to Liz, missed her son deeply. Max began to compose his next letter during a training session, hoping no one would notice. As soon as he got Liz's next letter, he'd put this in the mail.

"Liz, I don't know why you're so upset with Alex, or the other way around, but I do have one question. Why the hell did you kiss me in front of Alex? Were you trying to make him mad? I don't want to be the one who comes between you two." He was so engrossed in his writing--could he even ask that? Wouldn't it just make Liz more upset? --that he didn't notice the shocked expression on his friend's face.

Alex gaped a little. He nudged Max in the side. "Hey, Max...what's your brother-in-law's name again?"

"What? Why?" Max mumbled, fumbling with the envelope.

"Just wondering," Alex said innocently.

"It's, uh, Kyle something," he said. "God, I only met the guy a few times and he left with my sister right after that. How should I know?"

"Well, then, you might want to look up," Alex said, unable to hide the mirth in his voice.

Max glanced up at the sergeant who was assigned to their unit. His mouth opened wide in astonishment. Standing before the troops, making a speech, was Kyle Valenti, Isabel's husband. "Holy shit," Max muttered. "She didn't tell me he had joined up."

Alex grinned. "I thought he looked awfully familiar. See? You can have a family get-together right on base!"

****

Liz was beginning to understand what the boys had said about the training being tough. After four weeks, her arms, legs and back ached almost continously. Yet, she saw herself gradually gaining more strength and agility. Her ankles, formerly prone to sprains, were so strong that she once tripped in her high heels several times in one day and was no worse for the wear.

But she paid for those benefits. Oh, did she pay. The rest of the girls were silent in their suffering as they learned their routine, so Liz was too.

She had made a friend, the blond girl named Maria, who had nearly gotten her in trouble with Sarge. Maria was desperately missing her boyfriend, who was fighting in the Pacific. She got letters occasionally, and when she got them she disappeared for hours at a time until finally reappearing, never saying a word about the letters or where she had been. Liz liked that about her, that she was private. There wasn't much privacy in the USO. They were there to entertain the troops, they had been told on the first day, and to remind them of home. If they had to show a little more skin than they were used to to do that, then they would. And that was that.

She liked most of the girls in their act. Most were like her, with a boyfriend, fiance or husband overseas. Liz kept mostly silent about her relationship, saying simply that her fiance was in Europe, something that evoked sympathetic, silent looks from some of the older women. Many of them had already lost loves.