Jack Morris  USMC
VMF 218 F4U  

Peering back into the dark tangle where I had just been, I shuddered, brushed myself off, and started off again, downstream. As I rounded a sharp bend, wading in shallow, fast moving water, I skirted a low hanging limb, and found myself staring at the huge rear end of a wild pig rooting in a muddy backwash behind the tree. He didn't know I was there. Only five feet away, eating, he reminded me of my own hunger. Without thinking it through, I pulled out my .45 and fired my first shot in the combat zone directly at the innocent, bulky figure and missed! He bolted for the riverbank and disappeared in a flash.

Then I realized what a stupid thing 1 had done. Aiming to take the pig's life, something that would take hours of cooking, was incongruous. I had acted rashly because I was hungry. In four days, I had eaten only two small cans of pemmican-about twelve ounces. I needed fast food, the kind you can eat on the run. I had fired off a loud shot in a quiet jungle in enemy territory. What was I thinking?

My clothes were damp from an earlier rain and the wading. It was cloudy and gloomy and that foray into the thick tangle of jungle growth brought me down. The pig incident, my hunger, the apparent lack of progress and the stress of having to be ever watchful had me in a low mood. I was discouraged and distressed. Will I get out of here alive?

Then I heard her rich melodious voice with an answer. It was Roz. My wonderful one back home, thousands of miles away, calling to me. "Come on. You can make it".

I looked up. I could see her face in the clouds. That dark hair, the light blue eyes, the gleaming smile. But above all, her look of concerned encouragement, of knowing all would be well. I felt relieved; with the burden lifted, energized, heartened by a loved one whose spirit had flown thousands of miles to aid in my escape from the enemy. Now, it was up to me, to get my legs moving.

As I walked along with renewed energy, head swiveling instinctively, eyes sweeping along both banks, my thoughts went back to this mystical encounter and I remembered our first meeting and how strange it had been.

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