L ieutenant Pontiac had the crazies.
Not battle fatigue that dreaded darkness that can overtake a soldier when he has gone through too much physical and mental suffering when his brain and his heart cannot absorb even one particle more and he escapes into paralysis hallucination or endless sorrow.
Not First Lieutenant Abe Levine — “Lieutenant Pontiac”— who’d received a Bronze Star for his service in Normandy and a commendation for blowing up a tank in Holland with a few grenades. Not the officer so admired for his calm during battle and his exploits when things were quiet: the only officer in the army whose jeep sported a Pontiac hood ornament! Not the man respected for his fairness who when his CO recommended him for the commendation had refused unless the other members of his squad were also recognized an unusual gesture in an army where officers often ignored the contributions of enlisted men.
No this past week Lieutenant Levine was just acting a little… crazy. Relaxed crazy. Fun crazy.
Actually here in this base everyone was having some fun. After two months in Holland fighting what the G.I.’s soon realized was an unnecessary and probably losing battle the paratroopers had been replaced by regular infantry units and were sent to rest and regroup in a base in liberated France.
