The Reunion

“I was leading a patrol and we were in heavy jungle. Like most operations, there were other patrols out from other companies, and we knew their approximate locations so we wouldn’t run into one another. It had been quiet for a few days, and we’d been sent out to see what the Japanese were up to. I was to report back to your father. As we moved through the bush, we heard some heavy small weapons fire some distance away. We reported this by radio and were ordered to proceed in the direction of the fire. After the initial flurry of fire, we only heard sporadic fire for about ten minutes. We were moving slowly because we didn’t want to walk into a trap. I received word from your dad that the patrol from the other company hadn’t checked in and they thought they could be in trouble. They were sending a second patrol to the area where they were last heard from. They wanted us to go as well. As we approached the area, we smelled smoke, so we radioed in and started towards the source of the smoke. As we approached the area, we could hear voices, so we spread out into a skirmish line. We came upon a clearing and found a small Japanese encampment. The Japanese were getting ready to cook their dinner which consisted of whatever they could scavenge and GI rump roast.”

Becky’s expression was half horror and half confusion. “I don’t understand, Uncle Ray. They were eating roast?”

Ray held her gaze. “They had wiped out the other patrol and dragged the bodies back to their camp. They had pulled down the pants of the dead GI’s and cut steaks for themselves. There they were cooking them when we came upon the clearing. They were starving and had resorted to cannibalism to survive.”

Becky’s hand quickly covered her mouth while she looked away.

“The man next to me got sick to his stomach,” said Ray. “He spent most of the day throwing up but was still able to attack when I gave the order.”

“What did you do?”

“None of them went home, my dear.”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you think I mean?”

“You killed them all?”

There was a second of silence before Ray answered. “Yeah, to a man. We fired so many rounds you couldn’t tell they were human beings. This incident’s haunted me ever since.”