The war’s over on the ninth of May, VE Day they call it. My way of celebrating the war being over is personal and nearly gets me another court martial. Our Captain tells us that at midnight, the war’s officially over. We’re out in the fields, sleeping in tents, the weather’s warm, there isn’t much in the way of action. We have our big surprise coming about a week later.
I’m waiting in my tent until the hands of my German officer’s watch, with a luminous dial, cross over each other and show midnight. Another piece of war loot. I know some people who have six or seven watches up and down each arm. They have them set for Chicago time, Los Angeles time, New York time, and so forth; spend all their time winding them.
Anyway, just at midnight, I have my M1 standing straight up between my legs, pointing at the V forming the top of our tent. VE day right? Rolin Clairmont’s sleeping beside me. I brace the butt tight between my legs and, at the moment of midnight, fire off eight paced shots right through the tent.
I look out our tent flap. The whole camp, everybody, comes tearing out; they can’t see where the firing’s from. People have rifles out and are running around like headless chickens in their skivvies. I come crawling out of our tent and yell, ‘Yippee, the war’s over. Hooray!’
I think for a minute there someone’s going to shoot me, especially Rolin, who’s shaking his head as if his ears are falling off.
They jump me, and drag me into the Captain’s tent. He’s half asleep and half dressed. The platoon explains it to him, all at the same time. In a while he figures it out.
‘Wharton, why the hell did you do that? You deserve a section eight!’
‘Well, Sir, nobody seemed to be celebrating. Here we are; we’re alive. We somehow got through this war. At least we’re not going to die in this war, maybe we’ll die in another one, somewhere else, who knows. But it’s worth celebrating, Sir.’
He stares at me smiling, and gets to laughing. Then the rest of the company starts laughing. Captain Wall doesn’t do anything really. I just need to serve an extra guard to make up for the sleep everybody lost. There it is, that’s the way I celebrate the end of the war. Little did I know.