"Something stupid."

Eugene,

I wish I was able to write this letter in good news, but I must regretfully say that Deacon passed away. Your father, myself, and Bernice were with him. It must sound like a crude funeral but Bernice and myself were there with extra food for your parents when he brought us in. Jefferson even wandered over to come see him. A good dog like him deserved to be loved like you and Edward loved him. So we shrouded him in love. He is buried by his favorite tree.
That is all for now. Life doesn't get interesting around here unless it has to do with the war effort. Funny how that works. Right now it seems worth it, but we'll really see when you come home.

Because I know you will, Eugene.

Love from home,

AnnaMarie Collete Taylor

"Eugene?"

Eugene sat in silence, reflecting over the letter that Annie sent him.

"Gene?" Snafu called out to him a second time.

"My dog died." Eugene didn't look at him, and continued to stare at the ground.

Snafu's shoulder's dropped and he scampered over to Eugene's side, sitting close to his friend, much closer than he ever had before. "I'm sorry."

Eugene nodded to himself. "He was a good dog."

"How old was he?"

Got him as a pup 'bout nine years ago, maybe ten."

"They say dogs live, what, seven years to every one of ours?" Snafu suggested. When Eugene didn't respond, he leaned into him.

"My brother was on the Bunker Hill." Private Hamm blurted out, completely beside himself at the letter he had just received.

"Wow." Snafu rolled his eyes and Eugene eyed Hamm with some concern in his face.

"Ship got hit by two kamikazes. Five hundred guys died, asshole." Hamm snapped back immediately, taking Snafu aback. "How the fuck can they do that? Fly themselves into a ship?"

Snafu grumbled and gestured towards the sky. "Emperor is God. Duty to God."

"They can't fuckin' surrender?"

"I hope they don't."

All eyes fell on Eugene at his comment.

"I hope we get to kill every last one of 'em."

Eugene was met with silence as Hamm got up to go somewhere else. Snafu took another good look at Eugene, observing his features for a change in demeanor, something he usually did to gauge conversation with him.

"Something's eating at you, Gene."

"Something stupid."

Snafu started at him with fascination hinting in his grin. "Spit it out."

Eugene opened the letter back up and stared at Annie's neat cursive handwriting. "I just miss her. We've been friends a long time. Annie's anxious, but she's charismatic around the right people."

Bill Leyden's ears pricked up at the sound of a girl's name and he came over to investigate.

"When I think about home, I think about her, you know?"

Snafu took a long drag of his cigarette and stared at Eugene intently, cocking his head. "You're in love, Sledgehammer. Now where's the stupid in that?"

Snafu knows something Sledge doesn't.

We are all Snafu.