The Purple Heart

by Vincent Yee

  * * *

  “Fucking A! Didn’t I tell you this was a suicide mission?” lashed out Akira as bullets seemed to pierce every word from his mouth that flew into the air. “I told you those white fucks don’t give a damn about us! And now! Now they want us, the Japanese American troops, to go rescue one of their white battalions that got themselves lost in these fucking woods! Let’s not be delusional! They didn’t send us in because we were the best and we could do the job! We’re in here because we’re expendable! There’s a whole other battalion of white soldiers back there, I don’t see the army sacrificing them!”

  Hiroshi stammered back, “Akira, shut the fuck up! It doesn’t matter. We’re here and we have to do as we are ordered!”

  “Hey fuck you! Oh Sergeant Satoh who doesn’t know what the fuck to do now,” responded Akira as he glared at Hiroshi. “Serves them right, the 141st for fucking getting lost up here. Shit, didn’t they see the ‘no trespassing’ signs put out by the Nazis? They’re called mines! Damn, we were so caught up in proving ourselves, to be so fucking obedient to the fucking white men that we lost our common sense when we should have rejected this mission. Court martial would be better than this. And now we can’t even fucking get that!”

  “Talk of insubordination will not be tolerated!” responded Hiroshi angrily as a mortar exploded high above and in front of him, raining down a fiery splintered wreckage a few feet away. Peter was listening to the entire exchange, but the hell around him distracted him. He pressed himself into the muddy ridge as if he wanted to melt right into it. Everyone lowered his head, and then Akira looked back up as Hiroshi glared at him.

  Hiroshi quickly peered over the ridge. He could make out two machine gun bunkers and ducked back down just as hungry bullets flew right over him, taking bites out of a tree behind them. His heart pounded as he assessed the situation. He tried to formulate a plan when Akira’s contemptuous voice caught his attention once more.

  “Insubordination! Are you out of your mind! Look around you! We’ve lost more than half of our men! I’m telling you, we’ve been sacrificed. They don’t care if we’re coming back alive! For all they care, a dead Jap is a good Jap no matter if he’s an American! I didn’t sign up for this bullshit assignment, and I’m sure not going to risk my life for a dumb-ass white boy who got himself lost in this forest filled with Nazis!”

  Suddenly, Akira got down flat on his stomach and scurried around Peter as he looked at Akira in shock. Hiroshi yelled back at him, demanding that he maintain his position. Hiroshi aimed his rifle at the fleeing Akira and placed the back of Akira’s head into his sights. To his left, he could see Peter mouthing the words ‘no!’ In war, desertion was punishable by death and as the commanding officer, he could follow through on that punishment.

  But Akira was right. This wasn’t war anymore. It was a suicide mission. Hiroshi grudgingly lowered his rifle and exhaled. Akira wasn’t even aware of what was transpiring behind him as he deserted his friends.

  * * *

  Minami watched the flame sway silently and was almost mesmerized by it. It would sometimes grow upward and then it would settle back down. It almost had a moody personality, she thought. A smile crept over her face as she rose up and took a step to the left when lightning sliced through the air illuminating the room for a moment. She then heard a footstep behind her and turned to meet her parents.

  “Ichiro pulled down…” Minami suddenly froze as she was suddenly face to face with Kiddache.

  He stood over her with an expressionless face. His face was pale and had almost a ghostly look to it. The faint moonlight cast an odd bluish tint, accentuating his crooked nose. Suddenly, he gripped a surprised Minami by her shoulders and pulled her closer as he peered into her stunned eyes. Then he spoke lowly, “Did you miss me you Jap bitch?” He then violently shoved her forcefully against the wall just as thunder roared from the sky above. Minami grimaced in pain as her body recoiled from the impact. She took a step forward to steady herself.

  Kiddache seized Minami by the shoulders but she regained her composure and pounded on his chest, which proved to be more of an annoyance than anything else to Kiddache. He firmly gripped each of her wrists and held them together in one hand as she then launched a volley of desperate kicks at his legs. She began screaming but it was drowned out by another thundering boom. Kiddache’s face was becoming flush with anger but he was also smiling. He was enjoying this. He backhanded Minami and the force sent her falling onto the end of the bed. Minami winced as the burning sensation spread across the right side of her face. It was followed by a stinging pain from the back of her head as Kiddache yanked her hair forcing her into a kneeling position as he slapped her on her other cheek sending her crashing to the floor.

  Minami lay there on her stomach with her hands in front of her. The slap stunned her but the impact of the fall rocked her body. Kiddache looked down at his helpless and wounded victim. He stood over her as he watched her lithe body between his legs. Minami felt a firm hand on her left shoulder as fear gripped her. She was forcibly flipped over onto her back and faced a mocking Kiddache. He suddenly sat on her stomach with his full weight. She struggled once more by swinging wild punches at him but he restrained her and held her hands together above her head. He looked down at her as she tried desperately to struggle, but he was too strong.

  “I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. Oh how I missed you,” said Kiddache tauntingly. “You should be flattered, you were the first one that caught my eye, you know. You never forget the first and you would have been my first if it weren’t for your damn boyfriend who interrupted us that night. He broke my nose and then I got transferred to another camp. But I’m back now, but not before I had my way with two other Jap women in the other camp. They really loved me, let me tell you. They were good little submissive Jap bitches. But you on other hand, you’ve got a little fight in you. I can respect that. The way I see it, as we’re killing all the Jap men over there and arresting all the ones here, someone’s got to fuck their women. That’s a job I wouldn’t mind volunteering for.”

  A swelling anger rose from deep within Minami as she glared back him. “You’re disgusting!” she blurted. Kiddache laughed as his head reared backwards and when his blue eyes settled back onto her face, there was a malevolent determination in them. He suddenly grabbed at the front of Minami’s dress and ripped it open and buried his head into her partially covered breasts as he reached down at the lower part of her dress. Her pleas for help were once again drowned out by the thunder.

  * * *

  Akira disappeared into the smoke-choked darkness. Hiroshi couldn’t believe it. Akira had deserted them. Peter sunk his head low once more as debris rained down on their position. His eyes fixated on Hiroshi’s eyes and saw something reflected in them. It was undeniable anger as his brows narrowed in deep deliberation.

  Hiroshi then had a desperate idea. He turned over to his right and yelled at the two soldiers. “Bazooka to the one on the left and cover him!” he said as the two men acknowledged him as they readied themselves. Hiroshi then turned to Peter, “Peter! Take my grenades, your last grenades, and throw them at the bunker on the right, I’ll cover you!” Peter acknowledged Hiroshi and unclipped his three remaining grenades. He then looked up as his heart pounded. Hiroshi extended his last two grenades and Peter took them.

  The Nazi position had to be one of the last ones, Hiroshi thought. Or at least that’s what he wanted to think. If they turned back, it would allow the Nazis a chance to regroup and refortify their positions, and Hiroshi and his men may end up right back where they left off. If they could just take out this last bunker, maybe they could finally break through the Nazi lines and make it to the lost battalion who had dug themselves into the eye of the hellish storm. He looked down the slope of the forest, which was strewn with the bodies of Japanese American soldiers, and he gritted his teeth as his eyes welled up with angry tears. They can’t die in vain, not so many of them. He snorted back the warm smoky
mucous, formed of rage, then looked at the two soldiers with the bazooka who nodded to him. He looked at Peter, who also nodded, as his finger was ready on two grenade pins.

  “Now!” yelled out Hiroshi. The four remaining men of the entire company rose up. The soldier on the left aimed his bazooka and launched it toward the left bunker as the soldier on the far left provided cover fire. Peter tossed two grenades at the bunker on the right and quickly reached down and tossed two more as well. The bazooka sailed directly at the left bunker, lighting it up as ammunition in the bunker also ignited. The grenades successfully exploded in front of the bunker on the right in two successive explosions but to Hiroshi’s dismay, the machine gun continued firing unabated. The grenades were no match for the fortified bunker. Peter tried to duck but a bullet pierced him in the left shoulder, sending him spinning flat onto his stomach in pain. Hiroshi was able to get down and yelled to the two other soldiers to do the same. But the man closest to him wasn’t as lucky. A bullet tore through his left shoulder, sending him onto the second soldier. That soldier stepped backwards, trying to catch his falling comrade as the dreaded sound of the mechanical click was heard.

  For a moment, Hiroshi’s eyes lit up in horror, as did the soldier in the back. Their eyes met and then the mine exploded blowing apart the soldiers’ bodies. Blood and body parts were hurled toward Hiroshi, who had turned away just in time. He closed his eyes as he didn’t want to see the horror of his men blown apart before him. His body cringed as he felt the shredded flesh splatter onto his back. He instinctively pressed his body into the dirt of the ridgeline as he could feel the bullets from the last machine gun hunting for him.

  Hiroshi suddenly felt a warm sensation on the back of his uniform and he knew it was the blood of the soldiers seeping through to his skin. Hiroshi suddenly clawed his hand into the dirt. He needed to feel something else to bring him out of his shock. He clenched his fists squeezing the dirt within until he could not squeeze it any longer. He clawed out another fistful of dirt and squeezed again when his breathing steadied. Then his eyes opened and he realized he was alone.

  * * *

  Minami fought back with every ounce of might her body could muster. She violently shook her head back and forth in violent resistance. Kiddache reached underneath Minami’s dress and ripped away her underwear and slid his body down onto her upper thighs. He then fumbled for his belt but Minami bucked her body upwards sending his body off balance. He planted his right hand on the floor and lifted himself off of her. His dirty blonde hair was tousled and he ran his hand through it. Despite her spirited struggle, Kiddache held Minami in place as he eyed her partially covered breasts. She squirmed again as she shook her head from side to side when suddenly, Ichiro let out a cry.

  Minami’s attention was suddenly frozen as her eyes darted toward Ichiro’s direction. Kiddache looked over as well and then he turned his head back with a smile. Minami stared back at Kiddache and looked back into his malevolent blue eyes as fear gripped her. Kiddache felt it too and decided to use it to his advantage.

  “Oh I see!” said Kiddached hauntingly. “You’ve already got a baby. Still a no-good Jap I say. I wasn’t aware that your boyfriend had already had his way with you. No matter. When I’m done with you, you’ll have my baby, an all-American baby. I promise, if you behave and do what I want, your Jap baby might live.”

  Minami’s anger flared up once more but it was also tempered by frustration. She didn’t want any harm to come to Ichiro. He was defenseless, and there was no telling what Kiddache might do to him once he was done with her. Suddenly, she felt a sense of hopelessness and helplessness and tears began to well up in her eyes. “How can you hurt a baby?”

  Kiddache smirked and simply said, “It’s a Jap, like your boyfriend.” Kiddache then released his grip on Minami’s wrists so that he could undo his belt. He thought that his body weight on her upper thighs would be all that would be necessary to restrain her. But his false sense of confidence gave Minami her chance as she sharply lifted her upper body and shoved Kiddache off of her with her hands, sending him backwards. She turned over and reached for the bat, but Kiddache angrily got up and caught hold of one of her ankles. She then grabbed the leg of the table just as Kiddache yanked her towards him. The table tipped over sending the bat falling away as Minami screamed out “no!”

  The baseball glove fell directly in front of her and her eyes fixed on it. She thrust her right hand into the glove.

  * * *

  Peter moaned, grabbed at his left shoulder, and turned over. The impact and the explosion of the mine had disoriented him. He let out another moan. Hiroshi looked down and saw that his friend was alive. He grabbed Peter by the shoulders and pulled him up to the protective ridge when the last grenade rolled out from underneath him. Hiroshi grabbed the last grenade and looked down at Peter, who was just getting his bearings back. The machine gun continued to rattle off its bullets. He had to stop it, he thought. He lost everyone else, but he wouldn’t lose Peter.

  Hiroshi dug into his uniform and pulled out an envelope. He opened its flap and removed from it the picture of his wife. The photo was wrinkled from its many battle treks, but the vibrancy of Minami’s smile and her wondrous eyes still captivated him. Hiroshi gently kissed the photograph as a tear fell onto the picture itself. “I’ll be home, Minami,” Hiroshi said as he tucked the picture behind the envelope and shoved them both into his pocket. He then rolled Peter deeper into the side of the ridge.

  Hiroshi looked down at the grenade, staring at the dark green metal, the grooves on the surface when in his mind, the oblong shape slowly transformed into a sphere, the grooves became two lines of red threading and the green metal turned into a leathery white. He smiled and knew what he needed to do. He got into a crouched position below the ridgeline. He inhaled a few deep breaths and focused. Bullets were flying left and right, raking the top of the ridge. Hiroshi envisioned the position of the last bunker and its small opening, where the muzzle was sticking out. The bullets than fanned to the right and Hiroshi quickly stood up. His eyes focused on the small opening and he could see the muzzle flashes. He took a step backward and then took a step forward as his arm arced over his head, releasing the grenade. The machine gun then swung back and released a hail of bullets at him. The hungry bullets raced past Hiroshi, as streams of blood trailed three of them. Hiroshi kept his eyes on the grenade as it disappeared into the dark opening. The explosion was blinding and the machine guns fell silent as Hiroshi’s knees buckled, and the rest of his body slumped to the ground.

  * * *

  A firm hand gripped Minami’s left shoulder and turned her forcibly onto her back. Kiddache was about to backhand Minami when her right hand, holding the baseball, came flying into his left eye. The force of her strike took Kiddache by surprise, sending him flying to his right and freeing Minami. She quickly got up with the baseball in her right hand and yelled out, “That’s from Hiroshi!”

  The dulling pain pulsated throughout Kiddache’s head when he suddenly saw Minami swinging the baseball bat directly at his head. He couldn’t stop it in time as the bat connected squarely with his left cheek sending him to the floor. Minami then shouted, “And that’s from me!”

  Kiddache painfully got onto his hands and knees in a desperate attempt to escape, but he was so disoriented, he couldn’t even tell if his eyes were open or closed. Minami then swung the bat onto the back of Kiddache’s head, smashing it into the wooden floorboards. “And that’s from Ichiro, who is all American–like my husband and like me!”

  * * *

  “Hiroshi!” yelled Peter. Hiroshi slowly opened his eyes and saw the blurry face of his best friend. “Don’t try to talk,” urged Peter. Hiroshi couldn’t feel his legs but as he reached down to his mid-section, he realized that Peter had already bandaged him, though the bandages were soaking wet. He knew there wasn’t much time as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the envelope with his bloodied hand. He held it up for Peter who refused it. But Hiroshi w
as insistent. His eyes begin to flutter, blurring his vision, when his beautiful wife Minami appeared before him. She was smiling at him in such a soothing way that it lifted away from him all the pain he was feeling. Peter took the letter and held onto his friend’s hand. He looked down at his best friend as tears welled up in his eyes. Hiroshi then gripped Peter’s uniform.

  “Tell my wife…” began Hiroshi as the warm blood started to fill his throat. “Tell Minami that I always thought of her. Tell her… tell her I’m so sorry I couldn’t come home. Tell her… I will always love her.”

  * * *

  Minami continued to pummel a sobbing and pleading Kiddache just as Minami’s father entered with Hiroshi’s father alongside him. They had heard the ruckus when they entered the barrack and rushed to the back. The rest of the family soon emerged from behind the curtain. Mr. Ito saw his daughter’s torn dress and then looked down at the sniveling white soldier on the floor. Mr. Ito suddenly cursed in Japanese as he pulled his daughter to safety, took the bat from her and started to pummel Kiddache while Mr. Satoh joined in by kicking him. Ichiro cried out again and Minami’s eyes lit up. She rushed over to his crib, lifted him out and began consoling him. Slowly, the adrenaline and the anger that coursed through her veins started to ebb away. She then rushed back to her mother just when the general and two MPs emerged from the partition.