一封农村兵的家信

鸭绒25（译）

2024年9月21日

这是一封来自田纳西州农庄孩子的信。他现在正在圣·地亚哥海军陆战队的新兵训练营。

亲爱的爸爸、妈妈：

我很好。希望你们也很好。

请告诉沃尔特兄弟和埃尔默兄弟，海军陆战队要比为老明奇工作好多了。告诉他们赶快加入。否则，等所有的名额都满了就来不及了。

一开始我很焦躁。因为在早上6点之前，你不能起床。不过，我现在是越来越喜欢睡懒觉了。告诉沃尔特和埃尔默，早餐前，所有要做的事就是整理床铺，和清洁一些东西。不用去喂猪，不用去备料，不用粉碎饲料，不用劈柴，不用生火。几乎什么都不用做。

男人要刮胡子。这没什么不好，因为有热水。早餐装盘很好看。有果汁、麦片、鸡蛋、培根等。但猪排、土豆、火腿、牛排、炸茄子、馅饼，和其他常规食物较少。不过，告诉沃尔特和埃尔默，只要坐在那两个以咖啡为主食的城市兵旁边，他们的食物加上你自己的食物，直到吃午饭前你就不会觉得饿了。难怪那些城市兵走不了太多的路。

我们要进行“行军”训练。排长说，这种长途跋涉可以让我们增强耐力。要是他这么认为，我是不能跟他争辩的。所谓的“行军”，大概就是从我们家到邮箱的距离那么远。然后，城士兵就会喊脚痛。于是，我们就会坐卡车返回。

中士就像学校老师，唠叨个不停。上尉就像学校董事会。少校和上校只是骑着马四处转悠。他们总是皱着眉头，但不会打扰你。

接下来我要说的会让沃尔特和埃尔默笑死。我一直因为射击而获得奖牌。我自己也不知道为什么老是获奖。靶心几乎和花栗鼠的头一样大，而且它不会移动。它不会像家里的男孩希格特那样回击你。你所要做的，就是舒舒服服地趴在那里，然后开枪射中它。你甚至不需要自己装子弹。子弹都事先装好在盒子里。

然后，我们有他们所谓的“徒手格斗”训练。你可以和那些城士兵打斗。不过，我必须非常小心。不然，他们的骨头很容易被我打断。这不像在家里和那头老公牛打架。除了来自银湖的塔格·乔登，没人是我的对手。我只赢过他一次。他和我同时入伍。但我只有5英尺6英寸高，体重130磅。而他有6英尺8英寸高，体重近300磅。

一定要告诉沃尔特和埃尔默，赶紧报名参军。否则，其他家伙就会捷足先登的。

原文： Tennessee Farm Kid

This is a letter by a Tennessee farm kid，now at San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Training。

Dear Ma and Pa，

I am well。Hope you are。

Tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer the Marine Corps beats working for old man Minch by a mile。Tell them to join up quick before all of the places are filled。

I was restless at first because you got to stay in bed till nearly 6 am。But I am getting so I like to sleep late。Tell Walt and Elmer all you do before breakfast is smooth your cot，and shine some things。No hogs to slop，feed to pitch，mash to mix，wood to split，fire to lay。Practically nothing。

Men got to shave but it is not so bad，there's warm water。Breakfast is strong on trimmings like fruit juice，cereal，eggs，bacon，etc，but kind of weak on chops，potatoes，ham，steak，fried eggplant，pie and other regular food，but tell Walt and Elmer you can always sit by the two city boys that live on coffee。Their food，plus yours，holds you until noon when you get fed again。It's no wonder these city boys can't walk much。

We go on ‘route marches’，which the platoon sergeant says are long walks to harden us。If he thinks so，it's not my place to tell him different。A ‘route march’is about as far as to our mailbox at home。Then the city guys get sore feet and we all ride back in trucks。

The sergeant is like a school teacher。He nags a lot。The Captain is like the school board。Majors and Colonels just ride around and frown。They don't bother you none。

This next will kill Walt and Elmer with laughing。I keep getting medals for shooting。I don't know why。The bulls-eye is near as big as a chipmunk head and don't move，and it ain't shooting at you like the Higgett boys at home。All you got to do is lie there all comfortable and hit it。You don't even load your own cartridges。They come in boxes。

Then we have what they call hand-to-hand combat training。You get to wrestle with them city boys。I have to be real careful though，they break real easy。It ain't like fighting with that ole bull at home。I'm about the best they got in this except for that Tug Jordan from over in Silver Lake。I only beat him once。He joined up the same time as me，but I'm only 5’6”and 130 pounds and he's 6’8”and near 300 pounds dry。

Be sure to tell Walt and Elmer to hurry and join before other fellers get onto this setup and come stampeding in。