At Irene’s prompting, Allen shared about his older brothers, Edwin and Jack, and their current military assignments at the Pentagon and in Europe.
    “My oldest brother, Edwin, was drafted by the U.S. Army right after Pearl Harbor. When the Army tested his aptitude, they learned he is highly intelligent. I guess the Army was surprised a farm boy from Mississippi with only a high school education was so smart. He was always a whiz at math in school. Didn’t even need paper and pencil to do equations.” Allen smiled to himself. “Now he works in Communications at the Pentagon. Top-secret, high-security clearance, you know the drill.”
    “His job sounds intriguing.” Irene said.
    “He can’t tell us much about his work, but besides being homesick, he enjoys it. My middle brother, Jack, is in the Army serving under General Patton. We haven’t heard much from him because of the restrictions on communications for his unit, but we do know he is serving under Patton somewhere in Europe. We hear bits and pieces about Patton’s goings-on from the radio reports, and sometimes in the newspaper. My mother is most worried about Jack now, since I made it home alive and Edwin probably won’t ever see combat.”
    Allen’s eyes shone with pride as he discussed his brothers’ accomplishments and promotions. He brushed over his service in the Marines, noticeably omitting details of his injury and his current medical condition. Instead he talked about his hobbies—cars and fishing.