It was May 9th, and the sun rose again in the South Pacific for another beautiful day.
Everybody started waking up in the Humble Abode.
Trevor woke up and saw Ben, Carl, and Henry getting up out of bed.
"Good morning," Ben called out from his bunk to Trevor.
"Good morning," Trevor replied, then he looked at Carl who looked horrible while he got out of his bunk.
"Good morning, Carl. How are you feeling this morning?" Trevor called out.
"Terrible," Carl replied then he moped down the aisle to the door with a splitting headache.
Trevor looked at his vomit stained shirt in his locker.
"Ben, is there a laundry on base?" Trevor asked while he held up his shirt.
Ben chuckled. "I'll show you after chow," Ben replied.
"I'm ready to eat," Henry said while he walked up to Trevor's bunk.
"Let's go," Ben said while he walked up to Trevor's bunk.
"What about Carl?" Trevor asked.
"Ah, he normally doesn't eat breakfast after a heavy night of boozing," Ben replied.
The three of them walked down the aisle and headed to the tent flap.
After some more powdered eggs, toast and coffee, Ben and Henry took Trevor to the laundry tent where he dropped off his shirt.
Carl was inside his bunk to sleep off his hangover.
Trevor spent the morning walking around the flightline. He walked up to his Corsair were Staff Sergeant Buddy Bourne, with a Marine Corps emblem tattoo on his forearm, checked out the engine.
"Is she okay?" Trevor asked Buddy.
Buddy turned around and saw Trevor. "You must be one of the new pilots?" Buddy asked.
"Yeah. Trevor Walker and this is my plane," he said then stuck out his hand.
"" I'm Buddy Bourne. I'm your mechanic, and she's in good shape, and I'll make sure she's kept that way," Buddy replied while he shook Trevor's hand.
"Thanks," Trevor said then walked off and looked at the other mechanics that worked on the other planes.
Later that day, Trevor met Ben, Carl, and Henry for some lunch at the chow tent.
Carl leaned over to Ben's ear to talk privately. "Why is he playing ball?" he asked quietly after he heard the news from one of the other officers.
Ben ignored Carl's question, which pissed him off, and he stormed away.
An hour after lunch, the Fireballs and the Raiders met in a field that was fifteen feet from the ocean. They found some huge leaves they used for bases and home plate. Since most of the Marines didn't have baseball gloves, so they shared.
The Fireballs took to the field.
Ben was in left field.
Trevor was in center field.
Carl was in right field.
Dave was the third baseman.
Kurt was the shortstop.
Henry was the second baseman.
Hall was the first baseman.
Larry Moore was the pitcher, and Greg Pitt was the catcher.
Colonel Weaver acted as the umpire.
A bunch of enlisted Marines walked over to the side of the field to watch the game.
Mike Booth walked up to the plate with a bat. He got into position and took a couple of practice swings. He stared at Larry to signal that he was ready to play ball.
Larry wound up and threw the ball.
Mike whacked it out to the left-field just over the short stop's head.
Ben ran toward the shortstop and got under the ball. He caught it and threw it back to Larry.
"Out!" yelled Weaver.
Fred Harvey walked up to the plate and stood in position.
Larry threw the ball. Fred whacked it for a grounder that went past the first baseman, and out to the right field.
Carl got in position and caught the ball. He threw the ball to Hall, but Fred made it to first base.
Hall threw the ball back to Larry.
Gary Reid walked up to the plate and took a couple of practice swings. Larry threw the ball when Gary was ready. Gary whacked it for a grounder to Henry. He caught it and immediately ran over and touched second base then threw it to Hall, but they missed the double play.
"Out!" Weaver yelled.
Then George Watson walked up to the plate and immediately got in position and looked mean like Ty Cobb.
Larry threw the ball, and George whacked it out to the center field.
Trevor got nervous when he knew it was coming at him, and he ran towards the ball but went too far. The ball went over his head and landed 20 feet behind him.
"Trevor, you idiot," Carl yelled out while he ran over to the ball the same time Ben ran over.
Ben got to the ball first and threw it to Henry. The ball arrived too late as Gary ran fast and made it to third base.
"You'll get them next time," Ben told Trevor to make him feel better.
Then Harold Bateman came to the bat and immediately got into position. Larry threw the ball at Harold.
Harold whacked a grounder between the third baseman and shortstop.
Ben ran from left field and caught the grounder. But it was too late as Gary made it home and Harold made it to first base. Ben threw the ball back to Larry.
Eric Moody walked up to the plate and took a couple of practice swings. Larry threw the ball when Eric was ready at the plate.
Eric whacked it for a high fly ball to center field. Ben ran over and got under the ball, and he caught it.
"Three outs!" yelled Weaver.
The Fireballs all ran off the field while the Raiders took to the field where they exchanged gloves.
Henry walked up to the plate, and he took a couple of practice swings. Then he got in position ready to bat the ball.
Fred was the pitcher and did his windup and threw the ball.
Henry whacked the ball, and it was a grounder between the shortstop and the second baseman.
The Fireballs at the sideline cheered while Henry raced and made it to first base.
Carl walked up to the plate and immediately got into position. Fred threw the ball at Carl.
Carl whacked the ball out to the mid-left field, and it was missed by the outfielders.
Henry ran to second base, and Carl made it to first base.
Kurt walked up to the plate and got in position. Fred threw the ball and Kurt whacked it for a pop up to the shortstop, and it was caught.
"One out!" Weaver yelled.
Kurt walked back, disappointed to his teammates.
"That's okay, Kurt," Carl called out.
Dave walked up to the plate and got in position. Fred threw the ball, and Dave whacked it for a pop up to the third baseman that caught the ball.
"Out!" Weaver yelled out.
Ben walked up to the plate.
"Ben, Ben, Ben," chanted half of the Fireballs.
Ben got in position and was ready. Fred threw the ball and Ben whacked it for a grounder past the third baseman. The left fielder raced up and caught the grounder. He noticed the bases were loaded, so he threw it back to the pitcher.
Trevor walked up to the plate a little nervous.
"Bring us home," Carl yelled out from second base.
Trevor looked nervous while he glanced over at Ben on first base. Trevor got in position, and Fred threw the ball. Trevor swung at the ball and missed.
"Strike one," Weaver yelled out.
The catcher threw the ball back to Fred.
Fred wound up and threw the ball at Trevor.
Trevor swung at the ball and missed.
"Strike two," Weaver yelled while the catcher threw the ball back to Fred.
Fred did another windup and threw the ball.
Trevor swung at the ball and missed again.
"Strike three! Batter's out!" Weaver yelled.
Trevor looked embarrassed while he dropped the bat at the plate.
He walked out to the field where Ben.
"You'll get them next time," Ben said with a pat on Trevor's shoulder.
Then while Ben walked over to the center field. Carl walked up to Trevor.
"Who the hell taught you how to play baseball? Your mother?" Carl asked then ran off to the right field.
Ben heard Carl and glared at him. "Leave him alone, Carl. It's only a game," Ben yelled out.
"You would never teach me, Grandpa Carl," Trevor replied quietly to himself while he walked off to the center-field where his glove waited on the ground.
The game continued for another hour.
Ben made some great plays and whacked in six runs.
Carl made some excellent plays and whacked in two runs.
Trevor struck out three more times. He hit the ball once, and it was a short pop up to the pitcher who caught the ball. Trevor also missed all the hits that flew out to the center field.
The Raiders were beating the Fireballs by one run.
Ben paced amongst his teammates while Trevor walked up to the plate.
"Okay, Trevor, we need two runs to beat them. I know we can do it," Ben called out.
Carl was on third and another runner on second base. "We have two outs, so don't screw this up, Trevor!" Carl yelled out.
Trevor looked nervous while he got in position at the plate.
Fred wound up and threw the ball.
Trevor looked determined while the ball zoomed at him. He whacked the ball and stood in shock for making that hit, which was a fly ball way out to the center field.
Trevor looked so proud of himself while he ran to first while the outfielder missed the ball.
Carl rounded third.
Then the sound of airplanes filled the air.
Everybody immediately stopped and looked fearful at the sky because they all knew they didn't have any missions up in the air today.
They all looked over toward the ocean and saw six Zero's that raced over to the island 100 feet off the water.
"Take cover!" Weaver yelled out.
They all scattered to the nearby jungle.
The Zeros fired their machine guns and strafed the field. Bullets zinged all around the field, killing four Marines that didn't make it to the jungle in time.
The Zero's fired their machine guns at the rest of the Marines while they ran into the jungle.
The Zeros banked and ascended to the right, then flew away.
Inside the jungle, Ben, Carl, Trevor, Kurt, Dave and Henry, and some other Marines lay low amongst the vegetation.
"I need five guys to get those bastards. Who's going to join me?"
Carl, Henry, Dave, and Kurt raised their hands, indicating they would help Ben.
Ben looked at Trevor and gestured for him to join the action.
Trevor looked nervous with going on this mission.
"I know you can do it, Trevor," Ben said with a tone of confidence.
"He's too chicken," Carl said and followed with a chicken sound.
Trevor debated in his mind while Ben gave him pleading eyes. He raised his hand and felt a little brave.
"I hope you won't freeze again," Carl said.
"Stay off his back. He'll do just fine," Ben snapped at Carl then he gave Trevor a look of confidence.
Hall scooted over to them while the sound of Zeros was closer and more machine gun was heard shooting up the base. "What the hell are you guys planning?"
"We're going after those Zero's before they come back for more," Ben said.
Hall looked at the determination in their eyes. "Go get the bastards," he said.
Everybody watched while Ben, Carl, Trevor, Henry, Kurt, and Dave raced through the jungle in the direction of the flightline.
A few minutes on the flightline, Ben, Carl, Trevor, Henry, Kurt, and Dave raced to their Corsairs while the Zeros flew around and headed back at the airstrip.
Three Zeros dove down at the B-25 bombers on the flightline, and they fired their machine guns and riddled the bombers with bullet holes.
The three other Zero's dropped bombs on some other B-25s, and they exploded into a fireball.
Ben, Carl, Trevor, Henry, Kurt, and Dave quickly climbed up and got inside their Corsairs. They started their engines while the Zero's ascended and banked to the left then headed out to the ocean.
The six Corsairs taxied to the end of the runway.
Ben's Corsair took off down the runway and was soon airborne.
Carl's Corsair took off down the runway and was soon airborne.
Trevor's Corsair took off down the runway and was soon airborne.
Kurt's Corsair took off down the runway and was soon airborne.
Dave's Corsair took off down the runway and was soon airborne.