11
Beneath The Southern Cross
Billy Martens
The 2nd Marine Division, the “Silent Second,” slipped anchor and left America and San Diego astern on July 6th. Billy had never been out of the United States before, and he’d never been out on the open sea either. The vastness made mountain meadows seem small by comparison, and the waves were like castles. Others experienced sea sickness and home sickness. He didn’t experience either. The sky was too big, and the ocean beneath it too deep, and the air too rich and alive for him to do anything but marvel. The combination made him feel better than he’d felt in weeks.
He’d written his family a letter the day before, and the Marine Corps and the US Postal Service would make sure it got to Montana. Whether or not his father read it didn’t matter a
