On a night in 1944, a troop of soldiers assembled at the British military airfield waiting for the inspection by General Marley.  When the General arrived, his calm eyes swept through each and every soldier. His sight suddenly fixated on the shoes of a soldier:  “Step forward!  What’s your name?”  The soldier stepped forward: “Reporting to General.  Royal Air Force, No. 6 Airborne Division, Commando, Private Second Class Alec!”

The General looked more seriously: “As a member of the Royal Air Force, there is no room for sloppiness.  I have a strict rule that those who can’t keep their shoes clean are banned from engaging in combat!”  Alec looked down at his shoes and broke out into a cold sweat: “I shined my shoes right after dinner, I am not sure how the white stains got on to the shoes?  General, these operations are very critical, please let me go!”

Before the General could respond, The Captain chimed in: “General dislikes those who are sloppy, I suggest you withdraw.”  The General glanced at the Captain, took out a handkerchief and bent down to clean the soldier’s shoes.  While he was cleaning, he slowly said: “There will be no next time.”

After wiping off the left shoe and just as he was about to clean the right shoe, the siren at the airport went off calling for the Airborne Division soldiers to board the aircraft. Alec gave the general a quick salute and rushed to the aircraft with his teammates. This was one of the scenes before the D-Day invasion of Normandy during World War II.

The Royal Air Force landed a division of soldiers into the German army’s frontline under heavy attack, and Alec was hit and killed by a German mortar. Casualties were massive and the captain was one of the few survivors. The captain managed to recover the remains of Alec’s right foot with the white stained shoe and brought it back to General Marley.
General Marley was stone-faced. He waved his hand and motioned the captain to bury the shoe in the mass cemetery for the fallen soldiers of World War II. At the Normandy cemetery, the captain silently wiped the shoe clean and placed it into the tomb. He wrote on the tomb: “Royal Air Force, British Airborne Division, No. 6 Commando Private Second Class Alec, General Marley’s youngest and last son.” The truth is that the white stain was secretly planted by the Captain with the intention of making Alec withdraw from the combat; unfortunately, his plan failed.

War is cruel.  About 20 years ago, the American war film Saving Private Ryan featured the Omaha Beach assault during the Normandy landings. Three sons of the Ryan family went to war and were killed in combat. Their mother received the news of the death of her three sons all in one day. The fourth son, James Francis Ryan, who was Private First Class with the 101st Airborne Division, went missing at the time. Considering the situation with the Ryan family, the U.S Army Chief of Staff, General Marshall, ordered a search for Ryan. He sent eight men to go behind enemy lines to retrieve James.

Just like the film, the captain understood Alec’s importance to General Marley, so he was hoping to save his son from almost certain death. For General Marley, the war took precedence over the continuance of his family lineage. The words that he said to his son: “There will be no next time,” expressed his complex feelings and reluctance.  The interaction between father and son may be brief but touching.

Translated by Chua BC and edited by Angela
(From:http://www.visiontimes.com/2019/10/13/a-general-cleans-a-soldiers-shoes.html)

给士兵擦鞋 心情复杂的将军

1944年的一个夜晚，一队士兵集结在英国军用机场上，接受马莱将军的检阅。马莱将军沉著的目光一一扫过每个士兵。
忽然，他的目光落在一个士兵的脚下：“出列！报上你的名字！”

被点到的士兵跨前一步：“报告将军，我是英军第六空降师突击队二等兵利克！”

将军的神色更严厉了：“作为英国皇家空军的一员，怎么可以军容不整？本人一向有严令，连皮鞋都擦不干净的人，一律不得参加战斗！”

利克看看自己的皮鞋，豆大的汗珠掉了下来，解释说：“晚饭后我还擦过一次，不知怎么又沾上了白灰。但是将军，这次行动事关重大，请一定让我参加！”

将军还没开口，一旁的突击队队长说话了：“将军最讨厌军容不整的人，利克，你还是退出吧。”

将军看了一眼队长，掏出一块手绢，蹲下给利克擦起皮鞋来，一边擦一边慢慢地说：“下不为例。”

刚擦完左脚的鞋，正要擦右脚时，机场的电铃响起来，这是空降兵登机的信号。

利克“啪”地朝将军敬了个礼，随队友登上了运输机。

这是二次世界大战中诺曼第登陆前的一幕。

英国皇家空军把一个师的兵力空投到德军阵地，以配合随后的登陆作战。行动是成功的，但是由于深入敌后，伤亡也异常惨重，利克被一发炮弹击中，炸得尸骨无存。

突击队队长是少数幸存者之一。
 
战役过后，他拿著利克唯一能找到的遗物—右脚那只还沾有白灰的鞋，来见马莱将军。

马莱将军的脸色犹如铁铸，挥挥手，示意他把这只鞋葬到二战阵亡将士的集体墓地里。

墓地里，突击队队长默默地把皮鞋擦干净，放入骨灰盒。

其实，白灰本就是他悄悄撒的，目的是让利克退出行动，可惜最后还是没能起到作用。

他在盒上写了一行字：英军第六空降师突击队二等兵利克，英国皇家空军马莱将军最小的儿子，也是最后一个儿子。

战争是残酷的，大约二十年前，有一部电影《抢救雷恩大兵》，剧情是描述在诺曼第登陆后，雷恩家4名于前线参战的儿子中，3个儿子皆已于两周内于海外各战区陆续阵亡，其母亲将在一天内接到三个儿子的死讯。

而隶属101空降师二等兵的小儿子詹姆斯．法兰西斯．雷恩则在参与诺曼地的空降行动后下落不明，美国陆军参谋长马歇尔上将得知此事后出于人道考量，特令在法国前线作战的美国陆军游骑兵组织一支8人小队深入敌后，只为在人海茫茫、枪林弹雨中找出生死未卜的二等兵雷恩，并将其平安送回后方。

对突击队长而言，他知道利克对马莱将军的重要性，因此想方设法希望能让利克活下来。

但对马莱将军而言，国家兴亡更甚家族的存续。简短的“下不为例”，道出了多少复杂的心情，又强忍著多少不舍的心情。

两人当时的互动或许只有片刻，却令人感到动容。