Merriell Shelton: [sees Eugene reading a letter and looking troubled] Eugene?
[he doesn't answer]
Merriell Shelton: Gene?
Eugene B. Sledge: [distantly] My dog died.
Merriell Shelton: [sits beside him] I'm sorry.
Eugene B. Sledge: He was a good dog.
Merriell Shelton: How old was he?
Eugene B. Sledge: Got him as a pup 'bout nine years ago, maybe ten.
Merriell Shelton: [studying Eugene's face] They say dogs live, what, seven years to every one of ours?
[Eugene doesn't say anything, and Snafu leans against his shoulder]
Pvt. Hamm: [also with a letter] My brother was on the Bunker Hill.
Merriell Shelton: [sarcastically] Wow.
Pvt. Hamm: [angry] Ship got hit by two kamikazes. Five hundred guys died, asshole.
[Snafu looks abashed]
Pvt. Hamm: How the fuck can they do that? Fly themselves into a ship?
Merriell Shelton: [with irony] Emperor is God. Duty to God.
Pvt. Hamm: They can't fuckin' surrender?
Eugene B. Sledge: I hope they don't.
[Hamm and Snafu look surprised]
Eugene B. Sledge: I hope we get to kill every last one of 'em.