We got to know various squad leaders. There were some we would have done anything for. And there were others who we used every opportunity to try and take for a ride.
Grisha was one of the first kind. He was a nice fellow. There was no prank that he didn’t take part in. He was disciplined as often as our greatest rascals. He drank our stolen cognac with us and helped us with all the thousand things that make up life in the army.
Shimon, however, we didn’t like at all. The man with the gigantic black mustache kept his distance. He avoided familiarity with the ordinary soldiers. During breaks in the field exercises he sat twenty meters away with his back to us. And no one ever saw him smile. Just one time I thought I detected a slight twitching at the end of his mus-tache, when he saw our comrade "Nail" in his long white nightshirt.
Squad leaders have a particularly difficult time if they are younger than their subordinates. A twenty-five-year-old soldier, who was some kind of a manager "outside," has great difficulty standing to attention in front of a nineteen-year-old school-leaver.
The most popular squad leader is the one who knows his job, who pays close attention to the really important things, without going an inch too far, who looks after the interests of his people, and is their friend occasionally - even in minor misdemeanors. For this kind of squad leader - and we experienced many such - one can truly say that they are the backbone of the army.
22 March 1948
Camp "Jonah"
On the eve of battle
A day of drama. We are lying on the lawns in front of the tents and enjoying the lunch break. The intellectual among us are holding a newspaper and pretending to read, while they are really staring into the empty sky. Others are complaining about their superiors and dis-cussing how they can get out of the afternoon’s exercise. In a tent two men are sitting and discussing at the top of their voices what they would do with an unofficial leave.
Then suddenly - roll call! We assemble on the parade ground. The usual orders - "Company - ... stand at - ease!" We go through the motions mechanically and wonder "what’s all this about?"