For the Work
Note and Disclaimer: I will continuously say I do not owe this show. Enjoy this next part!
I never like looking my nose down at people, but this one annoys me. It wasn't that he was snobbish or sleazy. He did his job and he saved some lives, if you want to call it that. The thing is, Zelmo Zale has a personality that is like nails on a chalkboard or even the taste of lemon on the lips. When your own family gets you enlisted to ensure departure out of your hometown, there's a problem.
And that was all Zale was – a pest. He didn't just cause the normal trouble a kid does. No, he took it up another level and got under everyone's skin (a wonder that nobody gagged him and tossed him in a river!). When Brooklyn became too small and everyone knew his name, his family forced him to sign himself to the Army. He was drunk and mouthing off to the drill sergeant when he reached basic training. He didn't know where he was until he woke up sober in the barracks.
Afterward, he was always in trouble either intoxicated or being a dick. But Zale had a plan. He had to make the best of the situation. Being in the Army had its perks. It meant steady work and pay, the former he craved the most.
Zale knew his shortcomings. But the Army was a prize, more so than he realized. All he had to do was prove himself and be under everyone's good graces. He had scrounging skills he memorized in Brooklyn. The Army would see it as an asset soon enough.
Even though it took some time, Zale found himself a hero and promoted several ranks, to staff sergeant. It was all in good timing too. As a foot soldier in Germany, he didn't kill the enemy, but he sure as hell made sure his unit had food. They were on the verge of starvation and the cook was going to be blamed. Right on time, Zale managed to find enough to keep the company from mutiny. Hours later, it meant life or death. The Germans attacked and they kept their ground.
It was the thrill of his life. He found his niche in the Army and sought to keep it. It was the work he longed for and what he held onto…and what the Army granted. Zale was in his glory. He spent the rest of the war outside of combat and only wormed in if he had to. Even the postwar years before Korea were idyll. His work held him over.
When Korea came along, he thought it would be the same. It wasn't really, just slightly zanier and tougher too. But this also gave him an opportunity to be a pest at his new job, checking supplies at M*A*S*H 4077th. Other than blaming the typical Army runaround, he had the chance to be nastier too. This made him not only a target, but also the scorn of many personnel.
It was also in the heat of action that made Zale afraid (and it wasn't the officers either). It was the first time he truly had to remain for months near enemy fire. Germany hadn't been so bad. He remained in the trenches and shot every so often as ordered from his superiors. In Korea, he was constantly at his wit's ends trying to keep alive. He never thought of dying until then…and that was what made him curse the Army for putting him in that position. His job wasn't supposed to be dangerous. He was a staff sergeant, for God's sake!
Work made him appreciate the distraction. At that point, it was all he could hold onto anymore. It didn't matter that he was denying new boots, ordering pizzas instead of machine guns and fudging some paperwork. Zale had his work to keep his mind off the artillery and the bullets. He didn't have to think about death. There was something more important to focus on and that was the gears of the Army wheel.
Zale continued his work at the 4077th (and fighting with others) until the war ended. After his tenure, he was congratulated on a job well done and promised more. It was the first time he had endured combat and remained calm in the face of such pressure. For him, it meant another position elsewhere, maybe somewhere easier. It did not matter. For Zale, the work was all that mattered. It was his savior.
After his war, Zale remained in the Army. He returned to Brooklyn for leave before his next assignment was announced. While it took some time for the desired promotion to come, he still had to contend with another combative area – Vietnam. Zale was transferred there some years after Korea. It wasn't long before war started again. This time, it was nastier than Korea.
Work wasn't going to cut it anymore. Zale was under a pressure cooker. He knew that Korea was easily resolved and the people he knew were gone. In Vietnam, he had to watch his back, no matter where he was. It wasn't just the enemy. It was his new unit. He could not blame the Army for the mishaps anymore. If he wasn't vigilant, he will be stabbed.
I am Death though…and there is always a way to me. Zelmo Zale did not think about dying until it stared at him in the face. He thought that grasping onto his gifts would make him. However, his attitude was what really bought him that ticket home. One day, he's going to find out that he was setup by his unit…and face me alone.