It was a sad night at Paris Island for Private James "Joker" Davis. He just saw his friend Leonard "Gomer Pyle" Lawrence take his own life after killing their drill instructor Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. Joker thought to himself. I should have stopped the recruits and Hartman from hurting Leonard. Otherwise this never would have happened.
Joker walked over to Gomer's lifeless body just as Private Robert "Cowboy" Evans came into the latrine, and saw Joker weeping over Gomer. "I'm sorry for your loss, Joker," he said lowering his head in sadness.
Joker turned to his fellow soldier, and scolded him. "No you're not damn it! You and the others drove him to insanity by mistreating him!"
Cowboy knew that Joker was right. "I was only doing what Hartman would do to get us motivated, so that's why we all hit Gomer that night, Joker!" explained Cowboy looking down in sorrow. "We did not want this to happen though."
Joker did not say a thing to his fellow soldier, but went to bunks, got a bed sheet, and covered Gomer with it in respect, as well as Hartman. The rest of the soldiers came into the latrine to see what was going on. They all looked around in shock.
Joker turned to the platoon. "You are all assholes!" yelled the young soldier. "I was trying to help out a friend, but you all had to push him over the edge!"
One of the soldiers did not care about Gomer at all. "He should have been such a screw up, Joker," snapped the soldier spiting on Gomer's lifeless body.
Joker grew angry, he grabbed Gomer's rifle, and hit the soldier in the face. Then the soldier rushed the younger soldier. They started to roll around on the ground, biting and hitting each other, they would have killed one another if the rest of the platoon did not break up the fight.
"That's enough!" yelled Cowboy standing between the two soldiers. "We are all to blame for what happened to Gomer. So now we need to clean this place up." he added turning to Joker.
Cowboy called some other drill instructors who took the bodies of Gomer and Hartman away. The next day there was a funeral for the two soldiers, and the whole platoon was there. A preacher quoted a verse from the Bible.
"Jesus said to the sisters Mary and Martha in John chapter 11: 25-26," he quoted looking through the Bible. "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."
This made the soldier feel a bit comforted, but still it was hard for them. At the end of the funeral, Joker stayed at Gomer's grave to say goodbye.
"Leonard, I just wanted to say sorry for not being the friend that I should have been," he cried as he got on his knees to put flowers on the grave. "I never should have hurt you that night, but I was afraid that they would treat me the same way, but I will see that your family will get your things. That's a promise,"
The young soldier then placed the flowers on the grave, and wiped a tear off running down his cheek. "I can't talk anymore, Leonard," he said as he placed a hand on the tombstone. "Goodbye, Leonard. I'll be back to talk to you after I get back from Vietnam. Goodbye!" promised the young soldier as gave one last look at the grave and headed back to base to be shipped off to war.