A Bell For Adano

A Bell for Adano
by
John Hersey
Invasion had come to the town of Adano.
An American corporal ran tautly along the dirty Via Favemi and at the corner he threw himself down. He made certain arrangements with his light machine gun and then turned and beckoned to his friends to come forward.
In the Via Calabria in another part of the town, a party of three crept forward like cats. An explosion, possibly of a mortar shell, at some distance to the north but apparently inside the town, caused them to fall flat with a splash of dust. They waited on their bellies to see what would happen.

An entire platoon ducked from grave to grave in the Capucin Cemetery high on the hill overlooking town. The entire platoon was scared. They were out of touch with their unit. They did not know the situation. They were near their objective, which was the rock crest not far off, but they wanted to find out what was going on in the town before they moved on.
All through the town of Adano, Americans were like this. They were not getting much resistance, but it was like their first day of invasion, and they were tight in their muscles.

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