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“Catch-22” <strong>By</strong> <strong>Joseph</strong> Heller 119<br />
Cathcart was free, to force their men to fly sixty missions if they chose, and they were<br />
free, as Yossarian had been free, to stand in formation naked if they wanted to, although<br />
General Dreedle’s granite jaw swung open at the sight and he went striding dictatorially<br />
right down the line to make certain that there really was a man wearing nothing but<br />
moccasins waiting at attention in ranks to receive a medal from him. General Dreedle<br />
was speechless. Colonel Cathcart began to faint when he spied Yossarian, and Colonel<br />
Korn stepped up behind him and squeezed his arm in a strong grip. The silence was<br />
grotesque. A steady warm wind flowed in from the beach, and an old cart filled with dirty<br />
straw rumbled into view on the main road, drawn by a black donkey and driven by a<br />
farmer in a flopping hat and faded brown work clothes who paid no attention to the<br />
formal military ceremony taking place in the small field on his right.<br />
At last General Dreedle spoke. ‘Get back in the car,’ he snapped over his shoulder to<br />
his nurse, who had followed him down the line. The nurse toddled away with a smile<br />
toward his brown staff car, parked about twenty yards away at the edge of the<br />
rectangular clearing. General Dreedle waited in austere silence until the car door<br />
slammed and then demanded, ‘Which one is this?’ Colonel Moodus checked his roster.<br />
‘This one is Yossarian, Dad. He gets a Distinguished Flying Cross.’<br />
‘Well, I’ll be damned,’ mumbled General Dreedle, and his ruddy monolithic face<br />
softened with amusement. ‘Why aren’t you wearing clothes, Yossarian?’<br />
‘I don’t want to.’<br />
‘What do you mean you don’t want to? Why the hell don’t you want to?’<br />
‘I just don’t want to, sir.’<br />
‘Why isn’t he wearing clothes?’ General Dreedle demanded over his shoulder of<br />
Colonel Cathcart.<br />
‘He’s talking to you,’ Colonel Korn whispered over Colonel Cathcart’s shoulder from<br />
behind, jabbing his elbow sharply into Colonel Cathcart’s back.<br />
‘Why isn’t he wearing clothes?’ Colonel Cathcart demanded of Colonel Korn with a<br />
look of acute pain, tenderly nursing the spot where Colonel Korn had just jabbed him.<br />
‘Why isn’t he wearing clothes?’ Colonel Korn demanded of Captain Piltchard and<br />
Captain Wren.<br />
‘A man was killed in his plane over Avignon last week and bled all over him,’ Captain<br />
Wren replied. ‘He swears he’s never going to wear a uniform again.’<br />
‘A man was killed in his plane over Avignon last week and bled all over him,’ Colonel<br />
Korn reported directly to General Dreedle. ‘His uniform hasn’t come back from the<br />
laundry yet.’<br />
‘Where are his other uniforms?’<br />
‘They’re in the laundry, too.’<br />
‘What about his underwear?’ General Dreedle demanded.<br />
‘All his underwear’s in the laundry, too,’ answered Colonel Korn.<br />
‘That sounds like a lot of crap to me,’ General Dreedle declared.<br />
‘It is a lot of crap, sir,’ Yossarian said.<br />
‘Don’t you worry, sir,’ Colonel Cathcart promised General Dreedle with a threatening<br />
look at Yossarian. ‘You have my personal word for it that this man will be severely<br />
punished.’<br />
‘What the hell do I care if he’s punished or not?’ General Dreedle replied with surprise<br />
and irritation. ‘He’s just won a medal. If he wants to receive it without any clothes on,<br />
what the hell business is it of yours?’<br />
‘Those are my sentiments exactly, sir!’ Colonel Cathcart echoed with resounding<br />
enthusiasm and mopped his brow with a damp white handkerchief. ‘But would you say<br />
that, sir, even in the light of General Peckem’s recent memorandum on the subject of<br />
appropriate military attire in combat areas?’<br />
‘Peckem?’ General Dreedle’s face clouded.<br />
‘Yes, sir, sir,’ said Colonel Cathcart obsequiously. ‘General Peckem even<br />
recommends that we send our men into combat in full-dress uniform so they’ll make a<br />
good impression on the enemy when they’re shot down.’