avatarPhil Rossi

Summary

"Soldier Hill" is a coming-of-age fiction story about high school students who devise a plan to save a memorial for a fallen Vietnam combat soldier from demolition.

Abstract

The story "Soldier Hill" is set in the 1980s and revolves around a group of high school students who discover a memorial for a fallen Vietnam combat soldier named Billy. When they learn that the memorial will be demolished to make way for a new computer lab, the students, led by Eddie, devise a plan to save it. The story explores themes of honor, sacrifice, and the importance of preserving memories.

Opinions

  • The author suggests that the construction of a computer lab is a sign of the future and progress.
  • The author implies that the school administration values college-prep students over applied curriculum students, as they are not initially included in the computer lab classes.
  • The author conveys the idea that teenagers should not pass away and that it is important to honor their memory and sacrifice.
  • The author portrays Eddie as a rebellious and determined character who is willing to take risks to achieve his goals.
  • The author implies that the school janitor is overly strict and authoritarian.
  • The author suggests that the students are excited about the new computer lab and the opportunities it presents.
  • The author portrays Mr. Becker as a pretentious and mean-spirited teacher who looks down on Eddie and other applied curriculum students.
  • The author implies that Eddie and Dave are interested in learning about computers and believe that they should be included in the computer lab classes.
  • The author portrays Fay McKinley as a powerhouse brain and a nerd who looks down on Eddie and other applied curriculum students.
  • The author suggests that the story is a coming-of-age tale about honor and sacrifice.

Soldier Hill — Chapter 1

Coming of age fiction honoring sacrifice

When the memorial for a fallen hero faces demolition, high school buddies devise a law-breaking scheme to save it. Will the boys succeed? If not, the sacrifice and memory of a Vietnam combat soldier will be lost forever. A teenage adventure set in the 1980s. ​A coming-of-age story about honor and sacrifice.

1.

The future touched down near the end of Eddie’s sophomore year in high school. More like it crash-landed if you asked Eddie. “Computers” was the top buzzword in 1986, not baseball, Van Halen, or muscle cars.

The school planned a new addition to brush up against the gym, and the scoop around campus was a computer lab with classes starting next fall. It didn’t matter what the high school had in mind, this agenda would be off-limits to slackers named Eddie and his friends.

Computer science was serious business, and the high school wasn’t about to waste class time on students who preferred to skateboard through empty swimming pools than hit the books. The same hooligans who would rather goof-off and joke about detention counting as an after-school activity.

Steve Rooney, the local firebug, had bigger plans of his own. The school’s mad bomber already fusing an explosive device to blow the place up. Steve planned to stick it to the town and smash the lab to rubble once it was finished, somewhere between the end of summer school and Labor Day.

A construction crew had snuck in over the weekend, digging out a shrub line, and marking the grass with boundaries for a foundation. That’s when Eddie glided through on his skateboard sporting his favorite motorcycle jacket and wrap-around shades.

Once Eddie reached the front lawn, he hopped the curb and leaped. As Eddie flew, the skateboard broke free, twisting in the breeze. Once Eddie descended, he snatched the airborne skateboard and landed with both sneakers on the grass.

A few minutes before the first bell, Eddie decided to check out the construction site. Once he cut for the area, a janitor on the front steps of the high school noticed Eddie’s intentions and called out.

“Stay away. That’s a restricted area,” he said. Eddie ignored the janitor’s plea and kept walking to the boxed-in section. The janitor then cupped his hands over his mouth like a funnel.

“Hey, you carryin’ the skateboard. I’m talkin’ to you, and you heard me. You wanna get reported?”

Of course, I heard you. I’m not touching anything. Get a life, and buzz off. Another jerky grownup who needs to settle down and stop acting like a cop, Eddie thought.

As Eddie reached the site, he spotted a juvenile maple tree at the edge of the work zone. The maple resembled a bush, with the dome of a beach umbrella, and a stem no thicker than a lamppost. The tree had been here the entire time, but it’s the first time Eddie noticed it.

A tablet with an inscription also sat at the roots of the tree. Eddie stepped closer, right up to where the yellow “keep out of the area” tape hooked the bark, and snaked back to the gym.

Once Eddie stood above the tablet, he read the words: In Memory Of Billy. Never knew or heard of any Billy outside the kids he knew from school, as the whole thing began to weird him out. Eddie grew lost in the moment, forgetting all about the disruption that drew him over in the first place.

Still in a daze when the morning bell sounded, rounding up the student body and calling Eddie to the front doors of Maple Valley High. As Eddie breezed through the lobby, the janitor stepped from the crowd like a middle linebacker bracing for a tackle.

As Eddie approached, the janitor remained frozen and delivered his stink eye instead. Eddie ignored the janitor’s stare and the threat that he’d be dispatched to the vice-principals office.

That In Memory moment latched onto Eddie and wouldn’t let him go. He needed to know more about Billy, thinking about him as he walked the trail towards homeroom. Was he a student at our school? Had Billy roamed these halls? Did he sit in the same classrooms and keep his books in one of the hall lockers? If so, when? How did he die? Teenagers aren’t supposed to pass away.

After the Pledge of Allegiance, the vice-principal, who the kids called Meathead, droned on about the mystery outside the high school. He decided to spill the beans, and directed the students to an assembly to hear all about the major plans.

Once the students settled in, the AV club helped out with the presentation and fired up a slide show. A series of photos with kids at work stations and labs in-action began to unfold. Not surprised, Eddie realized the computer hams in the snapshots to be all college prep students.

Shuffled in the slide show were artist sketches and exterior watercolors of the high school, and how things would look with the new addition attached to the gym. On the outside, symmetrical and square, just like the high school. Eddie noticed nothing special beyond a concrete block with a shell of matching bricks. As expected, the inside shots revealed the action. A fleet of computer monitors, towers, and desks set up in rows of cubicles.

Eddie sat with his best friend, Dave, also a sophomore. The boys, with their matching mullet haircuts and flannel shirts, gravitated towards the rear of the auditorium. They sat among a pack of A-C kids, slouched and unfazed in their chairs. A-C meant Applied Curriculum or NCM — Not College Material.

Most of the A-C kids could care less about the presentation, the future, and computers. Eddie and Dave slid over to get a better listen when the other Applied kids acted up. Some of the A-C kids mocked Eddie and Dave for selling out and going nerd by showing interest. Eddie and Dave ignored the wisecracks, despite knowing they wouldn’t be invited to take part in the lab’s instruction. Eddie and Dave found a quiet spot from the peanut gallery, tuning in to the slide show.

Steve Rooney, fresh from evaluation moved up too. He smuggled in a Zippo refill and sprayed Wendy Winston with the lighter fluid. Wendy had a rep for being tight, and Rooney thought she should learn to give it up, or else. Not that bugshit Steve was her type. With no plans to set Wendy on fire, Steve wanted to freak her out and scored big time. Besides rattling Wendy, the move mashed Meathead and flipped out the faculty.

By the time the police rolled in, Wendy’s parents were on the phone, threatening to sue the pants off the school system. Once Meathead envisioned the Winston’s walking off with the down payment for the computer lab, he assured Wendy’s parents there would be no more trouble from Steve Rooney or anybody else. Rooney got the hook and a ticket to Maple Hills, the local nuthouse.

So much for Steve’s homemade bomb and super kaboom. As the students left the assembly, they gushed over the new lab. The excitement had broken loose, bouncing off the walls of every floor. Even as the late bell sounded, Eddie’s classmates refused to settle down. Especially the geeks in college prep, hopping around like jitterbugs.

Mr. Becker supervised Eddie’s study hall period. He didn’t believe in Eddie’s dreams or brains either, campaigning a transfer to Maple Tech for Eddie to learn a trade. Mr. Becker also managed the High Honor Society’s curriculum and only taught those calibers of classes.

Besides pretentious, Eddie thought Becker was a meanie who always looked down his nose at Eddie, Dave, and the rest of the leather, denim, and bandana crowd. Becker always fashioned himself in tweed, argyle, and bow ties. Behind his tortoiseshell specs, Becker looked more like a wannabe Ivy League professor than your high-end public school teacher.

Once the kids were planted in their seats, Becker peered over the room with his hawkish stare. His study halls were known to be monastery quiet. A place for schoolwork, not talking heads. Conversations, chewing gum, and newspapers were forbidden. The only paperbacks allowed to read were from English assignments. And he’d further inspect any book he deemed suspect.

Students could ask Becker questions, and sometimes a discussion would start. Sometimes. A few prep students did ask Becker about the proposed lab, and a forum ensued. It was big news all right, as most of the students felt the electricity, unable to dig in and concentrate on their other subjects anyway.

Becker began fielding questions and providing answers. He knew all about the lab, already hogging up class time for the High Honors students. That’s when Eddie raised his hand.

“Yes, Eddie,” Becker called on him while rolling his eyes as if Eddie’s life and thoughts were one huge waste of time. Matter-of-fact, Becker expected Eddie to ask a wisenheimer question. Well aware that Becker had it out for him, Eddie liked to bust Becker’s chops whenever he could. Eddie’s only means of payback and this seemed like a ripe opportunity.

“Are there any plans to have A-C computer classes?” Eddie asked. Eddie wasn’t joking; he was serious. Becker paused before he started to laugh. One of those fake, over-the-top chuckles, that carried on until it remained the only noise left in the room. Once he had the entire study hall’s attention, Becker laced into Eddie.

“Yeah, right Eddie. We’re going to let you and Dave in there. For what? This lab is for serious students and college prep only.”

“What about the applied kids that wanna take computer classes. It’s our lab too?” Eddie asked. He remained serious and refused to back down.

“No it’s not, and it’s not my problem. If applied students want to be included, they need to brush up their studies and enroll in real classes,” Becker said.

Right then Eddie wished for the power to send this phony to the moon. Back to reality and Eddie’s lost altitude, the new lab looked straight on course and off the applied schedule. Most of the applied students didn’t give a hoot.

Eddie believed the lab should be for everyone, not just Becker’s gifted and college prep. Besides, there had to be a slew of things for Eddie and other kids to learn. Opportunities and applied classes only made sense. Everything Eddie heard of computers, included too many jobs to name and think of.

Programmers, designers, technicians came to mind. The kind of jobs he and Dave could fill. The future had arrived all right, and as usual, Eddie wasn’t invited.

A High Honors nerd stuck her tongue at Eddie. Another one, Fay McKinley, the powerhouse brain of the school and odds on favorite for “Most Likely To Run The Country”, frowned. Eddie got the point, curled up, and kept quiet. He heard the voices in his head. You have no business crashing this party. Get lost, loser.

Fiction
Fiction Series
Patriotism
Coming Of Age
Short Read
Recommended from ReadMedium
avatarGrim Flandango
The Thing in the Big Empty

Rando #7

3 min read