One of the patients Dr. Arioli had to attend to was the eighteen-year-old Texan who said he’d had it and wasn’t going to take another step. The straitjacketed kid was carried into one of the aid tents on a stretcher. His condition had deteriorated throughout the early morning. Arioli examined him but still could find no visible injuries. Then, a few hours later, to the incredulity of everyone, the young Marine passed away. The cause of death was never determined. He just stopped living.
