“ And thus it was that James Whitlow, with mystery stories and ham sandwich, had taken the first plane from the Capitol ..."... when all at once, I thought: Speed! Endurance! That is the problem!" said Webb, breaking in on Whitlow's reverie."I beg your pardon?" said the Secretary of Defense.Webb whacked the dottle out of his pipe into a meaty palm, tossed the smoking cinders rather carelessly into a waste-basket, and leaned forward to confront the other man face to face, their noses almost nudging."Why are parachutes out?" he snapped."They go too slow," said Whitlow. ”
Jack Sharkey
Summary
Quotes from Minor Detail (Jack Sharkey)
“ As the general's voice droned on and on, Whitlow barely listened. The general, Top Secret or no Top Secret, was divulging nothing that wasn't common knowledge from the ruins of Philadelphia to the great Hollywood crater ...All at once, weapons had gotten too good. That was the whole problem. Wars, no matter what the abilities of the death-dealing guns, cannon, rifles, rockets or whatever, needed one thing on the battlefield that could not be turned out in a factory: Men.In order to win a war, a country must be vanquished. In order to vanquish a country, soldiers must be landed. ”
“ Whitlow said, weakly.General Webb had him firmly by the arm, and was leading him out of the office. "We must get to the stands, man. Operation Human Bomb in ten minutes.""Bomb?" Whitlow squeaked, scurrying alongside Webb as the larger man strode down the echoing corridor."A euphemism, of course," said Webb. "Because they will fall much like a bomb does. But they will not explode! No, they will land, rifles in hand, ready to take over the enemy territory." ”
