"Lieutenant O'Malley," O'Malley informed him.
"Lieutenant O'Malley, nothing can excuse the sloppiness of your attire. In the future you will give more attention to your uniform."
"Yes, sor," O'Malley said and grinned.
The grin made Colonel Benson rise up on his heels. He came down with a thud, but he said no more. His eyes moved from O'Malley.
"We will soon be invading Italy." The Colonel paused to let this sink in. It was exactly what the boys had been expecting, and therefore they showed no sudden interest.
"How about Sicily, sor?" O'Malley asked. He had been flying missions all over the proposed routes and knew something would have to be done about Sicily.
"That will be merely a step in taking Italy, Lieutenant," the colonel explained. He looked about the room. There were plenty of chairs. "You may be at ease, gentlemen. Seat yourselves and we will proceed with our conference."
O'Malley grunted. Dinner hour was long past and here they were settling down for a conference. He picked the chair nearest the door and slumped down into it. The colonel seated himself and launched into a lengthy and detailed talk upon tactics and plans. O'Malley listened for a time, then stretched out his legs and made himself comfortable. His mind wandered far from the droning voice of the colonel.
An hour passed and Colonel Benson was still outlining plans and driving home things he felt were very important. O'Malley had not exactly been asleep, but he had failed to hear more than just a small part of what was said. Suddenly he roused himself. Colonel Benson had just made a remark that brought him up sharply.
"Gentlemen, I will now outline the procedure we will follow in handling the various flights assigned to my sector. This will not take longer than one hour. Give me your close attention."