The story talks about the war and how severely injured these men were. Fred Collins of A Company in the middle of all the battle that's going on, he decides that he is thirsty and wants a drink of water. All his fellow men are just looking at him as he was just joking. I mean if you were fighting, having bullets flying past you, getting a drink of water should be the last thing in your mind. How thirsty do u have to be in order for you to risk your life for a drink a water. The irony, a soldier is suppose to fight against the enemy, not go and sacrifice himself for a drink. Man some people are just to selfish.