This Sandwich Has No Mayonnaise by J. D. Salinger. Short summary

5 seconds

Vincent has 30 soldiers to send to the dance, and there are 34 in the back. Vincent’s younger brother Holden goes missing. Vincent manages to get three soldiers out. For one, the lieutenant orders his sister to report.

1 minute

Sergeant Vincent was in charge of the soldiers’ leisure time. There were 34 privates in the back of the truck, while there were 30 waiting at the dance. Vincent wondered who to kick out. At the same time, he tried — unsuccessfully — not to think about his younger brother, Holden, who had gone missing. He couldn’t believe this official report.

Meanwhile in the back of the truck there was conversation — who came from where, where they’d been, where they were better off. A lieutenant came in and asked Sgt. Vincent how many people were in the car. We had to leave four behind. 3 got off voluntarily, but 1 soldier started protesting. He signed up for the dance first!

The lieutenant let him stay. He called home — he didn’t live far away — and asked his sister to come to the dance. Meanwhile, Vincent thought Holden simply couldn’t have gone missing. He remembered all kinds of trivia about his brother.