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Jim "Pee Wee" Martin acted like he had been here before, as if jumping from a plane was as easy as falling off a log. |
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Maybe that's because he had been here -- 70 years ago. |
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「小不點」吉姆．馬汀表現得彷彿來過這裡，彷彿從飛機上跳下來是一件易如反掌的事情，或許那是因為他確實來過這裡──在七十年前。 |
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"I'm feeling fine," Martin told reporters moments after landing in a French field. "It was wonderful, absolutely wonderful." |
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「我覺得很好，」馬汀在法國一片原野落地幾分鐘之後向記者表示：「剛剛的體驗很美妙，非常美妙。」 |
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Martin was part of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division that parachuted down over Utah Beach in their bid to retake France and, eventually, the rest of Europe from Nazi Germany. |
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They actually touched down in enemy-controlled territory a night before what's referred to as D-Day. |
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馬汀曾是美軍第一０一空降師的一員，參與了在猶他灘上空跳傘空降的行動，企圖從納粹德國手中奪回法國以及最終還有歐洲其他地區。他們其實是在所謂的登陸日前一夜降落於敵軍控制的區域裡。 |
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His jump last Thursday in the same rural area was different and -- despite his being 93 years old now -- a whole lot easier. |
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上週四他雖然在同一個郊外地區跳傘，但情況與當年不同了，而且儘管他現在已經高齡九十三歲，這次跳傘也還是比當初容易得多。 |
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It didn't (compare)," Martin said, "because there wasn't anybody shooting at me today." |
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「沒得比，」馬汀說：「因為今天沒有人朝著我開槍。」 |
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Every year, every day it seems, the number of surviving World War II veterans like Martin dwindles. |
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He estimates there are only a few dozen members of his unit who took part in the now historic D-Day invasion who are still around. |
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每年，甚至可說是每一天，像馬汀這樣的第二次世界大戰倖存老兵的人數都不斷減少。他估計指出，在他當初所屬的單位裡，參與過登陸日那場歷史性侵略行動的同袍當中，現在還活著的可能只剩下幾十人了。 |
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It's ironic, in a sense, because the then 23-year-old Martin was among the oldest of his bunch in June 1944, surrounded by others who were mere teenagers. |
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這點就某方面而言其實頗為諷刺，因為在一九四四年六月時，當時二十三歲的馬汀在他們那支部隊裡屬於年紀最大的一群，身邊其他人都只是十幾歲的青少年而已。 |
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"Everybody (was) scared all the time, and if they tell you anything differently they are full of crap," the former paratrooper recalled. |
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"But you just do what you had to do regardless of it. That's the difference. We just did what we trained to do." |
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「那時大家一直都很害怕。如果他們不是這麼跟你說，就是在胡說八道，」這位前傘兵回憶道：「可是儘管如此，你還是得做你必須做的事情。差別就在這裡。我們只是照所受的訓練做該做的事情。」 |
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