[He keeps his stride short, obviously he's used to travelling alongside people who aren't quite so damnably tall. But at Charlie's question, he gives him a sort of sideways look. Alke never has liked lying, and he thinks he owes honesty to a man that's been nothing but kind.]

I was a machine gunner. They are-- ah, sixty pounds without the tripod base. Usually they are broken down and carried between two soldiers.

[He never bothered. The longer the war wore on, the more important it became to be battle ready at all times. The brass were the only ones who ever got on his case about it, and their tune usually changed after they'd seen a battle or two.]