alive in one piece and short

[Agito a42]

Source: Full Metal Jacket (1987), a British-American film about the Vietnam War.

A soldier's thoughts after he lost a couple of friends during the last combat:
I am so happy that I am alive in one piece and short. I am in a world of shit, yes, but I am alive. And I am not afraid.

Could you tell me what the meaning of the "short" here is?

 

[sdgraham]

In Vietnam, the tour of duty was 365 days 13 months.

The usual usage of "short" in this context is that a person is getting close to gong home.

(But I haven't seen the film)

Also:

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2017
short-tim•er (shôrt′tī′mər), n. [Informal.]

1. Informal Terms --a person, as a soldier, who has a short period of time left to serve on a tour of duty.

 

[Agito a42]

Interesting usage. Thank you, sdgraham.

 

[Copyright]

Short means, as sdgraham says, not too many days left before you go back to the World (home).

The movie is based on the book The Short-Timers.