Lt Meehan's POV

0400 hours until the jump

US Air force base, England

Lt Meehan had never been so scared before in his life. His whole body was trembling as the fear and anxiety grew inside him. How is he supposed to lead Easy Company into war in the state that he is in, he thought. He needed to calm himself down so he took a swig of whiskey from his canteen and pulled a cigarette from his inside pouch. He spotted Lt Winters and Compton driving passed him in a military jeep, both wearing smiles on their faces. How could they smile at a time like this? Did they not realise that in four hours they would be jumping into hostile territory and possibly to their deaths? Lt Meehan pulled his M1941 Johnson rifle from the protective casing and loaded a clip, then chambered a round. He always liked to jump prepared, unlike the new recruits of the 101st who were taught to keep their weapons in the casing until after they jumped.

Most US troops used the M1 Garand, which was standard issue for the troops. Higher ranked NCO's often used the Thompson or the M1918 BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) or the M1 Carbine. The Johnson however, was his ideal weapon as it had higher accuracy than its competitor.

0300 hours until the jump

Meehan headed towards the tent his company had been assigned to. Inside they were all watching a movie which didn't interest him so he decided to return to his tent to wait for Lt Winters to report to him the positions of the last 3 training drops.

A few minutes later Winters voice was heard and he beckoned for him to enter. Winters displayed a map showing the positions of the last drops. Meehan couldn't believe what he was seeing. They were being dropped into Normandy, the frontier of the Allied assault.

"Sir where are we being deployed?" Winters asked.

"Normandy," Meehan replied.

0100 hours until the jump

Lt Meehan gathered all the troops and briefed them of the details of the mission. They were to drop into occupied France and capture key towns to cut off the enemies reinforcements in preparation for the D-day landings. This mission wasn't going to be easy, there would be no relief should things go drastically wrong and they had to preserve their ammo until a beachhead was secured. These towns would enable friendly armour to pass through, further drawing the Germans back over the Rhine. He ordered Easy to line up near their sticks, him lining up at his at the same time.

"Good luck to you all and I'll see you in France."

With this he ordered everyone into the planes, giving the defending Tommies a wave and boarding his plane too. One by one the planes took off, heading towards their unexpected fate. He made sure all the soldiers had their weapons ready and then let them relax, knowing that this calmness wouldn't last for much longer

Jump time

Lt Meehan ordered everyone onto their feet.

"Equipment check!" He shouted over the roar of the planes twin propeller engines.

Each soldier confirmed that they were ready.

"Hook up!"

The sound of all nine soldiers hooking their clips to the wire could barely be heard and he had to look down the plane to make sure everyone was ready to go.

After being satisfied with his checks he turned to the door, ready to jump.

With such precision accuracy of the gunners down on the ground, Anti-air rounds made short work of the left propeller, igniting the fuel storage and setting the cargo bay ablaze and engulfing the troops inside. Without thinking Meehan dived out of the plane, knowing that the drop zone was no where near his location. He deployed his parachute and looked upwards towards the descending burning plane, seeing troops still on fire pouring from the doorway that he just barely escaped from. The troops attempted to open their chutes, not realising until it was too late that the chute had disintegrated into nothing and plummeted to their deaths. He could feel the emotional pain, how unfair it was to die that way, in another country where their body would be left where they breathed their last breath and not returned home to the loving family they left behind.

Meehan reached the ground with a sharp thud as his boots touched on the soft grass below. He could hear voices over the hedge in front if him.

To his right lay a long dead cow, rotted to the bone. He did a quick equipment check, cut his canopy and folded it into his backpack. He shouldered his weapon, aiming in the direction of the voices and proceeded to investigate the source.

Authors Note

Just an idea that came to me. In the series they never found his body so who knows what happened. Any suggestions or facts about WW2 that I should know then please feel free to message me.

Please R&R,

All the best,

Me :D