ROCHESTER, NEW YORK- JUNE 1942
Every evening, the Cruz family made a point to sit down for dinner together. Today was no different. Leo and Paula, along with their three daughters- Tess, Maria, and Sara- were sitting in the dimly lit kitchen of the family's apartment eating. In the background, the radio relayed news of the war going on overseas.
"It's so terrible," Leo Cruz shook his head, "Most of the boys down at the auto garage are being sent overseas. Soon it's just going to be us old folk left!"
Paula nodded in agreement and turned to her children, "I just hope that draft doesn't take any of you girls."
Maria sighed, "Sara is too young, Mama. And women are being drafted at a lower rate than men, anyway."
Tess cleared her throat, "Well…"
Paula's face went as white as a sheet, "Teresa, don't tell me you were drafted."
"Oh, no. I didn't. In fact I… well, I volunteered. For the airborne division."
As though on cue, everyone at the table gasped. It would have been comical, if the mood weren't so serious.
Leo set down his fork and looked at his oldest daughter, "Tess…"
"It's okay, Papa. It was my choice. I'd rather choose to join the army than be drafted. Besides, I know we need more money, and now I'll be able to provide for the family and do my part."
"Tess, you don't need to worry about us," Paula assured her, "And I wish you would have told us first."
"What division did you join? The airborne?" Sara, at least, seemed intrigued.
Tess smiled at her, "That's right. I'm going to be a paratrooper."
"Oh my, what inspired that?" Paula asked.
"They get paid fifty extra dollars a month, for starters."
Paula and Leo exchanged a look.
Leo cleared his throat, "So, when do you ship out?"
"I'm supposed to report to Camp Toccoa in Georgia in July for basic training. And we don't need to worry about transportation. It's all paid for, I just have to get on the right train."
Silence descended upon the table, save for the radio continuing to narrate the war in the background. And everyone in the family seemed to be thinking the same things. But no one had wanted to say them. So they held their silence.
On July 30th, Tess Cruz said goodbye to her family and boarded a train for Georgia. There were many tears, many hugs, and many promises to write as often as possible.
She would not see her family again for three years.
CAMP TOCCOA, GEORGIA- AUGUST 1942
In the short time that Tess Cruz had been at Camp Toccoa, she had learned a two valuable lessons. The first was that not everyone in the army was entirely accepting of women, Puerto Ricans, or Puerto Rican women (like herself). The second was that the leader of her company, Captain Herbert Sobel, was cruel and unforgiving.
Currently, Easy Company stood awaiting the man himself.
"YOU PEOPLE ARE AT THE POSITION OF ATTENTION!"
And there he was.
Like a shark, he moved through the ranks, seizing on the slightest infraction. Perconte's slightly creased trousers? Weekend pass revoked. Dirt in George Luz's gun? Weekend pass revoked. A speck of dust on Sergeant Lipton's uniform? Weekend pass revoked.
And on and on it went. Finally, Sobel reached the women's section of the company. The twenty women of Easy Company stood at attention behind their unofficial leader, who had risen to the position mostly just by being the only qualified woman, Lieutenant Patsy Sheridan.
With just as much menace, if not more, Sobel strode up to the nearest woman.
"Name?" he demanded.
"Fitzgerald, Charlotte M, sir."
Aw crap, Tess thought. She had gotten to know Charlotte over her time at Camp Toccoa and respectful to authorities she was not.
"Private Fitzgerald, one of your boot laces is coming undone. In battle, that would be certain death. Weekend pass revoked."
Keep your trap shut, Charlotte. Just take it, Tess prayed. And by some miracle of God, Charlotte managed to say nothing. Probably because Sobel had already begun terrorizing the next girl.
Eventually, Sobel returned to stand in front of the company.
"No respectable company leader, myself included, would take this company to war in its current condition. Thanks to those with infractions, every man and woman in the company who had a weekend pass has lost it."
He let that sit for a moment before barking out his next order.
"Change into your PT gear. We're running Currahee."
And with that, he left, presumably to change into his own PT gear.
Lieutenant Sheridan turned to the women, "Fall out! Two minutes until we run Currahee!"
The entire company rushed back to the barracks to change. No one said a word until they were in the cabin with the door closed.
"Jesus fucking Christ!" Charlotte exclaimed, throwing her helmet down onto her bed, "Who the fuck does that man think he is?"
Jill Heinrich, a fairly quiet girl, and one of Easy Company's sergeants snorted, "Our company commander. Which he is."
That got a couple of chuckles. Charlotte, embracing her Irish background, continued to swear Sobel out. She ran out of curse words about a mile up the hill.
"Fuck, I can't think of any more insults," she panted.
"Good, talking is just going to make you tired faster," Tess pointed out.
"WHERE DO WE RUN?" Sobel yelled.
"Tell that to him," Charlotte grumbled, as the entire company replied, "CURRAHEE"
"WHAT'S CURRAHEE MEAN?"
"WE STAND ALONE!"
"HOW FAR UP? HOW FAR DOWN?"
"THREE MILES UP, THREE MILES DOWN."
"That's six miles too long," muttered Tess.
"NOW WHAT COMPANY IS THIS?"
"EASY COMPANY!"
"AND WHAT DO WE DO?"
"STAND ALONE!"
Despite her hatred for Sobel, Tess couldn't agree more with those words- and the name of the hill, for that matter. Currahee. Stand alone. It was true. No one was going to help her get to the top of that hill. She had to do it by herself.
Come on Tess, she told herself, You can do it. Think of Mama and Papa. And Sara and Maria. You're doing this for them.
What was the old proverb her mother used to say?
"El que quiera peces, que se moje el culo," Paula Cruz would say, as she ruffled Tess's hair. The one who wants fish must get his ass wet. In other words, you have make sacrifices or face challenges to get what you want. And it was there, on that dreaded mountain, with Sobol screaming in her ear that Tess realized what she wanted. She wanted to be a paratrooper. So she ran faster, passing many of the women in her company. She reached the top of the mountain and bent down to touch it before turning around.
"22 minutes! Hurry up! Get your sorry asses up this mountain!" Sobel yelled as Tess turned around.
"Come on, you can make it up there! Come on! We can do this!" Lieutenant Winters, one of the platoon leaders, shouted.
Tess almost laughed. Two kinds of people.
Going down was much easier than going up, at least. Tess reached the bottom of the hill twenty minutes later. A little less than half of the company had finished. Lieutenant Sheridan came over to pat Tess on the back as she finished.
"Nice work, Private," she said.
Tess managed to stop panting for a minute to reply, "Thanks Lieutenant."
"You can head over the mess hall for dinner now. But between you and me, don't eat too much. I'm told Sobel's making us do the twelve mile march afterwards."
"Ah, fuck."
Patsy grinned, "You and me both, Private."
Sure enough, after dinner, Easy Company was paraded on a twelve mile march led by Lieutenant Winters. As horrendous as it was to be doing this on a Friday night in full uniform while the other eight companies were out enjoying their weekend pass, Sobel had not joined them on the march. It was mostly quiet, save for the occasional banter up front between Bull Randleman, George Luz, and Winters.
Unfortunately, Sobel met them at the end of the march and ordered them to dump out their canteens. One particularly stupid soldier had decided to drink from his. Of course, Sobel pounced on him like a cat does with a mouse, and ordered him to repeat the march.
Finally, they were dismissed to their barracks. Unlike earlier in the day, no one had the energy to rant and complain about their commanding officer. Instead, the women of Easy Company changed out of their uniforms, laid down, and promptly fell asleep.
After several more days of similar training, mainly consisting of running up and down Currahee, the company moved onto more advanced training, which, thanks to Sobel, wasn't any less miserable. Jumping out of practice planes, obstacle courses filled with pig guts… all in all, a horrible week that somehow ended in a celebratory spaghetti dinner.
"What's the catch?" Tess asked Charlotte as they grabbed their trays of spaghetti and sat down.
"What do you mean?"
Tess gestured to the spaghetti, "The Captain Sobel I know wouldn't just give us spaghetti for no reason."
"Well, for starters, Winters is the one running the kitchen…"
"He's Sobel's first lieutenant. He has to do whatever Sobel says, so that doesn't mean anything."
"Don't fucking interrupt me. And second…"
"This ain't spaghetti," Ethel Bostick announced as she dropped into the seat next to Tess, "I was just talking to Perconte and Guarnere. They're Italian and they say this ain't real spaghetti. It's just army noodles with ketchup."
Charlotte laughed, "I don't need a goddamn Italian to tell me that. Of course this isn't spaghetti."
Their temporary joy was ended when Sobel strode into the room.
"Oh, hell," Charlotte muttered as she stood up.
"Orders changed! Get up! Lectures are cancelled; Easy Company is running up Currahee! Move, move!"
Tess turned to Charlotte, and couldn't hide her smirk, "Told you there was a catch."
Today's run up Currahee was particularly brutal. Sobel cut through the ranks insulting every soldier he came across.
"You're a washout, Private Hoobler! You should pack up those ears and go home!"
"Looks like Gordon's done! Aren't you, Gordon? You finished? You do not deserve your wings!"
Wings. Paratrooper. I have to be a paratrooper. Tess barely had time to process this before Sobel was upon her.
"Faster, Private Cruz! Why did you join the airborne if you can't even run up a hill?"
Before Sobel could move onto the next soldier, a voice broke through the panting and gasping.
"We pull upon the rises…"
George Luz, the unsung hero of Easy Company. All it took was that one line, and then entire company joined in on the song, drowning out Sobel's insults.
"Hi-dee, hi-dee, Christ Almighty, who the hell are we? Zim-zam, goddamn, we're Airborne infantry!"
Tess realized that maybe she wasn't alone in her desire to be a paratrooper. She had nearly 150 people who wanted the same thing she did. And goddamn it, were they going to get there.
Despite the strenuous events of the week, Easy Company managed to retain their weekend passes for the first time. On Saturday evening, the entire company found themselves in the local pub. Tess sat at a corner table with Charlotte, Ethel, and Jill.
"You know, I think this might be the first time the company is together doing something other than running Currahee," Tess commented.
Charlotte burped, "Fucking Sobel. Fucking Currahee."
Ethel giggled, "I'm gonna shove him outta that airplane when we jump!"
Charlotte and Ethel, like 90% of the company, were drunk.
Tess and Jill, who were not drunk, exchanged matching looks of annoyance.
"Ladies," a voice announced, and George Luz slid into the booth next to Jill, who looked like she'd rather be anywhere else. Joseph Liebgott, Don Malarkey, Floyd Talbert, and Frank Perconte followed his lead and found seats around the table.
Charlotte waved flirtatiously, "Hello boys. What brings you to our corner of the pub on this fine evening?"
Malarkey raised his glass of beer, "Alcohol, mostly."
"So let's see if I know everyone," Luz announced. He pointed at Charlotte, "Charlotte Fitzgerald. We'll call you Fitz because Charlotte and Fitzgerald are both mouthfuls." Then he pointed at Ethel, "Private Bostick. I don't know you're first name, but Sobel sure does yell at you a lot."
"It's Ethel," she said with a shrug and then promptly chugged the rest of her glass of beer.
"Good to know. And you," he moved on to point at Tess, "Tess Cruz. Not to keep speaking of the devil, but Sobel seems to think you can't run up a hill. I disagree."
Tess grinned, "Thanks for the vote of confidence."
Luz nodded, "My pleasure. And finally," he turned to Jill, "Jill Heinrich," he said in an exaggerated German accent, "Huh. I think that's German. What do you think, Joe?"
"As German as weinerschnitzel," Liebgott replied.
"Anyway," Perconte cut in, "I'm Frank Perconte. You know Luz, and if you didn't, you do now. And this is Joe Liebgott, Don Malarkey, and Floyd Talbert."
Charlotte hiccuped, "Nice to meet everyone."
"Anyone want a smoke?" Liebgott asked, fishing a pack out of his jacket.
"Thought you'd never ask," Ethel grumbled, "Gimme one of those."
Soon, everyone had a cigarette and a light cloud of smoke had covered the table. Malarkey had pulled out a pack of cards and the whole table had joined in on a friendly game.
"So Talbert," Perconte said after Jill had won her third straight game and everyone else had gotten a bit tired of losing, "You got the inside scoop. When are we jumping?"
Talbert, one of the company's sergeants, grinned mischievously, "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Aw, come on Tab. Don't be such a fucking smart ass," Liebgott complained.
Talbert raised his hands in surrender, "Not gonna lie, I'm not entirely sure. They don't let me know that much. My guess is Monday or Tuesday, though."
"Well, fuck," Charlotte swore, "I'm not gonna be ready to jump out of a plane by Monday or Tuesday."
"Sure you are. After all that hell with Sobel, jumping out of a plane's gonna be cake," Malarkey said.
"And the parachute does most of the work, anyway," Jill added.
Always the voice of reason, Tess thought.
"The Kraut's got a point!" Luz said, "As long as we've got those parachutes, we'll be fine. I wouldn't sweat it."
"Shit, George! Forgive me if I'm a bit anxious about throwing myself out of a moving airplane!" Ethel exclaimed.
Everyone laughed, and the easy banter between the soldiers continued.
Come Monday, Tess and the rest of Easy Company learned that Sergeant Talbert had been right- they were jumping today. The soldiers of Easy, along with the eight other companies in the regiment, would complete five jumps from C-47 aircrafts. A successful completion of the five jumps was the certification needed to become a paratrooper.
There was a lot of chatter in the women's barrack that morning as they got ready. Many of the women were very nervous, however, Tess was not. She had done a decent job during all of the practice jumps, so she had a feeling this wouldn't be too difficult. Instead, Tess just felt anxious to get it over with and continue with the more advanced training, and eventually, join the war.
It was quite odd, she thought, as she put on her gear. She had joined the airborne with the purpose of providing for her family, and somewhere along the line, it had morphed into something more than that. She wasn't eager for war, like some of the men and women in the company, instead she felt a small sense of security. Like this was the right thing to do. In a strange way, she felt that she belonged here.
Of course, she had to get there first.
"Get ready! Stand up! Hook up!" the jump instructor yelled over the airplane's engine.
"Check equipment! Sound off for equipment check!"
"Nine okay!"
"Eight okay!"
"Seven okay!"
"Six okay!"
"Five okay!"
"Four okay!"
"Three okay!"
"Two okay!"
"One okay!"
"Stand in the door!" the jump instructor called, and then to Lieutenant Winters, who was first in line: "I guarantee you're gonna love it, lieutenant. Go! Go!"
And Winters jumped through the door, followed by Nixon and the rest of the soldiers on the airplane. Eventually, Tess was at the door.
"Go! Go!" the instructor shouted in her ear. So she went. And just like that, she was flying through the air. Her parachute blew out behind her, and the momentary terror of hurtling through the air subsided because now she was gently floating down towards the ground. All around her, the sky was full of parachutes supporting the 101st airborne infantry's newest paratroopers.
Tess reached the ground without a problem, and by some miracle, landed on her feet. Charlotte touched down next to her and landed flat on her ass. Tess couldn't help it. She laughed.
"Aw, you're just jealous that you're not a true paratrooper. "We always hit our ass", you know? Landing on your feet… what a show-off," Charlotte grumbled.
Tess patted her on the back, "We're both true paratroopers now."
That evening, Easy Company got together to celebrate their success. Every member wore their uniform with their newly received jump wings pinned to their jackets. Music played in the background as Easy Company talked, drank, and even danced in deference to the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
Tess sat at the bar with Charlotte and Ethel, laughing at Luz's uncanny impersonation of Sobel when Jill walked over, looking oddly proud.
"Someone's happy," Tess commented, nudging her slightly.
Jill pointed to her sleeve, where a clean set of chevrons had been sewn in, "They promoted me to Sergeant!"
"Congratulations!" Tess exclaimed.
Luz winked at her, "Yeah, nice one, Kraut."
"Fucking sergeant!" Charlotte said, shoving her playfully.
Jill looked mildly uncomfortable with all of the sudden attention, but she was spared from answering by Colonel Sink's entrance.
"Well, at ease, paratroopers," he said, as he made his way to the front of the room, "Good evening, Easy Company!"
"Evening, sir!"
"Now, Parachute Infantry is a brand new concept in American military history," Sink continued, "But by God, the 506 is gonna forge that concept into victory!"
"Yes, sir!" the company cheered.
"I want you to know that I'm damn proud of each and every one of you. Now, you deserve this party. So I want you to have fun, and remember our motto: Currahee!"
"Currahee!"
With that, the Colonel departed.
"You think they could think of a more inspiring motto," Tess muttered, although no one heard her. Slowly, the group around her began to dwindle as the men and women began to pair off and head for the dance floor. Tess couldn't help but smile as she saw Ethel spinning around with Malarkey.
"I'm heading back to the barracks. To get a bit of peace and quiet," Jill whispered in her ear.
Tess nodded, "I'll probably join you in a few, I just want to make sure that Charlotte and Ethel don't pass out from drunkenness and what not."
Jill left and Tess was alone at the bar- but not for long.
"How am I supposed to order a drink if there isn't even a bartender?" asked a disgruntled voice. Tess turned to see that Lieutenant Nixon had popped up next to her, followed closely by Lieutenant Winters.
Suddenly feeling quite overwhelmed, Tess saluted the two men, "Lieutenant Nixon. Lieutenant Winters."
Winters gave a small salute in return, by Nixon just waved her off.
"I'm a drunken disgrace right now, don't salute me while I'm in this state." With that, he grabbed a large bottle of whiskey and poured a significant amount of it into a glass. Then he settled himself down in one of the seats at the bar and drank. Winters sighed and sat down in between Nixon and Tess. He took the bottle of whiskey from Nixon and pulled it towards himself.
Tess frowned, "I thought you didn't drink."
"You hear that Dick? You even have an uptight reputation amongst the privates," Nixon muttered as he put his head down on the table.
But Winters just laughed, "I don't drink. I'm just here to babysit him," with this he gestured towards Nixon, who appeared to have passed out.
Tess raised her eyebrows, but Winters seemed unconcerned. He looked away from Nixon and turned to face Tess, "Private Cruz, right?"
Tess nodded, "Tess."
"Tess," Winters smiled, "I'm Dick." He stuck his hand out and Tess shook it. She briefly thought back to her introduction to the other men in Easy Company that night at the pub. That had been much more informal. No handshakes involved. But then again, none of those men were officers.
"So, where you from Te-Private?"
"Originally? Cayey, Puerto Rico. But I moved to Rochester, New York seven years ago with my family."
"Well, I've never been to Puerto Rico. I do live in Pennsylvania though. I've visited New York, even been to Rochester once or twice. Do you like it there?"
"I-" Tess began.
"Jesus Christ, Dick. Can you try not to bore the girl to death?" Tess just about jumped out of her seat. She had thought Nixon was asleep. Apparently not.
"I apologize that we don't all have your stunning charisma, Nix," Dick replied sarcastically.
Nixon pointed at Dick and looked straight at Tess, "This right here is the most boring man you will ever meet. He has no flaws, no vices, no personality, no sense of humor." Nixon looked away from Tess to stare at Dick, "By God, you really are boring, aren't you?"
Dick sighed. He seemed to do that a lot about Nixon.
Tess took that opportunity to excuse herself. She stood up and nodded towards the two lieutenants, "Sirs. Nice talking to you."
Both men watched her retreating back as she left the building to head towards her barracks.
"Nice job, Nix, you scared her off," Dick said, sounding mildly disappointed for some reason.
Nixon just chuckled, "Did you hear that Dick? She called us sirs."
Tess was too far away to hear Dick's sigh at that point, but somehow, she knew it was there.