Part 4

Michelle

Her group had moved out about an hour after the planes had left the airfield. They traveled quickly over the country roads in Jeeps and large olive drab trucks with canvas covered backs hauling all their gear.

It wasn't until nightfall that they reached the spot where the temporary HQ was to be set up. Working fast, everyone pitched in and before long several heavy tents were set up and the radios were alive with chatter.

She was stuck in Colonel Sink's tent, reviewing intelligence that seemingly supported the belief there was little resistance in the area. After about a half hour of this, a young Lieutenant burst through the flap of the tent.

"Sir, we have a problem."

"What is it?" the Colonel asked.

"Sir, Eindhoven is being bombed; much of the city has been damaged already or is on fire."

Sink looked up sharply.

"Was their any preliminary indication of organized enemy movement in the area?"

"No, sir. Best we can tell is a regular German unit must have been encamped in the general vicinity, waiting to take the town. I'm not sure anyone could have seen this coming. Last reports regiment received were still showing light resistance from the Krauts in the area."

"Thank you, Lieutenant, that'll be all."

The young man saluted sharply and ducked back out of the tent.

"Goddamn it," Sink muttered. "Don't bother organizing the rest of that," he told her. "Looks like it's too late to do any good anyways."

She sat the stack of paper aside and left the tent. Heading over to a small hill, she made her way to the top. Off in the distance, an orange glow could be seen just off the horizon. Eindhoven.

After awhile, she couldn't bring herself to watch anymore so she made her way back to the encampment. Digging through her gear, she found her bedroll and, pulling it out, spread it on the ground. All around her, others were doing the same. Taking her shoes off, she lay down on the mat and stared up at the stars. As she lay there, she found herself unable to sleep, too wound up by the days events to relax completely. Breathing in deeply, she closed her eyes and prayed harder than she had in a long time that the soldiers who had jumped into Eindhoven today were okay, that her family was okay, and that she'd be able to see Dick again.

Winters

When they'd first entered Eindhoven, they had encountered no resistance whatsoever and were welcomed with open arms by the citizens living there. After doing a quick reconnaissance of the area, he met with some of the locals to see what they knew.

After securing the area minimally, they moved out once again just outside the town where Kraut resistance was suspected to be.

Slowly, they made their way down the hot dusty road, some on foot and some riding on the tanks, constantly scanning the surrounding landscape for anything suspicious.

Suddenly, a shot rang out through the air and a Lieutenant who had been walking by himself up front dropped to the ground. Men slid off the armored vehicles and dove into nearby ditches, weapons at the ready.

Off in the distance, he could see German light armored vehicles moving into place to attack and knew he had to get his men moving. Spreading the company out along both side of the road, he set up interlocking fields of fire with several of the machine guns at the edges of the ditches.

The Germans began advancing and he gave the order to begin firing. All around him, the sound of M-1's filled the air.

It wasn't long before it became evident they'd have to pull back from the area, regroup, and formulate another way to get through. The men began falling back and he stopped by the wheel of a vehicle to receive a status report from Sergeant Lipton, who informed of several KIA's and MIA's. He didn't want to fall back and leave them, but for the sake of the company he had no choice.

Jumped into trucks, the men squeezed into any available space, eager to get out of the Kraut trap they had wandered into.

As soon as he was sure there were no more men coming to the road, he jumped on the back of the nearest truck one as it began lurching down the road.

Tilting his helmet back, he looked at where they had just been. Dust filled the air, along with the strong, sharp smell of gunpowder and blood. He thought of the men he had been forced to leave behind and felt his chest tighten. He squeezed his eyes shut and willed the thoughts from his mind. He sat there, trying not to think while at the same time wondering what he could have done differently.

Late that night, Easy Company had dug in along a ridgeline several miles outside of Eindhoven. They were safe for the moment but it was a horrific sight to see the terror the Germans were raining down on the town. He stood at the top of a hill, leaning against a Jeep, hearing explosions in the distance and seeing the town burn.

He sensed, rather than heard, someone come up behind him. Turning a bit, he saw it was Nixon.

"They're bombing Eindhoven," he said, feeling rather dumb for stating the obvious the moment the words were out of his mouth.

"No one knows where the German Regulars came from," Nix said to him. "There had been no indication this part of the region was strongly held at all. If we'd known, maybe then…." Nixon trailed off, leaving the rest of his sentence unfinished. He didn't need to finish.

Sighing, he turned from watching the destruction of Eindhoven and made his way toward the other man.

"Come on, Nix, might as well dig in for the night."

And as the two made their way down the hill, he said a little prayer that those who had been killed were in a better place, that those who were still missing would return, and that Michelle had made it to wherever she was safe and sound.