Last Time: Easy begins to warm up to their Lieutenant.
"Keep calm and carry on." - British Government
Now: Easy Company leaves Toccoa.
Chapter 10 - Carry On
"Pornography, contraband."
Rebecca winced as she saw Sobel hold up an issue of "Titter" magazine. Now, he had decided it was necessary to add barrack raids to his repertoire of punishment, looking for any sort of infraction he could bring down on them, officers included.
Sobel made his way over to another wrack, approaching it, he dumped the contents of the footlocker on the bed.
"Non-regulation clothing, contraband." He took a tie from an unsuspecting man's footlocker and threw it back on the bed with a snap.
The officers stood in the enlisted men's barracks watching as Sobel stormed through, most of them thinking it was as cruel as it was unnecessary.
Sobel had been promoted to captain and was celebrating his promotion by being even more of a hardass. He couldn't let up for just one second.
"This man had two-hundred prophylactic kits in his footlocker. How in the name of God was he gonna have the strength to fight the war?" Sobel raged, throwing the box of condoms to the side of the room.
Before this, Sobel had been through the officer's barracks as well. Much to Rebecca's horror, he rummaged through her footlocker, tossing around all her belongings, including her hygiene products which he didn't seem to mind throwing every which way. If Sobel considered that contraband, Rebecca would have gone postal and been kicked out for murdering her CO.
"How is it Private- Private Tipper, has spare time for so much correspondence?" Sobel asked, ripping open the letter and examining it.
"Captain, are personal letters considered to be contraband?" Winters asked.
Rebecca was a little taken aback that Sobel considered letters from home, contraband. They were allowed somewhat of leisure time when they weren't being subjected to his sick training regimen. But, Sobel just wouldn't let up; he had to go above and beyond the normal limits.
Sobel scanned a letter belonging to Tipper, probably recognizing the writing was from a sweetheart back home, he put the letter up to his nose, smelling the perfume.
Rebecca looked at him utterly disturbed. What a perv.
"These men aren't paratroopers yet, Lieutenant. They have no personal property." He took the stack of letters and tossed them on the ground, leaving them an unorganized heap.
Sobel made his way over to another victim's bed and pulled out a can of some sort from the footlocker.
"What is this? Anybody?" Sobel asked, condescendingly holding, up a can of peaches.
"Uh, it's a can of peaches, sir," Nixon answered, a little too smugly.
"Lieutenant Nixon thinks this is a can of peaches. That is incorrect Lieutenant, your weekend pass is canceled. This is United States Army property which was taken without authorization from my mess facility and I will not tolerate thievery in my unit. Whose footlocker is this?"
"Private Parkes, sir," Winters answered.
"Get rid of him," Sobel ordered.
Rebecca couldn't believe Sobel was bouncing a guy over peaches. He really was crazy. She couldn't possibly comprehend the meaning behind anything the man did. This was lunacy.
Finally, he was finished with his search, the barracks lay a mess in wake of hurricane Sobel. It was like a New England Nor'easter had whipped its way through the men's barracks. Letters were thrown everywhere, footlockers ripped open, beds torn apart.
"All weekend passes are canceled, officers included. Carry on." He left without another word.
Rebecca made her way out of the barracks, heading back to her own mess, ready to clean up her wrack. As she walked out, she noticed Sobel, disdainfully pinning Second Lieutenant's bars on Winter's collar.
At least one good thing happened today out of all of Sobel's hysterics.
He deserves this. She thought, smiling to herself. No one was more worthy of being promoted than Dick. Unlike Sobel, he actually cared about Easy and was fair.
She made her way back to the officers' barracks to clean up her space.
XXX
Later that day, Sobel had the sick idea of stuffing the men full with spaghetti and then ordering them to run Currahee. He certainly had a funny way of celebrating his promotion.
The men were making their way up Currahee, heaving up their spaghetti, Rebecca included. Sobel, the only one on an empty stomach, was making his way around the company throwing jeers and antagonizing the men, rubbing salt in the wounds.
"You're a washout, Private Hobbler! You should pack up both your ears and go home!" Sobel yelled into Hoobler's face.
Sobel made his way to Smokey, his favorite to pick on besides Rebecca.
"Looks like Gordon's done. Aren't you Gordon? You finished? You do not deserve to get your wings!" Sobel shouted, antagonizing Private Gordon as he trekked up the hill.
"Private Randleman, you look tired," Sobel taunted, running over to Bull, "There's an ambulance waiting for you at the bottom of the hill. It can all be over right now, no more pain, no more Currahee, no more Captain Sobel!"
Easy was absolutely at their wits ends. This was beyond cruel. Almost everyone was throwing up their guts, barfing acidy bile mixed with half-masticated spaghetti and sauce. No one expected Sobel to barge into the mess hall while everyone was half-way finished scarfing down their second or third serving of pasta, especially when they were told PT had been canceled due to the weather forecast. A light day, they were promised a light day.
Finally, Sobel made his way over to Rebecca.
"What about you, Clark, you finished yet? Out of everyone here, you deserve to get your wings least of all!"
Rebecca honestly wasn't even paying attention at that point. She was too busy retching up her own meal. Luckily, she hadn't eaten nearly as much as the men did, but it was still enough to bother her stomach. Hot tears rolled down her face as she regurgitated her own vomit mix.
Luz, hearing his fellow men being subjected to Sobel's bullying, began out of nowhere, singing the Airborne cadence, shutting Sobel the hell up.
We pull upon the risers
We fall upon the grass
We never land upon our feet
We always hit our ass
Hide tidee, Christ almighty
Who the hell are we?
Zim Zam, goddamn!
We're Airborne Infantry
We pull upon the risers
We fall upon the grass
We never land upon our feet
We always hit our ass
Hide tidee, Christ almighty
Who the hell are we?
Zim Zam, goddamn!
We're Airborne Infantry
Sobel, taken aback, immediately stopped his harassment and was left behind, completely surprised by his Company's resilience.
After running Currahee and puking every last bit of their stomach contents, all the company's men were in the aid station with Rebecca receiving Alka seltzer. When she wasn't busy treating the others, she was quafing back Alka seltzer for her town stomach. It was brutal torture, but all the men were in the station with each other, supporting one another, and laughing as they continued to puke up spaghetti.
XXX
It finally seemed like there was light at the end of the tunnel for Easy Company. Soon, they would be embarking on their five test jumps at Fort Benning. Once this was completed, they would officially be army paratroopers.
It was somewhat of a bittersweet day for Rebecca. Most of the guys were happy to be leaving the place where they had been abused for a year, but as Rebecca took one last glance at Currahee, she couldn't help but feel a little somber about parting ways with it. That God forsaken mountain helped prove herself worthy and proved her place in Easy Company many times.
Right when everyone thought they would be treated to a nice train ride to Fort Benning, their light at the end of the tunnel was blocked by a huge obstacle. That obstacle was a 118-mile march the higher-ups had planned for Easy and the rest of 2nd Battalion, all the way to Atlanta, Georgia, where Fort Benning was.
From what Rebecca heard from Nix, Col. Sink had read in the Reader's Digest, that a Japanese Battalion had set a world record for marching endurance by covering 100 miles down the Malayan Peninsula in seventy-two hours. And of course, in the spirit of war, Col. Sink declared, "My men can do better than that," assuming a lot from the already exhausted 2d Battalion.
The 1st and 3d Battalions got the take a train ride to Atlanta, 2d and Easy Company marched.
Just when things were supposed to get easier.
XXX
So, on December 1, at 0700, Dog, Easy, Fox, and Battalion HQ Companies began their march towards hell, each man wearing all his gear and carrying his weapon. The riflemen and medics had it much easier than, say, Malarkey who was in the mortar squad and Gordon who had his machine gun, but that still didn't ensure an easy trip. The route was 118 miles long, 100 miles of that on backcountry, unpaved roads.
The hike was agonizing and breaks were infrequent, making the march all the more horrible. The December weather was simply wretched, with freezing rain and snow added for good measure, thus equaling slippery and muddy roads.
The mud riled up by Battalion HQ in the front, created a suction of quicksand for the rest of the battalion to trudge through. Rebecca, trying her hardest not to get caught in the suck, stepped in the fleeting footprints left behind by the men in front of her. She was fortunate enough to be closer to the beginning of the procession, with the rest of the medical personnel, but still had a hard time pulling her boots from the mud whenever they got caught in the muck.
She was positively frozen and shaking. Rebecca marched by Roe who was quietly walking beside her, his hands under his armpits, smoking a cigarette.
"Lieutenant," Roe spoke, handing his cigarette over to her. Rebecca took it with a bit of reluctance. She hadn't smoked since high school and ardently quit when she got to nursing school. She looked at it and decided to take a puff, figuring it would make her warmer, even if just a small amount.
The hell with it, Rebecca thought, swinging her bag around, pulling out a pack. She had been hoarding cigarettes since she arrived, using them as some sort of bargaining tool in case she needed a favor from the guys, like when she required someone to stand watch while she showered. Because she never smoked, Rebecca had built up quite the stash.
"I didn't think you smoked, Lieutenant," Roe said.
She sighed, pulling one from the pack, lighting it, and throwing her sack back on her shoulders. "I don't, but I'm freezing my ass off and whatever is in these things gives me a boost."
As she and Roe continued, Rebecca could hear the men mumbling about what 2d had done to deserve this torture and why Strayer chose muddy backroads of all places. She listened to their plights, taking in intermittent puffs from her cigarette, feeling the smoke warm her insides. She hated the way it made her mouth taste, but by God, she was much warmer than she was without the damn thing.
Rebecca's only guess as to why they were the only battalion being forced to march was because of their stellar physical fitness rate. That had to be the reason because if it wasn't, 1st and 3d would be marching right alongside with them.
By 2300 hours, the Battalion was allowed to stop for the night. They had covered 40 miles thus far. Strayer picked the campsite, a bare, windswept hill devoid of trees, bushes, or windbreaks of any kind. If he had been smart, he would have picked an area laden with trees and bushes to keep the wind out, but Strayer chose the most barren hillside he could find. Whether or not it was on purpose was unknown.
Rebecca plopped herself down on the ground, her back and feet killing her, and undoubtedly blistered. Now that they were no longer moving, the cold in the air became unbearable. She felt as if she were back in New England winter without a jacket to warm her.
She rolled out her sleeping bag, ready to try and catch some sleep and, hopefully, warmup, but as soon as they settled down for the night, an onslaught of men with blisters, shin splints, sprains, and frostbite demanded to be attended to.
By the time Rebecca, Roe, and the rest of the medics were done patching up the battered 2d Battalion, the temperature had dropped into the low twenties.
Rebecca finally crawled into her sleeping bag, wanting to take her boots off so badly, but decided against it as to keep her feet somewhat warm.
XXX
Rebecca was awoken at 0600 the next morning, everything covered in a thick layer of frost, gluing down everyone's equipment and supplies. She fervently thanked herself for keeping her boots on that night as she watched the men try to jam their swollen feet in their frozen boots.
Naturally, the second day was harder than the first as Rebecca and the men continued the march on frozen muscle. It took some miles for their stiff, aching muscles to warm up. However, the third day was by far the worst.
2d Battalion had covered 80 miles, there was still 38 to go, and the last 20 or so would be on the highway leading to Atlanta. As they began their way down the hard cement, Rebecca longed for the mud again. The hard ground was absolute torture on the joints.
That night when they camped out on the grounds of Oglethorpe University, Rebecca did rounds around the battalion. A figure crawling to the chow line caught her eye.
It was Malarkey, no doubt exhausted and in pain, from lugging his heavy mortar even with the help he received from his company.
"Malark, honey, what are you doing?" Rebecca laughed.
The redheaded fellow, whipped around at the sound of his Lieutenant, attempting to stand up. He failed, placing weight on one leg and quickly falling over, a look of pain, ridden on his face.
Rebecca instantly came to his side, worried. He wasn't crawling because he was joking around, he was crawling because he physically couldn't walk. His legs were swollen, red, and his feet were bleeding.
"Malarkey, you got shin splints. You cannot walk the rest of the way. You need to ride in the ambulance tomorrow morning."
"Lieutenant, I can make it. I just need to rest, is all." He pleaded.
"I'm sorry, but it's an order, Malark. Marching the rest of the way tomorrow could give you permanent damage."
He looked at her, a begging look on his face.
"Please, Becca. I know I can make it. I just need to rest. I want to march the rest of the way with the guys."
She sighed. It was his pride that wouldn't allow him to cop out. As much as Rebecca would rather see him ride in the ambulance the rest of the way, she understood. "Fine, but you stay off your feet for the rest of the night, that's non-negotiable." She said sternly.
By the time they hit Atlanta, 2d Battalion was exhausted, cranky and some damn near crawling. However, the march had riled up publicity throughout Georgia. Strayer had arranged for a band that met them a mile from Five Points and cheering crowds lined the route of the march, suddenly making all the pain and suffering worth it. Everyone all at once forgot their pain, straightened their backs and finished the march as if they were passing in review at Toccoa. Rebecca and the rest of 2d felt like the roughest, toughest batch of GIs in the world.
They had beaten Japan's measly record and beat it good. They covered 118 miles in 75 hours. Of the 586 men and officers in 2d, only twelve couldn't complete the march. Those who made it felt immensely proud, even if they had to be supported by comrades. It didn't matter, they had made it and this was one for the history books. Lieutenant Moore's 3d platoon of Easy was the only company in the whole battalion in which every man walked every step under his own power. They got to lead the parade through Atlanta.
2d Battalion showed their unclenching resolve and strength through extreme mental fortitude and comradery. An overwhelming feeling of joy and pride for herself and her men overtook Rebecca.
Of course, with the immense turnout of civilians welcoming their Army boys to Atlanta, along too came reporters with cameras and notepads, looking for a statement from the badass battalion.
One ran over to the group of medics, where Rebecca marched proudly, looked at her, and made a beeline for the woman.
"Miss, miss!" He yelled. "How do you feel about completing the march and being a woman selected to go to the frontlines?"
"I feel damn good!" She beamed.
A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Uploading will be much for consistent once I finish school. If you liked this chapter, please leave a comment and let me know how I'm doing! :3