Austria was heaven on earth. The trucks stopped in the beautiful town of Zell am See. It was a very neat and clean town, with the huge Lake Zell in the centre of it all. Billeted in beautiful houses, Easy settled in to stay in town for a while. It was a wonderful way to end the war. Dallin could see them doing just fine in Austria. Occupational duty began the following day, but the men didn't have to get up early for PT in the morning, or inspections. One of their main jobs was to help with the DP's (Displaced Persons) in the camp. They drove to Kaprun every day.
Gordy Carson fell in love with one of the DP's, a Polish woman named Toni. He came back to the Sergeant's house and went on and on about Toni and her young son Richard constantly. Gordy decided to introduce Dallin to Toni after two weeks of being in Austria. Dallin learned that Toni was from Warsaw, had lost her husband during the war and was a widow with a three-year-old son. Toni was a beautiful woman, with bright blonde hair and blue eyes. It was no wonder she caught Gordy's attention. Toni had lived a tragic life during the war. She was in the Polish Resistance, where she smuggled food for the fighters. And soon, she was deported to Auschwitz. It was hard to hear Toni's story. But Dallin listened very carefully, all while holding Toni's hand.
With the two talking in Polish, Gordy crouched between the two seated woman and said to Dallin;
"you should ask her, Dill".
Squeezing Toni's hand, she mumbled a name;
"Helena Gorski?"
Toni shook her head; she hadn't heard that name before.
Dallin was grateful to have met Toni and she thanked Gordy, while they left the camp;
"she is…very nice woman, Gordy".
He smiled;
"pretty too, right?"
Dallin snorted;
"yes…very pretty too".
"Can you help her with English, Dill?" Gordy asked, "just, I don't know a lot of German words".
Nodding, Dallin smiled small;
"yes…that will be fine, Gordy. And I also teach you Polish, yes?"
With a sigh, he agreed;
"right, fine…but make it easy".
"More DP's arrive tomorrow". Dallin informed Gordy, as they got into the jeep, "we have enough space, yes?"
Gordy nodded;
"Toni says half the barracks are empty".
Frowning, she mumbled to him;
"Toni has…haunted look in her eye, Gordy. Treat her kindly".
"I will". Gordy promised, "I'm falling in love with her, Dill".
Arriving back in town, Dallin found that most of the Sergeant's had decided to take an afternoon dip in the lake. Grabbing a towel each, Gordy and Dallin decided to join them. The men were swimming around, racing and messing about. It was nice, seeing them all carefree and acting like a bunch of kids rather than soldiers. Stripping off their clothes, and only in their underwear, Dallin and Gordy ran across the dock and jumped into the cool lake.
It was like being on holiday. The view around them was stunning, the houses were great, and they had a lake to jump into every day to cool off. After everything they had gone through, it was hard to believe they had ended up in heaven. Looking at the Toccoa men around her, Dallin once again felt incredibly lucky to have those men in her life. She wanted to thank Colonel Sink again for placing her in Easy. But just seeing her smile, was enough to know how thankful she was.
But then, came the points system. They needed a total of eighty-five points to qualify for a trip home. Men had points but not enough to go home straight away. Winters predicted the men who had been around since Normandy would all be going home by the end of June or July. For those who didn't have enough points, they'd likely fight in the Pacific when the 101st was called up.
Lying in bed with Shifty that night, Dallin tried to smooth back the worry lines on his forehead. Shifty didn't have enough points to go home and he'd definitely not have enough by the time all his friends left, his fiancé included. He had fought every battle since Normandy but was never once wounded. He had his stars, ribbons but no purple heart.
"I'll stay with you". Dallin whispered.
He shook his head;
"no, baby…you go back to Clinchco without me, I'll be there soon".
"No, Shifty". She told him, firmly this time, "I stay with you".
He couldn't argue with her, her mind was set.
Pulling her in for a kiss first, he then mumbled;
"I love you so much, Dill".
The sweet moment was ruined when Dallin's stomach growled. Shifty grinned. Though Austria had many perks, it lacked one important thing: food. All the men were living on was potatoes and tomatoes. The residents were greedy when it came to sharing out food and everything else the Americans had, went to the DP's or the German prisoners. Easy were starving and dropping weight.
Sighing, Dallin rolled onto her back.
Placing her hand on her stomach, she informed Shifty;
"I have my period".
He sat up a little and looked at her;
"that's great, baby". Shifty smiled, "wish I could get you something sweet to eat".
With a tiny smirk, Dallin said;
"you are all the sweet I need, Shifty Powers".
Running his fingers through her hair, he whispered;
"baby, I ain't sure 'bout you staying here and going to the Pacific with me".
Looking at him, Dallin reminded him;
"home is not a house, home is you, Shifty. Clinchco would not be home without you".
With that said, Dallin decided to end the discussion. She turned off the oil lamp and snuggled into Shifty's side. With a tiny smile, he kissed the top of her head;
"goodnight, baby".
"Night, Shifty".
…
Working in the DP's camp the next morning, Dallin was checking their food supply when Winters walked into the small barrack. They had a new batch of DP's to cater to, most of them were Polish and Hungarian. Other than food, most of the DP's needed clothes. Paratroopers decided to make clothes out of their old reserve chutes. Dallin had given Toni a small outfit for Richard that morning. The little boy was very excited.
"Dill? I need you for a minute". Winters told her, "we've got a man in, he speaks Polish but his memories foggy".
Nodding, Dallin put down the clipboard;
"yes, sir".
"The Nazis blinded him". He added quietly, "his face is wrapped up in a bandage, he has severe burn wounds on his face and body".
Dallin frowned;
"he is in infirmary, sir?"
"Yeah". Winters confirmed, "he hasn't eaten or talked since he arrived, doctors are worried about him".
Dallin hadn't visited the infirmary before. It was a long barrack, filled with men, women and children, who were sick and badly wounded from the camps. Many had died during the night when their bodies simply gave up on them. The Americans tried their hardest to supply the infirmary with medicine and other medical supplies, but it simply wasn't enough. Dallin spotted the blind patient sitting up in his bed with Roe by his side.
Seeing Dallin arrive, the Easy medic got up;
"hey, Dill".
"Eugene". She greeted quietly, "this is him?"
Roe nodded;
"he still won't talk or eat. I managed to get him to drink some water but…it's not enough". Roe informed her quietly, "they don't think he'll make it through the night".
With a small frown, Dallin sat on the edge of the bed.
The man's face was completely bandaged up, save some holes for his nose and mouth. He was a skeleton, with a thin layer of skin on top. His body was stiff, still frozen in fear from the camps. With his bare chest exposed, Dallin could see how badly scarred his body was from burns and beatings. She had never seen a man so badly damaged in all her life. And she had to remind herself, that this man was once somebody's husband, brother, friend or father.
"Czesc". Dallin greeted softly, "nazywam sie Dallin".
His head turned towards her voice.
And his lips parted.
Dallin, Winters and Roe looked at him, hoping he would talk.
But he didn't.
"Jak masz na imie?" Dallin asked for his name.
The man only shook his head.
Roe looked at her;
"that's good, Dill". He murmured, "he's listening".
Licking her bottom lip, Dallin gently took his hand, assuring him;
"jest w porzadku…nie skrzywdze cie".
Very faintly, the man squeezed her hand.
A tiny smile met her lips;
"jest w porzadku". She told him softly again.
He leaned back against the pillows; body less stiff than it was before.
"Jestes Glodny?" Dallin asked.
He shook his head.
Frowning, she looked up at Winters and Roe;
"he tells me he is not hungry".
"That's not possible". Winters whispered, "he's starving".
Looking at the man again, she asked;
"Mozna jesc?"
Again, he shook his head.
"Czy masz zeby?"
It took a few moments, but he nodded.
"What'd he say?" Roe asked.
"I ask if he has teeth…he does…but he tells me he cannot eat".
"Ask him if he's in pain". Winters said, "that could be stopping him".
Nodding, Dallin asked him;
"czy jestes w bolu?"
Giving her hand a tiny squeeze, he nodded.
Dallin frowned;
"towoje ciato?"
He shook his head.
Her frown deepened;
"twoje serce?"
When he nodded, Dallin felt her eyes fill with tears.
Noticing this, Winters frowned.
Hand going on her shoulder, he asked her softly;
"what's wrong, trooper?"
Swallowing back the lump in her throat, she croaked;
"his heart hurts…he cannot eat because his heart is broken".
Roe frowned and whispered;
"morphine can't cure a broken heart".
With a shaky sigh, Dallin gave the man's hand a squeeze;
"I will…help him". She promised, "he does not remember his life before the camp but…maybe I can help him".
"We've got a couple more". Roe told her quietly, "could really use your help around here, Dill".
Looking at the medic, she nodded;
"yes…I will help them all, Eugene".
Dallin promised to come back before curfew that same day. Leaving the infirmary with Winters, she felt her heartache for that man. But the Major decided to offer her some insight on what was going on in Battalion Headquarters. He figured she needed a tiny distraction.
"General Taylor's holding a lottery". He told her lowly, "he's 'gonna send one man home from each Company and pick their names out of a helmet at complete random".
That sparked some interest;
"when, sir?" Dallin asked him.
He smirked;
"Anniversary of D-Day".
Huffing, she mumbled;
"June 6th".
"Hard to believe the Brecourt assault happened the same day". Winters mumbled, "it's a wonder how we did it all".
"We take off on June 5th". Dallin said, "but we land in France on the 6th…at one in the morning, I think. And then, five or six hours later…we destroy guns".
He smiled small;
"God that was something, huh?"
Dallin shook her head, with a tiny laugh;
"I remember Popeye screaming that he was sorry for getting shot in ass".
Winters smiled softly;
"he's a good man, you're all good soldiers".
"We kick serious butt that day".
He smiled down at her;
"we did, huh?"
Word soon reached some Sergeant's from Easy about General Taylor's lottery that same afternoon, hours after Dallin arrived back from the camp. She was looking through a bookshelf, trying to find a book to read to the children in the infirmary when Popeye and McClung approached her. What got her attention was the serious look on their faces. Frowning, Dallin stared up at them and watched, while they both crouched beside her in front of the bookcase.
"Someone dead?" She whispered.
Popeye shook his head;
"nah…no one's dead, Dill".
"But we've got an idea". McClung said, "and you might not like it".
Sighing, she placed her hands on her thighs and nodded;
"well…you must tell me now, boys".
"We're 'gonna rig the lottery". Popeye told her, "and put Shifty's name in".
"We'll all be 'outta here in a few weeks, Dill". McClung explained, "but Shifty won't, cause he don't got enough points. He's only sitting on seventy or something".
"But we wouldn't 'wanna rig it, without your permission". Popeye added.
Swallowing thickly, Dallin whispered;
"you are both…amazing friends". She told them, "Shifty is so lucky to have you".
McClung grinned;
"so, can we rig this thing?"
Dallin nodded, with a smile of her own;
"yes! But we must have the other Sergeant's permission too. It would not be fair".
"I don't see the problem". Popeye smiled, "they've already agreed".
Her smile softened and she felt tears prickle in the corner of her eyes;
"it makes me very happy…that you all love him".
"Wow – sister". McClung snorted, "don't make this sentimental".
Popeye chuckled;
"hell, leave her, Earl. I love the kid too".
Rolling his eyes first, McClung then told Dallin;
"I'll promise Shifty that we'll look out for you Dill. Cause he ain't 'gonna leave quietly".
Smiling at the two of them, Dallin told them fondly;
"you are both…two crazy people but…you bring so much laughter always. I hope we can all be friends when we go home".
Popeye placed his hand on her shoulder;
"Dill, you ain't ever getting rid of us".
McClung nodded to the bookcase;
"what are you doing anyway?"
"Oh…I try to find book to read to children in the infirmary". Dallin replied, "but…I do not read German. I was hoping to find English book because…there will be nothing in Polish here".
"You know, you Poles are pretty smart". Popeye said, "most of them can speak some English".
Dallin snorted;
"thank you, Popeye".
"I'll keep an eye out". McClung said, "me and Popeye are good at finding stuff".
Dallin smiled at him;
"thank you, Earl…Eugene wants me to help out in the infirmary. There are a lot of…badly wounded and sick people in there".
"Yeah, I saw". He mumbled with a sigh, "fucking Nazis…".
"Hey, what 'bout this one?" Popeye said.
He reached into the back of a shelf and brought out an English book.
Dallin almost couldn't believe it.
It was a copy of;
"The Hobbit".