1970
Her daughter was devastated because her favourite band had broken up. Dallin sat on the edge of Hannah's bed, while she cried into her fluffy pillow. She rubbed her youngest childs back, hoping to soothe her sobs before Liebgott got home from work. Dallin had already called her oldest son, Jim, informing him of the break-up. And at first, Jim thought his little sister's boyfriend of two years had called it quits. He was annoyed to find out all that crying had been over a band.
"We could find a new band to love, Hannah". Dallin suggested softly.
Hannah's sobs got louder;
"The Beatles were everything, mom!"
Dallin nodded slowly;
"I know they meant a lot to you, sweetie".
Hannah was seventeen, and she was experiencing her first-ever heartbreak. Dallin found it slightly comforting that a band had broken her heart and not some senior from school. But she decided to treat it as such. Calming her daughter down, Dallin ordered them a pizza and brought out the ice cream from the freezer. She put the television on and found a bad movie to watch with her broken-hearted daughter. By the time Liebgott got home from work, his daughter didn't look upset. But Dallin still headed into the kitchen to quietly warn him;
"that hippy band broke-up".
"Christ, I know". He mumbled, "it's all I've heard today".
Shaking her head, a sad smile met her lips;
"Hannah's very upset…we've got pizza".
"Oh, great".
Liebgott kissed Dallin's cheek;
"how was your day?"
She sighed;
"fine…Spring break is just around the corner, but I've still got papers to grade".
"They ain't 'gonna mark themselves, sweetheart". Liebgott teased, "has Jim been round?"
"Yeah, I got him over to help me with Hannah, but he left shortly after".
"Did he tell you what he wants to do?"
With a small frown, Dallin nodded;
"he did".
"What'd you tell him?" Liebgott muttered, "cause I ain't for it".
"We can't control him, Joey". She said softly, "if Jim wants to join the army…then he should do it".
Shaking his head, he whispered;
"he's not got a clue, Dill…".
"Should we tell them?"
"Nope". Liebgott mumbled, "we're not telling them…they're not old enough".
Dallin raised her eyebrow;
"I teach a bunch of sixteen-year-olds about the war, Joey. I'm sure our kids can handle it".
"But we can't". Liebgott hissed, "I'm not…I'm not ready".
It might have turned into another small argument, but the phone started to ring. Dallin left the kitchen to answer it in the hallway. Liebgott sat himself down next to Hannah and gave his youngest child a soft smile;
"don't worry about that band, honey…you'll find another one to love".
Tears filled her eyes again;
"it's not the same, dad…George Harrison was my life".
"Well, the kids still around, right?" Liebgott said, "besides, didn't they get into trouble for doing drugs or something?"
Hannah huffed;
"God, dad! You're such a square!"
Liebgott tried not to smirk;
"thank you…loving daughter". He remarked sarcastically, "listen, your moms got a lot on her plate with work. Just go easy on the heartbreak stuff, huh? And will you speak with Jim? I don't want him enlisting".
Hannah pulled a face;
"why? It's not like it's serious, dad".
"Yeah, well…trainings half the battle".
"How would you know?" Hannah asked, "you cut hair during the war".
Liebgott cleared his throat;
"well – uh – you've met my buddies who were in the war, right?"
She nodded;
"I like them". Hannah smiled small, "Joe's got the best stories".
Liebgott found himself smiling;
"he's one mean sonofabitch".
Hannah huffed;
"dad!"
Liebgott grimaced;
"ah…don't tell your mom, huh? She'll chew me out".
Opening the living room door, Dallin walked inside.
She looked pale.
And Liebgott worried.
Sitting down, she faced Liebgott and told him;
"it's Sobel…".
He frowned;
"is he…?"
Dallin shook her head;
"no…but he tried to…".
"Jesus". Liebgott whispered.
Hannah frowned;
"mom? Who's Sobel?"
With a sigh, Dallin took her daughter's hand;
"I'll tell you later, sweetie. I need to visit a friend in Chicago. I'll only be a few days. Dad will keep an eye on you, okay?"
Nodding, Hannah soon leaned into her mum's side;
"mom…I'm sorry I overreacted. I'll be fine, honest".
Dallin kissed her daughters' head;
"you didn't overreact, sweetie. Your favourite band broke-up. When I was young, I found out my favourite singer died and I was pretty sad too".
Liebgott looked at her;
"Fats Waller?"
Dallin nodded;
"yeah…".
Hannah curled her legs up on the couch;
"thanks for cheering me up, mom".
"Love you, sweetie…anytime".
…
Sobel had tried to commit suicide by shooting himself in the head.
The bullet entered his left temple, passed behind his eyes and exited on the other side of his head. The wound severed his optic nerves and left him blind. Dallin found him living in a VA assisted-living facility in Waukegan, Illinois. She had to go to Sobel's old house, where she learned his wife had divorced him.
Sobel was frail and very vulnerable. The older man was lying in bed, a thick bandage covering his eyes. Dallin sat on the chair next to his bed and reached over, to take his hand. Sobel didn't react but he did move his head slightly as if wanting to check who had entered his room.
Sighing quietly, Dallin mumbled;
"it's me…it's Dallin".
He didn't say anything.
"Herb…". She said softly, "you're my friend. You always have been. I wish…I wish I knew you were still fighting; I would have helped you. And I'll still help you. Because this isn't the answer, Herb. People love you…and they would miss you. I would miss you".
She squeezed his hand;
"please, you have to keep fighting. There's so much left you have to do in this world. We fought so hard, to save the world, Herb. You deserve to live. Don't give up. That's what you taught me and everyone else, to not give up. When we ran up Currahee, you were right there with us. And you pushed us hard, to break through that wall of defeat. You have to do the same. I know you can do it".
Dallin prayed that he was listening. And when she left Chicago, she hoped for a miracle. It was hard when something tragic happened to an old friend after the war. Dallin was devastated when Webster left for sea in 1961 and never returned. He left behind a beautiful wife and three children. Dallin kept in contact with all her friends from Easy. And then they lost Colonel Sink, in 1965. She visited Winters and Toye whenever she got the chance. And once every few weeks, she'd take a trip to South Philadelphia to see Heffron and Guarnere. If she wasn't seeing them face to face, Dallin would call them. It was a good thing Liebgott and Dallin both worked, their phone bill was always high.
When Dallin returned home from her trip to see Sobel, they decided to finally tell their kids about their past. For years, they had asked how their parents met. Dallin and Liebgott worked their way around it without giving away that they were in the same Company and played a huge part in the war. So, like she was teaching a class, Dallin told her children everything. It was the best time to tell them. They were old enough to know the truth and mature enough to understand.
Liebgott didn't say much.
Dallin did most of the talking.
She showed her children their old uniforms, their medals, ribbons and jump wings. She showed them photographs of friends during training and combat. Hannah and Jim were shocked. And even more so, when Dallin told Jim who he was named after.
"Jim Campbell". She smiled while showing her son a picture of him, "he was my best friend".
"What happened to him, mom?" Jim asked quietly.
Swallowing back the lump in her throat, Dallin whispered;
"he died…in Holland".
"I don't get it, mom". Hannah whispered, "why did they let you join?"
Liebgott cleared his throat;
"your mom was a part of the elite Polish Paratroopers before she joined us in Toccoa. She got dropped into Poland, just outside of Krakow. And she was capture, for over a year by the Gestapo".
Hannah placed her hand over her mouth;
"mom?" She whispered, tears filling her eyes.
"Oh, it's okay, sweetie". Dallin soothed her, "I wish it didn't happen but…if I hadn't joined easy, I would have never met your dad…and I wouldn't have had two wonderful children". With a tiny smile, she added, "you were named after Patrick Howard Neil. He was a man from my squad and he always wanted to have a daughter and call her Hannah".
"Who's this?" Jim asked, holding up another photo.
Liebgott and Dallin both looked at the photo.
It was Carl and Fred.
Frowning, Jim questioned;
"I thought gay people weren't allowed to join?"
Dallin felt her lips twitch;
"they weren't…but Carl, my cousin, he kept it a secret".
Hannah smiled tearfully;
"I didn't know you had a cousin, mom".
"He died". She told her, "but he was…the bravest man I ever met".
Hannah took Dallin's hand;
"mom, I'm sorry…".
"It's okay, sweetie". She assured her, "you haven't done anything wrong. The reason we didn't tell you was simple, what you go through right now, can be challenging. And we didn't want you to compare your struggles, with ours. Because it's a different world we live in now, sweetie. And it's tough on the youth".
Jim huffed;
"mom…how old were you when you enlisted here?"
"Nineteen…but that's not the point". She told her son softly, "it is hard for a lot of people your age right now. And it's our job, to support you though it all".
Liebgott looked over at Jim;
"bud, if you 'wanna join the army, then you should do it. But we'd worry about you".
"I'll be fine, dad". Jim smiled, "all my friends have enlisted. I 'wanna go with them".
"Jim, it's not going to be what you think it is". Liebgott warned him, "this war going on in Vietnam, it's not a joke. You've 'gotta be careful-"
"and keep your head down". Dallin added, "when an officer gives you an order, never question it".
"Yeah, listen to your mom". Liebgott nodded, "and if he's a mean sonofabitch, then he's doing a damn good job".
In the moment, time went by slowly. But thinking back, Dallin couldn't believe how quick the years had flown by. Five years after she saw Sobel, the Vietnam war ended and Hannah found a new band to love; Queen. Jim got married and welcomed a baby girl into the world in 1976. Dallin couldn't believe she was a Grandmother. And she adored and spoilt her first grandchild. Hannah went off to college straight after high school and studied musical theatre in New York. By 1980, the family home was empty. Dallin was fifty-seven and Liebgott worked fewer hours at his barber's shop. He planned on selling his business by the time he reached sixty-five.
They attended the Easy reunions every year.
Guarnere and his wife set them all up.
It was always one great party when they got together. Even though they were older, they still acted like a bunch of twenty-year-olds, raising hell once again. And as they got older, men were more sentimental about the friends around them. They spoke more about the war and opened up about feelings they might have kept hidden back in combat. For the first time since she had known him, Dallin saw Malarkey break down in tears about Skip. Of course, if someone ended up getting emotion now, they didn't push them away. They tried to put them back together again.
During the year of 1980, Dallin received a harrowing phone call.
Herbert Sobel had died.
His cause of death was malnutrition. And no one had attended his funeral. Not even his family. The news left a bitter taste in Dallin's mouth. She visited her old Commanding Officers grave two days after receiving the news. Laying down flowers, she kneeled in front of his grave.
"If it wasn't for you…Easy wouldn't have been the Company it was". Dallin whispered, "you put up a good fight, Herb. I just wish there was more we could have done".
Hand going on his gravestone, she added quietly;
"you'll be missed, friend".
Four years after Sobel died, Hannah travelled with her friends to Britain to watch Queen perform at Band-Aid. Dallin couldn't understand her grown daughter's obsession with following a band to the other side of the world. But she helped pay for her trip, nonetheless. What she could understand, however, was her daughter's love for music.
Years had passed since she lost Uncle Skip but whenever Dallin heard a song from her youth, she'd often think fondly of Skip and Carl. It's what brought them together and out in combat, it lifted the morale. Especially when Toye started singing.
1992.
His neck started bothering him and his windpipe was painful. So, on Father's Day, Dallin and Jim took Liebgott to the doctors. They discovered a tumour. It was in his neck and jugular vein. Liebgott was seventy-seven when they found out he had cancer. And he didn't want treatment. It upset the kids and it angered Dallin. When Jim left after dropping them off back home, Dallin wanted to slam doors. But she was sixty-nine. She was a retired woman, living on a pension.
"Well…". Liebgott sighed while sitting down on his armchair, "that's that, sweetheart".
"Fuck the fuck off, Joey". Dallin muttered, "don't give me this damn talk. There are treatments and you refuse them".
"I'm old, Dill". He reminded him, "I've had a great life. And now it's over".
"But I'm not ready!" She snapped, "I'm not ready to say goodbye to our life together, Joey".
When he smiled, tears filled his eyes;
"been one hell of a ride, ain't it?"
With a nod, a tear slid down her cheek;
"yes…". Dallin whispered, "but we have so much more to do, Joey".
He reached up and took her hand;
"well, go and do that, sweetheart. But you're 'gonna have to do it without me".
"What about the kids?"
"We did good with them, huh?" He smiled, "both married with kids. We've got ourselves some beautiful grandchildren".
But Dallin refused to give up;
"we were going to visit England again".
"Bill and Babe's always planning trips to old combat spots. You go on with them, sweetheart. They'll take care of you".
Face almost crumbling, she cried quietly;
"I'm so glad you came back to me and asked me to marry you, Joey".
Getting onto his feet slowly, Liebgott pulled Dallin into his frail arms;
"me too, sweetheart".
Head buried into his chest, she whispered;
"I love you, Joey…I love you so much".
On the 28th of June, Liebgott died peacefully with Dallin by his side.
And respecting his wishes, she had him cremated. Dallin held onto his ashes but gave her children some of Liebgott's war memorabilia. The three-bedroomed house they purchased was too big for Dallin to live in alone, so, she moved into a small apartment just down the road. It was hard for the first few months living alone. Dallin didn't have her husband; her kids were adults with children of their own and Dallin's cat had long passed away. She locked herself away inside that small apartment for a long time, until Joe Toye came to visit her.
She packed up and decided to spend a few months with Toye in Reading. Every day, they walked for one mile. Winters only lived an hour away in Hershey, Dallin and Toye saw a lot of him. The three of them spent a lot of time together. Whenever they talked, they talked of the war and they talked about their friends who died in combat.
But tragedy struck again when Nixon passed away in January 1995.
And in that same year, they lost Toye.
As the years went by, the world continued to change. Though Dallin had lost Liebgott and close friends, she was never alone. Easy reunions were still held, and they made yearly trips over to Europe to give talks. A lot of people were interested in their story. In 2001, Dallin's Grandson gave her a mobile phone.
"It's like a handie-talkie".
The teenager frowned;
"what's that Grandma?"
Smiling, Dallin looked at the young man;
"useless most of the time…but very handy in Holland. The land is so flat in Holland, Johnny. But in the forest, a handie-talkie has a hard time catching a signal".
Johnny smiled;
"do you want me to show you how to use the phone, Grandma?"
"The mind was made for learning". Webster had once told her.
Dallin nodded;
"thank you, Johnny…I'd love your help, dear".
"Grandma? I have to write an essay about the war". Johnny said, "can I write about you and your friends?"
"Of course, dear". Dallin agreed softly, "you can ask me anything".
Johnny was eighteen and a senior.
He was the youngest grandchild.
Not only was Dallin a grandmother, but she was a great-grandmother.
She was surrounded by family.
Winters was right, living in civilian life wasn't always easy. But Dallin had more happy memories than she had sad when moving back to America. Her heart was so full of love and she died with a full heart, at the age of eighty-three.
Hannah found her mother on the armchair, with her eyes closed.
Dallin had died peacefully in her sleep.
