June 14, 1944-D-Day+8-Rammel
It had been one week since D-Day and Cpl. Arlen Short was still alive. For many of his buddies, this was not so. Carentan had just been taken by the 101st Airborne and armor began moving inland at a much faster rate. This past week had been the most intense both physically and mentally for Arlen. Right after they had secured the beaches, they were ordered to take out several German gun emplacements the Airborne had missed. They had to go through a giant mine field just to get to them. Charlie Company lost many men that day. He didn't know how much longer he was going to last. No one could be sure of that, but it doesn't keep you from wondering.
The most upsetting event most of all was the loss of their commanding officer, Captain Miller. Four days ago, Charlie Company was folded into Baker and Captain Miller was sent on a mission with his Six. The Six or Miller's Six, of course were the guys who had been with him since North Africa: Sgt. Horvath, Reiben, Jackson, Mellish, Caparzo and Wade. Whenever Miller was given a tough assignment, he passed it down to them and they got it done, no matter the odds that were against them. No one had any clue as to what they had been sent to do, but it didn't take long for rumors to start circling around.
They ranged from that they were sent ahead to go and assassinate Rommel, and then it got to as far as Hitler. But the one that seemed the most farfetched was that they were sent to go find someone, who wasn't an enemy. Some intelligence officer with a big mouth told some of the former Charlie Company members.
"Your Captain and those other guys, they've been sent to find some guy in the 101st named Ryan. It ends up he lost three of his brothers and the Army Chief of Staff has ordered for him to come home. I mean the guy gets to get out of this goddamn mess because he lost his brothers. How unfair is that? I'm my mother's only son and I ain't being sent home." he said.
It didn't make any sense at all. Why would the Army send a patrol of soldiers to get one guy who held no vital information, no secrets, nothing? The United States Army was smarter than that, weren't they? Four days later, when the Rangers arrived in Rammel, they learned the horrible truth. Short could still remember distinctly running up the road and seeing a tall figure standing over a motorcycle. It was Reiben. Short called out to him, but he did not reply, his eyes were fixed on something by the motorcycle.
Arlen called out again, "Hey Reiben, what's going here? Where's Captain." he looked over to the motorcycle and there lay Miller with a serious wound. He was lifeless, his eyes staring into nothingness. Captain Miller was dead. Arlen looked to Reiben who was now just looking around, his eyes never fixing on one thing, until finally they stopped on Sgt. Horvath, who was bleeding from several areas, also dead. He would later find out, Reiben was the only one left of Miller's Six.
Short could not believe what he was seeing, what he was feeling. He was filled with anguish, rage, sorrow and fury all at once. Arlen gritted his literally till he could flecks in his mouth. He looked passed Reiben and saw a soldier standing about a yard and a half away also looking at Captain Miller. He was of average height and build with a sort of boyish face, but the feature Arlen most recognized was the Screaming Eagle emblem on his shoulder. It was Ryan.
"You!" Short screamed, "You're the reason why this man is dead. Remember it when you go home to your mama!" He began to stride out to strike Ryan but a firm hand grabbed him by the jacked and tossed him back. When Short looked to see the man holding him back, he was shocked to see it was Reiben.
"I know how you feel, but I'm under strict orders to get him back to the Major in one piece. Don't worry, I have a feeling he'll never forget this." Reiben said surreally. Arlen looked at Reiben perplexed. He had never heard him talk like that; it was almost eerie. But it was enough to calm Short down and the anger he felt toward Ryan disappeared. Reiben let Short go and told Ryan and some other nerdy looking kid to follow him. Short watched the three walk over the small hill in the road and disappear behind it. It would be the last he would ever see of Reiben.
So the rumors had become reality and with it came more. Rumors that pertained to what Captain Miller's former occupation was. Supposedly, he was a schoolteacher back in the States. The idea was preposterous; there was no way a man like Miller was a schoolteacher, an English teacher on top of that. It didn't sound right, but no one really knew the truth except for an ensemble of men, most of who were dead. A lot of former Charlie Company men walk past Miller's body that day. Some saluted, some just stared, others became teary-eyed and some just walked right by ignoring him all together. Everyone had a different way of dealing with it, Short did a little bit of each.
The rest of the day was spent driving the Germans out of Rammel. It was a long hard fight, but the Rangers could handle it. The Airborne had done their job by capturing and holding the bridge; it was now the Rangers turn.
At thirteen hundred hours, the attack resumed with Baker Company pushing south-eastwardly, along the river. The fleeing Germans had reinforced themselves about six blocks from the river and were waiting for them. It would have been easier with Shermans in support but they were being used fight it out with any remaining German armor. It would have been helpful, but that would just make things to easy. They moved in, drove the Germans out of their hiding places and completely liberated Rammel. Thankfully, casualties were low.
Baker Company had become a completely different company from what it was after D-Day + 3. Almost half of its strength was comprised of former Charlie Company members. This presented a problem to the effect that the company would be divided into two, so Charlie Co. was spread out as best as possible. With hopefully that being taken care of next was the adjustment of Baker's new CO. He was 1st Lt. Christopher Herz, a former platoon leader with Baker who had just been promoted to 1st lieutenant, he was the only officer left in Baker. From Baker men who had been in his platoon, they said he was adequate but confident in his abilities. Charlie men didn't like the sound of this. Their former CO was the best the Army had to offer, many thought he should have been running the battalion or even the division but most of them just wanted him to be their CO.
There were three new platoon leaders, one from Baker, one from Charlie and one Fox. How the Lt. from Fox ended up in this company wasn't for certain but it had been done, Short some how ended up under his command. The platoon was filled with familiar faces and others not so familiar. Pate and McDonald just to name a few. Short was happy for both men had been with him since Sicily and he knew he could count on them. But so far, every member of the platoon was getting along fine, there was apprehensiveness at first, of course, but they were able to overcome it with Lt. Thompson's pep talk.
"I know you guys don't me and hell, I don't know you but I'm not worried about that. We all share several things in common; first we are Americans, second we are Rangers, the best damn soldiers in this army and finally, the faster we get our job done, the faster we get home."
Short and the other men of the platoon listened closely to Thompson's words and took it to heart. He seemed very capable, confident and down to earth. He also listened to the men of his platoon, actually heard what they were saying. In the course of several days, everyone had learned each other's name and the camaraderie that was non-existent at first, was thriving. It would be important to the long road ahead.
It had been one week since D-Day and Cpl. Arlen Short was still alive. For many of his buddies, this was not so. Carentan had just been taken by the 101st Airborne and armor began moving inland at a much faster rate. This past week had been the most intense both physically and mentally for Arlen. Right after they had secured the beaches, they were ordered to take out several German gun emplacements the Airborne had missed. They had to go through a giant mine field just to get to them. Charlie Company lost many men that day. He didn't know how much longer he was going to last. No one could be sure of that, but it doesn't keep you from wondering.
The most upsetting event most of all was the loss of their commanding officer, Captain Miller. Four days ago, Charlie Company was folded into Baker and Captain Miller was sent on a mission with his Six. The Six or Miller's Six, of course were the guys who had been with him since North Africa: Sgt. Horvath, Reiben, Jackson, Mellish, Caparzo and Wade. Whenever Miller was given a tough assignment, he passed it down to them and they got it done, no matter the odds that were against them. No one had any clue as to what they had been sent to do, but it didn't take long for rumors to start circling around.
They ranged from that they were sent ahead to go and assassinate Rommel, and then it got to as far as Hitler. But the one that seemed the most farfetched was that they were sent to go find someone, who wasn't an enemy. Some intelligence officer with a big mouth told some of the former Charlie Company members.
"Your Captain and those other guys, they've been sent to find some guy in the 101st named Ryan. It ends up he lost three of his brothers and the Army Chief of Staff has ordered for him to come home. I mean the guy gets to get out of this goddamn mess because he lost his brothers. How unfair is that? I'm my mother's only son and I ain't being sent home." he said.
It didn't make any sense at all. Why would the Army send a patrol of soldiers to get one guy who held no vital information, no secrets, nothing? The United States Army was smarter than that, weren't they? Four days later, when the Rangers arrived in Rammel, they learned the horrible truth. Short could still remember distinctly running up the road and seeing a tall figure standing over a motorcycle. It was Reiben. Short called out to him, but he did not reply, his eyes were fixed on something by the motorcycle.
Arlen called out again, "Hey Reiben, what's going here? Where's Captain." he looked over to the motorcycle and there lay Miller with a serious wound. He was lifeless, his eyes staring into nothingness. Captain Miller was dead. Arlen looked to Reiben who was now just looking around, his eyes never fixing on one thing, until finally they stopped on Sgt. Horvath, who was bleeding from several areas, also dead. He would later find out, Reiben was the only one left of Miller's Six.
Short could not believe what he was seeing, what he was feeling. He was filled with anguish, rage, sorrow and fury all at once. Arlen gritted his literally till he could flecks in his mouth. He looked passed Reiben and saw a soldier standing about a yard and a half away also looking at Captain Miller. He was of average height and build with a sort of boyish face, but the feature Arlen most recognized was the Screaming Eagle emblem on his shoulder. It was Ryan.
"You!" Short screamed, "You're the reason why this man is dead. Remember it when you go home to your mama!" He began to stride out to strike Ryan but a firm hand grabbed him by the jacked and tossed him back. When Short looked to see the man holding him back, he was shocked to see it was Reiben.
"I know how you feel, but I'm under strict orders to get him back to the Major in one piece. Don't worry, I have a feeling he'll never forget this." Reiben said surreally. Arlen looked at Reiben perplexed. He had never heard him talk like that; it was almost eerie. But it was enough to calm Short down and the anger he felt toward Ryan disappeared. Reiben let Short go and told Ryan and some other nerdy looking kid to follow him. Short watched the three walk over the small hill in the road and disappear behind it. It would be the last he would ever see of Reiben.
So the rumors had become reality and with it came more. Rumors that pertained to what Captain Miller's former occupation was. Supposedly, he was a schoolteacher back in the States. The idea was preposterous; there was no way a man like Miller was a schoolteacher, an English teacher on top of that. It didn't sound right, but no one really knew the truth except for an ensemble of men, most of who were dead. A lot of former Charlie Company men walk past Miller's body that day. Some saluted, some just stared, others became teary-eyed and some just walked right by ignoring him all together. Everyone had a different way of dealing with it, Short did a little bit of each.
The rest of the day was spent driving the Germans out of Rammel. It was a long hard fight, but the Rangers could handle it. The Airborne had done their job by capturing and holding the bridge; it was now the Rangers turn.
At thirteen hundred hours, the attack resumed with Baker Company pushing south-eastwardly, along the river. The fleeing Germans had reinforced themselves about six blocks from the river and were waiting for them. It would have been easier with Shermans in support but they were being used fight it out with any remaining German armor. It would have been helpful, but that would just make things to easy. They moved in, drove the Germans out of their hiding places and completely liberated Rammel. Thankfully, casualties were low.
Baker Company had become a completely different company from what it was after D-Day + 3. Almost half of its strength was comprised of former Charlie Company members. This presented a problem to the effect that the company would be divided into two, so Charlie Co. was spread out as best as possible. With hopefully that being taken care of next was the adjustment of Baker's new CO. He was 1st Lt. Christopher Herz, a former platoon leader with Baker who had just been promoted to 1st lieutenant, he was the only officer left in Baker. From Baker men who had been in his platoon, they said he was adequate but confident in his abilities. Charlie men didn't like the sound of this. Their former CO was the best the Army had to offer, many thought he should have been running the battalion or even the division but most of them just wanted him to be their CO.
There were three new platoon leaders, one from Baker, one from Charlie and one Fox. How the Lt. from Fox ended up in this company wasn't for certain but it had been done, Short some how ended up under his command. The platoon was filled with familiar faces and others not so familiar. Pate and McDonald just to name a few. Short was happy for both men had been with him since Sicily and he knew he could count on them. But so far, every member of the platoon was getting along fine, there was apprehensiveness at first, of course, but they were able to overcome it with Lt. Thompson's pep talk.
"I know you guys don't me and hell, I don't know you but I'm not worried about that. We all share several things in common; first we are Americans, second we are Rangers, the best damn soldiers in this army and finally, the faster we get our job done, the faster we get home."
Short and the other men of the platoon listened closely to Thompson's words and took it to heart. He seemed very capable, confident and down to earth. He also listened to the men of his platoon, actually heard what they were saying. In the course of several days, everyone had learned each other's name and the camaraderie that was non-existent at first, was thriving. It would be important to the long road ahead.
