June 13th, 1944 - Outskirts of Carentan, Normandy, France
At a short distance, we walk behind the 1st Platoon. We all have our weapons raised and are on alert. "How much further do you think we'll go?" Don asks me after a while. I look at him for a moment before looking to Buck, who is walking ahead of us. "I don't know," I say with a shrug. Suddenly, fire is opened on us, and we immediately cover in the meadow. "Into that hedgerow up ahead! Go!" I hear Harry shout from far away. "Okay, second platoon, line up behind the first. We'll take turns," Buck calls, and we take cover. Shots continue to be exchanged for a moment, but then it levels off, and we dig in for the night.
As I sit in the foxhole with Don, we hear the Germans chanting. "What the fuck do they have to sing about?" I hear Don grumble and raise an eyebrow. "Another night alive, maybe?" I ask, leaning against him before closing my eyes. Don grumbles something beside me and moves before he, too, goes quiet.
Suddenly we hear a commotion. I tear my eyes open and sit up. "What the fuck is that?" I ask, and Don has woken up as well. "It's coming from over there," Don says, pointing in a direction. I kneel, grab my gun and crawl out of the foxhole. "I'm going to go check it out," I say, looking at Don for a second. "Okay, be careful, will you?" I nod and then head toward the noise. Suddenly I'm grabbed by the arm and look into the watchful eyes of Lieutenant Speirs. "Holy shit!", I curse. "You scared me, Sir." "I'm sorry," is all he says, and we walk together toward the noise.
"Holy shit, what happened here?" I ask immediately, kneeling next to Tab, who is bleeding from the chest. I press my hands on the wounds and try to help Liebgott to stop the bleeding. "Smith," Liebgott grumbles, pointing his head behind us. I take a quick look at the Private, sitting slightly frantically in his foxhole, tussling his hair.
I shake my head and then turn back to Tab. "Hang in there Tab," I say, looking at him. "Is it bad?", Tab then asks and I look at his chest. I look briefly at Liebgott and then at my hands, which are already covered in blood. "It's hard to tell, Buddy," Liebgott then says.
"Let me get at it, Liv," Doc says, having just arrived, and I slide away from him to look at Smith again. "George?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, Liv. I thought he was a Kraut! He looked like one. I didn't know it was him." Smith stammers, and I look briefly at Tab, whom Doc is doctoring. Speirs is still standing next to us, watching the whole situation. Our gazes meet shortly.
"You're gonna be fine," I hear Doc say and stand up. "That wasn't very smart, Tab," I say, looking at him. "Using the Kraut raincoat to wake up a sleeping soldier." "Really, now, Stark?" Liebgott then snaps at me. "You're kicking a man who's already down." "That's not my intention, Liebgott. But thinking along a little bit isn't too much to ask, is it?" "It's okay, Joe," Tab says with a pained face. "She's right." Liebgott looks back and forth between Tab and me in disbelief. "Jesus Christ," he says, throwing up his hands.
"You have everything under control, Sergeant?" Speirs asks, and I look at him. "Yes, sir." He holds my gaze for a moment before turning on his heel and disappearing into the darkness.
We all look after him. "That man is giving me the creeps," Gene whispers, and I nod. "Uh, guys?" then Tab asks, pointing to himself. "Oh yeah, of course," I say immediately. "Liebgott, help Doc take him away. See you, Tab. Get well, yeah?" I say and wave at him before he is carried away by Liebgott and Gene. "And George," I then turn back to Smith. "Here." I toss him a flask Harry gave me that afternoon. "Calm your nerves first. Someone else can take over your watch." I take a few steps away from him. "Liv?" he calls after me, and I turn to face him again. "Yes?" "Thanks, and... I'm really sorry about Talbert." "Don't worry too much about it, okay? Tab will be fine." With those words, I leave him alone again.
When I have handed over guard duty to Ramirez, I slip back into the foxhole with Don. The latter is startled, and I quickly raise my hands. "Whoa, it's just me." "You don't have to sneak up on me like that. I almost had a heart attack," he says, exhaling in relief.
"So, what happened?" As I'm about to tell him, Winters appears at our foxhole and kneels. "Sergeant Stark?" "Sir?" "What was going on back there? Lieutenant Speirs said you were there?" I nod. "Private Smith got a hold of Sergeant Talbert. Tab was trying to wake him up for guard duty, and he had his Kraut raincoat on, Sir. Smith dozed off, mistook him for a Kraut, and stabbed him with his bayonet." Winters frowns. "What the fuck?" asks Don incredulously. "And Sergeant Talbert?" "He's fine. Smith missed everything important, thank goodness. Doc's taking care of him." Winters nods thoughtfully. "I've turned the watch over to Private Ramirez." "Okay, good. Get some more sleep now. You're going to need to be ready tomorrow." Don and I nod. "Thank you, sir."
Don and I exchange a look as Winters walks away. "Damn, Smith." "Oh, leave him alone. Tab wasn't too smart waking him up in Kraut clothing, either. I think any of us would have reacted that way."
"Whatever," he then says and leans back again. "Winters gave us orders, and I'm happy to follow them," he says, closing his eyes. I grin and try to get a little sleep as well.
The following day I am woken up. "Hey Liv, come on," I hear a voice and open my eyes. In front of me stands Harry, and gestures for me to follow him. "What's wrong?" I ask sleepily, rubbing my eyes. "Come on now," is all he says, and I stand up. I give Don's boot a quick kick to wake him up. "What, what's wrong?" he asks sleepily, looking at me in confusion. "I'll be gone a minute," I say, checking my watch. "We're attacking soon."
I follow Harry to the other sergeants and kneel beside him as he pulls out the map. He explains the plan, and I exchange a look with Bill. "Any idea what we're hitting?" I ask, and Harry looks at me. "No, we don't know what they've got. We may be attacking a weaker force... possibly more paratroopers," he explains. "And you know how they can be," Hoobs says, and we grin at him briefly. "Fire and maneuver. That's the name of the game, fire and maneuver. Dog and Fox Companies will be on our left flank, moving with us. Any questions?" asks Harry, looking at all of us, but we shake our heads. "Let's make them holler." "It's 9:30 in the evening back home," Frank says, looking at the many watches on his arm. I stand up and am just walking toward Bill when he shoves me aside into the foxhole.
"Mortar!" he shouts, and I somehow try to move back to my knees. I lean over the edge of the foxhole and start shooting. "God damn it," I grumble, and Bill throws himself next to me. He fires his rifle as well. "Keep it up, Bill," I yell to him, and he gives me a quick look.
We keep shooting, and from behind, our Mortar Squads are also shooting at the Germans with their Mortars. Then I stop. Behind the row of hedges, I spot something that makes me falter. "Son of a bitch!" Harry throws himself beside me and follows my gaze before taking out his binoculars. "Where in the hell did they come from?" he shouts, and we exchange glances. Tanks. They drive up to us and then open fire. Shocked, I look to our left. "Holy shit! There goes our left flank!" I shout, and Harry watches it too.
Then he pushes out of the foxhole. "Let's go! McGruth on me!" he shouts, and I look after him in shock. "Harry, damn it! What the fuck are you doing?!" But Harry does not listen to me. He runs towards one of the tanks together with McGruth and a bazooka. They place themselves in front of it but don't shoot. "What the fuck are they waiting for?" I ask, directed at Bill, who also looks at them in surprise. Then the bow of the tank lifts and then Harry gives the signal. And it was exactly right. They hit the bottom of the tank, destroying it before quickly retreating.
"Yes, damn it!" I cheer and then shift my position a little to the left. I throw myself back into a foxhole and keep firing. Harry slides to my left, and I punch him confidently on the shoulder. "You hit a home run, huh?" says the soldier to my right, and I look up. It's Liebgott. I grin at him and then refocus on the fight.
All of a sudden, harder shots ring out from our ranks. I quickly look up. The Germans are being pushed back further and further. "That's right, you sorry asses," I call out, and Liebgott and I grin at each other. Then Harry moves closer to me. "Oh, you beautiful babies, you!" he shouts, and we all cheer. Liebgott, next to me, holds out his smokes for us to take one. We light them, and I exhale in relief. One more battle won.
The first platoon is on patrol that afternoon, so I sit with Don and Buck and wait for them to return. I check my rifle and clean it as the first platoon returns. I see Harry sitting down, exhausted, and taking off his helmet. "Be right back," I say to Don and Buck and get up to go to Harry.
"Hey," I say, sitting down next to him. "So how'd it go?" "Had contact... Blithe got it. He's being taken to England," Harry says curtly, and I press my lips together. "You okay?" I ask and he nods. "And you, kiddo?" I nod as well. "As well as can be expected." Harry smiles and then pulls something out of his backpack. "What do you think?" he asks, and I look at him in surprise. "Your reserve chute?" "This is for Kitty. For the wedding dress. It's silk," he says excitedly, and I have to grin. "That's perfect, Harry. You'd best send it to her as soon as possible." "Yes, as soon as we get back to England." A queasy feeling spreads through me. England. I wonder if we're really going back there.
Then Winters walks up to us. He looks at me first for a moment, then turns to Harry. "They're pulling us off the front line," he says, and Harry looks up in surprise. "Now?" "To a field camp north of Utah Beach. Hot food. And showers. Then back to England," Dick tells us, and I exhale in relief. I'm not exactly sure I should be listening to this conversation, but if he announces it in front of me, there will be a reason. Harry says nothing and leans back. "Harry," Dick says firmly. "How's the leg?" the latter asks, however. "Stiff. Sore. They want me to take it easy for a few days," Dick says. "Yeah, you should," Harry just replies and closes his eyes. Dick looks at me again and seems to be considering whether or not to keep talking. "Talked to Colonel Sink. Said he appreciated Easy holding the line. Said General Taylor was pleased." Now Harry looks up again. He exchanges a look with me and then looks at Dick again. "That's why I came to France. To please General Taylor," he says, and I can't suppress another smirk.
"Liv? Get your men together. We will brief them shortly," Dick then says. I sigh, put my helmet back on, and then go to find my men together.
First, I find Buck and Don again, sitting with Skip and Penk. "Where were you?" asks Don, looking up. "Just to see Harry for a minute. I learned something interesting, though," I say, and they both look at me. "Let me guess... Something you weren't supposed to know?" asks Buck with a grin. "You can look at it any way you want, Buck. Winters revealed it in front of me, so I guess he thinks I'm allowed to know," I say, grinning at Buck. "Go ahead, spill it," Skip demands.
I sit next to him and take the smoke from his ear before lighting it. "We're moving off the line," I say, and the guys long at me in surprise. "Already?" asks Penk in surprise. I nod. "First to Utah Beach and then back to England."