May 05, 1944 - Aldbourne, England
The situation around Sobel gets worse and worse as time goes on, and Lip, Bill, Chuck, and I try again to persuade the other NCOs to carry out our plan, but unfortunately, they still refuse. That all changed, however, when the next incident occurred between Sobel and Winters.
"We lost Winters to Battalion Mess," Myron says, looking at all of us. All the NCOs have gathered in the barn. "You're shitting me," Talbert says, looking at us. I shake my head, confirming Myron's information. "No. Strayer did it while they try to figure out the procedures for his court-martial," Myron explains further. "Well, Nixon better find a loophole to get him out." "And if he don't? Winters scrambles eggs while the rest of us make the big jump with Sobel," I ask, looking at them. "Not me," Bill says immediately. "So, we're going through with this, right?" asks Chuck, and I nod again. "We gotta do something," Myron says. "I'm glad you realize that too, Mike." The latter rolls his eyes. "I was going to wait a little longer, Liv. But now he's gone too far. This power play Sobel wants to play with Winters puts us all at risk."
It's quiet for a moment, and we all sit in front of our papers. "All right. Good. But we'd all better be clear of the consequences," Lip asks, looking at us individually. "I don't care about the consequences," Johnny says immediately. "Neither do I." "Yeah. We could be lined up against a wall and shot. Now, I'm ready to face that. And every one of us had better be, too," Lip adds. "I will not follow that man into combat." "Me neither," Bull now speaks up.
"Very well, then, let's do it. It's been nice serving with you guys." "Nothing is decided yet, Liv." "Just kidding." Bill looks at me for a moment. "Are you sure you don't want to sit this one out, Liv? It would be a shame to lose that pretty face of yours." "Shut up, Bill! I'm doing this, just like all of you, and I'll take the consequences, just like all of you. Got it?" Bill grins, and then we begin to write. "I hereby no longer wish to serve as a non-commissioned officer in Easy Company," he recites aloud.
When we've all written the pages, we fold the letters. "All right, guys. Good luck," Lip says before we all stand up.
It's not long before we're called into Sink's office. On the way there, I exchange a glance with Lip. Now is the moment of truth. We all stand at attention in front of his desk, and the disappointment on his face is visible. "I ought to have you all shot. This is nothing less than an act of mutiny while we prepare for the goddamn invasion of Europe," Sink rages, then looks at each of us in turn. It seems as if he doesn't know exactly what to do with us. "Sergeant Harris?" "Sir." "Turn in your stripes. Collect your gear. You are hereby transferred outta my regiment," Sink demands. "Sir." "Get out." Terrence exits Sink's office. "Sergeant Ranney?" Uh-oh. Not Myron, too. "Sir." "You consider yourself lucky I'm only busting you to private. All of you NCOs have disgraced the 101st Airborne. You can consider yourself lucky that we are on the eve of the largest action in the history of warfare, which leaves me no choice but to spare your lives. Now, get out of my office and get out of my sight. Except for you, Sergeant Stark."
The others leave Sink's office, and I stay behind. For a moment, Sink says nothing. "At ease," he finally says, and I look at him. "What do you think your father would think of this, Sergeant?" I bite my lip. "I think you know that answer yourself. I took you in on his and Colonel Dunn's recommendation. You proved yourself, but I can't accept something like that." "Sir, permission to speak, sir." "Granted."
"I am well aware that this is a disappointment to you, sir, and also that we have disgraced the 101st. But, sir, if I may speak freely, we did this for a reason." "You're a platoon sergeant; you have damn responsibilities. What exactly were those reasons supposed to be, Sergeant Stark?" "It's exactly because of those responsibilities that I did what I did, sir. I don't want to speak poorly of our CO, but sir... Captain Sobel's leadership does raise its questions." Sink says nothing for a moment.
"You may go, Sergeant Stark. Based on your good performance so far, I will not mention the incident in your reports. Dismissed." "Thank you, sir," I say and salute him before leaving his office.
As I step outside and put on my cap, I see Winters looking at me in confusion. As I walk past him, I salute him, but he stops me immediately. "Liv?" "Yes, sir?" "What's going on?" he asks, and I look at him. "What do you mean, sir?" He raises his eyebrows and looks at me. "I think you know what I'm talking about, Liv. Why are all the Easy Company NCOs coming out of Sink's office?" I think for a moment before answering him. "We were just doing what needed to be done."
Winters is not a stupid man. He knows exactly what that means. "Liv... That was incredibly stupid and dangerous." "I believe, sir, that jumping out of a plane into occupied territory is also stupid and dangerous, yet we all do it." "You know what I mean. Why did you guys do that? They could have put you up against the wall." "We can't go to war with Sobel as our leader, sir, and then we're all as good as dead. I hope Sink sees that, too. We figured better just a few of us than all of us." Winters looks at me. Then I salute him again, and he does the same before I step away from him.
It looks like our mutiny did have some results after all. Two days later, we were told that Captain Sobel was being transferred and that we would get a new CO, 1st Lieutenant Thomas Meehan of Baker Company. The men cheered, and for us, it was just a celebration of joy—finally, no more Sobel.
Everything is better with Lt. Meehan. He even took a little time to get to know his soldiers better, as it's not easy for him to be thrown into a group of soldiers who have been training together for two years.
May 25, 1944 - Aldbourne, England
"Lieutenant Roush? You were looking for me?" I ask my Platoon Leader, and he nods. Standing next to him is a very blond, tall man with bright blue eyes who smiles at me. "That's right. Sergeant Stark, this here is 2nd Lieutenant Lynn Compton. He has been transferred to us and will be my Assistant Leader. Buck, this here is Technical Sergeant Olivia Stark. Our platoon sergeant." Compton extends his hand to me. "Buck," he says, and I'm surprised to hear an officer introduce himself by his first name. "Liv," I return with a smile.
"Technical Sergeant? You rarely hear that" Buck says, and I press my lips together. "Well, Olivia graduated from OCS as well, but the upper echelon doesn't look at giving a woman the rank of lieutenant, which is why they gave her the next step down," Roush explains, and I shrug. "You graduated from OCS? At Fort Benning?" I nod. "Wow. I'm impressed. And also disappointed in our command, if I'm honest," Buck then says, and I nod again. "I know, but what are you going to do." "Very well, Sergeant. Get the men together. We have some announcements." "Yes, sir."
I call the boys together, who gather in front of Roush. "All right, listen up. First, this is Lieutenant Compton. He's my assistant leader as of now. Second, Lieutenant Meehan has just informed me that we are redeploying. On that note, each soldier returns to his billet and packs up his gear. Tonight, 1800, the trucks are leaving." "Where are we going, Lieutenant?" asks Bill, and I give him a quick look. "We're moving to Upottery, further south." There is silence for a moment, and I look to Buck, who smiles at me. "All right, fall out."
May 30, 1944 - Upottery, England
"Hey, Liv. You playing a game too?" Don calls out to me, and I walk over to them. He's standing around a table with Buck, Skip, Penk, George, Bill, and Joe Toye. "What's it about?" I ask, and Don grins. "Craps," he says, and I give him an are-you-serious look. "Oh no, mister. You can forget about that. I always lose to you in these fucking games. And God knows I don't want to lose any more money to you, you rip-off!" "Who do you call a rip-off? I won the money fair and square," Don justifies himself. "Yeah, sure you did. I bet you're cheating. I don't know how yet, but you're cheating." Don winks at me.
Suddenly someone bumps into me and spills beer on me. "Oh fuck, I'm sor..." someone already starts apologizing, but when he looks at me, he stops. "Oh, watch out, Lieutenant, now the show starts," I hear George say, but I still glare at Liebgott. "Don't you have eyes in your head?" I ask and start wiping off the beer. Liebgott snorts. "Yes, I do, but it's not my fault you're so tiny that you're easy to miss." I narrow my eyes.
"Maybe if you paid a tiny bit of attention to your surroundings and not just yourself, you'd notice me too," I give back. "What's happening right now?" I hear Buck ask. "Oh, that... This is the normal Liebgott / Stark bickering. You can get used to it. They're like an old married couple," George explains. "Shut up, Luz!", Liebgott and I say out of one mouth. "See?" he continues to grin.
I turn back to Liebgott. "Wasn't there something else you wanted to say?" I ask, pointing at my uniform. "Your uniform is wet," Liebgott says, and I roll my eyes. "You don't say?! I actually meant something else. Like an apology or something," Liebgott pretends to think and takes a sip of his beer. "Hmm, no. Doesn't ring a bell. Or do you want me to recommend a cleanse?" I fume inwardly. "Like you'd know what that is, Liebgott! Probably your redhead girlfriend did it for you!" Now he looks at me confused and with a frown. "What the fuck are you talking about, Stark?" he asks. "You know exactly what." "No, I don't!" "Damn it, Liebgott, I swear to you, one day..." And then Don butts in. "Okay, that's enough for today, kids," he says, getting between us.
Liebgott and I are still glaring at each other. Don starts waving his hand between us. "Hey, did you hear what I said? Stop it!" I stare at him for a second before turning away. "Fucking idiot," I grumble and sit down with Bill and Joe Toye.
May 31, 1944 - Upottery, England
We sit in one of the aircraft hangars and wait for Meehan to explain the plan. There are maps in front of us showing France or Normandy. "Linking Omaha and Utah into one continuous beachhead. Each trooper will learn this operation by heart and know his and every other outfit's mission to the detail," he tells us. "Lieutenant Meehan?" Dukeman stands up, and Meehan looks at him. "Yes, Dukeman." "Sir, are we dropping tonight?" Eagerly, we all look to our CO. Don is sitting next to me, lighting a smoke. I hold out my hand and gesture for him to give me one, too. He gives me his and takes another from Skip's ear. "When it's time for you to know, we'll let you know. In the meantime, study these sand tables, maps, and reconnaissance photos, until you can draw a map of the area by memory. Now, we will drop behind this Atlantic Wall five hours before the 4th Infantry lands at Utah. Between our assembly area and the Battalion's objective, there is a German garrison right here, in this area, St. Marie-du-Mont. Easy Company will destroy that garrison."
"Sounds easy," I say sarcastically, and Don crosses his arms. When Meehan finishes, I join Don, Skip, Penk, and George in walking forward to the sand tables. We study the maps and the plans. As I carefully memorize the map, I picked up the compass I got from my friends. "Are you afraid of getting lost already?" Don teases me, and I nudge him.
"The poor bastards who have to come from the sea. Why do I have a feeling this won't end well," I mutter as I study the maps of Utah and Omaha Beach. "Come on, sweetheart, it's going to be fine. I have faith in it. This operation is so well planned; nothing can go wrong." I look at Don with raised eyebrows. "If you say so..."
June 4, 1944 - Upottery England
We have spent the last few days at the airfield. We studied the operation and learned it by heart. The last few days have also been about ensuring we have all our equipment together. The men are getting nervous because it could be any day now. You can tell by the fact that we're all walking around in full gear daily.
I'm walking up to Joe Toye, Frank, and George, who are packing their gear. "Three-day supply of K rations, chocolate bars, charms, candy, powdered coffee, sugar, matches, compass, bayonet, trenching tool, ammunition, gas mask, musette bag with ammo, my weapon, my 45, canteen, two cartons of smokes, Hawkins mine, two grenades, smoke grenade, Gammon grenade, TNT, this bullshit and a pair of nasty skivvies," Toye gets upset, and I smirk. "What's your point?" asks Frank, standing up. "God, this stuff weighs as much as I do. I still got my chute, my reserve chute, my Mae West, and my M1." "Oh yeah, and what can I say?" I ask, still grinning. "I'm lighter than you." "Yeah, and I don't know how you even manage to stand up straight, Liv," Toye returns. "Where are you keeping your brass knuckles?" Frank asks again, and Joe looks at him, annoyed. "I could use some brass knuckles."
Behind us, we suddenly hear Vest. "Sergeant Martin?" he asks, and I shake my head. I have no idea where Johnny is. "Hey, Vest, anything for me?" asks Joe, but Vest is already turning away. "Nope. Sergeant Martin? Talbert?" he calls on and continues walking.
From a distance, I see Roush looking at me and nodding. I understand what he's trying to tell me and stand up before walking through the men. "All right, listen up, listen up. If you did not sign your GI life insurance policy, you go on over and see Sergeant Evans at the Headquarters Company tent. You boys, don't let your families miss out on $10,000," I shout through the crowd and spot Don. "Have you done it yet?" I ask, looking at him. He nods and then picks up the musette bag we just received. "Why are they springing these things on us now?" "It's just an extra eighty pounds strapped to your leg," George replies and then picks it up. "Does anybody have any idea how the hell this thing works?" I shake my head in amusement and then go to show him.
When we are all more or less ready and have done everything, she hands out ice cream to everyone. I sit on the floor next to Bill. "Well, what do you think, kiddo? Guess it'll be time soon," he says, shoveling a spoonful into his mouth. "Looks like it," I say with a sigh. "Why do you think they spoil us otherwise." Suddenly Vest comes back toward us, handing out leaves that must have come from Sink.
George, being the man he is, reads it right out in his Sink voice. "Soldiers of the regiment: tonight is the night of nights." Toward the end of the sentence, however, his voice changes back to his own, becoming serious. "Today, as you read this, you are en route to the great adventure for which you have trained for over two years."
I lower my plate of ice cream and put my spoon in it. "That's why they gave us ice cream," Bill says from beside me, looking at me. "Told ya," I mumble and stand up. "Where are you going, sweetheart?" Bill asks me, but I don't give him an answer.
I walk through the men and finally spot the one I was looking for. "Harry!" I call out, and he looks up. "Hey, Liv," he says with a smile. "Well, are you ready?" "Can you be ready for this?" I ask, and he shakes his head. "What plane are you assigned to?" he then asks. "Bucks... They think it makes more sense than being on Roush's." Harry nods, then looks to the ground. "Don't die on me, will you?" he says quietly, forcing a smile. "I'll definitely try." I then hug him. "I'll see you over there, yeah?" Harry nods, and then we break away from each other.
When I return to Don and the others, I see Meehan get on a Jeep. "Easy Company, listen up. Gather up around me. Move it up; come on, gentlemen. Let's go. Now, the Channel coast is socked in with rain and fog, high winds on the drop zone. No jump tonight. The invasion has been postponed. We're on a 24-hour stand down." "God damn it," I curse, and it's no different for the others. "Son of a bitch," Bill curses behind me, and I look at him. "Drill sergeants take charge," Meehan is still shouting, and I sit down with my men to discuss the next steps.