Part 4

The attack is scheduled to kick off in the early afternoon. Lipton has been going around from man to man, checking equipment, ammo, and supplies, ensuring they're all ready to go.

Lipton's nervous. He can tell by the look in the other man's eyes he's worried about what's going to happen in Foy. Lipton has been running 2nd platoon ever since Lieutenant Peacock's very welcome departure. Janovec is in 2nd, along with Malarkey, Muck, Penkala, Luz and a few others. In his opinion, not that it counts for much, he thinks Lipton has done a great job of running the platoon. He wants to say that to the other man now, wants him to know he has faith Lip will bring them through this thing, wants him not to worry about them so much.

But he doesn't say any of this, doesn't feel it's his place, so he stays quiet, checks his rifle and ammo bandolier once more and waits.

He wanders over to where Malarkey, Muck and Penkala are huddled together in a group. He catches the tail end of the conversation, hears Penkala agree Muck is an idiot. How he's an idiot, he doesn't know, but figures it doesn't make much difference.

"Hey there," Muck greets him. "Ready for Norman the Fearless to hand deliver us to the Krauts?"

"You know, Muck, that question would be a whole lot funnier if the chance of that happening wasn't so great," he retorts.

"Hmm, suppose you're right. At least I've come up with another constant in life besides death and taxes-Dike managing to screw up," Muck smirks.

"Don't let ol' Norman hear you say that, he'll have your ass. He 'bout blew his top at Doc and Spina the other day just 'cause the two were in the same hole," someone else chimed in.

"Like anyone takes what he says seriously anyway. God, I wish Winters was still our CO. That way we may actually live through this," added Penkala.

"How you boys doing'?" asked Lipton from behind Malarkey.

"Just sittin' here, cold and waitin', so I guess everything's normal Lip."

"Glad to hear that, Malarkey. Look, boys, were gonna be moving out here within the next half hour or so, so stay on your toes. Don't worry about what might happen, just do what you've always done and you'll be fine. We've made it this far."

"That we have Lip, that we have."

"Since I've got most of the platoon here now, I'll go ahead and brief you on what's gonna happen. Easy's gonna be in the lead; we have about a quarter mile of open field to cover as quickly as possible; after all, we don't want the Krauts bringin' artillery down on our heads. When we hit the town our objective is to secure Foy and take prisoners if you can. If not, don't worry, that's not our main objective anyway. Dog Company is gonna be on our left flank with Item on our right. Both are gonna set us up with covering fire but we still have to move fast 'cause covering fire isn't gonna do us any good if we're dead.

"Now, look, I know I've told you all already, but don't worry. Dike is leading officially, but we know what to do on our own. I'm not telling you to disobey orders, but if you get into Foy and you hear something you know is FUBAR, do what you've been trained to do. That's not to say I don't want you all listening 'cause I do, but don't get yourselves killed out there for no reason, alright?"

Janovec nodded his head and watched his buddies do the same. He felt better now after hearing Lip's words, knowing the man trusted them enough to give them a bit of leeway in doing what needed to be done.

"Well, I know Captain Winters is gonna talk to you all before we set out so stick around for a few minutes."

Once again, they nodded in unison, as Lipton moved a few yards away to talk to on of the Sergeants.

Out of the corner of his eye, Janovec saw Winters head over to where they all huddled together in some semblance of a circle.

"Alright, men, listen up. I realize you've all been briefed by your respective platoon sergeants so I won't go over everything again. Just remember, get across that field and into Foy as fast as possible. Speed is key. Don't allow yourselves to get pinned down; keep moving. When you hit the town, secure it as quickly as possible, round up any POW's and enemy supplies that could be of use to us. I have faith in each and every one of you. Get in there and get out. God bless you all."

With that, Winters was pulled to the side by Nixon who held a map in his hands and was gesturing at something.

Winters was a good man, you just couldn't help but like and respect him. Unlike so many officers he'd come across during his time in the Army, Winters actually cared about what happened to the men who served under him and did his best to ensure they were taken care of.

"Alright, people, let's move, move, move!" Lipton shouted from the edge of the little clearing they'd gathered in.

"We're getting ready to move out. 2nd Platoon will fall in behind 1st and before 3rd. Remember, let's just get to the town and take it from there."

And with that, they fell into position behind Lipton and began making their way down the slope of the hill and into Foy.