- Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force:

You are about to embark upon the great crusade towards which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you.

Good Luck!

And let us all beseech the blessing of almighty god upon this great and noble undertaking. -

General Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Chapter Five: D-Day

June 5th/6th 1944

After the movie everyone left to try and catch some sleep. Webster however stayed put a little while longer enjoying Liebgott's closeness for he did not know when they would see each other again. After awhile Liebgott sighed talking a deep breath, squeezed Webster close one more time and left without a backwards glance or uttered word.

Webster hang back a little while more before heading back to bed himself.

No one got a lot of sleep that night, all too jacked up to relax. Meanwhile the tofts on top decided not to postpone the invasion any longer and early in the morning the call came for them to suit up cause they were gonna jump that very night.

They didn't have much to do during the day except make out a will, smoke, write some letters, check and re-check their equipment. While Webster kept himself busy with making sure he had everything, Liebgott have Mohawks to those soldiers who asked for it. Soon, the time came to head out to the plane they were assigned to and suit up. They had so much stuff with them they couldn't move properly so other people had to help them suit up.

Making sure he was in the right plane, '69', he looked to see who else got on his plane, he saw Guarnere, Muck, Penkala, Christenson, Gordon and his former friend from Fox company Davenport, talking while others were being strapped in. He tried to remember where some of the others were but his memory seem to let him down, all he could remember was Meehan and Evans on plane '66', (1) Winters, Toye, Roe & Grant on '67'. The only plane he really paid attention was '68' which held Lipton, Buck, Martin, Cobb, Ranney, Popeye, Luz and of course Liebgott.

When it was his turn to be strapped in, he stood in position: legs open, arms in his neck looking down. He closed his eyes as they strapped him in tugging quite hard in some places making him wince. All of a sudden the guy strapping him in stopped and Webster frowned but when the hands continued there was something different about them. He couldn't see who it was for he could not turn but when the guy started to do the buckles in front he looked surprised at Liebgott. Liebgott never looked up once from what he was doing and Webster smiled slightly at Liebgott's serious face as he strapped him in. Apparently he wanted to make sure Webster was strapped in like he should. Only when he was done did he look up, Webster could see the need for him to be safe, the uncertainty whether they were going to see each other again or not. Taking Liebgott's hands, who were still positioned over one of his buckles, he squeezed them gently whispering "I'll see you over there, ok Joe?"

Liebgott merely closed his eyes before pulling back and leaving. Webster stared after him seeing him cross Guarnere who was making his way back.

When everyone was strapped in, they all sat down next to the plane because none of them could stand for long periods of time with all their gear on. They were given airsickness pills which struck Webster odd cause they never needed them before. When it was time to board Buck gave then a little encouraging speech; "Alright men, remember what you were taught and you will be fine. Trust only yourself and the men next to you. I'll see each and everyone of you over there, alright!" The air filled with "Yeah" and "Damn straight" before Buck and Lipton helped them up. Most of them couldn't board the plane on their own and had to be pushed in. Sitting down they were allowed two choices: door closed and you could walk around but not smoke or door open, sitting still but you could smoke. Everyone opted for the open door.

When the sky began to turn orange the planes began to take off one by one. It took quite awhile until every single plane was in the air as they finally set of for war.

Most men were quiet on their flight there, each man preparing themselves in their own way. Some of them started a song but no one really had the heart to join in and it soon quieted down again. Muck apparently found his 'crickey' very amusing as he clicked away. Most men were either smoking or praying and Webster soon followed them. After awhile he began to feel kind of loopy as the airsickness pills began to take effect. He looked around and noticed he wasn't the only one, one or two even fell asleep.

They flew for a little over an hour, a time in which the sky turned an inky-black. All of sudden the plane began to shake and Webster could hear explosions outside of the plane. Looking at his watch it was about 22.50 in the evening when the red light turned on. (2) As one everyone rose and hooked up, before checking equipment and sounding off. They stood like that for about a good twenty minutes, men being thrown left and right as the pilot tried to avoid being shot down. Men were starting to get nervous and yelled "Come on Come on" as they were eager to leave the plane. Webster couldn't blame them and he sighed in relief as the green light came on. Only two or three made it out when one soldier suddenly got stuck in the door due to his leg bag. Webster thought he was never going to make it out of there. He moved back forwards as one of the men rolled the other guy out. Thirty seconds later the plane was empty and Webster lost his leg bag and the chinstrap of his helmet all in the first few seconds of the opening blast.

As he headed down, he could hear the German tracers going up and planes being shot down. Looking down Webster started to panic, the ground was much closer then he though and all he could see was water, water, water. He didn't even have the time to release his reserve chute before he found himself face first in about three feet of water. Struggling upright, cursing at the close call Webster was trembling all over.

He shrugged his chute off, assembled his M1 and lay down to await developments. Looking up he saw many more paratroopers being dropped, all of them getting shot at as he could see the tracers burn holes in their chutes as they descended to the ground.

He snapped around as he heard someone wading through the waters, searching for his crickey he pushed it once. He held his breath and awaited two crickeys in return, when he got it he sighed in relief. He couldn't be more delighted as he saw it was Davenport who was with him on his plane.

"Hiya Web, you ok?" asked Davenport as he settled down next to him.

"Fine."

That night was a nightmare to Webster as he and Davenport wandered around in the water for almost seven hours. They circled and staggered, in ten-foot wide drainage ditches that bordered the flooded fields, picking up men from almost every regiment that jumped. No one was where they were supposed to be as every man missed their DZ.

None of their compasses worked anymore due to the water ruining them, so they tried to find higher ground to try and get their bearings. They kept as low as possible and avoided obvious thoroughfares–slightly flooded roads. Every time the Germans shot a flare, they hit the deck and tried to be as still as possible, even their shaking stopped at a time like this.

As the sun came up, they saw several B-26's bomb the beach defences, laying a string of bombs, almost a mile long and Webster smiled as he realised the landings were about to start. Continuing on they passed several paratroopers face down in the shallow water, shot down by German machine guns. Webster didn't dare turn them around to see who they were, in fear one of them might be Liebgott.

When they finally hit dry land, they immediately met several men from Dog company and joined them. Continuing on they passed huge craters, thirty feet deep, made by their naval bombardment, which started half an hour ago. They went through an old deserted, undamaged village where they paused and helped themselves to some wine. Webster felt warmer already in his still wet uniform. Back on the road they met Headquarters company about an hour later. Things got dull in Webster's eyes after that because Headquarters just tags along as the troops cleared the villages and whatnot.

Every so often they would come across dead Germans, killed by Paratroopers during the night. In the light they looked like wax figures from a museum. Webster felt no emotions towards them and neither did the French.

Marching on the days began to blur in to one, as he still didn't see anyone from easy company. He wondered if Liebgott was fairing any better.

On the second day however Webster and the others came across some German paratroopers who had lain a trap. They entered a little French town when a sniper, hiding in the church steeple began to open fire. Hitting the deck, a bullet kicked up the dust next to Webster's face and he decided to move across the road and hide behind a stone wall. Meanwhile the men from headquarters company, eager to do something opened fire. They blasted him with anything they could get their hands on: M1's, M3's, tommy guns, bazookas and rifle grenades but they got him in the end. Just as they thought it was safe, their Intelligence sergeant was shot down by a German machine gun. That's when all hell broke lose.

When they looked behind them smoke was coming down the road and on their left they saw Germans pouring out of the nearby woods and sneaking around to the front. Headquarters company began to sweat as they opened fire through the opening in a nearby hedgerow. Webster hid behind a tree and opened fire on the woods. He didn't know whether he got any Germans but he found it fun to try. Things were sticky though as he realised the situation they were in.

While Webster reloaded a loud rumbling filled the air, turning around he saw several tanks heading their way. Seeing the predicament they were in, the tanks, freshly from the beach, opened fire and about fifteen minutes later the Germans waved a white flag. The fight was over and everyone had a merry time picking up Lugers and German Jump knives.

The danger was far from over though. One night they were walking a causeway littered with stinking dead Germans who had been caught by their artillery. It was the colonel's wish that they establish an outpost on the other side of a 20-yard wide, deep sluggish river. Since the bridge was blown out, Webster an the others had to cross three at a time in a leaky rowboat paddling with old boards. No sooner they were all lying on the sandbar, surrounded by flooded fields and water when a sudden BLAM filled the air. Looking up Webster saw it was a German shell that had landed on the opposite bank.

They all jumped up, took their entrenching tools and began digging as fast as they could, while an 88 millimetre gun kept firing over their heads. Webster never dug a hole that fast in his life. One of the other fellows even scraped a slit trench with his mess kit cup, they were that spooked.

When they were finished their superiors thought it was too dangerous and had them move back a bit, Webster wasn't sorry to hear that as he once again dug a hole. Again the 88 millimetre gun fired and shells burst around them all night.

Webster kept his head down all night thinking with every shell he was about to be blown to pieces. When daylight came, they moved back out. Webster's hands were shaking all day and he'd never been happier to see easy company then that very day.

Plane 68

Liebgott kept smoking one cigarette after another as they finally neared the French coast. When the red light blinked on, he threw down the rest and hooked up. All of a sudden a bomb exploded next to the wing making the pilot pull violently to the right making most of them lose their balance. Curses filled the air as one of them hit his head.

They were all pushing against each other wanting to get out as fast as they could as the plane was hit with German artillery, taking Cobb down. Painful screams of "I'm hit, I'm hit" filled the plane as the light turned to green. They moved Cobb down the back as they jumped one by one, trying to avoid German tracers.

As he headed down Liebgott could see one of their planes being hit and explode on the ground. Several men made it out, their burning bodies falling to the ground and Liebgott could only shake his head in despair. About 4 seconds later he hit the ground hard, released his chute, he grabbed his weapon, cursing the loss of his leg bag. A thump behind him make him turn around as he whispered harshly "Flash"

Getting an eager "Thunder" in return, he lowered his weapon, "Who is that?"

"It's me Lieb. Malarkey"

They quickly met up, shaking hands, happy to see a familiar face. "You got your leg bag?" asked Liebgott looking around. Malarkey shook his head, "No, lost it on the jump. It's around here somewhere…."

"Yeah, me neither…" muttered Liebgott, "You got a weapon?"

"Just my M1"

Liebgott nodded and motioned for them to move out. Hearing German artillery, they stayed as low as they could. They made their way to the woods, hearing church bells in the distance. Once in the woods they would hear voices. They weren't able to make it out whether they were friend or foe so Malarkey produced his crikey and pushed it. Getting two crickeys in return they moved back forward to see Buck helping Petty down from a tree.

"Sir." Nodded Liebgott feeling relieved to see it wasn't Webster's plane that was shot down after all.

When they all helped Petty down, they tried to get their bearings by looking on the map Petty was carrying.

Buck quickly took the lead as they headed back out. During the night they picked up men from Able and Dog company, as they all headed towards a little town that was situated between two German garrisons who were now destroyed.

Brecourt manor was already liberated by a group of paratroopers, who even captured some German POW's, and was now a meeting place for the fighting 506th. They all looked around, finding more men of easy company, shaking hands happy to see who made it. One thing they quickly learned was Lieutenant Meehan was nowhere to be found and neither was Lieutenant Welsh or Winters.

At the moment they had nothing to do so they tried to relax by eating some of their chocolate and drinking coffee. Somewhere in the morning, Lieutenant Winters and several other men including Guarnere, Lipton, Hoobler, Toye, Popeye, Hall and two men from the 82nd finally turned up. They were all happy to see each other and began telling stories on how they fared on their jump. A few hours later, everyone from easy company who made it was summoned to a nearby barn by Winters.

There they were briefed on a new mission to destroy four possible Germanbatteries who were firing on Utah beach, killing many of their men. Liebgott was placed with Petty on A-gunner. Their job was to lay down covering fire as the assault team moved closer. One problem though, they had no idea how many Germans there were, which made it pretty interesting.

About two hours later, the assault was done and they had destroyed the four German guns firing on Utah beach. They killed about forty Germans and captured about fifteen. They too had loses, Popeye was pinked in the behind and Toye had some small grenade fragment on his face and arms, it was a wonder he made it in the first place. Liebgott heard a grenade exploded on two separate occasions in the trench he was in, yet he survived. One man didn't make it: Hall, from Able company, who had joined them half way during the assault.

When they came back to Brecourt manor they didn't have much time to relax because after Winters briefed his superiors they were all horded on trucks and moved to another town, near Carentan. Due to the blackout being in effect they had to cook in the truck with the flap closed. Sitting in a truck with Lipton, Toye, Malarkey, Compton and Guarnere they started to make them some dinner. The smell was vile and it looked even worse. When they started talking about the Germans they killed or having walked passed killed Paratroopers still hanging in trees Liebgott lost his appatite. When he heard of paratroopers landing in Saint-Marie-Eglise, being shot down before they even hit the ground, he had to leave. He muttered "I don't wanna die in this truck" before making his way out, Malarkey complained "You're stepping on my legs" before he finally made it out sighing "Jesus, let me out of here" and jumped out of the truck. A yell of "Light! Light discipline" followed him but he ignored it.

He told himself he wasn't looking for Webster as he wandered around town but he knew he was kidding himself, as he saw new people coming in, one of them being Lieutenant Welsh Perconte and Luz, he asked if anyone seen Webster but none of them had. He kicked the ground when his foot got stuck on something. Looking down he saw it was red Nazi flag and he smirked putting it away.

Giving up his search he headed back to his truck and joined the others as they shared a bottle of wine and some sleep.

Next day they were joined by more of easy company men and Liebgott smirk couldn't have been bigger as he saw Webster sauntering up talking with Davenport.

Easy company's capture of the German battery became a textbook case of an assault on a fixed position and is still demonstrated at the United Stated Military Academy at West Point today.
(1) This is the only plane I'm sure of, the others I based on the HBO series.

(2) I based Webster's experiences of D-day on a letter he wrote his brother John.

To be Continued in Chapter Six: Carentan.