Fort Benning, Georgia

December 1942-Feburary 1943:

Entering Fort Benning wasn't as pleasant as Marie thought it was going to be, the paratroopers that were already stationed at Benning all looked down on Easy Company from their high horses. The dirty looks came from all over the place, making Marie already feel weary of this place. Just like on Toccoa, all the girls shared barracks despite being from different companies. Barbara sat on her bed, putting her shoes on while Diana watched Florence put on a massive amount of make up. Diana marveled at her friend as she tried to convince her that there was no point and that it was technically not allowed, but Florence didn't care. Marie and Emilia sat on their beds, attempting to write letters home. Marie promised she'd write their friend Jane but she honestly didn't know what to tell her. It didn't seem right to write about their success while Jane was discharged.

"They didn't exactly roll out the welcome wagon for us, huh?" Barbara said aloud as she started to tie her laces.

"No one likes the new guy." Emilia said to her with a faint smile. She reminisced on when they all first joined their company's.

"Can we talk about something else, please? You guys are makin' me feel worse." Florence sighed, inspecting herself in a pocket mirror.

"Well, what do you want to talk about then?" Diana asked, rolling her eyes at her friend's vainness.

"How about that newly appointed Lieutenant?" Florence suggested with a sly smile. All the girl's giggled, except Marie, she had no idea who they were talking about. "I have never seen a more attractive man in my life." Florence declared, dramatically.

"You're so lucky, Barb." Diana laughed, nudging her friend. "He's going to be in D Company. It's a shame that he's being sent to Europe early, though. You get less of a chance to get to know him."

"Who?" Marie asked.

"Oh, sweetie, you're so out of the loop. Maybe if you spent less time with those boys and more time with us girls you'll pick up on more of the gossip." Florence replied, shaking her head at Marie. Marie didn't answer. The truth was Marie felt more comfortable hanging around Malarkey, Muck, and the rest of the guys than the women she had to live with, with the exception of Emilia.

"Dog Company's got a new CO, he was transferred from Baker Company. His name is Ronald Speirs." Diana filled her in. Marie shrugged in disinterest. The girls carried on about this 'Speirs' while Marie grew bored of their conversation. She decided to go join Muck and Malarkey in the mess hall; they said they'd be waiting for her there.

"I'm going to the mess hall." Marie announced, already half way to the door.

"You're hopeless, Marie." Florence called after her. Marie shot her an irritated look before leaving.

The mess hall ended up being no better than the barracks. There were a bunch of those smug 82nd Airborne paratroopers that were giving the newcomers a hard time. When Marie entered a few of them looked her up and down with their arms crossed. They smirked as she walked past to join her friends. Malarkey signaled her over to one of the tables where Perconte and Luz were sitting. They all looked annoyed by the paratroopers attitude but none of them said a word. She kind of wished that they would, but the men of Easy were far more respectful than any other company. As much as Marie hated to admit it, that was all because of Sobel.

"So, here come the long-walking, loud-talking, non-jumping 'sonobitches' 506ers." One of the paratroopers sneered. Marie glared at him, which only seemed to amuse the cocky paratrooper. She felt her blood begin to boil, just like it had when she had encountered Sobel for the first time.

"Shut up." Marie growled at him. She was about to say more when she felt a hand grab her shoulder and pull her along. She turned her head to see Malarkey pulling Marie away from the paratroopers. He looked at the paratroopers apologetically, trying to avoid any trouble with the Benning guys.

"Are you trying to get in a fight?" Malarkey hissed at her as they sat down at the table.

"All I said was "shut up", and who are those guys to think they're better than us just because they jumped out of planes before? We'll be there soon enough." Marie huffed, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"They're just intimidated, that's all." Luz said with a laugh.

" "Intimidated" "? Marie echoed in question.

"These guys heard about our fitness records and about the march to Atlanta." Perconte chimed in. Marie sighed, sitting her elbows on the table and resting her head on her arms. She knew she wasn't going to enjoy being at Fort Benning; not just because of the rude paratroopers, but because of the five upcoming jumps they'd have to do. Marie was actually terribly afraid of heights; ironic considering that she'd signed up to be in the Airborne.

"What's wrong?" Perconte asked, noticing her uneasiness.

"I have a confession: I'm petrified of heights." Marie uttered. Luz burst out laughing.

"Then why the hell did you enlist in the Airborne?" Perconte asked her.

"To conquer my fear." Marie stated. "I think jumping out of an airplane will help."

"Or make it worse." Malarkey chuckled. "Just don't freeze up okay?"

"Yeah, I'd hate to prove Sobel right about my place here." Marie sighed.

Lipton entered the mess hall carrying what looked like a bunch of letters and packages. He saw the four of them sitting at a table together and made his way over to join them.

"Hey, Lip. What'cha got there?" Luz asked his friend.

"Mail." Lipton answered, putting the letters down and sorting through them. Marie smiled warmly at him. She liked Lipton, he was one of the most noble men that she has ever met he also reminded her so much of her father.

"Malark." Lipton said, handing Malarkey a letter. "George. Hmm, I think I misplaced yours, Frank." Lipton said, furrowing his brow as he looked through the letters and packages.

"Of course you did." Perconte grunted.

"Ah, I got one for you too, Hun." Lip said, picking up a package. He slid it over to her. Marie looked down at the package, reading whom it was from. It was from her little sister. She tore it open, revealing a book.

"'Wuthering Heights'." Malarkey read the title of the book.

"You got a book." Perconte mentioned flatly.

"My favorite book, actually." Marie smiled as she opened the book and peered inside. It was her old copy, the one that she had read countless times before she enlisted.

"Make sure Sobel doesn't see that, he'll confiscated it." Lipton warned her.

"Who sent you it?" Luz asked.

"My little sister." Marie replied. "I don't know why she did, but it was a nice gesture." Her sister was one of the few people here who knew how much she loved to read. While she continued to admire the old book as Lipton picked up his own letter and opened it.

"Who's that from, Lip?" Luz asked, while reading over his letter too.

"Marie." Lipton answered, reading the letter fondly.

"Huh?" Marie questioned, hearing her name. She looked up in his direction.

"Oh, no not you, Hun. Marie is my wife's name." Lipton laughed.

"And your letter, Malark? Is it from that girl of yours?" Perconte asked, trying to read over Malarkey's shoulder. Malarkey shoved him away playfully.

"Bernice." Malarkey told him. Before Marie knew it, Malarkey, Perconte, and Luz were talking about women. Whether it's women that they know back home or the girl's that were staying on base with everyone. She heard Emilia come up a few times, which wasn't surprising. No matter where she went she couldn't escape conversations like this.

She let out a groan and buried herself in her book. Lipton finished reading his letter then tucked it in his breast pocket.

"What's wrong?" Lipton asked Marie.

"It's nothing." Marie mumbled, standing up from the table. "I'm going to explore the base a little bit."

"Oh, can you give this to Skip please?" Lipton asked her, holding out a letter. Marie nodded and took it from his hands before leaving. She almost ran into David Webster as she walked through the mess hall. She stumbled backward, feeling flustered.

"Sorry, Web." Marie apologized.

"No problem." Webster replied. He glanced down at the book she was holding. His face lit up as he read the title.

"Oh, you like the Brontë sisters?" Webster asked her. Marie was taken off guard by the question for a moment

"So far, yes. I've only read Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, and Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. Wuthering Heights is my favorite." Marie explained. She couldn't help but smiling, this has been the first time since she'd talked to someone about books.

"They're fantastic books. Although the Brontë sisters seem to be a big fan of unrequited love and heartbreak. " Webster agreed. He was studying Literature at Harvard before he'd enlisted. A lot of the guys called him "college boy", and seemed to exclude him from a lot of things. She felt bad for him, although she understood why someone with his background would have a difficult time fitting in.

Before Marie could respond Emilia entered the mess hall. Catcalls and whistles immediately followed from men from other companies. Emilia rolled her eyes at their crudeness and walked over to Marie.

"Marie they need you in the med station." Emilia told her friend. She looked back and forth between Webster and Marie and grinned like she just found out a juicy secret.

"Okay. I'll talk to you later, Web." Marie waved goodbye to Webster then went to follow Emilia.

"Bye." He said, waving back to her.

"Well, well, well." Emilia laughed, raising an eyebrow at Marie.

"What?" Marie questioned defensively.

"You and Web. What was that about?" Emilia asked, smiling cunningly.

"Oh my God, nothing. He asked about the book I had in my hands and asked if I liked the author. That was it." Marie scoffed. She really wasn't in the mood for this.

"Really?" Emilia didn't seem convinced. She kept smiling at Marie and it bugged the hell out of her.

"God, that's all you people think about." Marie grumbled as they continued to walk toward the med station.

"What?"

"Romance! Who likes who, who's attractive, who's waiting for you back home. Blah, blah, blah. That's all everyone talks about! It's so annoying! Everyone's so obsessed with romance!" Marie snapped out in frustration.

Emilia frowned. "That's normal, Marie. That's what people do."

"Whatever." Marie stormed off ahead of her friend, leaving her confused. Marie entered the med station, trying to forget her conversation with Emilia. Roe and some Fort Benning guys were the only ones inside. Some were working on medical dummies while others were reading field manuals. Marie watched them with vague interest.

Why did I get so mad? Marie thought. She didn't quite understand it herself. Was she jealous of everyone? They actually could talk about experiences they've had with their boyfriends and girlfriends, while Marie was always alone when it came to those kinds of things; always the third wheel. She shook those thoughts from her head but she couldn't help feeling sad. She looked down at her hands, realizing that she was still holding onto Muck's letter.

"Oh, shoot." She mumbled to herself, she had completely forgot to run it over to him. Now she had to wait until she was done at the med station until she could give Muck his letter.

"Everything okay, Marie?" She heard a soft-spoken voice speak up from behind her. She turned to face the speaker. Eugene Roe's serious but kind face staring back at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just forgot to give this to Skip." Marie replied.

"Well that has to wait. We have some training to do right now." Roe informed her. She nodded and followed him to her station.

Marie left the med station after a long day. She rubbed her eyes in fatigue as she made her way back. The first day had been surprisingly lax considering, but she knew that Sobel would pull out all the stops starting tomorrow. The following weeks would be filled with serious training in order to prepare for the five jumps that they'd have to do soon. Marie set off to find Muck to give him his letter. A lot of the men and women were in the mess hall hanging out before they had to return to their barracks. She stepped inside, everyone was laughing and talking like they were having some kind of celebration. She saw Muck talking to Florence, looking a little uncomfortable. Florence could be too much to handle at times; her overly flirtatious nature sometimes was too over the top to the point where it was more unappealing than appealing.

"Hey, Skip. I got something for you." Marie called to him, holding up the letter. He looked relieved to have an excuse to get away from Florence. He quickly made his way over to where Marie was standing.

"Thanks, Hun." He took the letter from his hand. He opened it and read it. A smile spread across his face.

"Who's it from?" Marie asked.

"My girl, Faye." Muck told her happily. He continued to read and grin at the letter. Marie's smile faded. Her feelings from earlier today started to return. Muck noticed her expression on her face. "Hey, is everything okay? Emilia told me that you were upset today."

Marie sighed, running her hand through her tousled blonde hair. "Yeah, I was just being stupid."

Barbara suddenly walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. "Did you happen to get a letter from Jane?" She asked her.

"Uh, no. I haven't even written her yet." Marie replied.

"Okay… I just haven't received word back about how she's doing." Barbara muttered, looking concerned.

Marie patted her shoulder in comfort. "I'm sure she's fine, Barb. She's probably just busy like the rest of us."

Sobel suddenly burst into the mess hall. He had anger etched all over his face. Marie felt herself tense up instantly at his presence. Everyone stopped talking and laughing at once. Sobel eyed each and every one of them. His eyes fell on Marie, she held his gaze feeling her skin crawl as he glared at her.

"Easy Company! We start tomorrow at 0500 hours!" Sobel declared.

"Yes, sir!" Everyone shouted in unison.

Sobel left the mess hall and everyone exhaled. Marie did the same; she hadn't even noticed she was holding her breath when he had entered. Marie looked back at Muck and he only shrugged. Barbara had left to seek out the other girls to ask if they had gotten letters from Jane.

Marie yawned. Her fatigue was really starting to settle in now. Her head felt groggy and her eyes felt very heavy. She patted Muck on the shoulder to get his attention.

"I'm exhausted, I think I'm going to head back to the barracks and get some sleep." She told him with another yawn.

"You only just got here." Muck protested.

"Sorry, Skip." Marie said, rubbing her tired eyes again. She left to for her barracks, hoping that she'd get a good night's sleep.

The following weeks were so stressful. Marie felt herself begin to grow more and more anxious as the first jump quickly approached. Sobel was drilling everyone extra hard. A few of the men were having breakdowns, which only made Sobel become even stricter. After one of the days of training Marie went and sat down outside to rest a bit. It was late January, the bitter cold cut through her skin but it also kept her exhausted body awake. Malarkey saw her sitting nearby and went over to join her. They didn't speak at first, glancing at each other told them enough about how they felt. Finally Malarkey said something, licking his lips before he started.

"We're almost to the fourth step." He announced. Marie cocked her head, not knowing what he meant. "You know, the four required steps it takes to be a paratrooper." He went on.

"Four steps? I didn't realize the training came in specific steps." Marie replied. "What are they?"

"One: physical fitness. I think it's fair to say that Easy Company has over-achieved on that." Malarkey stated. Marie nodded and gave him a "no kidding" look. "Two: practice jumps, like jumping from the parachute towers and landing techniques." He continued. Marie sighed; she hated jumping from the tower. Learning to land correctly wasn't as easy as it seemed. Once you hit the ground you have to allow all the weight in your legs to give way so your bones wouldn't break. Human instinct was to catch your falling with your hands which is a big no-no. "Three: Learning to pack chutes and unpack them. And of course learning how to use them." Malarkey went on, interrupting Marie's thoughts.

"Ugh." Marie groaned. Malarkey laughed. "Packing the chutes has to be my least favorite, even more than jumping from the tower."

"And finally, step four: the five required jumps." Malarkey announced like it was some grand finale. "That's all it takes, then it'll all be official."

"Step four sounds like the hardest step." Marie muttered, hugging her knees. She felt queasy thinking about jumping from the planes. The last week at Fort Benning in February would be when they all had to jump. Once you do that, you earn your wings.

"They do that on purpose. They want to weed out those who can make it and dismiss those who aren't cut for it. We've already lost a dozen guys who couldn't do it." Malarkey told her.

"I know." Marie murmured.

"The jumps will prove who has the balls to go through with it." Malarkey said. Marie gave him a look when he used the term "balls". "Oh, I mean- ugh, you know." He tried to correct himself. She only laughed and smacked him playfully on the arm.

"I know, it's all good." Marie snickered.

"Just… don't give up, Hun." Malarkey said, his tone grew serious. "Giving up is the worst, especially at this point. I'd hate to lose you now."

Marie's smile faded. She felt touched by his sudden sentiment but she didn't know how to react to it. They sat there in an awkward silence for a while. Marie began to fidget as she waited until she decided to excuse herself.

"I'm not going anywhere, Don" She said with a smile. "Excuse me, I have to find Emilia." Marie said, sitting up. She smiled at Malarkey again before departing.

Everyone was gathered around for the prep speech that was being given before the first jump. Marie sat next to Emilia, feeling her heart pound rapidly in her chest. She was so nervous as the gave her full attention to the man giving the speech.

"So, do we feel we're ready to be Army paratroopers?" The man shouted, addressing the crowd.

"Yes, Sergeant!" Everyone replied in unison. Marie's throat was too dry to yell as loud as everyone else.

"This'll be the first of five exits from a C47 aircraft scheduled for today. Upon successful completion of your fifth and final jump, you'll be certified Army paratroopers. There'll be a lot of men and women dropping from the sky today. Hopefully under deployed canopies. Jumping from 1000 feet AGL in sticks of twelve jumpers per aircraft. All you have to do is remember what you were taught, and I guarantee you gravity will do the rest." The Sergeant explained.

Marie's head started to feel swimmy. 1000 feet… that seemed impossibly high up. Emilia noticed her friend's distress and gripped her hand in comfort. Marie's palms were so sweaty from her nerves that she tried to pull back from Emilia's hand, but Emilia clenched it tighter.

"And ladies and gentlemen, rest assured, any refusals in the aircraft or at the door, and I guarantee you, you will be out of the Airborne." The Sergeant added. Everyone fell silent. Marie swallowed her fear and tried to sum up courage. Emilia gave Marie's hand another squeeze.

There was no turning back now, it was too late to quit.

The aircraft was so loud Marie could barely hear the jump master when he yelled out the orders. She sat along the bench of the C47, feeling an indescribable height of euphoria and paranoia. She couldn't tell if she was terrified or excited, all her emotions just seemed to blend in together. The jump master gave the order to stand up and hook up, she didn't hear him but did so when she saw everyone else do what he instructed.

"Check equipment!" He shouted. Marie could faintly hear him this time. She double-checked everything that she was carrying, and everything the person was carrying who was standing in front of her. Sound off had already started, she could hear the men yelling their numbers as they reached their way up. Marie was the sixth one in line. She wished that she could be further back, but she knew it was best to get the jump over with.

"Seven okay!" She heard the man behind her yell, he patted her back so she could carry on with the sound off.

"Six okay!" She yelled. She tapped the guy ahead of her but he didn't shout his number. He panicked and slumped up against the support bar. Watching someone before her eyes chicken out made Marie even uneasier, but she fought hard to overcome it. Everyone behind him had to unhook and step around him. After everyone was hooked up again, the sound off continued.

Marie saw the light turn green for the first jumper. She felt herself break out into a cold sweat. It was time, it was really happening.

"Go, go!" The jumpmaster shouted. He motioned the first jumper out, and it continued down the line. She was so close now. Her stomach churned and she felt like she was going to puke. She swallowed the bile that came up in her throat and continued to walk closer to the exit.

It was finally her turn. She felt herself freeze up but she forced her joints out submission so she wouldn't hesitate when the red light turned green. It flashed green and the jumpmaster yelled for her to go. She swallowed deeply, shut her eyes tightly, then took a flying leap out of the aircraft.

She realized that she screamed a little as she jumped, but the feeling of free falling didn't last as long as she thought it would. The cover chute was attached to the static line, so it would open on its own. She remembered what Malarkey had told her: he told her to count to four, the canopy would open then. She opened her eyes, it was difficult with the wind gusting on her face, but she managed to see how far up she was and her feet flailing around.

After counting to four she felt herself suddenly being hitched upward. The canopy had fully opened. She looked up and watched as it swayed with the wind peacefully. She remembered something else Malarkey had told her: check the other men to make sure they were all coming down at the same speed. That was a way to check if everything was going well. She glanced around and to her relief everyone was coming down at the same rate.

Marie suddenly started laughing uncontrollably. Everything had went smoothly, she'd done it. She made her first jump. The feeling of floating down actually was more exhilarating than she thought it was going to be. The view of the horizon was stunning and she felt free as she glided with the wind. Landing would be another issue, but in the meantime she enjoyed the safe journey down to the ground.

As she neared the ground she prepared herself for the landing. She saw a few of the men struggle with their parachutes after they landed. They were being pulled along on the ground, wrestling to get it all packed. She gulped, hoping she wouldn't have that problem. She landed, feeling a little sharp pain travel up from her ankles, but she remembered to roll off them so it wouldn't hurt. She fell softly to the ground and packed up her chute without a problem. She looked up at the sky, amazed by the view of dozens of men floating down to the earth. She did it, she had made the 1000 foot drop.

She was so happy to see that Emilia, Muck, and Malarkey had all succeeded in their jumps. She ran over and hugged them all in congratulations. The adrenaline from the jump had made her feel giddy, she felt like she could accomplish anything in her current mood. The happy feeling would soon fade when all of them had to attend a dishonorable ceremony a few days later. For everyone who couldn't face the jump, the Army forced him or her to be part of a public "drumming out" as Malarkey called it.

All the Company's lined up together to watch all the men who didn't succeed. The atmosphere around them had grown heavy with secondhand embarrassment, Marie could hardly bring herself to watch the entire ceremony. She saw the man that had panicked before her on the plane up on the stage. She reluctantly watched the men get their patches stripped as a sorrowful sounding drum pounded at a continuous and ominous beat. Marie felt sick to her stomach from the public humiliation as she watched the men's belongings being dumped next to them from their barracks.

"I hate this…" Marie whispered to her friends.

"At least they're not totally out of the Army. They're just infantry men now." Emilia told her. Emilia's face looked tense, Marie knew that she disliked this as much as she did.

"Not the proudest moment in the US military." Malarkey agreed, looking disgusted. "You know they're doing this to make us afraid to chicken out at the other four jumps."

It wasn't morally right, but using pride to keep everyone jumping was very smart. She knew one thing, there was no way that she was going to cower at the jumps now, she wouldn't give Sobel the satisfaction of watching her getting her patches stripped. The first jump had did a lot for her, she was no longer afraid of the other jumps, she was actually pumped to get her wings.

Marie completed the next two jumps later that week with no problems. There were only two more to go until they could earn their wings. Malarkey had come to her the morning of the third jump looking awfully sick. He had a bad case of laryngitis. Marie's heart went out to him, she feared he'd be too sick to complete the jump, but he assured her that he would be fine. He could barely speak, he had to communicate to her by writing on a piece of paper. She knew he wouldn't be able to do the sound off. She wished him luck by embracing him and they parted ways.

After the fifth jump was a proud day. The fifth jump for Marie had her smiling and giggling all the way toward the ground. She found out that Emilia, Muck and Malarkey had made this jump, too. They all grinned at each other, laughing, hugging, and dancing for joy. Wings Day was definitely the happiest day since arriving at Fort Benning. The celebration party that night was full of life and plenty of drinking. The best part was that Sobel wasn't present. Marie wasn't a party person, per se, but she did find herself enjoying this one. Just watching how proud the men were made her feel almost ecstatic. Diana, Barbara, Emilia, and Florence were all dancing with fellow newly appointed paratroopers. Marie couldn't dance to save her life, so she sat on the sidelines and watched, clapping and cheering them along.

"Hun! Here!" Malarkey called over to her. Luz and Toye were with him at a bar, drinking to their hearts content. Marie went over to join them as Luz poured her a drink in a glass, Marie didn't know what kind it was but she didn't ask. Malarkey handed it to her and she sipped from the glass. It burned down her throat, all the way to her stomach. The bitterness made her face become contorted with disgust. She and Winters had the non-drinking factor in common.

The three men laughed at her as she quickly handed the drink back to Malarkey. Sticking out her tongue, wishing that the vile taste would go away.

"What the hell was that?" Marie coughed.

"Not a fan of liquor, Hun?" Toye asked her with a laugh. Marie shook her head but she couldn't help laughing at herself either. Malarkey drank the rest from her glass in one shot, making her stick out her tongue in disgust as he downed it.

"Did you hear Martin was promoted to Sergeant?" Luz interjected above the noise of the party.

"Really? Good for him." Malarkey replied happily. Marie was glad that everyone's spirits were so high. She couldn't believe that they'd already be leaving Benning so soon, it seemed surreal how fast everything was moving.

"ATTENTION!" Sobel's voice suddenly boomed over the party atmosphere. Strayer and Sink were with him. Everyone instantly snapped into attention.

"Well at ease paratroopers." Sink told them. Everyone relaxed, Sink looked pleased so it made everyone feel better. "Good evening, Easy Company."

"Evening, sir!" Everyone exclaimed.

"Now parachute infantry is a brand new concept in American military history, and by God the 506th is gonna forge that brand new concept into victory." He continued.

Everyone hooted in agreement, Marie herself smiled at Sink's words.

"I just wanted you to know that I'm damn proud of each and every one of ya. Now you deserve this party." Sink beamed. Grant brought Sink a drink, he thanked him kindly then continued on. "I want you to have fun and remember our motto: Currahee!"

"Currahee!" Everyone cheered.

The party would last late into the night. Marie left early to go and read Wuthering Heights in her barracks where there was peace and quiet. Their next stop would be Camp Mackall in North Carolina. Marie drifted off to sleep while reading her book, dreaming of what everyone's future had in store for them.

Author's Note:

EDIT: Ugh, I noticed I made a lot of mistakes with this chapter, so I went back and fixed/added some things. Sorry if the story is slow and for some of the redundancy in my writing. I'm rushing myself too much.

Another chapter done! And this one is quite long, I don't usually write chapters this lengthy :) I used some of the dialogue from Band of Brother's episode Currahee and some from Malarkey's book Easy Company Soldier (and some things he mentioned that weren't in the show like the dishonor ceremony) Thank you all for reading!