We Made It To Arlington
Chapter Two
Hot water rushed over my skin and I let out a soft moan. The heat I had awaited for all day long was finally here. It soothed my tired joints. My back hit the wall and I slid to the floor. The shower head pelted heated water onto my head as my elbows rested on my bent knees. I could not shower at a normal hour with my squad for obvious reasons. So when the bunks were closed and everyone was asleep. I could sneak out and shower alone. Of course, there were armed guards on hand. But none of them were anywhere near the showers. Who wastes man power guarding the showers? The steam clouded my vision and my thoughts. Here I was alone. I was natural. I was calm.
--
"Jesus!" Snider complained as he, myself, and Collins ran the fierce obstacle course. They always ran us in threes. Snider was always called up first because he was talking while we were supposed to be standing at attention. Collins pissed off Sobel. Sobel had been attempting to get him to cry mercy since the first day of boot camp. Collins was the strong and silent type. He never sweat, he never heaved, he never complained. He did as he was told and completed it all with a perfection that none of the other men could ever hope to accomplish. I don't know what Sobel had against me. Maybe I'm just the odd man out. The three of us were always paired together. We always went first. We always finished. I enjoyed being paired with Collins. Trying to keep up with him always pushed me to my limits.
The dark green grass felt good against my burning legs as I sat down. Collins stood close by. He wasn't breathing heavily or sitting like I was. He was staring calmly up at the sky. Snider collapsed beside me, laying on his back and gasping for breath. "What is up with that guy? It's like he's not even human..." Snide didn't notice, but Collins' mouth twitched into a smile.I didn't know why he was smiling and I wasn't going to ask.
"Collins!" Captain Sobel marched over angrily to our group of three. "Do you find something funny about your run?" I thought I saw spit fly from Sobel's mouth. He was a very unpleasant man. His dark eyes were very close together and they looked down a large stretch of nose. Collins immediately stood at attention, in textbook stance, his feet exactly forty-five degrees apart at the angle. I was surprised that Sobel didn't get down with a protractor and measure it. Honestly, I believe that was one battle that Sobel would lose.
"Sir, no sir!" Collins spoke with a force that rivaled Sobels. Collins hated calling Sobel sir and he let his tone make that clear, but he did it because had to and he would continue to do so. Only because he had too.
"Well maybe this will wipe that smirk off your face! Run it again!" He turned his back on Collins. "And drag Richards and Snider with you!" Snider groaned audibly. I didn't want to run it again so soon, my lungs were still aching and my hands were still shaking from the first time we had sprinted the course. I would soon learn that the first time was always the hardest. Even the second run was easier than the first. In three days we were running the course with all our supplies. Building up our stamina as much as we could.
I'm not going to say that I had it easy. Cause that would be a lie. But when it came to things like running and carrying extra weight while running I believe that I did have it a little easier than most. Ever since I was little I've been small, and at eighteen years old I knew in my heart, no matter how much I prayed, I wouldn't be getting any bigger. I stood at 5 feet 5 inches tall. Which was small compared tot he men I was standing around. John Miller was 6'8" and the tallest man in the Regiment. He was a good man but it sometimes hurt to talk to him for long periods of time. At an entire one foot three inches height difference, I could only have a good conversation with him if we were sitting across from each other. I was also a good one hundred pounds lighter than most of the men here. That's one hundred pounds I didn't need to lug around with me on a regular basis. So being small had its advantages at time. But not many in the military.
I scrambled over the log wall, jumping as far as I could and climbing the rest. Collins and I hit the ground at the same time. I had lost track of where Snider was. I dove under the barbed wire, my elbows and knees digging through the slick mud. As we ran through the tires in sync I heard Snider hiss behind us. He must have cut himself on the wire again. Sobel was screaming at him. We swung over the large put before the finish line. Collins ran over the line. I landed oddly and somersaulted to save myself from falling flat on my face. I stood up as quickly as possible and I met the eyes of Second Lieutenant Richard Winters. This would be the first time I would meet one of the greatest leaders the 2nd Battalion would ever see. He was a very attractive man. His blond hair was mostly covered by his hat. His blue eyes reflected the harsh light of the sun. His face was softened by a perfect set of dimples.
I immediately straightened up and followed Collins to the back. He would later make me regret my decision to not date while in the military, but that's a story for another time. As always, Collins didn't look the least bit out of breath. I scratched at my arm absent mindedly at one of the many bug bites that covered my skin. Georgia was suffocated with mosquitos and they seemed to absolutely love me. Snider dropped beside me in an exhausted heap.
The physical training never got any easier. In fact it became increasingly difficult with each passing day. Unlike other parts of the military the Airborne could pick out any man they didn't think fit the bill and could transfer them to other branches. Everyday we had to prove that we wanted to be here. They physical training was rigorous and the standards were high. But living with six brothers who all wanted to be Marines from the time they were young gave me a head start in life. Being the youngest of seven kids and the only girl I had to fight for everything I wanted and had to defend everything that I had.
One part of the training that I actually looked forward to was jump training. I remember staring up at the thirty-four foot tower for the first time. The un-polished wood gave me a splinter half way up the climb. Once you got to the top, Sobel strapped you to a harness which was attached to a pulley which was attached to a sixty foot rope. Once I jumped the wind hit my face. It was almost like free falling. That free feeling. I loved every second of it. And with sixty feet there were a lot of seconds to enjoy it. But the end was the hard part. There was no way of slowing yourself down. You had to land as though we were jumping out of a plane. If you didn't land right you could break one or both of your legs. The first time I landed I fell forward and smashed my head on a tree. I woke up to Snider crashing into me at the bottom. He didn't land right either. The second time I landed perfectly, the second time Snider didn't.
Camp Toccoa didn't have shooting ranges like most of the camps did. So we had to march thirty miles to the nearby college to use their building. Toccoa was under construction for most of our stay. The M1 rifle was a good gun, but I soon learned that I enjoyed hand guns better. The rifle, the M1 Garand, was a new concept, a semi-automatic rifle. We didn't need to reload every time we wanted to fire another shot. The gun did that for us. Snider liked having a gun in his hand and was the first to begin firing. As I passed by Collins I noticed he had shot all eight shots but there were only two holes in the human outlined paper. One dead center of the heart. The other right between the eyes. I would bet my pay for the year that four shots had been fired into each hole. I found it wasn't difficult to sight in the gun, by the time I was finished I could have shot an apple off of Sobel's head. But I may have missed on purpose if given the chance.
Hand guns were more my specialty though. They probably weren't as useful in war but I like only needing to use one hand. And it took up a lot less space while I was running around. And if you're jumping out of planes, space and weight needed to be kept to a minimum. Miller stood beside me and began sighting his weapon.
"Heard Sobel talkin' 'bout ya today, Richards." This made me look up from my gun. "He's startin' to dislike you as much as he does Collins. Says you're becomin' more n more like him everyday." A smile spread across my face. Sobel saw Collins as a threat, someone he couldn't break no matter how hard he tried. If Sobel thought I was anything like Collins then I was doing my job much better than I thought. "What are you smiling at?" I shook my head, shaking my smile away. "Hey, Richards."
"Yeah?" I looked up into his sky blue eyes.
"Why did you want to become a paratrooper?" That was something that I was not expecting from Miller. A personal question.
"Well..." I was trying to find the answer without sounding girly. "I grew up with six other brothers who all wanted to be Marines. And honestly I don't like water that much, ever since my brother Charlie pushed me off a cliff into a lake and I almost drowned when I was four." That was a true story. My brother Charlie was a dick... "And I didn't want to be like all them in a way. And my grand father Bill served in the war. When the information about paratroopers was released I thought that would be perfect for me. I don't mind heights, it seems like a challenge, and I want to be the best if I'm going to serve my country." Miller nodded. "What about you?" I honestly didn't expect him to answer.
"My dad left. He was a Russian immigrant that slept with the first American women he met. I don't think he knows he even has a kid. I'm an only child and my Mom works in a musty old factory. She lost her hand when I was twelve. So I had to drop out of school and start working real young. When I heard you got one hundred bucks a month I immediately signed up so I could help support her. She was great growing up. Like I had both parents instead of just one." I smiled at that. I knew what it was like to have a great mother.
I would sit on the Sobel information for days. I don't know why it made me so happy to hear that Sobel dislike me. Most people tried to stay on his good side. But knowing that Sobel didn't like me meant that he would only push me harder than everybody else. By pushing me harder he would mold me into one of the best. And as a woman pretending to be a man. I needed to be better than everybody else.
--
"Jesus!" Snider complained as he, myself, and Collins ran the fierce obstacle course. They always ran us in threes. Snider was always called up first because he was talking while we were supposed to be standing at attention. Collins pissed off Sobel. Sobel had been attempting to get him to cry mercy since the first day of boot camp. Collins was the strong and silent type. He never sweat, he never heaved, he never complained. He did as he was told and completed it all with a perfection that none of the other men could ever hope to accomplish. I don't know what Sobel had against me. Maybe I'm just the odd man out. The three of us were always paired together. We always went first. We always finished. I enjoyed being paired with Collins. Trying to keep up with him always pushed me to my limits.
The dark green grass felt good against my burning legs as I sat down. Collins stood close by. He wasn't breathing heavily or sitting like I was. He was staring calmly up at the sky. Snider collapsed beside me, laying on his back and gasping for breath. "What is up with that guy? It's like he's not even human..." Snide didn't notice, but Collins' mouth twitched into a smile.I didn't know why he was smiling and I wasn't going to ask.
"Collins!" Captain Sobel marched over angrily to our group of three. "Do you find something funny about your run?" I thought I saw spit fly from Sobel's mouth. He was a very unpleasant man. His dark eyes were very close together and they looked down a large stretch of nose. Collins immediately stood at attention, in textbook stance, his feet exactly forty-five degrees apart at the angle. I was surprised that Sobel didn't get down with a protractor and measure it. Honestly, I believe that was one battle that Sobel would lose.
"Sir, no sir!" Collins spoke with a force that rivaled Sobels. Collins hated calling Sobel sir and he let his tone make that clear, but he did it because had to and he would continue to do so. Only because he had too.
"Well maybe this will wipe that smirk off your face! Run it again!" He turned his back on Collins. "And drag Richards and Snider with you!" Snider groaned audibly. I didn't want to run it again so soon, my lungs were still aching and my hands were still shaking from the first time we had sprinted the course. I would soon learn that the first time was always the hardest. Even the second run was easier than the first. In three days we were running the course with all our supplies. Building up our stamina as much as we could.
I'm not going to say that I had it easy. Cause that would be a lie. But when it came to things like running and carrying extra weight while running I believe that I did have it a little easier than most. Ever since I was little I've been small, and at eighteen years old I knew in my heart, no matter how much I prayed, I wouldn't be getting any bigger. I stood at 5 feet 5 inches tall. Which was small compared tot he men I was standing around. John Miller was 6'8" and the tallest man in the Regiment. He was a good man but it sometimes hurt to talk to him for long periods of time. At an entire one foot three inches height difference, I could only have a good conversation with him if we were sitting across from each other. I was also a good one hundred pounds lighter than most of the men here. That's one hundred pounds I didn't need to lug around with me on a regular basis. So being small had its advantages at time. But not many in the military.
I scrambled over the log wall, jumping as far as I could and climbing the rest. Collins and I hit the ground at the same time. I had lost track of where Snider was. I dove under the barbed wire, my elbows and knees digging through the slick mud. As we ran through the tires in sync I heard Snider hiss behind us. He must have cut himself on the wire again. Sobel was screaming at him. We swung over the large put before the finish line. Collins ran over the line. I landed oddly and somersaulted to save myself from falling flat on my face. I stood up as quickly as possible and I met the eyes of Second Lieutenant Richard Winters. This would be the first time I would meet one of the greatest leaders the 2nd Battalion would ever see. He was a very attractive man. His blond hair was mostly covered by his hat. His blue eyes reflected the harsh light of the sun. His face was softened by a perfect set of dimples.
I immediately straightened up and followed Collins to the back. He would later make me regret my decision to not date while in the military, but that's a story for another time. As always, Collins didn't look the least bit out of breath. I scratched at my arm absent mindedly at one of the many bug bites that covered my skin. Georgia was suffocated with mosquitos and they seemed to absolutely love me. Snider dropped beside me in an exhausted heap.
The physical training never got any easier. In fact it became increasingly difficult with each passing day. Unlike other parts of the military the Airborne could pick out any man they didn't think fit the bill and could transfer them to other branches. Everyday we had to prove that we wanted to be here. They physical training was rigorous and the standards were high. But living with six brothers who all wanted to be Marines from the time they were young gave me a head start in life. Being the youngest of seven kids and the only girl I had to fight for everything I wanted and had to defend everything that I had.
One part of the training that I actually looked forward to was jump training. I remember staring up at the thirty-four foot tower for the first time. The un-polished wood gave me a splinter half way up the climb. Once you got to the top, Sobel strapped you to a harness which was attached to a pulley which was attached to a sixty foot rope. Once I jumped the wind hit my face. It was almost like free falling. That free feeling. I loved every second of it. And with sixty feet there were a lot of seconds to enjoy it. But the end was the hard part. There was no way of slowing yourself down. You had to land as though we were jumping out of a plane. If you didn't land right you could break one or both of your legs. The first time I landed I fell forward and smashed my head on a tree. I woke up to Snider crashing into me at the bottom. He didn't land right either. The second time I landed perfectly, the second time Snider didn't.
Camp Toccoa didn't have shooting ranges like most of the camps did. So we had to march thirty miles to the nearby college to use their building. Toccoa was under construction for most of our stay. The M1 rifle was a good gun, but I soon learned that I enjoyed hand guns better. The rifle, the M1 Garand, was a new concept, a semi-automatic rifle. We didn't need to reload every time we wanted to fire another shot. The gun did that for us. Snider liked having a gun in his hand and was the first to begin firing. As I passed by Collins I noticed he had shot all eight shots but there were only two holes in the human outlined paper. One dead center of the heart. The other right between the eyes. I would bet my pay for the year that four shots had been fired into each hole. I found it wasn't difficult to sight in the gun, by the time I was finished I could have shot an apple off of Sobel's head. But I may have missed on purpose if given the chance.
Hand guns were more my specialty though. They probably weren't as useful in war but I like only needing to use one hand. And it took up a lot less space while I was running around. And if you're jumping out of planes, space and weight needed to be kept to a minimum. Miller stood beside me and began sighting his weapon.
"Heard Sobel talkin' 'bout ya today, Richards." This made me look up from my gun. "He's startin' to dislike you as much as he does Collins. Says you're becomin' more n more like him everyday." A smile spread across my face. Sobel saw Collins as a threat, someone he couldn't break no matter how hard he tried. If Sobel thought I was anything like Collins then I was doing my job much better than I thought. "What are you smiling at?" I shook my head, shaking my smile away. "Hey, Richards."
"Yeah?" I looked up into his sky blue eyes.
"Why did you want to become a paratrooper?" That was something that I was not expecting from Miller. A personal question.
"Well..." I was trying to find the answer without sounding girly. "I grew up with six other brothers who all wanted to be Marines. And honestly I don't like water that much, ever since my brother Charlie pushed me off a cliff into a lake and I almost drowned when I was four." That was a true story. My brother Charlie was a dick... "And I didn't want to be like all them in a way. And my grand father Bill served in the war. When the information about paratroopers was released I thought that would be perfect for me. I don't mind heights, it seems like a challenge, and I want to be the best if I'm going to serve my country." Miller nodded. "What about you?" I honestly didn't expect him to answer.
"My dad left. He was a Russian immigrant that slept with the first American women he met. I don't think he knows he even has a kid. I'm an only child and my Mom works in a musty old factory. She lost her hand when I was twelve. So I had to drop out of school and start working real young. When I heard you got one hundred bucks a month I immediately signed up so I could help support her. She was great growing up. Like I had both parents instead of just one." I smiled at that. I knew what it was like to have a great mother.
I would sit on the Sobel information for days. I don't know why it made me so happy to hear that Sobel dislike me. Most people tried to stay on his good side. But knowing that Sobel didn't like me meant that he would only push me harder than everybody else. By pushing me harder he would mold me into one of the best. And as a woman pretending to be a man. I needed to be better than everybody else.