Gunslinger

The transition from front line to garrison duty was quick. After that first day in camp, the company had a marching drill on the second day, and on the third day they practiced regular retreat formation with cannon firing and inspection. On 30th November, the mail caught up with the men and morale was boosted 100%.

Dana was surprised when her name was called out to collect mail, and she blinked at the envelope for a moment before opening the letter and beginning to read.
“My dearest Dana, I trust that you and Brian do not hate me for interfering with your life however I had to fix the wrongs of the past. Your young man never cheated on you, and has always been true. He loved you unconditionally and it broke his heart when you turned away from him. As a result of that, both of you were killed during the war as you weren’t there for each other. Both of you were given another chance at life, and you both found each other again. It will always be that way with you two as together you are whole. Give him another chance to prove his love, as he is your soul mate. Sincerely, Madeline Brouchard.”

Dana lifted a hand to her mouth, her eyes swimming with emotion. Little things were falling into place for her. She had always been afraid to love, afraid of getting hurt. Maybe she had been sub-consciously comparing every man she had met to her soul mate and it never worked because none of them ever measured up. What if she really had lived before, and was a soldier in World War 2. She had believed her boyfriend cheated on her and she had broken up with him, thus ensuring that they both shared heartache. As a result of her actions, they had both died but been born again. It sounded so far-fetched, but she was here now facing the reality. Could she really forget all the horrible things that Brian had said to her over the years? Did he really mean them, or was he channelling the hurt man from the past who was protecting his heart?

She didn’t know if she could face him just yet, however she was unsure what to do. Garrison duty was boring after being on the front line, and she wasn’t sure what to do with herself. Division tried to work off some of the excess energy of the company by ordering 5 mile marches, parades and lots of callisthenics. Dana hated cardio, and the drill sergeant was worse than any personal trainer she had ever had the misfortune to meet. Division also organized games of baseball, basketball and football and borrowed football equipment from the Air Force. Dana enjoyed playing baseball with the men, as it wasn’t as physical as basketball or football. She had punched Johnson on the arm when he had told her she was short enough to BE the football.

Division had also set up three movie theatres, and opened a Red Cross Club. The same movies were repeated over and over again, as it was hard to get new movies in the middle of a war zone, but the men didn’t mind. It was an escape from the horrors of war. Dana was often escorted to the movie theatre by Pagliaro and O’Shea. A few times she had noticed Brian hovering nearby but he made no move to speak to her.

***************

Veterans were returning from hospital and new recruits were arriving. Hanson rejoined the company, recovered from his wound in Holland. Lieutenant Thomas Higgins, who had hooked up as replacement during the last week in Holland, became assistant platoon leader of 2nd platoon under Hanson. The men were a mixture of seasoned combat veterans, some with just Holland under their belt, and green replacements.

The replacements, eighteen and nineteen year olds fresh from the States, were wide eyed. Although the veterans were mostly only a year or two older, they looked terrifying to the recruits. They were supposed to have handed in their live ammunition when they left Holland, but almost none had done so, including Dana and Brian. A young man, who looked like he was about 12, gawked at Dana as she walked past him down the street. She had hand grenades hanging off her belt, clips of ammunition on her harness, her knife in a scabbard and her unauthorized sidearm.
“Damn, it’s a woman”, she overheard one of them say. She laughed softly to herself when she heard Johnson speak to the young private.
“She may be a woman, but she’s got a Distinguished Cross Medal, a Gallantry in Action medal, and she would have had a purple heart but the exploding tank that got her was one of ours and not the enemy’s”. The young man’s eyes widened.

Lieutenant Carlisle, Johnson, Taylor, Higgins, Hanson and the other officers worked at blending the recruits into the outfit, to bring them up to E Company’ standard of teamwork and individual skills. This was proving to be difficult, as the veterans just couldn’t take the field manoeuvres seriously.

By the end of the second week in December, the company was back to about 65% of its strength in enlisted men. Officer strength was high with Carlisle in command, Johnson servicing as executive officer, and two lieutenants were platoon plus a spare. Put another way, the spare was because the airborne commanders expected the casualties in the next action would be highest among the junior officer ranks. Johnson was by now the oldest serving officer in the company, and he had not been at Toccoa where the company had been formed. Only Johnson and Hanson had been in Normandy with E Company; Johnson, Hanson, Carlisle, Taylor and Higgins had spent some time in Holland.

It was the NCO’s who were providing continuity and holding the company together. Among the NCO’s who had started out at Toccoa as privates were Richland, Butler, Murphy, Pagliaro, O’Shea and others including Brian and Dana, though both couldn’t remember.

*************

Excitement ran high in Mourmelon. Now that E Company was in a more or less permanent camp the men could expect more mail, and could hope that Christmas packages would catch up with them. A football match had been planned between the 502nd and 506th Divisions, with a turkey dinner to follow. Betting was already heavy on the game, and the practice sessions were getting longer and tougher.

The future after Christmas looked pretty good, with no fighting for the company until at least mid March. Then would come the jump into Germany, and after that the move to the Pacific.

The sergeants had their own barracks in Mourmelon, however Dana had been given a separate room. On one night, however, she was in the men’s quarters and Sergeant Collins and Pagliaro had got hold of a case of champagne. Apart from Dana, they were all unaccustomed to the bubbly wine. Collins popped a few corks and the other sergeants held out their canteen cups.
“Well hell, Johnny”, Murphy said, “that’s nothing but soda pop for Christ’s sake!”

They drank some of the world’s finest champagne as if it were soda pop, with inevitable results. A fight broke out, and many of the bunks were torn down. First Sergeant Richland came into the barracks, took one look and bellowed.
“You guys are supposed to be leaders. A bunch of sergeants doing all this crap!” He made everyone clean up the mess before allowing them to sleep it off.

Dana, who hadn’t had as much to drink as the others went to the movie theatre however the lights came on and an officer strode onto to the stage to announce a German breakthrough in the Ardennes and all passes were revoked.

The next morning, the officers informed the company that what was going on in the Ardennes was going to be a concern for the 82nd and 101st.