In a Hero's Shoes
1945
“Hey sleepy head, wake the hell up, Sgt. Cory will scream at your ass if you don’t!” said Pvt. Ryan. It was the morning of April 25 in Po Valley, Italy. The Allies were driving an attack into the Valley against the Germans, trying to enter Germany. Somewhere deep in that valley laid a unit readying themselves for the upcoming battle. It was a small unit, no more than a handful of men, and planes to boot. Pvt. Ryan looked around anxiously making sure Sgt. Cory wouldn’t storm in to give his friend a lecture. Not to mention a good lesson about oversleeping and no dinner that night… if they survived the battle to come that is. Pvt. Ryan wasn’t ready for what was to come; after all he was only a boy. Small for the age of 18, he still had hardened features after being about 2 years into the war. He was a tan, small but strong boy, brown eyes, and a scar coming down the left side of his face after taking shrapnel wound from a cooked grenade. And he wasn’t the patient type either. Pvt. Ryan was fuming about now, so he slapped his comrade up the head. “Seriously man, get up! We are leaving to the front line today.” This awoke the equally young private from bed. Pvt. Ryan could only shake his head. “Well it’s about time you got up, we are leaving at 0800 hours and you have not even got out of the bed William!” Pvt. William could only look up at him, still half asleep, and blinked. Unlike his friend Ryan, William wasn’t as hardened looking at him. William was about his same age, tall, slightly pale and less war hungry because he had only joined the military 2 months ago. The private rubbed his eyes and stared at the outside of his tent, then moved his gaze to his friend and smiled. Pvt. Ryan crumpled his face in anger. “Don’t smile at me! How about instead of smiling you could get up and start packing up for the battle!” he said with venom in his words. William frowned, and then got up from his bunker to his bag. He grabbed his beaten helmet, opened his bag and placed it in there. William then looked up at his friend Ryan and shrugged his shoulders. “Done.” William said with big yawn. Ryan looked infuriated, and was about to say something, but the he cracked a smile and busted out laughing. “Ha ha ha ha… Man you always crack me up…” Ryan got up, and with a big smile said, “Now come on, let’s pack the rest of your stuff and get ready for our destinies.”
“Gentlemen, today we enter into the battlefield. Some of you will come out victorious, others will not survive. Don’t let that discourage you, but use it to your advantage. If we could, we would bring you all back from the battlefield alive, but we cannot. But YOU can! Stay smart, stay vigilant, stay calm, and you shall stay alive. Conserve ammo, shoot when you need to. Stay with your comrades, never try to be a hero and go alone. Follow all this, and I guarantee you will come back alive! Understood? Now get back to packing and inspecting your weapons. We leave at 0800 hours” Sgt. Cory said finishing. A chorus of “Sir yes sirs!” rang out, followed by the many stomps of combat boots stepping from the airfield runway. Pvt. Ryan and Pvt. William looked at each other, nodded, and continued walking to their stations to prepare for the upcoming battle. The airfield they were leaving was filled with movement and life. Airplanes were being dragged out of their hangers checking them over to make sure they were ready to fly. More sounds of boots hitting the ground in a orderly manner, the skies filled with Jodie’s as the soldiers prepare for war. Pvt. William turns to Ryan and was about to say something until he bumps into someone walking at a very fast pace. “Ow! Oh sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going…” said the man who bumped into William. “Oh no it’s not a problem, um…” William stopped mid sentence, not knowing how to address the man. “Second Lieutenant… Err, I mean First Lieutenant Raymond L. Knight, sorry. I’m still trying to get used to my new rank.” At the sound of Lieutenant, the two privates straightened up and saluted the officer. “At ease, no need to salute.” said Raymond with a big smile on his face. Given the order, the two privates took a deep breath and relaxed. “Now I would love to stay and chat, but I must really get to my plane and ready it. I wish you both the best of luck, and be careful out there.” With that, he turned and walked quickly to the hanger where his plane waits for him to fly. The two privates looked at each other, and only could stare and say nothing. Pvt. Ryan was the one who snapped out of it, and urged them both to continue walking. They had a long walk to their station. As they walked, William could only wonder how it must feel to be on a plane like the officer Raymond was going to ride. Mumbling it over his mind, Ryan brings him back to reality and tells him they were almost to their station. William could only sigh, he was not ready for battle. He knew what Sgt. Cory said was true, some people weren’t going to come back alive. The private had a horrible sinking feeling that he was going to be one of those people. “Is something the matter William?” William turned to his friend and told him his worries. Ryan could only stay stoned faced. Then with a small smile he said, “Don’t worry, we will both come back alive.” But William could see the look in Ryan’s eyes, he was lying. He didn’t even know if he HIMSELF was going to come back alive. Thinking those dark thoughts, they reach to their stations, packed up for war, and waited until they were given the order to move out.
The violent shakes of the truck made all the soldiers in it move and jump up and down from their seats, but William didn’t seem to notice. He was holding a picture of a girl in a locket, with the look of longing in his eyes to see her again. Pvt. Ryan looked over at what his friend was cradling in his hands and asked him, “Who is the girl in the picture Will?” Pvt. William could only look up at his friend and smile while choking back tears. “She is my soon-to-be wife, Emilia, already 6 months pregnant with our baby girl. That’s who she is, Ryan.” Ryan was stunned. “Well why haven’ you ever told me about this girl huh? You think being a friend and all you would tell me everything.” He said giving a look of question at William’s direction, but he didn’t notice, or if he did, then he ignored it. Ryan sighed, and then gave a small nudge at his friend. “Don’t worry. We will make it out alive. You’ll see her again, I promise you. I won’t let anything happen to you.” Just then an officer had just turned away from his spot by the driver and yelled, “Alright we have arrived in Bergamo. The planes have already taken out most of the ground troops yesterday, so the battle won’t be as gruesome, but don’t let your guard down! Stay with your groups, conserve ammo, and stay alive! Alright grab your guns and-” Before the officer could finish his sentence a mortar shell had hit right next to their truck, throwing off all of the troops inside. Both Pvt. Ryan and William had been violently thrown off as well as the others, but they were the fortunate ones who were thrown off away from the truck. Their faces had hit dirt landing, but they stood up and spit out the dirt and grass from their mouths. William had looked around his surroundings, and what he saw was his first taste of war. Some men were as fortunate as William and Ryan, others not as lucky. Soldiers trapped under the trucks yelled in agony screaming that they couldn’t feel their legs, while others were looking for their legs. The uninjured troops was helping pull up the truck to free the other troops from underneath and searching for others who might be underneath the truck as well. William just could not believe what he was seeing. He sat there stunned at the scene he was watching. Troops getting up to pick up their weapons, other troops helping the injured get up or tie up their stumps at where their legs used to be. Ryan was also looking at the sight, but he didn’t stop. He already knew what he had to do in these situations. Ryan stood up and walked over to where William was sitting. He grabbed a hold of him and shook him to snap him out of his shock. William didn’t respond. Furious, Ryan screamed at him telling him that they needed to get moving. It didn’t work as well, but William’s eyes widened and he started to pat around the floor moving quickly muttering a word over and over again. “What are you doing William? C’mon we need to get moving! The battle is over this hill and if we don’t move-” another mortar had just hit a few feet away from their position. Dirt flew up hitting all the troops by the wrecked truck. A big chunk had hit William, but he didn’t stop searching for what he was looking for. Ryan hadn’t been hit by much, so he turned back again to his friend and tried to pull him up, only to be shoved away. “What the heck! I’m trying to save you here! Let’s go before another mortar hits!” William looked up at Ryan wild eyed and said, “The locket! Where is the locket!! I’m not leaving without it!” Ryan again tried to pull him up. “You don’t need the locket! You can see her in real life later on! C’mon, there is no point in dying for a locket! If you live then you get to see her! So let’s GO!” He said with final attempt of pulling him up. William just couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. As he got up, he let out a couple of drops that feel on the ground. Ryan grabbed his arm and pulled him to the wreck truck. “Ok, looks like they are already taking the injured,” he bent down to grab to guns lying on the ground and shoved one at William. “Now I need you to snap out of it. You need to be focused, if not you won’t make it out of here alive! Understood?” William could only stay quiet and stare at his feet moving him up the hill. Ryan gave him a good bash on William’s helmet and said, “Snap out of it! We are here so get you head together!” William didn’t want to, but he shook his head and looked up. Firing from both sides of the field was coming to and fro, the sound of guns shooting and mortars hitting both soldiers and other mortars alike. The roaring of the plane’s engines was overhead, tearing up the sky with its fast moving maneuvers and quick escapes from enemy gunfire. As they ran down to the field, William could see so many troops fighting for their lives shooting at the enemies, so many bodies both alive and dead. William looked up again and saw Allied planes, but a few of them were back while another had entered alone… “William! C’mon and stop daydreaming! We are almost to the ditches so stay awake till then!” William looked at his friend and nodded. The loud bangs and cracks of bullets being shot out of the gun’s barrels grew louder as William, Ryan, and the others of their group arrived behind the ditches with their other fellow comrades. Everyone started to load their guns just as they were taught at camp and prepared to fight. Another mortar shell had fell close to where their ditch was, spraying more dirt all over the already dirty soldiers. Ryan and William had shielded their eyes from the dirt keeping it from blinding them. More dirt was flying up as mortars and grenades alike were exploding on the floor trying to hit their designated targets. Some of the men from the group had split up to go meet up with others around the ditches. Others had gone shooting trying to kill the enemies firing back. William and Ryan were both just sitting there breathing heavily, preparing themselves for what’s to come. William had looked up one more time to see the planes flying overhead. He saw now that the planes were maneuvering inwards taking out other enemy aircrafts. Flying towards the base was a very beat up plane with black smoke coming from both engines, but he was flying skillfully through the sky still trying to take down other enemy aircrafts. Pvt. William was awed, not knowing how he could still keep going even after all the hit’s the plane had taken. Ryan too looked up and saw the spectacle. “Crazy guy isn’t he?” Ryan said to William. William could only nod. The same plane then turned to what looked like flying away to the direction of their base, but the plane shook violently and flew straight into the mountains. Both Ryan and William flinched, seeing the plane burst into a ball of fire alongside the mountain side with debris falling from what was left of the plane. Ryan and William looked down at their feet in respect to the fallen airman. William looked over to his friend lying alongside him behind the ditch, but Ryan wasn’t looking back at him. He was shaking violently with his fist balled up, his face turning red with anger. Ryan opened up his eyes and with a quick movement picked up his gun and jumped over the ditch that was protecting him from the hellfire of enemy bullets. William got up to grab his friend and pull him back behind the safety of the ditch, but he couldn’t reach Ryan in time. Ryan ran down the field shooting at random trying to hit anyone he saw. William couldn’t sit around and let his friend die. The private jumped over the ditch and ran down as fast as he could to his friend and to snap him out of his burst of anger before it was too late. Sounds of gunfire and loud explosions died down as William ran reaching his friend. Then what William saw almost made him trip and fall into another ditch. At the corner of his eye, he saw a grenade being thrown straight at Ryan ready to end his life with a single explosion. William’s eyes widened and he feared that he wouldn’t be able to reach him in time. Strangely enough as it seems though, he was filled with something he couldn’t explain and he ran faster than he ever ran in his entire life. Ryan had continued running down the field still shooting, when he caught sight of a small circular object drop at his feet. He stopped to look down at the object, and he froze at the sight of what he now knew was a grenade. Ryan closed his eyes knowing that his life was going to end there, when suddenly was pushed aside into a ditch by someone. William had finally reached Ryan, and seeing how Ryan froze, he needed to get him out of the way. William had only one idea, but it was not one that had a happy ending for himself. As William had pushed Ryan into a nearby ditch, he muttered under his breath, “Forgive me Emilia.” Suddenly a great big flash had blinded William. The last thing he heard was the helpless screaming of Ryan, then the image of his love Emilia. Then everything had gone black.
“Gentlemen, today we enter into the battlefield. Some of you will come out victorious, others will not survive. Don’t let that discourage you, but use it to your advantage. If we could, we would bring you all back from the battlefield alive, but we cannot. But YOU can! Stay smart, stay vigilant, stay calm, and you shall stay alive. Conserve ammo, shoot when you need to. Stay with your comrades, never try to be a hero and go alone. Follow all this, and I guarantee you will come back alive! Understood? Now get back to packing and inspecting your weapons. We leave at 0800 hours” Sgt. Cory said finishing. A chorus of “Sir yes sirs!” rang out, followed by the many stomps of combat boots stepping from the airfield runway. Pvt. Ryan and Pvt. William looked at each other, nodded, and continued walking to their stations to prepare for the upcoming battle. The airfield they were leaving was filled with movement and life. Airplanes were being dragged out of their hangers checking them over to make sure they were ready to fly. More sounds of boots hitting the ground in a orderly manner, the skies filled with Jodie’s as the soldiers prepare for war. Pvt. William turns to Ryan and was about to say something until he bumps into someone walking at a very fast pace. “Ow! Oh sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going…” said the man who bumped into William. “Oh no it’s not a problem, um…” William stopped mid sentence, not knowing how to address the man. “Second Lieutenant… Err, I mean First Lieutenant Raymond L. Knight, sorry. I’m still trying to get used to my new rank.” At the sound of Lieutenant, the two privates straightened up and saluted the officer. “At ease, no need to salute.” said Raymond with a big smile on his face. Given the order, the two privates took a deep breath and relaxed. “Now I would love to stay and chat, but I must really get to my plane and ready it. I wish you both the best of luck, and be careful out there.” With that, he turned and walked quickly to the hanger where his plane waits for him to fly. The two privates looked at each other, and only could stare and say nothing. Pvt. Ryan was the one who snapped out of it, and urged them both to continue walking. They had a long walk to their station. As they walked, William could only wonder how it must feel to be on a plane like the officer Raymond was going to ride. Mumbling it over his mind, Ryan brings him back to reality and tells him they were almost to their station. William could only sigh, he was not ready for battle. He knew what Sgt. Cory said was true, some people weren’t going to come back alive. The private had a horrible sinking feeling that he was going to be one of those people. “Is something the matter William?” William turned to his friend and told him his worries. Ryan could only stay stoned faced. Then with a small smile he said, “Don’t worry, we will both come back alive.” But William could see the look in Ryan’s eyes, he was lying. He didn’t even know if he HIMSELF was going to come back alive. Thinking those dark thoughts, they reach to their stations, packed up for war, and waited until they were given the order to move out.
The violent shakes of the truck made all the soldiers in it move and jump up and down from their seats, but William didn’t seem to notice. He was holding a picture of a girl in a locket, with the look of longing in his eyes to see her again. Pvt. Ryan looked over at what his friend was cradling in his hands and asked him, “Who is the girl in the picture Will?” Pvt. William could only look up at his friend and smile while choking back tears. “She is my soon-to-be wife, Emilia, already 6 months pregnant with our baby girl. That’s who she is, Ryan.” Ryan was stunned. “Well why haven’ you ever told me about this girl huh? You think being a friend and all you would tell me everything.” He said giving a look of question at William’s direction, but he didn’t notice, or if he did, then he ignored it. Ryan sighed, and then gave a small nudge at his friend. “Don’t worry. We will make it out alive. You’ll see her again, I promise you. I won’t let anything happen to you.” Just then an officer had just turned away from his spot by the driver and yelled, “Alright we have arrived in Bergamo. The planes have already taken out most of the ground troops yesterday, so the battle won’t be as gruesome, but don’t let your guard down! Stay with your groups, conserve ammo, and stay alive! Alright grab your guns and-” Before the officer could finish his sentence a mortar shell had hit right next to their truck, throwing off all of the troops inside. Both Pvt. Ryan and William had been violently thrown off as well as the others, but they were the fortunate ones who were thrown off away from the truck. Their faces had hit dirt landing, but they stood up and spit out the dirt and grass from their mouths. William had looked around his surroundings, and what he saw was his first taste of war. Some men were as fortunate as William and Ryan, others not as lucky. Soldiers trapped under the trucks yelled in agony screaming that they couldn’t feel their legs, while others were looking for their legs. The uninjured troops was helping pull up the truck to free the other troops from underneath and searching for others who might be underneath the truck as well. William just could not believe what he was seeing. He sat there stunned at the scene he was watching. Troops getting up to pick up their weapons, other troops helping the injured get up or tie up their stumps at where their legs used to be. Ryan was also looking at the sight, but he didn’t stop. He already knew what he had to do in these situations. Ryan stood up and walked over to where William was sitting. He grabbed a hold of him and shook him to snap him out of his shock. William didn’t respond. Furious, Ryan screamed at him telling him that they needed to get moving. It didn’t work as well, but William’s eyes widened and he started to pat around the floor moving quickly muttering a word over and over again. “What are you doing William? C’mon we need to get moving! The battle is over this hill and if we don’t move-” another mortar had just hit a few feet away from their position. Dirt flew up hitting all the troops by the wrecked truck. A big chunk had hit William, but he didn’t stop searching for what he was looking for. Ryan hadn’t been hit by much, so he turned back again to his friend and tried to pull him up, only to be shoved away. “What the heck! I’m trying to save you here! Let’s go before another mortar hits!” William looked up at Ryan wild eyed and said, “The locket! Where is the locket!! I’m not leaving without it!” Ryan again tried to pull him up. “You don’t need the locket! You can see her in real life later on! C’mon, there is no point in dying for a locket! If you live then you get to see her! So let’s GO!” He said with final attempt of pulling him up. William just couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. As he got up, he let out a couple of drops that feel on the ground. Ryan grabbed his arm and pulled him to the wreck truck. “Ok, looks like they are already taking the injured,” he bent down to grab to guns lying on the ground and shoved one at William. “Now I need you to snap out of it. You need to be focused, if not you won’t make it out of here alive! Understood?” William could only stay quiet and stare at his feet moving him up the hill. Ryan gave him a good bash on William’s helmet and said, “Snap out of it! We are here so get you head together!” William didn’t want to, but he shook his head and looked up. Firing from both sides of the field was coming to and fro, the sound of guns shooting and mortars hitting both soldiers and other mortars alike. The roaring of the plane’s engines was overhead, tearing up the sky with its fast moving maneuvers and quick escapes from enemy gunfire. As they ran down to the field, William could see so many troops fighting for their lives shooting at the enemies, so many bodies both alive and dead. William looked up again and saw Allied planes, but a few of them were back while another had entered alone… “William! C’mon and stop daydreaming! We are almost to the ditches so stay awake till then!” William looked at his friend and nodded. The loud bangs and cracks of bullets being shot out of the gun’s barrels grew louder as William, Ryan, and the others of their group arrived behind the ditches with their other fellow comrades. Everyone started to load their guns just as they were taught at camp and prepared to fight. Another mortar shell had fell close to where their ditch was, spraying more dirt all over the already dirty soldiers. Ryan and William had shielded their eyes from the dirt keeping it from blinding them. More dirt was flying up as mortars and grenades alike were exploding on the floor trying to hit their designated targets. Some of the men from the group had split up to go meet up with others around the ditches. Others had gone shooting trying to kill the enemies firing back. William and Ryan were both just sitting there breathing heavily, preparing themselves for what’s to come. William had looked up one more time to see the planes flying overhead. He saw now that the planes were maneuvering inwards taking out other enemy aircrafts. Flying towards the base was a very beat up plane with black smoke coming from both engines, but he was flying skillfully through the sky still trying to take down other enemy aircrafts. Pvt. William was awed, not knowing how he could still keep going even after all the hit’s the plane had taken. Ryan too looked up and saw the spectacle. “Crazy guy isn’t he?” Ryan said to William. William could only nod. The same plane then turned to what looked like flying away to the direction of their base, but the plane shook violently and flew straight into the mountains. Both Ryan and William flinched, seeing the plane burst into a ball of fire alongside the mountain side with debris falling from what was left of the plane. Ryan and William looked down at their feet in respect to the fallen airman. William looked over to his friend lying alongside him behind the ditch, but Ryan wasn’t looking back at him. He was shaking violently with his fist balled up, his face turning red with anger. Ryan opened up his eyes and with a quick movement picked up his gun and jumped over the ditch that was protecting him from the hellfire of enemy bullets. William got up to grab his friend and pull him back behind the safety of the ditch, but he couldn’t reach Ryan in time. Ryan ran down the field shooting at random trying to hit anyone he saw. William couldn’t sit around and let his friend die. The private jumped over the ditch and ran down as fast as he could to his friend and to snap him out of his burst of anger before it was too late. Sounds of gunfire and loud explosions died down as William ran reaching his friend. Then what William saw almost made him trip and fall into another ditch. At the corner of his eye, he saw a grenade being thrown straight at Ryan ready to end his life with a single explosion. William’s eyes widened and he feared that he wouldn’t be able to reach him in time. Strangely enough as it seems though, he was filled with something he couldn’t explain and he ran faster than he ever ran in his entire life. Ryan had continued running down the field still shooting, when he caught sight of a small circular object drop at his feet. He stopped to look down at the object, and he froze at the sight of what he now knew was a grenade. Ryan closed his eyes knowing that his life was going to end there, when suddenly was pushed aside into a ditch by someone. William had finally reached Ryan, and seeing how Ryan froze, he needed to get him out of the way. William had only one idea, but it was not one that had a happy ending for himself. As William had pushed Ryan into a nearby ditch, he muttered under his breath, “Forgive me Emilia.” Suddenly a great big flash had blinded William. The last thing he heard was the helpless screaming of Ryan, then the image of his love Emilia. Then everything had gone black.