" You don't always need a plan, sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens."
- unknown
***
" As you can see," stated Winters, walking in front of a board, and then looking out towards the large group that was Easy Company, " this is called Operation Market Garden. In terms of Airborne divisions involved, this one's even bigger than Normandy. We're dropping deep into occupied Holland. The Allied objective is to take this road here," Winters stated pointing at the huge map of Holland that was presented on the board. " between Eindhoven and Arnhem, so that two British Armored divisions can move up it toward Arnhem. Our job is gonna be to liberate Eindhoven. Stay there, wait for the tanks." Charlotte looked nervously up at Gene who had a fairly calm, yet guarded face built up. He looked down at her and forced a smile in which he got one in return.
" This entire European advance has been put on hold to allocate resources for this operation." Nixon explained stepping up into his position of intelligence officer. " It's Montgomery's personal plan and we'll be under British Command." A few groans followed and Nixon cleared his throat.
" The good news is if this works, these tanks will be over the Rhine and into Germany. It could end the war and get us home by Christmas." Nixon stated, and her heart leapt at the sound of the word Christmas. Home by Christmas. She couldn't imagine. She smiled to herself at the thought, and saw Lipton look at her and smile back at the smile on the Sunshine's face.
" It'll be a day time jump, intelligence doesn't expect much opposition. They think the Krauts in Holland are mostly kids and old men. And we should take 'em by surprise. In any case, say good bye to England. I don't think they're gonna call this one off." Nixon stated. A tremor set into Charlotte. Saying good-bye to the Fredricks for God-Knows how long was sad. There were tears from all the children, but Mrs Fredricks held, knowing she'd cry alone later. Mary had given Charlotte a headband scarf, that looked like the camo ones the boys had, but this one was grey with woven flowers with little yellow specks in them. She had it around her neck now, and gave it a tug. Planes rattled by overhead as the paratroopers stood, Charlotte making adjustments to her ridiculously large amount of stuff she wore. Gene was adjusting the straps on her legs gently, and buckling things, and snapping things into place. A sudden jeep beeping brought Charlotte from her far off daze as she looked up and saw that it was in fact Popeye Wynn, standing with a small smile on his face as he came by. Gene stood, and Charlotte gulped at the next view. Herbert Sobel sat in the front seat, with a serious expression staring straight forward, all high and mighty. The two made eye contact as he slowly drove by. She stared right back. She seemed frozen in shock as she stepped forward and watched Sobel's eyes the entire time. It had felt like it had been so long since she'd last seen the man, and now as he drove by, she couldn't help but grow angry at the sight in front of her.
" Que diable fait-il ici?" she sneered incessantly.
" Je ne veux même pas savoir." Gene answered with a sigh. All the Toccoa men were looking deadly at Sobel. The truck stopped where Hoobler, Bull, and Webster stood. Charlotte sniffed, and waved Gene off before hightailing it toward the group. She looked at them and then to Sobel. He jumped out, and disappeared behind the truck probably expecting none of them to have lived.
" Anyone know why the hell that shithead's here now?" she asked the group of soldiers.
" Beat's me." Hoobler said, trying to spot the man again. Charlotte grumbled to herself angrily, but then turned and saw Lipton walked over toward's Popeye. The anger faded and she smiled.
"They let you out of the hospital like that, boy?" Lipton asked jokingly coming around and helping Popeye down.
" They didn't let me out, I busted out. I didn't wanna get re-assigned to some other unit." Popeye said.
" Yeah?" Lip said, with a small smile and nod." Can you make the jump?"
" Oh sure I can, Lip, I just can't sit." Popeye said with a smile as the two approached Bull, Webster, Hoobler and Bull.
" Welcome back, Popeye." Bull said shaking Popeye's hand.
" Thanks Bull." Popeye said with a smile.
" Popeye went AWOL just in time to jump." Lip said, as Charlotte stepped forward pulling Popeye into a warm hug which he accepted.
" Hi, Sunshine." he said, and she smiled a small grin. " I can't thank you enough for what you did in Normandy for me."
" I was only doing my job, Pop." she answered with another one of her smiles.
" What's he doing here?" Bull asked the two.
" Who, Sobel?" asked Lip. " Well, he's the newly appointed Regimental S-4."
" Supply officer?" Charlotte muttered, eyes burning with anger.
" Yeah, you got it." Lip said, nodding.
" He picked me up in Aldbourne. Trying to find you guys." Popeye explained.
" He know you went AWOL?" Bull asked.
" He knows." Popeye said with a smirk, and Charlotte giggled.
" He just said I was lucky. I could sit out this jump if I wanted. I said I didn't want to. So he says, 'Hop in.'" Popeye stated.
" 'Hop' in?" Bull questioned with a smirk.
" Yeah, I know, I couldn't believe it either." Popeye said." Hey, maybe he's gonna court-martial me later, huh?" Charlotte laughed.
" Let's get you some gear." Lip said as the two walked away smiling. Charlotte turned giving a small smile to Bull as she walked over to Webster, making eye contact with Sobel again.
" If that asshole comes up to me, I will not be scared to salute him, with my middle finger." she spit out, adjusting her front straps. Webster had to chuckle.
It was so peaceful jumping that day, with bright blue cloud filled skies, the ability the see clearly, and everyone together. No planes shot down, and certainly no Germans shooting at them. Charlotte landed gently in the grass, and managed to control her parachute quickly, undoing her straps, and belts, and the extra parachute reserve. She let it on the ground, others coming down around her, doing the same. She threw her helmet back on her head, and grabbed her medic satchel. She moved through the field crouched and looked back at some of the replacements struggling. She huffed up and hurried over, hitting the large button in the front of their uniforms, then letting it slid off.
" Grab your helmet and rifle, you won't need the parachute." she explained, letting the webbing drop to the Private's feet.
" Sorry, ma'am." the Private replied a bit scrambled.
" No need to be sorry, just move." she said, patting his shoulder and taking off toward the assembly area up ahead. Charlotte collapsed beside two soldiers in a small, barely big enough hole she managed to squeeze into and sucked in a breath, pushing her helmet from her eyes. She saw it was Gene and Private Jackson, who had been the one she'd helped prior and was extremely nice. He nodded with a small smile to her. She smiled back and gave him a wink. She turned and patted Gene on the shoulder, who looked at her and nodded. She smiled back. They were fully back into combat, and had to be prepared for it now. It'd be the first time back in combat since they had left Normandy and Charlotte had experienced the horrid thing called battle fatigue that had messed her up big time.
" Where'd you get that from, Hoobler?" someone called out as Charlotte looked up seeing in fact Hoobler walking by with beers in his hands. Gene watched him go by and pushed his cap up. Someone jumped down into the trench, scaring Charlotte as she whipped around in fright to see it was Webster.
" Boys." he said, then saw Charlotte, " Lady." He said again with a nod. He pushed through a bit and collapsed against the opposite side of the trench.
" Whoo, made it." he said, and Charlotte had to smirk at his delight. The planes overhead grew louder and louder as more passed by.
" I wonder if they hit anything." Hoobler said. Charlotte looked up at the bright overcast sky, watching the planes fly past.
" Goodbye air support." Webster muttered. Charlotte saw Bull and Peacock talking together, pointing and hand signals. She wondered why they weren't moving and that he had something to do with it. Bull raised his hand up and everyone got to their feet.
" Move out, let's go!" someone hollered. Charlotte turned and jumped up the trench onto the soft grass of the field. Easy Company began making its way through the field, cautiously and slowly. Charlotte walked a few feet in front of Gene, hands swinging at her sides but covered in nervous sweat. She turned and looked back at Gene who nodded to her. She clutched her medic satchel tightly to her hip and her hands attached to the strap. She bit her lip as they neared the town that was coming closer and closer. The two Privates up front stopped each other and pointed forward at the slowly opening window in front of them. Charlotte looked up and saw a wisp of orange emerge from the window, and the solemn look of the woman. All the men pointed their guns forward, as Charlotte crouched down. She met eyes with Toye who was next to her and watched as his eyes stayed calm, watching the young medic in front of him. He'd been the one to really help her from the battle fatigue slump she'd been in, and had opted to stick with her more. The two soldiers glanced back to the gates where two privates now were, Miller and Alley, guns aimed up at the window.
" Okay, hold your fire." Bull said quietly. Eindhoven was celebrating. Their orange flags, banners and stars were hanging as people sang and cheered for the Americans. Charlotte tried to stick close with her Easy Company counterparts, but was soon split from them and frantically was pushing through the crowd trying to find them. Her heart was pounding, sweat dripping. Everyone was happy and celebrating but she was terrified. She couldn't find anyone she knew. She pushed through the crowds of people who grabbed her and kissed her head, and shook her hand, and patted her on the back, or attempted to hug her. She gave a forced smile, but hurriedly tried to find some of her friends in the end. She hugged some kids, and gave them a small high five, but then she was back moving again. She handed out smiles, and shook hands, but the fear continually crossed her face when she wasn't doing that and trying to find a friend she knew. What scared her more was when, a woman was ripped screaming from next to her and forced away. Her face paled and she crouched through the people, her small frame coming in handy as she peaked through the people. There were woman, clothes ripped apart, hair being cut clean off their head, Nazis symbols on their foreheads. Some had fresh bloody cuts, while others staggered, drunk or a complete mess. People shouted at them, throwing disgusting words their way. Charlotte's heart almost ripped from her chest. She felt the tears quickly fill her eyes, pushing herself away from the sight. Many of the men saw the girl's eyes glaze over and fill with tears as she watched the women. The young medic waded blindly through the crowd, and knocked right into Captain Winters himself.
" Sorry, sir." she mumbled out, whipping her eyes. Winters noticed the grief stricken girl with her helmet covering her eyes, and her stiff shoulders. A few of the paratroopers had seen the girl hurry away from that sight, like Bull and his replacements, Toye, Liebgott, and Lipton. As Charlotte now stood with Winters, Nixon, Welsh, and Compton, they knew her stiffness came from the sight they saw now.
" What did they do?" Welsh asked, with crossed arms and a look to Charlotte who sucked in a breath.
" They slept with the Germans." a voice said. They all turned and saw a man who was clearly Dutch but spoke the English language well enough to communicate.
" They are lucky." he said again, " The men who collaborated are being shot." What is they'd been forced to? What if they didn't have a choice? What if it was life or death? Those thoughts scared her, and made her eyes well up again, but she sucked it back down.
" Lucky?" she whispered, earning a look from Winters of pure sympathy.
" Mr. Van Kooijik here is with the Dutch Resistance. " Nixon said, as the man stepped forward shaking Winters hand.
" We've been waiting and hoping for this day...for almost five years. " he said.
" Says he can help us secure the bridges here." Nixon stated. At that point Charlotte was dazed out and pushing away from the leaders of Easy Company. Another wave of loud cheers erupted when Charlotte looked up seeing the British Second Armed Division with their huge tanks pushing through. Charlotte felt she had to get away from the sight, because all she could think about were the women who had been probably forced to sleep with the stupid Germans, even with life or death. Charlotte found a quiet alley way, and let herself slide down the wall until her butt hit the ground and she was sitting, staring, frozen forward. She could hear all the celebrations down the alley on both sides, but she couldn't bring herself to stand and get involved. She felt sick to her stomach almost, like she couldn't process everything that was happening.
" There you are." she heard a voice and turned to 3 pair of footsteps coming down the alley toward her. It was Bill, with Toye, and Babe. Her voice caught in her throat.
" I can't go back out there." she whispered softly.
" Hey, you ok?" Toye asked, as he crouched next to the girl.
" I can't go out and see what they're doing to those women, they have no right. The women didn't have a choice and now they're being abused by their neighbors for it. It's not right, Joe, and you know it." she whispered softly. The 3 men looked at each other knowing what she was talking about now.
" We're moving out anyway, Winters wants us on an advance towards the river." Bill explained.
" Here, you can hang on to me if you want, sunshine." Babe said, helping the girl stand, and her fingers wrap around his uniform patch.
" Thanks Babe." she said softly, and he smiled and nodded at her. He'd hung around more with Bill and had grown used to calling the girl sunshine now, and he loved thinking of the girl as a sister now out here. The group pushed out into the crowded streets again, pushing through the people that tried to grab at them, before they reached a group of Easy men, who were awaiting the arrival of some type of command. Babe pushed through with Charlotte on his arm and immediately many of the men grew worried seeing the terrified girl. Chuck came up to the girl, the smile falling from his face, and tried speaking to her, but she didn't hear a word her said, the song the people of the town were singing ringing in her head as women screamed for mercy in the background.
" Charlotte, you gotta answer me." Chuck's voice was now coming through her eyes muffled.
" Charlotte, you ok? You hear me? You gotta talk." Chuck's voice came faster now.
" I'm ok." she whispered faintly. The day passed in a blur as they marched through the dirt roads of Holland and then towards the river. She remained dazed out and fairly closed off, and the men feared it was the battle fatigue situation all over again which scared them. At night, when Easy managed to use an orchard on the outskirts of Eindhoven for their bedding area, Charlotte was still in her daze from earlier. Her thoughts focused on the women. How could they do that? And with knowing this would happen, people turning on them. Her heart sagged, as she took off her helmet and curled against a hay barrel. There were groups of soldiers everywhere, talking, laughing quietly, playing cards with the small, broken pack they had or smoking, but not lighting the smoke up. She heard footsteps, barely looking up when the stopped right near her. It was Liebgott, Skinny, Talbert, Toye, Luz, Bill, and Chuck. The group shuffled in a small semi circle with her, the hay bail and her on the other side.
She only sighed and looked down at her curled up body. The boys all started talking, and cracking jokes, and Charlotte even let a few giggles escape her mouth and a few small smiles as well. She didn't speak much the rest of the night, but they figured just their presence was what the girl needed. She ended up curled against Chuck, head shoved into his side, as everyone slowly feel asleep.
She didn't wake once from nightmares.
___
thanks for reading!
translations
Que diable fait-il ici? -- What the hell is he doing here?
Je ne veux même pas savoir. -- I do not even want to know.