That was we we were off, we started to walk at six p.m., it was still bright out,but not for long, the warm summer air was much better then the freezing waters of Omaha. We walked for about an hour when Hank spoke up and asked,
"So, Ned, where are you from, what did you do back at home?"
Instead of giving him the full story i just gave him the short and sweet one,
"I come from Arizona and I was recently fired from my mechanic job, I was looking for a job but i got drafted and now I'm here."
He looked at me with wonderment, whatever i told him it wasn't what he wanted to hear but we just kept walking south. At about eight the sky started to get dark, but we were no where near a town or really anywhere to stop for the night, we were in an open field with grass as high as our waists, good for cover, not so good for sleep. We eventually made it to a pond by a small wooded area. There were ducks swimming on the water and you could see the scales of the fish glistening in the light of the moon. We decided to stop there, Danny fashioned a make shift fishing rod out of a sewing needle from Wills medical supplies, he used the string of his jacket as a line, and he dug out a worm from the ground for bait. He didn't catch anything but it was a way to pass the time before we went to sleep.
In the morning I'd say about six or seven we were all awake. We were used to the fact that there wouldn't be a hot cup of coffee waiting for us on the breakfast table, we wouldn't see our families in the morning and tell them about yesterday and a nice toasted, buttered bagel with grape jelly on it sitting in front of you wouldn't happen. It was usually dry cereal and water for breakfast, but that was okay because we were happy.
We set off again at about eight o' clock after talking a bit about life back at home and what we were gonna do when we got back home... if we got back home. As soon as we set off Marc spoke up and asked me,
"Are we anywhere near a town that at least has buildings? I need to be somewhere higher then the heads of men."
"Well, we are currently in the flattest field I've ever been in and according to the map we are about 6.2 clicks away from the nearest town."
"With all do respect sir, what the hell am I supposed to do if we are to get spotted or ambushed?"
I didn't think about that part, i stopped walking for a second and started to think. I really had nothing for Marc to do in case of close combat, he was a sniper, a scout if you will, he needed to be high in the sky with a birds eye view to see everyone and anyone.
"You'll get down in cover, and if we all die then you'll play dead until the enemy are gone, once the are gone you will run as fast as you possibly can back south towards Omaha, understood?"
I could tell that what i just told him isn't what he wanted to hear but it was the only thing that i could think of at the time.
He sighed, "Yes, sir."
We were about half way to the objective when we finally hit the town of Chartres, as soon as we entered the town I saw Marc's eye look up in search for a spot to hide.
"You see that church bell tower o'er there?"
"Yes."
"Be careful and stay low, if there is a sniper anywhere in this town it would be there."
With that news we all crouched down to the ground and walked silently. We heard the faint sound of gun shots ahead of us. The shots got louder with every step we took. We eventually reached the source of the gunshots, there was a small camp of american soldiers defending the town from German forces from pushing anymore forward.
