Pitschen ma en gamba - Small, but powerful [A Band of Brothers Story]

Becoming paratroopers

In early November 1942, the Regiment moved to Fort Benning for parachute training. If they completed 5 jumps successfully, they would finally be real paratroopers.

Sitting between Luz and Toye, Ella was quietly humming to herself, letting the vibration it created in her chest soothe her nerves. This was the first jump they would do from a C-47. The young medic wasn't scared about jumping per se. It was the unfamiliarity of the situation that made her slightly nervous. What if something went wrong? What if somebody's chute didn't deploy?

What if, what if. Tons of those questions raced through her mind.

"Get ready!", their jump teacher yelled over the noise of the plane. "Stand up!"

They stood and on the command "Hook up!", they hooked themselves to the static line.

"Check equipment!", the instructor called.

Dutifully, Ella checked her own webbing and made sure that everything was where it should be on Toye's gear, too, while she felt Luz checking her equipment from the back. Giving Toye's harness a few experimental tugs, she then heard the command: "Sound off for equipment check!"

"Five okay!", Luz yelled behind her, slapping her on the arm to indicate everything was okay.

"Four okay!", Ella shouted and clapped Toye firmly on the shoulder.

"Three okay!", he continued the procedure.

Then, suddenly, they were moving forward and the door came closer. One after the other, the men jumped from the plane on the instructor's command.

"Go, go!", he called and Toye disappeared.

Ella took his place by the door. The sergeant gave her a cheerful grin. "Ready?", he yelled over the noise.

"Yes, sir!", she shouted back, adrenaline rushing through her veins.

"Go!"

She jumped before the rational part of her brain could inform her how insane she was for doing this. The prop blast tore at her, jostling her around, making her lose her orientation for a moment. Her training kicked in a millisecond later and she was counting the seconds, reaching up to grab the risers. Her free fall slowed with an abrupt jerk when her main chute deployed.

All of a sudden, the air became very peaceful, only the wind whispering softly in her ears. A huge smile broke out on her face. It was amazing.

She landed safely on the ground, absorbing the shock just like she'd been taught. Disentangling herself from her parachute, Ella couldn't stop a whoop of laughter from bursting out of her.

Joe Toye came over to check on her.

"That was fantastic!", she exclaimed, smiling brightly at him. "Oh, I can't wait to do it again."

"Ya won't have to wait long, Shorty. We got 4 jumps left", he reminded her.

"Hi fellas, lovely day, isn't it?" Luz strolled up to them. His shit-eating grin widened even more when he saw the small girl's eyes glowing with excitement.

Ella was all smiles for the rest of the day. And even the grumpiest of the men had to admit it was cute. And contagious. Everybody had to smile at the way she was beaming with innocent joy, how she was almost bouncing with glee.

"Like a goddamn puppy", Martin grumbled good-naturedly as he watched her. Bull and Muck, who were standing next to him laughed and Muck added: "That's why we love her." Johnny cracked a smile.