A Soldier of No Importance [ Band of Brothers ] 1

THIRTY FOUR

September 6, 1943

RMS Samaria, Troopship

It took hours for the whole ship to fill. Alice had been flanked by Easy's enlisted, more out of orders to keep her female nature hidden than anything else. As they slowly moved into the ship, she shuffled. Most annoying was the blasted white life jacket around her neck. The ship she'd taken from England hadn't been nearly as packed, but in the Samaria, the life jacket just served to make squeezing between people that much more difficult.

The belly of the Samaria crawled with soldiers. Bunks, two deep and seven high, lined the compartments. Easy made their way to the space designated for them, right in the center. Alice watched in silent amusement as some of her fellow Easy members attempted, poorly, to find their sea legs.

Second Platoon started claiming bunks. Guarnere, Malarkey, and Toye all grabbed ones at floor level. Alice huffed, but decided to pull herself up to the fifth level of bunks, taking the outer bunk, closer to the center of the boat. George took the bed beneath her, and she pulled Gene next to her. Behind her head, Liebgott settled himself.

"These aren't that uncomfortable," Alice said. She shifted in the bunk which was made of little more than canvas suspended between four steel poles. A small pillow squished beneath her head. "Gene?"

He turned to her. "Not too bad. I'll take this over sleeping outside any day."

She hummed in agreement. The bunks around them had mostly emptied as the men crowded onto deck as much as they could to catch last glimpses of America as they shipped out. But Alice didn't care that much. In fact, she felt herself trembling from excitement that they left at last. France seemed tantalizingly close now.

She lay down in her bunk. Beside her, she could tell Gene said a rosary. Letting herself relax and feel the rhythm of the waves, Alice just stayed quiet and still. After about half an hour, Alice pulled out a cigarette for herself.

Almost immediately, men began to fill the bunks again. Liebgott came back first, hoisting himself up to her level. He looked tired. The others followed him. Before long, the ship had so many men stuffed in one place that the noise just continued to climb. Alice sighed. She tried to focus on her cigarette.

She felt and heard, rather than saw, Liebgott sit up behind her. Rolling over into her stomach, Alice put her head over her arms and pillow. She watched Liebgott carefully. He yawned.

"Excited to go to Europe?" Alice asked him.

He looked over at her. With a quick wink, he smiled. "Hopefully there are fun times to be had in England."

Alice chuckled. "Yeah, so you all keep saying. Don't forget, we're in a war, Lieb."

"Don't I fuckin' know it."

With another laugh, she pulled herself up so she dangled her feet off the side. Below them, she watched as Skip and Malarkey shouldered their way through the extremely tight walking space. It had only been a few hours, but already it felt like everyone was getting restless. She noted that Skinny sat on a ground level cot talking with someone she couldn't see. Christenson's voice floated up to her from below.

Loudest of all, as per usual, Guarnere complained about something. Alice watched him smoking in his cot, Joe Toye nearby. Toye flashed a large pocket knife. He said something about Joe Toye Day. Overly amused, Alice decided to try to follow the conversation.

"Point is, it don't matter where we go. Once we get into combat, the only person you can trust is yourself and the fella next to you." 

Guarnere lay on his back, cigarette between his fingers. Alice saw in amusement that he'd shed his life jacket. She watched as Joe Toye rolled onto his stomach to face Bill.