To Hell and Back

Chapter 3 - D-Day

All the last minute preparations and morale booster speeches have been made. The American paratroopers equipped themselves with clickers. They will use it to know if the person who is a little far from is an enemy or an ally. The instructions were one person will click once to signify that he is alone. The other one will respond with to clicks to signify that he is a friend. They practiced this until it was time to board the aircraft. Each company did a routine inspection of their equipment. Making sure that they didn't leave anything behind. And Lt. Jonathan Mason is no exception.

After the inspection, they all board the C-47 aircraft that is assigned to them. Then it was time to launch. One by one, the C-47 aircrafts take to the sky. Each one carrying a platoon of soldiers. All of them flew from England and are now above the English Channel. Within hours, swarms of C-47 transport aircraft enter the French airspace. Particularly above the skies of Normandy. By 08:00 hours they're met with flak artillery fire.

Many of the transport planes were shot down. Some sustained heavy damage. Others were able to deploy their passengers including Easy Company. Because the pilots of the C-47s had to avoid heavy artillery fire. A lot of them missed their targets. And were deployed straight into enemy lines.

All American paratroopers were scattered across Normandy. Some landing straight into swampy areas. Others were shot down by German ground troops before they can land. Even if they managed to land, they're peppered with bullets. One gets stuck outside of the bell tower. Another lands straight into a well. It's uncertain if the soldier drowned or survived. Pretty soon all of the American paratroopers scattered all over Normandy. While their French, British, and Canadian counterparts are able to land in their designated drop zones. As the Americans struggle to find out who's the ally and who's the enemy. Some of the British soldiers on board a glider are now flying to a bridge protected by a small German garrison.

They make a loud crash landing and get out of the glider one by one. Then they quickly and quietly head for the bridge. As their dummies continue to confuse the Germans. Easy company has just found each other. And they towed some stragglers along the way. Unfortunately for Johnny, he lost his rifle during the jump. He is found by two other members of his unit. He was lucky that they're his fellow company members. A minute later they found six more of their guys. They soon encounter a platoon of German soldiers. The Krauts were pulling a cart full of food and medicine.

Johnny orders his unit to hide behind the walls and wait for his signal. As soon as the Kraut platoon comes within the gun sights of the American G.I.'s. Johnny gives the signal to open fire. The small unit starts firing their guns and kill the enemy. As soon as the firing stops. None of the German platoon survived. The G.I.'s takes whatever is in the cart. One soldier picks up a rifle belonging to one of the dead enemy soldiers. He quickly gives it to Lt. Mason and tells him what the rifle is to the young lieutenant.

????: Kraut weapon sir.

Johnny: Thanks Garnier. Better to have one than no weapon at all. Let's go find the others.

Garnier: Yes sir! Alright you guys! You heard the lieutenant! Let's move out and look for our guys!

With the meager number of troops that he has. Lt. Mason leads his charges into deep inside enemy lines. They pick up some stragglers along the way. Some of them belonging to Alpha company. The others are from Bravo company. And the rest come from Charlie, Dog, and Fox Company. As their numbers grew. The Americans engage the enemy head on. Although they lost a few number of men. They still push forward and try to get united with their mother units.

As for those who landed within enemy lines. Many of them have their lives hanging by the thread. One falls move and they can get caught. Or worst die while trying to avoid getting captured. The more experienced ones already know the situation that they're in. While the green horns will get a taste of what is like being in a war. And for the men of Easy Company. This is just the beginning of their long journey to fight an enemy that wants to dominate the world.

As more and more allied paratroopers continue to parachute their way into Normandy. The German army has been put on a defensive stance. They have yet to deploy their armoured  division. Otherwise it would give the allied forces a hard time in pulling through with the invasion. As morning approaches, Easy Company has finally found its other members. The other companies also found their own. They enjoy their moment of seeing each other since training.

By the time daylight approaches, they will be fighting again. And they can expect another war of attrition against the German army.  Allied C-47s continue to fly over and deploy more paratroopers. However the American paratroopers are still getting scattered all over Normandy. As Easy Company moves on and continue to take in stragglers. The war in Europe is still far from over.