I was one of five women chosen to serve our country, fighting side by side with the men, and only some of us had come home. Being surrounded by friends and enemies, having to choose who you can save, who you can love, and how to survive is something...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The large counterattack we were warned about arrived the next morning. The enemy forced the 3rd Battalion out of Foy but with Easy alongside those in reserve up the hill, sitting at the ready with their mortars, we were able to fend them off and keep the town of Foy under our control.
A few days after that counterattack, Colonel Sink and Captain Winters greeted us. Sink informed us we needed to move out and secure the town of Recogne. The problem with such a task was not only the massive amounts of snow we would have to trudge through to get there but because the Germans held the higher ground and would most likely spot our approach before we neared the town.
Sink wanted this mission to take place at high noon, which upset Winters greatly. If Winters had his way, and if he were able to convince Sink to reconsider, he would have waited until the cover of night to move out but General Taylor, Eisenhower, Sink, and Monty all wanted to see some action. It no longer mattered what Winters wanted - we had our orders. Dog, Fox, and Easy Companies would have to provide that action for their benefit and what some would call, amusement.
We pulled out of Foy, sticking out in the white world around us like a beacon as we marched uphill towards our goal. Winters had the 2nd Battalion move along a deep shoulder towards our target while the 1st Battalion had no other choice but to approach it from the hill with little to no cover.
The enemy saw 1st almost immediately, firing their 88s all over the hill, tearing 1st Battalion to pieces. I stood in shock as we watched the men get tossed in the air like rag dolls. It was horrific to watch them get slaughtered when it was completely preventable.
The Germans didn't see 2nd in the shoulder marching towards them. As we neared, we were temporarily stopped by a narrow iced-over stream - one that the men could jump over. Just as we started to cross the stream, the enemy spotted us and opened up their machine guns upon us.
We provided covering fire to allow the rest of our Company time to get across. Everything seemed to be running smoothly until we heard a loud splash behind us. Those able turned around to see Garcia slowly standing up out of the frigid water, completely soaked from falling into the frozen stream. He was tasked with carrying the ammo bags that held six mortar round inside and he simply couldn't quite make the jump from the sheer weight of it all. He scrambled out of the frozen stream, following the rest of the men out of the Germans' sight.
By the time we reached proper cover alongside another shoulder opposite of the snowy field, Garcia's clothes completely froze over. Every time he moved, his ice-covered clothes would crack and make so much noise the others joked about how the enemy would hear him coming a mile away. As we sat in the knee-deep snow, waiting for new orders, Speirs gathered the rest of the officers along with Lipton to discuss a plan of action.
Beside me, Garcia cursed under his breath. I glanced over at him to see him pointing to one of the nearby fields across from us. Following his finger, I understood why he was upset - I wanted to cry as well. In the nearby field, a horse, who had been caught in the crossfire, was missing one of its front legs caused by the 88 blasts. The horse was completely helpless and braying and whinnied in pain. Garcia muttered, "Though man's brutality to one another is tragic enough... to see helpless animals suffer by our actions is even more tragic."
