When Trumpets Fade Page #2

Pays to have friends, man.

Got a smoke?

Yeah.

You know, it's amazing really,

when you stop to think about it.

Whole platoon fingers its way

into the Factory and...

one guy makes it out to talk about it.

You got twenty-five or thirty guys dead

or dyin' and you walk out without

a scratch on ya.

It's my lucky day.

Yeah, lucky.

Well, that's one way of lookin' at it.

But not the only way...Right, Talbot?

There isn't anything sacred with you,

is there, Manning?

Warm, dry feet.

How'd you manage to get out, Manning?

Did you get cut off from

the rest of the platoon?

Trees get pretty thick out there?

Did you get lost?

Come on, what happened?

You got somethin' in that vat of yours,

just spill it.

All right. Look, it's like this.

See, your routine

isn't as seamless as you think it is.

Always hangin' back a little bit,

never volunteering.

Doin just enough to keep outta trouble,

but never enough to really help out.

I'm kind of an emotional guy.

Get one thing f***in' straight, man.

There is no hangback now.

You got a glob of greenies lookin'

at you to keep 'em alive,

and if i find out that one

of them answers the last muster cause

of your yellow streak,

I will personally put a bullet

in your brain.

Hey, Sandy!

Hey, hey, hey! There he is!

Hey!

All right! You made it!

Where the hell'd you go,

I looked for you.

I got lost.

I thought you chickened out.

You thought he chickened out, me,

I know he's just a dumb f*** farmer

from Wisconsin.

Am I in trouble?

Hell no, we're still waitin'

for the sergeant.

How'd you get here?

Guy about a mile back in a jeep

just told me to follow the road.

Still don't know why

they sent us in here,

I hear the war's gonna

be over by Christmas.

Who told you that sh*t?

It's talk.

I heard the Krauts got nothin'

but old men and children on the line.

And you believe that?

I'd like to.

How 'bout you, Sandy,

you believe that sh*t

about old men and kids?

I will if you will.

What are these?

How the f*** should we know?

They're called Dragon's Teeth.

Krauts use 'em to stop our tanks.

You're standing on the Siegfried line.

Over there is Germany.

I suggest your remember that.

Let's go. You're with me.

We're goin' to the front.

All right, listen up.

Right over that hill is the front line.

When you're in your foxholes,

the Krauts are gonna be less

than fifty yards away.

This is thin line.

Which means

we're gonna be spaced far apart.

Because in this fog,

you might not see the guy nearest you.

The Krauts are gonna hear us moving

into position,

and they know that you're replacements.

How?

This company lost over

a hundred men last night.

They know we're hurtin' bad,

and they know that we have to try

to bring in replacements today.

The only reason

they're not makin' a push,

is because they're hurtin' too.

They know you guys don't know sh*t.

They're gonna try to use it.

They'll call out to you in English,

they'll try to spook ya.

The main thing you need to do

is keep your sh*t together.

This is the real f***in' deal.

Name.

Huh?

Your name.

Warren.

Last name.

Sanderson.

Sanderson, you're first.

You stay right behind me.

Okay.

I'll be back for each of you,

one at time.

Don't go wandering off now.

I mean it. Stay right in my back pocket.

Let's go.

Keep your f***in' head down!

Move him out.

Sure took your sweet time gettin' here.

Anything notable?

Those f***ing tanks again.

They've been jammin'

their barrels down our throat

from that f***in' high ground

for a week now.

Air Corps can't see 'em,

artillery can't hit 'em.

They better find some way

of knockin' those f***ers out

and I mean fast.

What about the 88s?

They're still out there.

Tanks on our right side,

F***in' Army.

I'll be back, in the morning,

for patrol.

Scared?

Huh?

Scared?

Yeah.

I don't know what I'm supposed to do.

Want me to tell ya?

Okay.

Basically, you're a lookout.

When you're down in here,

you're responsible for holding

this section of the line. Okay?

You got a machine gun nest protecting

you on your right flank,

twenty-five yards away.

You got another rifleman protecting

you on your left flank,

a little closer, maybe fifteen,

twenty yards, okay?

Okay.

Now, in front of you,

you got your Krauts.

They're close.

Thirty yards, maybe a little more.

The challenge is ''Hershey.''

The password is ''apple.'' Okay?

You say ''Hershey''

and you don't hear ''apple,''

you open fire, you understand?

You don't think about it,

you don't hesitate,

you just do it, you understand?

Otherwise, you're gonna go home

to your mama in a box, all right?

Now them Krauts make a push,

you use your grenade.

Okay, how do I know

if they're makin' a push?

You hear a whole bunch

of shootin' and screamin',

and a bunch of guys runnin' at ya...

Yeah?

Then you know they're makin' a push.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah, you wanna light up

a cigarette at night,

lay on your back at the bottom

of the hole.

I don't smoke.

Huh?

I don't smoke.

You still got your issues?

Yeah?

You will.

What's your name?

Warren.

Welcome to Death Factory, Warren.

You got point.

I've got you on a straight line course.

I know this is your first patrol.

You've had time

to watch what I've been doin'.

Yeah.

Be alert.

You've been behind Kraut lines

for the last thirty yards or so.

You got no friends here.

Our job is to scout the enemy positions

Ease up on the trigger finger.

Yeah, right.

This is your first big chance

to stay alive,

don't f*** it up.

Let's go.

Slow down, Sandy, slow down.

Slow down.

Sandy!

What's goin' on?

I lost Sandy!

Get down, get down!

What's goin' on?

We lost Sanderson.

What's this ''we'' crap?

Shut up!

What do we do, Sarge?

We wait.

I hope he's got brains enough

to come straight back.

What if he doesn't know he's alone?

He knows.

All right, we're headin' back.

We're just gonna leave him out here?

Can't afford to risk the entire squad.

Yeah, but...

What is your name?

Doug...Despin.

Well, Doug Despin,

this is the second time

I'm tellin' you to shut up.

You follow me?

Yeah. Then, let's go.

Warren!

Afternoon, gentlemen.

We're gonna make another push.

The objective is to retake the town

of Schmidt four miles east

of our present position.

Not that that's a surprise.

To get there, we have got to secure

the river crossing on the Kall trail.

Now we'll approach the river through

this part of the forest.

Roy, your boys are gonna take

the Kall Trail again.

You have got to take

and hold Arbaley Bridge.

Yes, sir.

Now G-2 said it'll be clear sailing up

to the bridge but once you get there...

it's gonna get pretty hot.

With all due respect, sir,

did G-2 forget about the tanks

the jerries

have been clobbering us with?

No. The artillery's gonna take care

of the tanks.

They've been saying that for a week.

Well, they're saying it again,

and this time they're right.

Bunch of chickenshits...

Do you have a problem, Captain?

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