EPISODE: Day of Days [episode 2]

CHARACTERS: Lieutenant Winters, Lieutenant Compton, Captain Sobel, Major Horton, Private Guarnere, Private Cobb

-

Richard Winters' Perspective-

I was surprised, to say the least, when I heard that some of the men had said that they wouldn't follow Captain Sobel into war.

I assumed they wouldn't've said anything, since it did put their lives on the line. Those that refused to go to war could get shot against the wall. And these men are only kids.

Yes, I was planning on challenging Sobel's accusations of me not listening to his orders to court, but seeing the soldiers act so strongly against him was perplexing.

Understandable, though, because Captain Sobel wasn't the best when it came to quick thinking on the battlefield. He often got lost and panicked, even when we were simply practicing parachuting down.

While he was amazingly efficient at training them, his own bravery was lacking.

So Major Horton turned to the second lieutenant to take charge of Easy Company:

Lieutenant Compton.

-

"I was just trying to get to know the dang soldiers, calm down, Dick! You knew these guys for the past two years and suddenly I'm here trying to do the same and you're all defensive." Compton put his feet up on the jeep as I drove through Camp Griffiss, our base in the UK.

"I'm not mad about you getting to know them, I'm mad about how you got to know them."

"What's wrong with a little gambling? You can't get me in trouble for that; every soldier does it."

I sighed and stopped the jeep, getting out.

"Don't ever put yourself in a position where you can take from these men. They've gone through the toughest training the military has to offer, so they can't lose all they got before they even enter the war."

Compton sighs and doesn't say anything more, watching as I leave our spot to help out the soldiers.

"Can you believe we have to carry all this stuff?" Private Guarnere said in disbelief, tossing down a pack of cigarettes.

"You don't have to bring smokes."

He snorted. "Yeah right, like I'd leave them here. It's the only thing they give us to help calm us down besides pain killers, but that's only for physical pain."

Private Cobb stood up and picked up all of his stuff, attaching the bags to his legs and arms before grabbing his heavy backpack.

"Alright come on." He nodded towards Private Guarnere, picking up his pistol and loading it with ammo.

Private Guarnere took a deep breath and picked up his bags, jogging over with the rest of the company.

"Maybe Sobel was right, I probably will forget how to correctly land."

"What if some of my stuff falls out of my bag? If I tie it on any tighter I'll probably cut circulation to my leg!"

"Anyone got a lighter? I need one right now!"

I glanced around at the Easy Company, standing next to Compton who was smoking a cigarette himself.

The men were nervous since we would be jumping into Normandy at night, but they had trained for this as best they could.

Compton removed the cigarette from his mouth and blew out the smoke, sighing as he did so.

"You ready?" He turned to me, snapping on his helmet strap.

I nodded and he returned the gesture.

"Alright. Grab your group and let's load into the planes. I'll see you in Normandy."