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.html (113 of 452)3/12/2004 11:18:08 PMfile:///D|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry/Desktop/New%20Folder/Dalmas,%20John%20-%202%20-%20The%20Bavarian%20Gate.htmlGrady, the company commander.Grady wasn't the only officer waiting for him: aLieutenant Netzloff was there."Macurdy," Grady said, "we've been lookingthrough your service record.Everywhere you've been, your older hasaccumulated favorable comments and commendations.Lieutenant D'Emilio andSergeant Boileau agree with them.So although you haven't been with us long,I'm promoting you to corporal, to take over for a man we lost this morning."He turned to Netzloff."Lieutenant, he's yours.Tell him what he needs to know."Macurdy and Netzloff left then.Beyond telling him what squad he'd be in, thelieutenant didn't say much except: "There's two or three in the squad whomight be a little sour about you ranking them without having the training andexperience they have.But Lieutenant D'Emilio says you've got a knack forhandling things, and his men like and respect you.So the captain and I aretrusting you to handle any objections your new squad might have.Now, let's gofind Sergeant Ruiz.He's your platoon sergeant."Staff Sergeant Ramon Ruiz was as large as Macurdy, and looked as strong, acalm direct man who neither in words, face, or aura showed any resentmenttoward this relative greenhorn coming into his platoon as a noncom."Where youfrom, Macurdy?" he asked."Nehtaka, Oregon.""A westerner! I'm from a ranch near Penasco, New Mexico.What'd you do beforefile:///D|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry/Deskt.,%20John%20-%202%20-%20The%20Bavarian%20Gate.html (114 of 452)3/12/2004 11:18:08 PMfile:///D|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry/Desktop/New%20Folder/Dalmas,%20John%20-%202%20-%20The%20Bavarian%20Gate.html you joined up?""I was a deputy sheriff." Then, in case this sergeant had reservations aboutlawmen, Macurdy added, "Before that I logged.""A deputy sheriff? How come the army didn't put you in the MPs?"Macurdy grinned."I sure don't know.I speak pretty good German, too; I'msurprised they didn't send me to the Pacific." The sergeant grunted."SpeakGerman? You don' have a German name.""I married into a German family, and my wife and I lived with them.Thegrandmother didn't speak any English, so they all talked German in the house,and I had to learn it."This sharpened Ruiz's interest."What do they think of you fighting theGermans?""They think of it as fighting Nazis.The whole family hates Hitler, especiallythe old lady.She says he'll be the ruin of Germany.""She got that right.Well, it's a good thing to have another guy in theplatoon that speaks German.A guy named Mueller speaks it, too; he's fromNorth Dakota."Ruiz got to his feet."Come on.Al.introduce you to Sergeant Powers.He'syour squad leader."The battalion had read and heard about the disastrous crosschannel Dieppe raidby seven thousand commandos, a few weeks earlier.And eager though they weretofile:///D|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry/Deskt.,%20John%20-%202%20-%20The%20Bavarian%20Gate.html (115 of 452)3/12/2004 11:18:08 PMPage 53ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlfile:///D|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry/Desktop/New%20Folder/Dalmas,%20John%20-%202%20-%20The%20Bavarian%20Gate.html see action, the debacle at Dieppewas sobering.Even elite units could come to grief in an operationsufficiently ill-conceived.One day they were visited and inspected in ranks by the First Lady, EleanorRoosevelt, who paused to ask questions of the men.Macurdy was as impressed byher aura as by her height, and she was taller than most of the troopers.Meanwhile Mary had written that she was pregnant.Curtis didn't much fretabout it; he was remarkably focused on where he was and what he was doing.Which helped him get another quick promotion to buck sergeant, replacing asquad leader who'd broken a collarbone.Shortly afterward, the men were put on restriction and briefed on theirupcoming operation, until th knew their drop zone and missions about as wellas they coup considering they still didn't know where in the world that dropzone was.Not that they'd drop there, or carry out that mission-a remarkable set ofsnafus would intervene-but they'd make themselves valuable regardless, on theground and in the evolution of new warfare.Finally they were loaded onto trains and taken to Land's End, in the extremesouthwest of England.As it turned out, Macurdy had no problems at all in his new squad.It alreadyknew of him by reputation; he was a man people noticed.As summer waned into autumn, their officers were briefed on what was to be thebattalion's-and the Army's-first airborne operation.And although for someweeksfile:///D|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry/Deskt.,%20John%20-%202%20-%20The%20Bavarian%20Gate [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]