The roar of the plane’s engines almost drowns out the noise inside as we fly towards the frontlines of the war. Everyone is excited, scared, or hiding it with stoicism as the plane comes closer to the drop zone. A young man from the Bronx is arguing with another from Chicago on baseball teams. It seemed so normal if you ignored the plane and uniforms. “Look, I’m telling ya, the Cubs are not gonna win the series, never gonna happen. Grant it Paul Gillespie was good, but couldn’t carry the team.”
The other man shakes his head, “Now look here Vino, the Yanks didn’t win that year either if I recall, the Cardinals took the win.” “Damn it Rico! Nobody asked about the Cardinals, they’ll get theirs this year even with most of the good players joining the war. Sarge! What do you say?”
Horatio looks up from petting Logan the paradog to look at Private Vincenzo. “I’m more of a boxing fan really.” There is an uproar among the soldiers as his words take root.
Aaaah, forget about ‘em! We ain’t talking about Sugar Ray right now, we’re gonna talk about Spud Chandler of the Yanks.” Everyone started ignoring him as the plane started to rock from turbulence. Horatio gets the signal that they are crossing the line and will be dropping soon.
Italy greets us with a blob in the night, no telling where we are from the window
Rico nears me as the plane shakes some more, he pitches but catches himself into a seat. “Sarge! Why you bringing a dog? Sir!”
Horatio looks to the other soldier who has a dog and beret on his head before he answers. “Well son, first off the Brits showed us it was a good idea and second, can you smell an enemy in the bushes at night?” Rico wrinkles his nose at that. “No sir, but I can definitely smell Vino from here.”
Vino comes up to the pair at that moment, looking to ask something but catches the comment instead. “Hey, I don’t smell that bad! At least that’s what ya gurl said before I left her that night!” “Damn it Vino! Leave my girl out of this!” They grab at each other like two tired boxers. Horatio throws his hands up between them to pull them apart. “Hey, Hey! Cut it out! You guys gotta watch each other backs out there, and if not, someone dies. When that happens I gotta tell the family in person. If I gotta tell Rico’s wife she’ll be inconsolable, and I’ll have to try to console her and I don’t need anymore Ex’s!” Horatio says the last part with a big smile on his face. Both the soldiers laugh uproariously when the light for getting ready for drop cuts on. Horatio takes a deep breath as he stands. “ALIGHT BOYS, GET YOUR ASSES IN LINE AND HOOK IN, JUST LIKE TRAINING!” All the mirth leaves the soldiers as they get ready for the drop, checking straps and chutes.

The light turns green, Horatio bellows out with the other officers. “GO, GO, GO, GO!” Horatio grabs the dog and jumps on his go, no hesitation, and all he hears is the wind and his heart pounding in his ears as he tumbles through the air. After a little bit he stabilizes and looks for the spot to land. He spots it and moves his body to aim for it as he pulls the cord, hoping the beats of his heart were a good timer. The chute slings out and joins the rest in helping the men defy gravity for a moment, and then all hell breaks loose as flak hits them. Damn it! There was not supposed to be any anti-air here, it was supposed to have been moved to Greece.
Everything goes red and then black with a resounding boom and a ringing coinciding it. Hearing a dog whine, Horatio opens his eyes just as a tree is coming up fast. “SHIT! Shit, shit, shit!” He turns his body to protect the dog as much as possible when he slams into the tree. Breath comes out of him as a searing pain slices through his back and chest. Spots start to form in his vision when hits the ground gasping for air, but nothing happens. He struggles to unhook himself as the black slowly collapses around his vision, when finally, he gets some air in. “Hugarg, ugh! Tha ... That was not part of the plan Logan.” The dog whimpers as he unhooks from him, he checks him over and then checks for his bag and weapons. He finally takes in the surroundings and the gunfire in the distance. South is where the machinegun fire is coming from, better get to the LZ to check on my squad.

To be continued...