Chapter 306 Mourning

On April 14, 1945, General Eisenhower asked all troops to make a brief memorial service for President Roosevelt. Major Winters decided to proceed as a qualifying unit. The platoon leader of each platoon arranged the ceremony and agreed on a common time. Then the battalion sent people to inspect the company and select any of them to participate in the ceremony. Major Winters went to Company D, Captain Nixon went to Company F, and Major Parks went to Company E, which was deliberately arranged by Major Winters. Captain Wales had nothing to do. He made an appointment with Lieutenant Compton to go to Company E with Major Parks because of their feelings for Company E.

Lieutenant Colonel Compton went to the 3rd row he once led, the Welsh captain was in the 2nd row, and Major Parks was in the 1st row. These were the platoons they had led, and naturally there was a very cordial feeling. And when Major Parks arrived at the location of E, the brothers came to greet him affectionately, and the conversation between them seemed much more casual and friendly.

"The boss, they thought you would leave us alone, so I told them that no matter the boss is the company commander or the deputy battalion commander, he will not leave the brothers!" White came up and hugged Parks, and then pointed to the guys around with a smile. Look at you, there is nothing to say now. The boss has been with us since the first row.

His words caused a burst of laughter from the crowd. Major Parks patted him on the shoulder and said, "You're right. We're always together!" With that, he walked to the current platoon leader, Lieutenant Welfare, and nodded to him, "Okay, Lieutenant, you can start!" When Lieutenant Folly was promoted to company commander, he was transferred to the first platoon leader. This is what Parks meant. The brothers in the first row are the best in the E company, and the veterans among them are also the most difficult to manage. Now among the officers in the first platoon, only Lieutenant Welfare has that qualification to control him. Weren, Lieutenant Spiel is not good enough. He has lacked a lot of experience in fighting with his brothers before, especially the battles between France and the Netherlands. The guys in the row have a sense of distrust of him. The second platoon of Lieutenant Foley was held by a supplementary officer, Lieutenant Fisher.

Lieutenant Foley took out a St. Joseph's prayer book and found a prayer to read to his brothers. There is nothing new. He didn't say anything more, and Parks left without saying anything. He knows President Roosevelt. If you don't admire him, you don't have to say anything at the memorial ceremony. Lieutenant Welfare is such a person, and even if you admire him, you don't have to say it. Because your admiration is in your heart, not in your mouth.

Major Parks did not wait for Captain Wales and Lieutenant Compton to return to the camp together. He walked back alone. His heart was turbulent. What he felt was not sad but regretful about President Roosevelt's death. After all, President Roosevelt personally wore the Medal of Honor on him and praised him on the national radio. He was the first soldier to be left alone by President Roosevelt for his private lunch, and there was too much in it. Despite the benefits, there is also respect and love.

Now that this person has left, it doesn't matter whether it's praise or criticism. In any case, he has always made outstanding contributions to the anti-fascist war of mankind, which is undeniable. And as a person who has been favored by President Roosevelt, will his successor, President Truman, change the course of the war differently from his previous life?

Parks felt a little confused. He didn't think about these problems. He was only a deputy battalion commander of the airborne division now. It was not his turn to dictate all the decisions. What he had to do now was to ensure that his brothers would not pay casualties in the final stage of the European war.

After the memorial service, Major Winters and Nixon returned to the regiment, but Nixon found that his wine was almost gone. He decided to go to the logistics to ask Wester, who had told West to find the brand of Jade 69 for him. Maybe he will find something from him. To be honest, Nixon and Winters were both admirers of Roosevelt, and the death of President Roosevelt also made them a little depressed.

"Captain Nixon!" Weiszt was sorting out the letters when he saw Nixon coming over with a smile. "It's nice to meet you. Sir!"

Nixon nodded, then walked up to him and said, "Man, let me tell you, I can't find whisky. Yes, that special brand of wine, I hope you didn't let me down and won't forget about me!"

West licked his lips and smiled, "Of course, to be honest, sir, it's hard to find this brand in Germany. There are not many choices here.

"Yes, I know!" Nixon nodded.

"And sir, if I can really find a few bottles, I'm afraid they are not cheap." Weiszt turned to a cabinet door, then opened the cabinet door and took out four bottles of wine from it. It was exactly the brand Nixon wanted. "You know, it took me a lot of money to get these bottles!"

"Money is not a problem, Wester!" Nixon's eyes were already shining. "Do you need a mark or a dollar? Or other currencies?" With that, he reached out and took the bottles of wine in his hand.

"Dope, sir, I have to keep the dollar. The war is almost over, isn't it? We won't take it long, in Europe!" Wester licked his lips and then looked at Nixon's hand reaching out to his pocket.

With a "pop", Nixon slapped a large roll of dollars on the counter, and then left. Suddenly, he turned around and said to Wester, "Continue to help me collect this wine!"

Wester picked up the thick roll of money and estimated it. It was already a great value. He couldn't help nodding with joy and said, "I will, sir, every time you haven't been disappointed with me!" Then he watched Captain Nixon step out of the door and muttered with a smile, "I haven't let me down every time!"

When Nixon walked into the battalion, he heard Captain Wales shouting there, "Hey, look, our rich children are back. He always spends a lot of money to buy his favorite kind of wine. It seems that I'm not wrong now!"

"I don't have your share, Harry!" Nixon took a look at Captain Wales and shook his head and said, "I bought it for a lot of money. Don't even want to share it with me. Maybe I should buy a cup or two or something with money like in a bar."

"Because of President Roosevelt?" Captain Wales looked at Nixon with some discouragedness.

"No, in order to shut you up!" Captain Nixon sat down, then opened one of the bottles, poured a glass for himself, took a sip, and then looked at the people around him, "Just for him!" Everyone knows who he is. A president who was once admired by the whole country has left, and there will always be remembered and sad.

Winters nodded, but he didn't say anything. Just like Parks, he left without saying anything in the platoon he participated in. He could see that the general officers were saddened by President Roosevelt's departure, but among ordinary soldiers, not everyone was like this. At least half of the soldiers showed indifferent attitude. It's not that they don't respect President Roosevelt, but that they have suffered a lot when they came to Europe to participate in the war. Some soldiers even thought that if President Roosevelt didn't let them cross the Atlantic to fight here, they might enjoy happiness at home!

On April 18th, this day looks very special. Since the morning, the birds have been exchanging endlessly, which made the Welsh captain, who asked to sleep in the same room with Parks, a little unbearable. He shouted "Fuck, damn it" and other words, and then covered his ears with a pillow.

"Harry, there may be something happy today. Birds don't know that you cover your ears. They won't stop. Since you can't escape, why don't you just send a pillow to enjoy it? Think of their tweets as beautiful songs. Major Parks slept on another ** and was shaving in the bathroom in the room.

"Well, what you say is the truth!" The Welsh captain jumped up and said, "Anyway, I've been disturbed by the dream. Damn it, I can sleep a little longer today."

"You will have a chance!" Parks wiped the soapy water all over his face with a towel, and then came out. "Let's go, Dick is still waiting for us. He sent a messenger in the morning. I think there must be something important! Hurry up, let's go, or we'll be late!"

"Wait, I'll pack it up first, five minutes!" Captain Wales jumped out of bed and hurried into the bathroom.

"Three minutes, Harry! Otherwise, you can walk by yourself. It's not far anyway!" Outside the door, Parks's voice came in, which made Wales shirk his teeth. Because he was in a hurry, he hurt his lips when he brushed his teeth.

The battalion also had company commanders and platoon commanders. Seeing Major Parks and Captain Wales rushing in, Major Winters motioned them to sit next to him and then stood up and said, "I have an important news to announce." With that, he looked around and then said, "The resistance of the Germans in the Ruhr area is over. More than 320,000 German troops surrendered.

As soon as this sentence was finished, the battalion exploded, and the officers' faces were full of smiles. They hit each other's palms, and then laughed and hugged. Obviously, this is the most exciting news recently. It is also the best of all the good news so far since the war! This means that they will go deeper into Germany and then the war will end. This is what everyone is looking forward to.

"So we still have two hours to prepare, and we're leaving." With that, Major Winters went to the map of the battalion headquarters and pointed to a place above and said, "This is called Dolmagan. We will go there and stay there. It tells us to search there and report what we found. As for what can be found, it's up to us!" With that, he patted it and said, "Go and prepare. We only have two hours!"

What can they find? At this time, Parks already knew slightly what the result would be. They will find a huge concentration camp in Dolmargan. And that scene will shock the brothers of the whole two battalions.

(to be continued)