Resupply and Redeploy (Baker)

[MAJ Patterson]

Patterson woke to greet the day in the same mood he usually did, smiling and hoping to bite someone's head off before he finished breakfast, but less on the smiling part. He splashed some water on his face and lathered up for his daily shave. With a few quick embedded motions he was done and brushed his teeth. The pants and undershirt were tossed on in moments and soon he was lacing up his boots. He pulled on his uniform top and laughed lightly at the comb that had been sitting in the same spot on his dresser since he had arrived in France, it was issued and therefore he had to keep track of it. Henry grabbed his briefcase and officer's cap and made his way to the door. As he neared the end of the hall he grabbed his morning glass of orange juice at the end of the hall from the staffing department and waved briefly at the secretary as he reached the front door of his barracks building. As usual, Giles was waiting outside, jeep cranked and ready to head off to headquarters.

"Baker is back."[/i] Patterson's Sergeant said to him as they both climbed into the front seats. "Made it in early this morning. Seems the transportation Battalion sent him in a few circles on his way from the states. But he is here now, I sent a runner to tell him to meet us at HQ, figured you wanna see him since his last mission before he took leave was with you and all."[/i] Giles checked the road before pulling out of the parking lot and down the small decline toward the center of base.

"Was starting to wonder if he had gotten lost. I'll get on the phone with the motor-pool boys before lunch. Thanks for having him meet us at HQ. Don't have a lot of time between breakfast and my meeting with the Colonel. Would be good to sit down with him for a meal and see how he is doing." The Major said, shifting in his seat a little bit to get comfortable.

Giles turned for a moment before putting his eyes back on the road. "Knick yourself shaving sir?"[/i] A little smirk on his face, he knew how much Henry tried to keep his appearance up to standard when he wasn't in the field.

Instinctively Patterson pulled his hand up to his face and pulled it away to see if there was any blood on it, then a couple more times to check his neck. No blood. "One of these days Sergeant, I won't fall for that and you'll have me sitting in a briefing with a stained undershirt contemplating on giving you extra duty at night." The Major chuckled a bit and the pair started nearing the HQ building.

[SGT. Brian Baker]

It was a rare occasion that this part of France wasn’t in flames, gunshots weren’t being fired, and bombs/artillery weren’t shaking the Earth. France had been under oppression from Nazi Germany since 1939, where the French put all of their resources into building the Maginot Line, a line of bunkers and defenses that would thwart any attempt at an invasion. Well, it failed. The Germans invaded from Belgium and the French were stranded by themselves and finally surrendered to Germany.

The year is 1944. Operation Overlord, deemed to be a failure, turned out to be a success. The Allies were pushing the Germans back to Germany, where the war was beginning to intensify. Brian Baker had just returned from leave back in his hometown of Franklin, Massachusetts. Before his leave, he was part of a task force in the Balkans, where they defeated the Germans and took many prisoner. It was Baker’s first battle as a Sergeant and he could have done a lot better. He lost control of his men which lead one of them to being killed. He also guaranteed his men that he would buy them all beer if they were to make it out alive. It didn’t turn out the way he wanted it to be; his men began singing and not focusing on killing Krauts. The Captain’s Sergeant, Giles, knocked sense into him and his men, which quickly helped ensure victory for the Americans. One thing Baker did do right was having Moon blow a hole in the building where the enemy was staying. The attack stopped any attack the German’s could muster up. Can’t forget the reinforcements they got either.

Baker arrived at the 31D barracks early this morning. To say he wasn’t tired would be a lie. He hadn’t slept on the boat that much and before he left for the barracks, spent a day in Paris. The city of lights was beautiful at night. Baker had found peace in a war torn country at night, where he saw a beautiful French woman named Isabelle. She was about his age and had lost her boyfriend before the liberation of Paris. She didn’t tell him what happened to her boyfriend. Baker respected her privacy and spent the night with her (giggity). Before he left, Baker got her address and would write to her when he could. The barracks were empty. Lunchtime, thought Baker. He finished unpacking his equipment and was about to get some sleep, until a private came to the door.

“Sergeant Baker?” asked the Private. His uniform was very clean and everything in order. He Private stood at attention.

“Yeah that’s me,” replied Baker, his eyes starting to fade away.

“Sir, Major Patterson wants to see you at HQ ASAP.” Baker opened his eyes and quickly sat up. “Dismissed Private, I’ll be over there shortly.” The Private saluted the Sergeant and walked away, with Baker standing up and making sure he had everything. The Major probably wanted to follow up with Baker on the battle before he had left. Baker left in a hurry due to a family emergency back home. That’s why he had the leave. The Sergeant left the barracks and walked towards the HQ. He informed the man at the desk that he was requested by Major Patterson to see him. He was then directed to take a seat and wait.

[MAJ Patterson]

After a short ride the rest of the way toward headquarters Giles and the Major arrived and pulled the jeep off to the side under a tree and hoped out. "Seeing as Charlie Company Barracks is less than a half mile up the road I'd imagine he's already here sir. I'll go ahead to the mess hall and find us a table sir." Giles volunteered. He too had been in that very same battle with Patterson and Baker and wanted to see how the man was doing.

"Appreciate it Sergeant, see you in a few." Henry replied back and headed for the front doors of the building. He looked around at what he could see of the temporary base, a few men were out for a morning run, a platoon of troops were about a quarter mile opposite the structure receiving instructions for a training course they were about to undertake and the random vehicle or two were passing through the dirt roads. The place was buzzing with activity and for one the first time in months, not a single explosion could be heard in the distance.

With a quick shove one of the double doors swung open and Patterson made his way into the lobby area and removed his cover and placed it between his ring and pinky fingers while the others held firmly onto his briefcase handle. It took only a second for him to recognize Baker and a tiny smile perched itself on the Major's face as he extended his right arm out, to shake the Sergeant's hand. "Morning Baker, I'm on my way to breakfast, my treat if you can hold off passing out for a little bit longer." He offered up to Brian. He already knew the man would accept since the runner had found him at the request of the unit commander, but it was nice to keep things pleasant when possible.