Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
It was the night before one of the most transcendental military invasions in human history, and hundreds of C-47 Skytrains darted across the English Channel carrying thousands of brave paratroopers about to face the darkest chapter of their lives.
The warplanes carried a group of paratroopers unlike any other, with mohawk haircuts and tribal face paint. The outfit led by the rebellious and untamed Jake 'McNasty' McNiece laughed and joked even as their aircraft was engulfed by fierce German flak fire.
As the Skytrain lost altitude, McNiece ordered his men to prepare for the jump. The lights inside the cabin then turned red, and the men scrambled to their feet amid fire and thunder. As McNiece and his comrade Willy made it to the door, flak burst through the warplane's belly, hitting Willy's backpack and unraveling his parachute inside the plane.
Now significantly damaged, the C-37 continued to lose altitude as Willy desperately tried to gather his parachute and move away from the door so other paratroopers could jump. McNiece then jumped into the flak-lit skies over France, and the Skytrain exploded in midair only a few seconds later.
There was no time to mourn, as McNiece and the rest of the notorious Filthy Thirteen outfit were now behind enemy lines in Normandy, and they had a crucial mission to finish…
