Staring blankly forward with his mind adrift,
The young trooper knows this is finally it,
For two years he’s trained, and tonight is the night,
Where he’ll jump from a plane and join in the fight,
The engines’ hum gives off a calming sound,
From his C-47, flying high above ground,
With boots laced tight and ‘chute ready to go,
The trooper steels his heart for the battle down below,
But fear creeps in when the hum is drowned out,
By exploding shells and his sergeant’s shout,
The plane shakes as shrapnel riddles the cabin,
He can only brace and wait for fate to happen,
A small puncture here and a big puncture there,
The craft can’t take much more before it falls from the air,
It’s “stand up and hook up” as a light turns red,
Knowing any moment he could soon be dead,
Seconds are eternal as he waits for the green,
The signal to flee from this doomed machine,
After moments of mayhem, he hears, “Let’s go!”
He turns in the door where his body will throw,
It’s his turn in line, and it’s now or never,
“Do I have what it takes for this great endeavor?”,
He inhales deeply and fights off a lump,
But with courage in his soul, he’s ready to jump,
He lets out his breath and leaps through the door,
Immediately yearning for his feet on a floor,
His canopy deploys as he descends through the night,
Fearing a German bullet will jump up and bite,
Jerrie machine guns and cannons light up the sky,
Before touching the ground, many GIs will die,
The further he falls, the trooper’s hope rises,
That he’ll avoid getting hit by these deadly surprises,
Just before he lands, his luck runs out,
As he gets hit by a rifle aimed by a Kraut,
Bleeding from his belly, he shouts out in hurt,
As his injured body slams into the dirt,
Dazed and scared and unsure what’s next,
His assailment is close, he did suspect,
Fighting not to faint, he pulls out his knife,
Prepping for a last stand against final strife,
His instincts are pure, and his enemy appears,
With bayonet on his rifle, a modern-day spear,
The German lunges forward with all of his might,
As the trooper musters the will to stay in the fight,
With a sweep of his arm, he blocks the bayonet’s tip,
And clutches the Kraut’s collar with a mighty grip,
He takes a final blurry look at this threat to the West,
And drives his trench knife, right into his chest,
Falling against each other, life slips away,
Neither will live, to fight another day,
The two soldiers lay quiet, gripped in death,
As hell burns hotter for those who are left,
This trooper’s war was short, but his legacy is long,
He stood firm with right as it battled against wrong,
No matter how long he fought before he fell,
Those he helped save will remember him well,
And by his sacrifice, laying buried in France,
His heroic efforts give liberty a chance.