Combat jump Book

[A frustrated Gavin didn’t want to stand around waiting for an enemy patrol to discover his tiny group; he needed to get to his objective. But they could not simply abandon the prisoner, who would spread the alarm. Gavin reluctantly decided they must take the Italian with them.

Vandervoort said he’d learned in a course on handling prisoners, how to keep the man from running; remove the prisoner’s belt and cut the buttons off his fly so that he’d have to hold his pants up. Vandervoort holstered his pistol and poked his big trench knife against the Italian’s chest, just to let the man know he meant business. The terrified soldier could only mutter, “Mama mia, mama mia.”

Vandervoort made his move. He grabbed the man’s trousers as moonlight glinted off the knife blade. This was too much for the prisoner, who clearly thought the Americans were about to castrate him. Although he was unarmed and outnumbered six to one, he fought. Screaming, he grabbed the knife blade with his right hand and pulled the Americans down on top of him in a kicking, wailing tangle of arms and legs. Then, incredibly, he got away. One minute the paratroopers had him surrounded, and the next he was gone.

“What in the hell did you think you were doing?” a furious Gavin asked Vandervoort. Wisely, the major did not answer.

Gavin was less than two hours into his war. He did not know where he was or where his objectives were. He did not know where his men were or where the enemy was. He and five of the toughest fighters the United States Army had produced had just been given the slip by an unarmed, terrified Italian soldier. (hide spoiler)]