This is Jose Ramirez and you’re listening to Check It Out. The year is now June 6th, 1944. It’s in the wee hours of the morning and you’re feeling a little sick from riding in the body of an airplane for many countless hours. The stench of cigarette smoke and sweat is slowly filling the plane. Looking around, you keep a tally of the things you brought and keep checking if you’re parachute is ready. Trying to catch some Z’s before you reach the destination, a few of the men near you are saying a quick prayer and then suddenly, a man stands at the front of everyone yelling when it is a go to jump. As soon as the man starts to yell more instructions the aircraft that you’re in is starting to shake and you hear explosions outside. Quickly men get on their feet, the light is green and the door is open, ready for you to jump. In the World War 2 thriller written by Stephen E. Ambrose entitled Band of Brothers, Ambrose recounts the past of the famous E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne. Together the men of Easy Company came together in the Summer of 1942 because they were drawn to the $50 monthly bonus the Airborne has promised and a desire to be better than the next guy. They had rough training in Georgia, parachuted into France early D-Day morning, parachuted into Holland during the Arnhem campaign, were known as the Battered Bastards of the Bastion of Bastogne, had to hold the line at the Battle of The Bulge; and then they spearheaded the counteroffensive and, in the end, they captured Hitler’s Bavarian outpost, his Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden. But this did not come easy for them. Through thick and thin, these men became a brotherhood. In the war they discovered, men who loved life would give their lives for them. You can check out this book and other books over World War 2 at the public library located in downtown Sioux City.
Support for Check It Out comes from Avery Brothers.