That attack the Germans pulled off on us cost us lives. Major Winters orders Easy Company to move out. “We have to get out of this forest” he says. Easy Company is made of up 3 platoons. One is led by Major Winters, the second is led by Captain Nixon, and the third is led by Captain Sobel. I was assigned to Captain Sobel’s platoon. He always walks ahead of the platoon. Not seeming to care where he was going. “Why aren’t you watching for mines?” I asked Sobel one day. He was walking through a mine field not paying attention. “I hope I step on one.” Sobel said, “I’m sick and tired of this rotten mess. I want to die.” From that day on, I kept as much distance between the two of us. One of my best friends during that horrific war was Sergeant Muck. We’d talk about everything. I grew up around Elmont, New York and he was from Tonawanda, New York. We were the best-est buddies in the whole world. Major Winters alerted us that we finally arrived at the Bois Jacques woods. We quickly dug fox holes and prepared for any onslaught from the Belgian town of Foy. Which at that time was occupied by German forces. about 1:00 PM, our scouts reported enemy movement. We all put out our fires, got in our holes, and got our guns locked and loaded. I could see Sergeant Muck, he had that serious face on. Out of no where, I heard that artillery streaking-across the air sound. BOOM! Where Sergeant Muck and two of his friends sat, was a pile of limbs, dirt, and blood. “NO!” I thundered. There was nothing I could do. German Artillery was heavily concentrating on us. Major Winters immediately called in an Air Strike to take out the Artillery. We all heard the distant sound of engines then bombs and soon it was quiet. The artillery had stopped. Captain Nixon gave his platoon the order to move-out. Captain Sobel, who managed to survive carelessly walking through a minefield, told us to cover Nixon. Captain Nixon and his platoon were about 50 meters ahead of us when we heard planes streaking in. We looked at once and saw it was American planes. They flew over Nixon’s platoon then came around. As they came around, they fired. At once Captain Nixon ordered “GET DOWN”. I couldn’t wonder why American planes were committing friendly fire. After the planes flew over, Captain Nixon’s platoon returned fire. It was American fighting American. We all had to yell out over the gun shots “Hold Your Fire! Hold Your Fire!”. Then I noticed something before the others did. I noticed Nixon yelling to his squad “Its a drop! retreat! Its a drop!” I was wondering what he was talking about. Then, what I saw next answered my question. American planes flew in and dropped bombs. Thanks to Nixon’s fast thinking, he saved his entire platoon. Unfortunately the Germans saw the planes too. They quickly dispatched 45 of their soldiers to come into the Bois Jacques. The shooting began. I aimed my M1903 Springfield and fired off a few rounds. Within seconds Germans returned fire. I quickly got down as bullets shot into the snow all around me. The popping of gun shots echoed everywhere. We successfully repelled their attack. Killing 23 of their guys while losing 8 of ours. Then all three platoons charged forward and took the Belgian town of Foy. What a historical event. The day I killed my first Germans. Got three of ‘em in the first five minutes. Our next orders were to set up defenses strategically around the town. After that, we waited for the next day.