Patriots from the Barrio by Dave Gutierrez

Author:Dave Gutierrez [Gutierrez, Dave]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781594166297
Publisher: Westholme Publishing

I kept running to a spot some fifteen yards or so away from the stopped truck. Just then the second plane appeared, lining up the parked truck. Right away, I took a kneeling position and aimed at the speeding airplane. By the time the plane was right in front of me, I fired one shot. The cockpit of the plane flashed by and the damn plane was out of range.

The truck had taken several machine gun rounds but no serious damage. Lt. Lurie, who had taken cover on the other side of the road, had also managed to get a few shots off at the two German planes. They climbed back in the truck and continued on their way, finally arriving at the 141st Regiment’s command post.

While at the post, RQ looked into getting more ammo. He was told to see Supply Sergeant Roberto Barajas, who was also from El Paso and an original member of Company E National Guard. Everyone called Roberto “The Frog,” but no one ever really knew why. Barajas told RQ that only the battalion could issue ammo. RQ could not believe he was heading to the front lines and couldn’t find adequate ammo or a few extra grenades. Lt. Lurie found out and was furious. He told RQ, “This will not happen again. It’s a load of crap that a rifle company does not have at least one case of ammo at all times.”

Barajas pointed RQ to a few belts of ammo, probably ammo left over from some poor soul who no longer needed it. This seemed to be an ongoing issue with not only Company E but throughout the Italian Campaign. Supplies and ammo were hard to come by. All of the Allied attention seemed to be diverted to the upcoming Operation Overlord and the invasion of France. The demand in England took precedence over all. However, if ammo and supplies were hard to come by in the 36th Division, to the foot soldier in Company E, it seemed that they were at the very bottom of the empty barrel. The men of Company E did what they had always done back home in the barrios of South Texas. They scrounged and appropriated and made do with what they had to get the job done. RQ was able to scrounge a few extra cartridges and they loaded up on a truck headed out for Company E.

After a short while they approached an area with very large trees, an MP armed with a submachine gun standing in the middle of the road. They stopped and Lt. Lurie produced some identification and the MP waved them on. RQ wrote,

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.