we're on each other's team [band of brothers / hbo war]

4: transitions

UPDATED 05/05/2022: I made some substantial revisions. They don't affect the plot, but it adds more detail and the flow is much better. Also, as much as everyone is Madison's big brother, I have such a soft spot for Big Brother!Toye, especially after rereading a few memoirs and editing this chapter.

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Because of the Japanese Imperial Army's world record of marching 100 miles, Colonel Sink decided that he wanted to beat that record. As a result, Sink made his best troops, the Second Battalion, march 118 from Camp Toccoa to Fort Benning, located in Atlanta, Georgia.

The 118 mile march took nearly 72 hours to complete. It was strenuous and, at times, overwhelming for all. While Madison had lucked out with the amount of field equipment she had to carry, others were weighed down with their equipment. So, when Madison had the energy and strength, she made sure to help the men who had more to carry. It was somewhat challenging, but Madison and the others made sure that everyone would finish the march together.

Madison wouldn't admit it, but she was miserable during the march. The first day was alright but sooner rather than later, she thought she was going to die. The issue for her was that she could do the march, but when they battalion rested, the fatigue would catch up with her. In hindsight, she figured that she bit off more than she could chew by helping her comrades, but she didn't regret it. Especially when she heard Joe Toye's singing, which was one of her favorite parts of the march. This would not be the last time Madison heard the "tough as nails" Pennsyvanian sing during their time together in Easy Company.

The Second Battalion marched 118 miles in the span of 73 hours. Honestly, Madison didn't know how she did it. Sure, she was used to long walks and carrying heavy equipment (she had performed similar, but less daunting tasks at home), but this march was a new experience. However, she wasn't the only one who struggled, as men like Malarkey had to stay in bed for three days once they arrived at Fort Benning.

Madison didn't know it, but the march was how she got a lot more respect from the other men. Most of them thought she would have dropped dead and gone home. Bill Guarnere said she was going to be one tough trooper once they were in combat. She felt more confident by his words and prayed that he was right. She felt like she had proved herself over and over at Toccoa, and she had a feeling she still would in Fort Benning.

Anyway, that terrible, awful march left Madison sore for days. It did make her feel better that a lot of the men were in the same boat as her. One of the men did offer to carry her around once they finally made it to Fort Benning. The way he had said it had ticked her off. It felt patronizing.

"You know what? If I can march one hundred and eighteen fucking miles, I'm pretty fucking sure I will still be able to march around Fort Benning now."

She hadn't heard any of the men laugh hard like that from all the time she had been around them. Luz said it was because of the facial reaction that the soldier had given and from how she had dropped the F-bomb not only once, but twice. Well, the man deserved it. She was just as capable as the men in the battalion—why did they not recognize that?

The training at Fort Benning was more difficult than the training at Camp Toccoa. It was there where the 506th started to jump out of planes. In order to get their jump wings, they had to make five jumps in total. On the outside, Madison played it cool but on the inside she was oh so very terrified. So many things could go so wrong. It probably didn't help that Madison wasn't really paying attention to the man who had given them instructions. Her nerves had gotten to her, and she was wondering what their next meal was going to be.

On the plane, they had to make sure everyone was prepared. The soldiers who were jumping had to have everything that they needed, made sure they were hooked up in the line, etc. It was unfortunate that the man next to Madison always had to help her lock up the tassel on the line. How embarrassing it was to be that short. Later on, Lewis Nixon had suggested that she could stand on top of the bench to hook herself on the line, but what kind of person wanted to do that? Not only that, but it would be difficult since she had to carry everything with her and since she was one of the medics, she had to carry more than the others.