The Courage to Bear: A Band of Brothers Fanfiction

August 14th

It happened on a Tuesday. Daisy heard the news on the train, the excited cheers, singing, even weeping of passengers on the 5:15 out of Trenton. But Vincentown was another story.

She could only imagine the streets of New York two hours north. They would be packed with celebrants, waving flags, drinking like fish, and kissing strangers. But in a small place like Vincentown that had lost so many of it's native sons, the mood was different.

The church bells at First Presbyterian and St. Mary's were ringing out, calling for the same prayers from their separate flocks. Doors to shops on Main Street were open in the summer humidity. As she strode down the sidewalk, Daisy could hear the radio announcer in Martini's Italian Bistro declaring that Japan would have their formal surrender on September 2nd.

But the citizens of Vincentown were quiet. No rousing choruses praising the red, white, and blue. Just a collective, somber reflection on how much they had lost.

The Julians were not the only family in town with a gold star in their front parlor window. Tiny Vincentown, New Jersey had sacrificed a total of 42 boys to the cause, 15 of which on D-Day alone. Nothing would ever be the same in their little town, regardless of whether there was a war on or not.

Johnny's gold star shone out from the front porch, gleaming against a black curtain. The grand Victorian home, a present from her great grandfather to her great grandmother, was the jewel of Snowberry Street. Her mother's roses spilled over the white washed railing, pots of dripping, purple buds hanging over the top step leading up to the front door. A curved turret with a peaked, conical roof rose over the well tended eaves. Her grandmother had been the best caretaker of the place, Daisy had to admit.

Daisy gazed up the red brick walk as the church bells chimed in the distance. She closed her eyes as a swift breeze raced down the street, rustling the leaves in the elm tree shading their front lawn. This had been the exact spot where she'd watched Johnny walk himself down to the train station the last time he'd been home.

He had told them that he was a man now, there was no need for them to accompany him. Duffel bag slung over his skinny shoulder and paratrooper cap cocked on his dark head, he'd given her a salute with a goofy grin at the corner of Snowberry Street and Main, then disappeared from sight around an oak tree.

She watched him walk away in her mind. She studied his loose limbed gait, the fingers on his left hand snapping with nervous excitement. How he'd waved to Mr. Gallagher driving past in his Ford, the older man honking his horn and wishing him luck.

Daisy could watch her little brother walk away for the last time in her memory all day. But she knew she had to go inside. Her grandmother and mother were expecting her for dinner.

***

Growing up, Daisy knew families that played the radio during dinner. Other homes on their block had four or five kids a piece. Being invited over for a meal to one of those houses was a treat for Daisy and Johnny.

Mrs. Delphine Julian, the wife of the former town doctor Cadwell Julian, did not enjoy having her grandchildren's friends over for dinner. So they never invited them.

The grandfather clock in the hall ticked loudly as their cook Anna brought out the corned beef and salad, following the soup course. Even in the the middle of August heat, Daisy's grandmother was buttoned up to the neck. A pair of delicate spectacles hanging on a chain rested on her emaciated breast, her hair pulled up in a loose bun on the top of her head. It had gone stark white in a matter of months after they'd received the news about Johnny.

"Thank you, Anna," Grandmother said as the cook sliced her a piece of the meat. "This is a fine piece of beef you found. You are a wonder with that rationing booklet."