**Location: 8 km south of the village of Ladek Starey
Time: 1645 20 July 2000
<"Ich bin zurückgekommen Hauptmann . . . err . . . I am come back Hauptmann." he says a little
breathlessly, "Could someone support the truck above against this dam bitte?" he asks, miming backing
the truck up against a bank. He seems fully prepared to ride the whole lot onto the back of the truck, explosives
and all.>
Lee checks over the trailer before loading it on the truck. "Feldwebel, wouldn't it be safer to unhitch that
trailer and tow it behind the Deuce truck?"
Gerhardt flashes a quick smile at Captain Lee, "Es ist small too Hauptmann, the dragging rope towing bracket
is a metre over the Schlußteil ... trailer? tongue." he says, pointing to the little trailer's tongue
and the trucks tow hitch which is about a metre off the ground, "Ich . ." Gerhardt tries to find the
words but they fail him, he mimes himself
unloading the trailer in a rapid manner and begins to stow his equipment on the truck.
SGM Stewart helps him load the stuff in to the back of the truck and take a mental inventory of it. I then offer
him 2 MRE's and get in the back of the tail truck and position myself to watch our rear.
SGM Stewart sees that the trailer contains mainly mines and explosives, Gerhardt has a flamethrower which he takes
inordinate care of but it appears to be empty. There's some one-shot AT rockets and WP cartridges as well as the
normal amount of ammo and grenades.
His rad counter is attached to the bike and he leaves it turned on as he's close enough to hear it. When SGM Stewart
offers him some food he cracks a big smile, "Danke Oberfedwebel, war ich starving!" Up close you can
see he's armed with his H&K G36K assault carbine, a pistol and a cutdown M79 grenade launcher in a leg holster,
he has IR goggles attached to the front of his fritz helmet. He stuffs his face with the first MRE and hands the
second
back with a wistful smile, "I assume that there is not sufficient which can be wasted food," he says
in his special gerhardt-english.
As the vehicles move off, Gerhardt keeps a careful lookout but will "talk" to SGM Stewart as the opportunity
presents itself. When the vehicles halt during their bounding movements or wait for the scouts to check things
out, Gerhardt checks the area for star pickets (steel stakes) and barbed wire.
As they load the truck, SSG Ingle says "As to what we do with all the prisoners generated, a quick pop in
the back of the head will do it. I have a .380ACP HK-4 which will be good for that job. That's if I don't nail
tham in the first place." And I continue to to use my
rifle's sight as a telescope, ready to pop the first Pact soldier I see...
Lee listens to Ingle's suggestion and silently ponders it for a moment. Then he speaks with raised voice to the
whole group, "Now hear this!"
The entire group stops what they are doing and looks at CPT Lee.
Lee continues "There will be no shooting of prisoners without cause! Now, I don't pretend to be the greatest
patriot or a bleeding heart liberal, but let's remember who we are, guys. We're the representatives of the greatest
civilization in the free world. We're members of what once was the greatest fighting force on the face of the
planet, the United States military. Now, I know that a lot of bad things have happened, both here and at home.
All of us has lost family after the nuclear strikes back home. I know each of us has lost good friends in this
war. I know a lot of things have changed recently..." he pauses and
looks at the group. Then he continues...
"But that doesn't make us blood thirsty killers. We're soldiers, but not savages. Some of you may have been
drafted or recalled to active duty, some of you volunteered and some of you are professional soldiers. But each
of us was instilled with professionalism, respect and pride. Or have you forgotten what you learned in boot camp
and AIT? I know some of you are Green Berets or Rangers, the best of the best. Let's not tarnish the image by
massacring unarmed men. If we take any prisoners, they will be interrogated for any relevant information, then
dealt with accordingly."
Lee then pauses, clears his throat and continues, "Remember where we all came from, and what we're supposed
to stand for." he looks at the group one last time "Does anyone have any comments?" (pause for
any comments)
Ingle thinks to himself, "It's silenced, you know...no one would ever have to know..."
"Ok, lets get the German's gear on the truck and get moving, We will head southeast until the we get out
of the woods. Ikeman, your Hummer has the point, Red Star and Big Bertha will follow." Lee then climbs aboard
Red Star.
Gerhardt loads the truck with a will, thanking anyone who helps him in his mangled English. When he's finished
he double checks that everything is secure and makes sure his detonators are in the most protected place possible.
He looks around the back of the truck for sandbags or something similar to wrap up the detonators. With a few people
it's easy to manually lift his quad onto the truck, anyone who assists him he mentally notes to help in future
tasks.
SGM Stewart sees that the trailer contains mainly mines and explosives, Gerhardt has a flamethrower which he takes
inordinate care of but it appears to be empty. There's some one-shot AT rockets and WP cartridges as well as the
normal amount of ammo and grenades.
His rad counter is attached to the bike and he leaves it turned on as he's close enough to hear it. When SGM Stewart
offers him some food he cracks a big smile, "Danke Oberfedwebel, war ich starving!" Up close you can
see he's armed with his H&K G36K assault carbine, a pistol and a cutdown M79 grenade launcher in a leg holster,
he has IR goggles attached to the front of his fritz helmet. He stuffs his face with the first MRE and hands the
second
back with a wistful smile, "I assume that there is not sufficient which can be wasted food," he says
in his special gerhardt-english.
SGM Stewart then offers Gerhardt 2 MRE's and gets in the back of the tail truck and position himself to watch our
rear.
Climbing onto the bed of the truck he checks out the driver, hoping he's a better driver than he is. He feels
a little alarmed that the driver is one of the locals, hopefully he can drive decently. He then settles down in
the bed in wherever has the best cover and turns to the driver and yells, "Is there everything to eat here?"
As the vehicles move off, Gerhardt keeps a careful lookout but will "talk" to SGM Stewart as the opportunity
presents itself. When the vehicles halt during their bounding movements or wait for the scouts to check things
out, Gerhardt checks the area for star pickets (steel stakes) and barbed wire.
**1700 meters north of the main group
Time: 1645 20 July 2000
<Whitedog and Kartz continue to trail the main group, watching with interest as another soldier appears, then
returns to the woodline and returns with a 4 wheeler towing a trailer. They seem to be trying to figure out how
to get it onto one of the duece and a halfs...>
Whitedog and Kartz watch with interest as the group has what almost looks like some sort of arguement. The group
waits for the soldier that was speaking to finish, they then quickly load up the truck and move south.
**Location: 250meters northwest of Ostrzeszow
Time: 1645 20 July 2000
<Wh...whatcha got in mind LTC Star? I mean, it doesn't seem to fortified if you ask me. We could insert right
over there, past that choke point and round these suckers up....whatcha think?" Smith says, adding his pointless
input while waiting for LTC Star's final decision.
CPT McLeod puts down his binos after scanning the town to the northwest, then looks at his map. According to the
intel report, Ostrzeszow was supposed to be unoccupied...obviously somebody was wrong.>
LTC Star looks away from his glasses and looks over at Smith with a stupid grin on his
face... and then ask smith "and what would you suggest we do with these Pact Soldiers once we capture them??
"No I think will come up with a better plan. Now let me think..."
"Sure thang Star, but um, this is a hospital y'know. Not that I should be worryin' bout it or nuthin. Just
thought I'd point that out. I'll leave ya be and keep perimeter round here till your plan is formulated. Clue me
in when you got it alright?" Smitty says, and then
leaves, setting up a few paces away to keep watch and scan for pact soldiers that are armed.
Mcleod wearily sneaks back to his hummer, he jumps in the drivers seat & pulls out his radio (the Manpack)
and listens in to what is happening jumping through various channels until he finds a friendly. He will listen
briefly before speaking up. "This is Otter 6 come in over." he awaits a response.....