Warning the sergeant in charge of the positions along that portion of the perimeter to hold fire unless he was actually under attack, Nancy again turned to where the real danger lay. She had neither the time nor did she feel the need to explain anything else to that sergeant. In the rush of events Nancy Kozak didn’t see an assistant store manager who only trained with the Guard thirty-nine days out of 365. She saw a sergeant E-5. So she ascribed to him the same attributes, experience, and expertise that she had come to expect from the professional soldiers she was more familiar with.

Fran Meranno had never seen herself as anything but a part time soldier. Her military occupational specialty as an ammo specialist meant that she did little more during her time with the Guard than storing and sorting training ammunition. Still, she had enough tactical savvy to appreciate the grim fact that she and her companions were in a very difficult situation. Even with the Cal. 50 machinegun hammering away at the paratroopers arrayed before Fran’s position, her attackers showed no sign of giving ground. If anything their steady hail of fire directed at her position was beginning to take a toll on them. Within minutes David Tillman was hit in the arm. Though unwounded, Chester West had dropped to the bottom of their pit in search of cover and salvation.

In silence the three Guardsmen worked together to keep their M-60 going. Though scared witless, West was not totally ineffectual. While making no effort to use his own weapon, since doing so would mean exposing himself to enemy fire, he managed to overcome his terror and scrounge fresh boxes of ammo for the machine gun. Taking great pains not to expose any part of his body above the level of the battered sandbags that protected them, West passed the opened boxes to Tillman. Using his one good arm, Tillman in turn fed fresh belts of ammunition to the gun every time Fran Meranno finished one off and threw open the receiver cover. Any reservations about firing on fellow Americans had been washed away by Tillman’s blood and the dogged, uncompromising determination of the paratroopers. It didn’t matter that Fran didn’t think she was hitting anyone. The only thing that was important to her was that they were keeping the paratroopers out there and at bay.

With their attention focused on the paratroopers to their front, the trio of Guardsmen were taken by surprise when a fresh hail of fire started pelting them from their right. Just when everything seemed to be in hand and under control, things took an ugly turn. Before Fran knew what was happening he was there, towering above her at the edge of the pit looking down on Fran, David Tillman, and an absolutely terrified Chester West.