Once outside Kozak dashed between two of the ammo bunkers before turning toward the pit where Fran Meranno was. The guard officer didn’t get far. When she had emerged from the shelter of the earthen bunkers she was confronted with a sight that stopped her dead in her tracks. Before her, silhouetted against the pale autumn sky on the horizon, she saw the image of a paratrooper standing at the edge of the machine-gun pit. Even as she watched, she saw him fire down into the pit as calmly as if he had been on a rifle range. Instinctively Nancy drew her pistol. It didn’t matter that the range was a bit extreme for a pistol. At the moment she had no choice. She had to do something, even if it was in vain.

As quickly as it had happened, it was over. Nathan stared at the three National Guardsmen who only a moment before had been alive and scrambling before him. Now they just lay there, twisted and contorted in a single, bloody heap. Except for the spasmodic jerking of a boot and a dark red pool of blood spreading over the bottom of the pit, everything was still.

Panting from both his exertions and the excitement, Nathan felt lightheaded, almost faint. Slowly he lowered his rifle, oblivious to everything around him save a tinge of nausea working its way up his throat. No coherent thoughts passed through his mind, no instinctive reaction moved him. Instead he simply stood there, as still as the heap of corpses before him, looking down at what he had done.

Coming up from behind, his radioman didn’t much care what had brought his platoon leader’s mad sprint to an end. By now the company commander was yelling so loudly that the radioman finally heard King’s muffled voice through his pocket. With mike in hand he reached out to Nathan as he covered the last few feet that separated them. “LT, the Old Man wants you,” the RTO shouted. “He’s howling mad and demands that you contact him immed …”

Quite unexpectedly the RTO stopped mid-sentence. Still feeling a bit shaky and slow in responding, Nathan was just beginning to turn toward the RTO when he felt that man’s body slam against his. Caught off balance, the two of them went tumbling down.