The Pears of Normandy

Jimmy looked in disbelief. He knew he was hungry, but he could not believe his eyes. Beyond the field, Jimmy saw an orchard of fruit trees. He recognized them from his small town in central Virginia.

"Ricky, look over there!" Jimmy said to his best friend.

Jimmy and Ricky had been friends since childhood. They had grown up playing baseball, working the orchards as teenagers, and enlisted in the Army together.

"Hot Dam!" "I never thought I saw them here," Ricky said excitedly.

It was late June, and Jimmy's and Ricky's fellow soldiers of the 116h Regiment of the 29th Infantry Division had fought hard on Omaha Beach and were fighting their way to St. Lo. The fighting had been brutal, and Jimmy and Ricky had lost many friends since they came ashore.

Jimmy and Ricky's food was decent for Army standards; however, the two best friends missed fresh fruits and vegetables. Thankfully, they found themselves near an orchard that grew pears. It was the same kind of orchard the two boys worked in back in Virginia.

Walking across the field towards the orchard was not a simple task. It seemed like the Germans were hidden everywhere. The tall hedges were slowing the Army's advance and making things worse for the soldiers. This situation made every open field a battleground for which American soldiers had to fight as they marched towards Berlin to end the war.

"I wish I could go get some of those pears," said Ricky. "Me too," said Jimmy.

"Any ideas," said Ricky. "I am thinking," said Jimmy."

"We are going to need to wait until darkness," said Jimmy. "Then, we can skirt the tree line around the field to the orchard," Jimmy elaborated.

"Do you think Sarge will agree to this?" asked Ricky. "Maybe," said Jimmy, "because we need to get across the field and secure it for the rest of the regiment."

"What do you plan to do once you get your hands on those pears," Ricky asked. "Well, I am going to take some back to our unit cook so that he can make some pies with them," Jimmy excitedly said. "We also know that if there are pears around, then there are also apples close by," Jimmy said.

"Boy! You're making me hungrier just thinking about some apple and pear pies," Ricky pronounced.

Jimmy and Ricky went to find their Sergeant and explain the situation.

Tom, a 24-year-old from Alexandria, Virginia, smoked a cigarette and watched as the men in his platoon cleaned their weapons, organized their ammunition, and rested. The men in the platoon called Tom "Sarge" because he was the old man and had taken over the platoon when their platoon leader, Lieutenant Smith, had been wounded on Omaha Beach.

"Sarge, do you have a minute," asked Jimmy. "Sure, what is on your mind," replied Tom.

"I see a pear orchard across the field and Ricky, and I want to go get some," explained Jimmy.

"You do realize that is across an open field, and there could be Germans waiting for idiots like you to walk across in broad daylight," Tom replied.

"We maybe country boys Sarge, but we are not that stupid," Ricky said.

"Ok, so what is your plan," asked Tom.

"When it is dark, a small team can skirt the trees on the side of the field and make our way towards the orchard. It will allow us to conduct surveillance of the German positions where we could then attack when they least expect it," Jimmy explained. "If we are successful, we can surprise the Germans and make things easier for the rest of the unit to cross into the Orchard," Jimmy further elaborated.

"When we are done and beat the Germans, we can harvest the pears and nearby apples for the boys and give some to the cooks to make some fruit pies," Ricky jumped in and explained.

"You two have really thought about this," said Tom. "Sarge, I have not seen pear trees since I left my hometown near Lexington," replied Jimmy.

"It has been a while since we had fresh fruits since we left England, and it will be a change from the C-rations we have been eating," Ricky added.

"As crazy as the idea of picking for pears sound, you do have a decent plan that will help us get eyes on the Germans and push them out," Tom said. "Plus, I would not complain about a fresh fruit pie myself," Tom elaborated.

"So, are you good with the plan for tonight," asked Jimmy.

"I will tell Captain Morgan that the platoon will conduct a reconnaissance mission in the direction of the orchard, but I will not tell him about the idea of harvesting fruit for pies," Tom said as he chuckled.

When Tom departed to inform Captain Morgan about the reconnaissance mission, Jimmy and Ricky began telling the rest of the platoon of the plan.

That night, Tom gathered the platoon to discuss the reconnaissance plan. They were going to split up into two groups. Jimmy and Ricky would be in the first group leading the way while the second group followed to provide support in the event of a firefight with the Germans.

Just past midnight, the platoon began their movement. The night was dark, with the moon barely seen in the sky.

"Here we go," said Jimmy as the lead section began moving towards the tree line at the edge of the field.

The platoon moved slowly, trying to avoid being seen or heard. "We are almost there," said Jimmy. Ricky nodded his head as he looked around for any signs of Germans hiding nearby.

Fifty meters ahead, Jimmy spotted a German fighting position. To Jimmy, it appeared as though the Germans were asleep and unaware of the approaching Americans. Jimmy signaled for everyone to stop and asked for Sarge to come forward.

A few minutes later, Tom approached Jimmy. "What do you see," asked Tom. Jimmy pointed to the German fighting position and noted that the Germans appeared asleep.

"Ok, we need to neutralize them before they alert other Germans nearby," explained Tom. "Let's see if we can take them out without firing a shot," said Jimmy.

It looked like there were only two or three Germans with a machine gun. Jimmy, Ricky, and Tom discussed the plan to sneak around the Germans and surprise them from the back of their position. Tom then told the second section of the platoon about the situation and informed them to sprint forward to suppress the Germans if the element of surprise was lost.

Tom took the lead of the first section, including Jimmy and Ricky, as they moved silently into the woods. After fifteen minutes of walking silently, they were ten feet from the sleeping Germans. As they got closer, Tom and the section could see that the Germans appeared to have been drinking since the area was littered with beer cans.

"So much for German discipline," Tom said. He gave the signal, and the soldiers rushed forward and surprised the Germans without firing a shot. The Germans were shocked and did not know what to do. They surrendered when they realized they had no chance of fighting back.

Jimmy and Ricky searched the German soldiers and found a map with locations of German positions. They found one that indicated another machine gun position on the opposite corner of the field and orchard.

"Sarge, look what we found," Jimmy said.

"Great, give these coordinates to the artillery so that they can open fire on that position first thing in the morning," Tom replied.

Jimmy and Ricky pulled guard duty as the Soldiers dug in for the night. The second section came forward to provide additional security.

When the sun rose that morning, the area on the opposite side of the field exploded as artillery began raining down. The German position had been neutralized.

Jimmy and his platoon were up and began walking around the orchard, looking for any additional Germans. After several hours, no Germans were found.

"Looks like the Germans ran," Tom said to Jimmy. "I guess we can do some fruit picking now," replied Jimmy. Tom smiled and nodded.

Jimmy and Ricky went about picking pears from the trees and collecting them in their helmets. Other soldiers picked pears and apples nearby. By the end of the day, Jimmy and the boys had picked several bushels of fruit. They took some back to surprise Captain Morgan at the headquarters to showcase the success of their reconnaissance mission. They also gave some to the cooks to make fruit pies.

That night, Jimmy and Ricky were enjoying their first fresh fruit pie since they left Virginia.

"We did good, Ricky," said Jimmy. "We sure did," Ricky responded while stuffing his face with pie.

"I never thought I would be so happy to eat pears again," Jimmy said, after all those years picking them back home."

"It is the little things we miss when we are far away from home," said Ricky.

"You are right, and we need to enjoy while we can because it is a long way to Berlin and back home to Virginia," Jimmy said.

Tom walked by and congratulated Jimmy and Ricky on the successful mission. All three continued to enjoy their pear fruit pies knowing the war was far from over, but for that moment, they could taste a sliver of victory.