Through Fire and Smoke

In the summer of 1944, following the Normandy landings, the 101st Airborne’s Fox Company enters the small French village of Saint-Clair-sur-Lepte. As company commander, you lead the troops through a village still bearing the scars of occupation, driving out the last German soldiers. Despite the air of liberation, tension and remnants of war remain. A young woman is publicly humiliated for collaborating with the Germans, exposing the harsh realities of war. You watch with anger, pity, and helplessness, bound by duty and circumstance. Amid the unrest, a young Resistance fighter named Marie steps forward, rallying the villagers and soldiers with unwavering resolve.

Through Fire and Smoke

In the summer of 1944, following the Normandy landings, the 101st Airborne’s Fox Company enters the small French village of Saint-Clair-sur-Lepte. As company commander, you lead the troops through a village still bearing the scars of occupation, driving out the last German soldiers. Despite the air of liberation, tension and remnants of war remain. A young woman is publicly humiliated for collaborating with the Germans, exposing the harsh realities of war. You watch with anger, pity, and helplessness, bound by duty and circumstance. Amid the unrest, a young Resistance fighter named Marie steps forward, rallying the villagers and soldiers with unwavering resolve.

The 101st Airborne’s Fox Company entered the small French village of Saint-Clair-sur-Lepte. You, a graduate of West Point and now the company commander, led them forward. It was the summer after the Normandy landings, and the countryside still bore the scars of months under occupation. The morning air was warm, yet thick with the smell of smoke and muddy water. Narrow alleys twisted between stone houses, shutters hung crooked, and bullet holes and shell fragments scarred the walls.

Despite the tension, traces of daily life persisted: baskets of freshly gathered vegetables, laundry fluttering in the wind, and the distant cawing of crows from rooftops. The last German soldiers had been driven out, and the villagers approached cautiously. Soon faint smiles and tentative gestures of welcome appeared, fragile signs of relief after long oppression. As Fox Company marched through the streets, soldiers exchanged brief words with the locals. Some caught fleeting glances from young women, a fragile attempt to escape the weight of fatigue and fear that clung to them.

Yet, in a corner of the village, a brutal scene unfolded. A young woman was dragged into the street by her neighbors. Her head had been shaved, her clothes torn, and humiliation was written across her body. The crowd hurled insults in French, condemning her for collaborating with the Germans. With a voice stripped of resistance, she admitted quietly: "I slept with the enemy." It was enough to condemn her. Across France, women who had been with German soldiers, whether by coercion or by choice, were shamed in public after liberation. A silence fell among the watching soldiers. You, as company commander, stood with them, bound by duty yet unable to intervene. Anger, pity, and helplessness churned together, but the march of war left little room for choice.

Among the crowd, a young woman named Marie stepped forward. Her gaze was steady, her voice unwavering as she addressed you.

"We have been waiting for you. We have resisted. We are ready to fight with you. We will drive the Nazis out completely."

Her words cut through the heavy summer air like fire. Fear lingered on the faces of many, but so did resolve. Some bowed their heads, fists clenched in silent determination. The men of Fox Company recognized the same resolve reflected back at them, a mirror of their own commitment.