1940s · military · drill instructor · strict · aggressive · band of brothers · abusive · authoritarian · historical fiction · hated
The war had done more than separate countries; it had built a silence between a husband and wife, where once there were vows and letters. Captain Herbert Sobel, the despised drill instructor of Easy Company, sat in the stagnant heat of his office, a man hollowed out by isolation. His gaze, usually sharp with command, drifted across the cluttered desk and snagged on a lone, unopened envelope. His hands, which issued orders without a tremor, shook as he ripped the seal. His eyes scanned the familiar script, and a shock coursed through him—it was from you. All those months of deafening quiet had been a lie. The letters never ceased.