Good Night, Irene

Irene struggles with nightmares due to PTSD. Every night, she dreams that the German soldier is chasing her. Dorothy tells her that their vacation in Cannes will help. They fly to Cannes, and Dorothy tells Irene that she wants to get a beret like the one that Colette wore. Irene does not remember Colette, which frustrates Dorothy, but she tries to let it go. Irene buys a black beret and Dorothy buys a red beret. They check into the hotel, which is on the beach and features a pool and expensive food and drinks. Both women start to feel better as they relax.

The next day, they are sitting on the beach and drinking beer when Hans and Smitty arrive, surprising them. Dorothy goes off with Smitty so that Irene can have time alone with Hans. Irene and Hans spend the rest of the day together. They have sex and talk in their room about finding each other after the war is over.

Irene spends the next week with Hans. One day, they walk along the dock, and Irene sees someone selling crates of octopi to people. Irene feels bad for the octopi and tells Hans that she wants to free them. Hans buys all the octopi for her, and they take the crates to the edge of the dock and release them back into the ocean. In their room, Hans tells Irene that he wants to rename his plane “Good Night, Irene” (239) after how she signs her letters to him.

On their last day together, Irene tells Hans never to say goodbye to her. She kisses him goodbye and winks at him as she puts a pair of her silk underwear in his pocket. On the plane, Irene confesses to Dorothy that she loves Hans, and she fears that she will lose him in the war. Dorothy recommends that she keep moving forward and try not to think about it. She tells Irene to be content with the week that they had together even if it ends up being the last time she ever sees Hans. Irene wonders how he found them in Cannes, and Dorothy admits that she wrote to him and asked him to come. When they arrive back at their base, they meet a woman named Holly, who has been assigned to the Rapid City and is their new Third Girl on the Truck. She tells them that she is engaged to Rusty.

Everyone prepares for Rusty and Holly’s wedding. Rusty tells Irene and Dorothy that Holly has been his girlfriend since they were 15 years old. He wants to marry her so that if he dies, she will be taken care of as an officer’s wife. He does not tell them that his plan is to send Holly back home as soon as he can. Dorothy and Irene promise Rusty that they will look after Holly on the truck. Dorothy surprises everyone by showing them that she has learned how to drive a tank. Rusty and Holly are married a few days later. Irene also receives a letter from Hans, but the censors have redacted most of what he wrote. The next day, they go to Belgium.

While they drive the Rapid City to Belgium, Irene writes to Hans constantly, knowing that his work is getting more dangerous every day. She treasures the letters she receives from him, even if they are marred by excessive censoring.

In Bastogne, the troops swarm around the Clubmobiles to enjoy the warm coffee and the companionship that the women provide. At night, Holly cries for Rusty, and Dorothy and Irene try to comfort her. They huddle around the fire to keep warm and wrap their feet so that they will not get frostbite. Even with the threat of lurking German soldiers, Irene runs through the woods on most days. She does not realize that German snipers watch her every day, but they do not want to shoot her because they find her to be interesting and beautiful.

A week before Christmas, Holly and Dorothy go to another town to buy Christmas treats for the men. Irene stays behind. When they are gone, Bastogne shuts down because it is under siege by the Germans. With her friends gone, Irene must comfort the troops by herself during the Battle of the Bulge.

Irene sets up her supplies in the basement of the hotel since she knows that the hotel itself could collapse from the force of bombs and explosions. She prays that Dorothy, Holly, and Hans stay safe. On the fifth day of the battle, Irene helps a soldier to clean his soiled pants. On Christmas Eve, a group of soldiers brings a tree into the basement and decorate it with yarn and wrapping paper from the gifts that their family members sent them. As the night goes on and the bombs continue exploding outside, the men grow sad. One man plays Christmas songs on the guitar but soon grows too depressed to continue. Several men start to cry, so Irene starts to sing “O Holy Night,” and the men ask her to sing it repeatedly. Three days later, the American forces push back the Germans, and the battle ends. Dorothy and Holly come back to Bastogne and reunite with Irene.

In the sky above Bastogne, Hans chases down a German Luftwaffe with his fighter plane. He talks to Irene as if she is next to him in the plane because it comforts him. He shoots down a couple of the planes before he takes a hit. He notices his blood on the windshield of the plane and realizes that the shot has wounded him, but he does not feel any pain. Hans tries to get his parachute on but cannot move his legs. He forces himself out of his seat as the plane dives, and he falls into the sky.