“30 seconds!” I took in a deep breath and lurched forward as the troop transport hit a wake. All around me, men were throwing up, praying, crying, or staring grimly at the ever approaching coastline. “20 seconds!” Thanks to the driver, we knew exactly how long we had until we reached Hell on Earth. “10 seconds! God be with you lads!” After months of training and preparing, the day was finally here. Today was the start of a campaign that would throw the Nazis back to Germany. Today was D-Day. Suddenly, I came startlingly aware to the short cracks of rifles, pops of pistoles, and rattling of machine guns. I gulped and gripped my Thompson tighter. “Bing!” The guy in front of me, Todd, fell backwards, a hole in the center of his helmet and blood trickling down his face. His fall
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I risked a look around the corner of the bunker, and sure enough there was a MG-42 with a pair of Germans manning it. However, there was a crater at the base of the ridge which could offer cover. I turned back to guys behind me and said, “Alright here’s what we’re gonna do. You lot need to provide covering fire as I run into that crater over there. Got it?” The men nodded. “Alright then. 3. 2. 1. Covering fire!” I turned and bolted to the crater. Behind me, carbines, rifles, and Tommy guns let loose a terrible symphony of cracks and pops.
It was right when I reached the crater that my guys ran out of ammo and had to pull back. Then it was just me and the Germans. I crawled to the edge and peaked up at the gun, to make sure they hadn’t fallen back. They hadn’t. I turned on my back a tugged a grenade from my belt. I pulled the pin, held it for 3 seconds, and lobbed it up to where the gun was. I heard one Nazi begin to yell “Granate!” However, he was cut off by a sudden and violent explosion.
I shut my eyes. Not to keep out debris, but to reason with myself. They had to die.
I called back down to the bunker, “All
I risked a look around the corner of the bunker, and sure enough there was a MG-42 with a pair of Germans manning it. However, there was a crater at the base of the ridge which could offer cover. I turned back to guys behind me and said, “Alright here’s what we’re gonna do. You lot need to provide covering fire as I run into that crater over there. Got it?” The men nodded. “Alright then. 3. 2. 1. Covering fire!” I turned and bolted to the crater. Behind me, carbines, rifles, and Tommy guns let loose a terrible symphony of cracks and pops.
It was right when I reached the crater that my guys ran out of ammo and had to pull back. Then it was just me and the Germans. I crawled to the edge and peaked up at the gun, to make sure they hadn’t fallen back. They hadn’t. I turned on my back a tugged a grenade from my belt. I pulled the pin, held it for 3 seconds, and lobbed it up to where the gun was. I heard one Nazi begin to yell “Granate!” However, he was cut off by a sudden and violent explosion.
I shut my eyes. Not to keep out debris, but to reason with myself. They had to die.
I called back down to the bunker, “All