His suit was freshly pressed, crisp and formal. The medals shown brightly, polished to a golden hue. And the stars. Three suns flowing across his broad shoulders, and around the brim of his cap. He ducked, avoiding a bulkhead. A smaller man stood in wait.

“Lieutenant?”

“Yes, General?”

He waited, drawing a breath. The lieutenant shifted, struggling to keep his well groomed composure.

“How’s the operation proceeding?”

The lieutenant delivered his message; the message feared by every single man in the army.

“Fine, sir.”

Twin propeller blades spun and whirred. The noise was deafening. A fine layer of cooled air collected on the wing tips, the plane cutting its way through a cloud. Red and green lights flashed, giving the plane position in the darkness of the night. One could not see beyond the wing tips… the night was so great. No light, none at all. I turned my gaze back into the aircraft. The cramped plane was filled to bursting point; twenty men packed into the tiny plane. Each carried pound upon pound of weight, their parachutes could not possibly be of much use. Those poor souls; most likely all would dead by this time tomorrow. Lights flashed on the plane’s dashboard. I adjusted my headset, listening in to all the chatter. Their was none, and it frightened me. The radio played dead silence, a more melancholy tone never heard. Miles below, it seemed, the ocean began to turn to land. My co-pilot was buzzing with excitement.

“Its about time!”

Their was no need for me to respond, his question answered itself. I knew better though. If it was ‘about time,’ then we must be directly over the enemy flak positions. Any moment now, the sky would light up with tracer rounds, and ‘pom-pom’ explosions.

The view window went black, pitch black, nothing.

“What the heck?”

“We must have hit a cloud,” I replied.

I heaved the controls, hard, around attempting to escape the shroud of black. My intuition told me to pull out, to get away as fast as possible. I increased the throttle, the engines protesting at the added strain. We broke free of the clouds. The starry sky became perfectly clear, even the moon was visible. I relaxed, the situation was back under control. A split second later, the primary engine burst into flame. A dark trail of smoke plowed behind the engine, as shrapnel bounced off the hull.

“Flak!”

I second burst exploded directly in front of the cockpit. Shrapnel dented the window, and scattered across the wings. Another second; two more bursts of flak. The first nipped off the right wing tip, the second sheared off the left rudder. Flak popped and sizzled around the plane, air frying as each round exploded. The radio burst into life, a million voices all shouting the same thing:

“…UNITS… I REPEAT… DROP ALL UNITS…”

Far my left, a plane exploded. Flak punched through the cockpit, snapping the plane in half. A streaking fire traced away from the burning plane- craning towards the earth. I sat, too afraid to move. My copilot grabbed the yoke, and veered our damaged aircraft. I recomposed myself, taking hold of the controls, and turning on the ‘drop’ light.

“You boys better drop now, ‘cuz if you don’t you’re gonna be shot to pieces up here!”

I saluted, as the men stood, and approached the main exit door. Another plane in front of me, one which three minutes ago, would have been invisible, disappeared into a ball of fire. I began to notice parachutes, and men floating towards the earth. This is it. No going back now.

One of the men, the sergeant perhaps, forced open the door. Wind rushed into the plane, wiping at jackets, and backpacks. The soldiers clipped their parachute release straps onto the railing, and off into oblivion they went. The last man fell from the plane, his parachute gracefully floating him to the ground. My copilot turned to face me, terror written on his features.

“What now?”

There was no need for me to answer. An 88mm flak shell punched through the cockpit, detonating directly parallel to my face.

The plane floated gently towards the earth, fire pouring from an exploded engine, and a burning cockpit. It was quickly joined by many more.

“One minute!”

The landing craft rocked, jostling from side to side. The channel was angry today. Vast echoes of explosions reached the boat, drowning out all conversation. Ocean spray rained over the landing craft, drenching its occupants. Another explosion tore the sky, vanishing into the haze. The great guns of the USS Texas smashed the clouds, arching through the clouds, and burning the fog. A long whine descended upon the landing craft, ending in a great plume of ocean water. The boat bounced; the waves becoming calm. The titans of the sea grew quiet. The guns silenced. Haze engulfed the landing craft, the engines making the only sound. Someone spoke, his voice frightened and afraid.

“We’ll be hitting the beach any moment now…”

Another shell landed nearby. The poor soldier simply fainted away. The ocean rained over the boat, soaking the man from head to toe. The haze broke, and Normandy made herself felt.

“Thirty seconds!”

I could see the beach. Fog drifted lazily about the white shores, stretching from the sea to the cliffs. Countless crooked steel obstacles lined the shore. Death lay beyond them. Hidden by the haze, laying in rest- indestructible concrete bunkers. The boat lurched unexpectedly. Some odd thirty occupants ducked, bracing themselves. The landing craft stopped. The engine wailed against the shore, tortured by overuse. I watched in horror as the same began to occur across the beach. The landing crafts were stopping dreadfully short of the beach, many still floating in the water. Someone blew a whistle. Death waited, it’s mouth gapping wide.

“Go! Go! Go!”

Chains rolled, as the armored front slid wide. With a final heave the gate flew open, and the tide rushed inside the boat.

Bullets raked the landing craft from end to end.

I passed out as a bullet ricocheted off my helmet. They where all butchered… I was awoken by the man who had fainted. He dragged me off the boat and into the water. I sunk, the channel rushing around my body. I heard no sound, felt no emotion. The ocean hung tranquilly around me, and gracefully pulled me to the surface. I gasped air, as sound returned. Screams from the dieing, explosions from the guns and mortars. The constant rattle of machine guns filled my ears, and clouded my thoughts. I collided with a metal crossbar, and clung onto it with all my life. Water swirled around me, pushing me against the metal. Machine guns, the weapon of the devil, blasted through the water. Geysers of ocean burst all around me. I crawled away from the shore, towards the beach; and finally collapsed onto the sand. The man who had saved me was no where in sight. I was not a general, nor even a captain, but it seemed to me that the invasion was not going according to plan. The first infantry wave had been decimated. Many of the landing crafts lay full, the occupants having never even made it off the boats. I spotted another soldier hiding behind a large piece of steel. I managed to make my way towards him, but gave up when a mortar shell dropped onto him. Sand, and blood rained from the sky. Sliding behind another metal outcropping, I awaited the arrival of the second wave. The tide swept in, and fell out. I sat there, starring peacefully at the ocean’s waves.

A sniper shot me, twice.

The third LCA hit a mine. The boat slipped into the ocean. Chunks of metal fell from the sky, pouring over my landing craft. Fire burned the sea. Far behind me, almost invisible now, the HMS Warspite blasted away. She lobbed shells towards the distant beach, each shot a thunder clap. Shell impacts rolled, and crackled as they pulverized unseen targets. Each landing craft drove towards the shore, despite the mines and distant German shells. Engines and the low rumble of distant guns; the only sounds. The fog was gently lifting making way for the sun, and eventual blue sky. I began to see were the shells hit, miles north of the bunkers. The beach was practically untouched. Charles spoke, his heavy accent clear in my ears.

“I suppose they’ll be firing the rockets, eh?”

As though in answer to his question, a thousand high pitched screams let off behind me. The men ducked, as the unearthly tubes of fire screeched past. Rockets wailed overhead, and pounded the beach. Massive plumes of sand shot up from the shingle, the beach suffering such a beating- I had never imagined possible. Round after round of rocket fire streamed down onto tormented sand, until the dust began to obscure my vision. Charles laughed.

“No way anyone survived that! We might as well pack up and go home boys. I’ll see you back in Saint Johns for supper.”

The fool. Untouched, the reinforced cement bunkers lay in wait. The dust failed to clear, covering the beach in an eerie still. Not a shell fell on the bunkers, not a single one. The boat closed with the beach, and finally came to a halt. The men lurched, but quickly composed themselves. The landing looked good, only a couple hundred feet to the cliffs. The tank traps, and steel spikes might even offer some protection.

“Time to give Fritz a warm welcome…”

Someone shouted encouragement.

“See you on the beach, boys.”

The ramp dropped. A fury of color, orange yellow and red, streamed towards me. This rainbow of death, an all to perfect oxymoron. A million machine gun shells tore the landing craft apart.

“Good, good.”

A silence fell over the two men. The wind blew gently, pushing waves across the USS Texas’ bow. The lieutenant began to grow nervous once again.

“Sir?”

He turned away from the lieutenant, and strode back into his room. Perplexed, the lieutenant followed.

“Anything else, Sir?”

He placed his hat on the wall, and dropped into the comfort of his leather chair. Suddenly tired, he let out a long forced breath.

“Keep me informed.”