The 5th of June, 1944

Bound for Normandy, U.S. Army troops on board a Coast Guard-manned LCI(L), during the night of 5 June 1944.
(Source)

After being aboard the SS Empire Javelin one night and most of the 5th of June, Private Jack Wilson and PFC Bill Brandt were more than ready to be off. Off the damned ship and back to camp, or off the ship and onto the beaches of France. They'd been briefed that morning on where they were going to land. Bill thought that the code name "Omaha" for their destination was a good omen, he had once had a girlfriend from that city, a sweet girl. She'd married some 4F not six months after he'd shipped out. Jack couldn't quite figure out how that was a "good" omen.

When the engines on SS Empire Javelin rumbled to life once more, and stayed on, Jack figured that this had to be it. When he felt the ship begin to move, he knew that they were on the way to France and whatever destiny awaited them there.

MG-42 Bunker at Omaha Beach
(Source)

Grenadier Horst Mellanthin could still see the bloodstains on the concrete floor of their machine gun bunker where Feldwebel Krause and Gefreiter¹ Dietrich had died. No amount of scrubbing would get the stain out, but the sand he and Obergrenadier² Jan Kołodziej had used to sop up the blood did cover the stain to a certain amount. He thought that he would see those two men for the rest of his days. He had never seen a dead person before. 

Horst was now the assistant gunner, his job was to feed the belt to the machine gun which was now Jan's job to fire. Instead of a sergeant, now their position was commanded by a corporal, a nasty little snot named Schmidt from Berlin who constantly reminded the others that he was a Party member. So now they had an actual Nazi in charge. The job which Horst had held the day before, which was to shuttle ammunition cans up from the lower reaches of the bunker to their position, was now held by, of all things, a Russian of some sort. He spoke a little German, understood more that he let on, and was not overly impressed with Schmidt.

When Schmidt had them line up their grenades next to the gun, along the vision slit, Jan had pointed out that they could be hit by incoming fire. Schmidt just looked at Jan and told him to "keep your filthy Polish opinions to yourself." Not a real popular guy was Schmidt.

Horst was hoping either the Amis or the Tommies would come soon and kill the arrogant little shite. Then again, they might kill him too! He wished now, more than ever, that he was back home on his father's little farm.

The stage is set, all that remains is for the participants to arrive. D-Day, the Sixth of June, 1944, the day the Western Allies returned to France. Liberation for the oppressed peoples of Western Europe is at hand.





¹ Gefreiter - corporal
² Obergrenadier - Basically a private first class.