A Story About June 6th 1944

  As I stood in the back of the carrier boat that was leading us into omaha my hands were trembling, I took a quick swig of water as men were throwing up in front of me. It was a cold and rainy day. The sergeant at the bow of the carrier said to us, “Come on men this is an honorable job! Today we will be proud to be americans!”
My dad had said that to the day I had enlisted. “Honorable Job” he had admitted. “But your a damn fool.” Just thinking about this made me chuckle. I love my father more than anything. However he was a man of few words and because of that, there was always something mysterious about him. Even though we didn’t exactly see eye to eye on mostly everything, I knew where he was coming from. He was a WWI veteran. He once had told me he had seen things that no man should ever have to see, I was his only son, my mother had died when I was very young, I was all he had left.
“Alright men this is it, when I open the gate we are all going to rush out onto the beach, when we get there I want you to all push up to the barb wire. Good luck to all of you and god bless america.” The sergeant's orders snapped me back to reality. We crouched low inside the carrier. Men clutched and kissed pictures of their wives and children,I didn’t have a wife or children. I did however have a beautiful lady back home. Known her since I was 12. If I ever get back home and see her again, i’m going to ask her to marry me. Thinking about her takes me to another place sometimes...
The vessel was quiet now, an eerie silence. Nobody had to say anything, we were all thinking the same thing. We ducked low and clutched our M1 carbines. Then, all at once, the doors were opened. Before I could even think we were being shot and, bloodcurdling screams filled the air. More and more men went down in front of me. In a snap decision I stood up, climbed to the ledge of the vessel, and jumped into the cold hectic water. At first the cold water felt soothing on my skin however, It didn’t take long before I realized that even being underwater I wasn't safe. Bullets wizzed across me every second, my mind was racing, I knew we would be in a battle but nobody not even god could have seen this coming....
I came to the surface and I saw to my horror dozens, maybe even 100 dead bodies. As I came to shallow water I looked down to a kid maybe 18 years old, the water around him was crimson red. He moved his mouth but, no words came out only air. By reading his lips I could tell he was saying help me however, there was no time for that. There was nothing anybody could do for this poor boy. I kept my head down and ran as fast as humanly possible through the water as bullets flew by feet away from me. I had seen death before like when my mom died in the hospital, but that didn't even come close to right here right now. Before today I didn’t even have any idea what death was.
As I came up to the beach I saw from my peripheral vision explosions as men flew up into the air as one whole piece and came down in pieces. These men were bloodied with their guts spilled out all over the beach.
“WHAT DO WE DO NOW!?” said one soldier with a sense of fear in his voice.
“WE NEED TO PUSH UP TO THE BARBED WIRE, IF YOU STAY HERE YOU’RE DEAD!” shouted back an officer.
The bullets continued to rain down on all of us with no remorse. I leaned up against one of the barracks and caught my breath. Explosions happened left and right of me. I put my head down, clutched my gun and ran as fast as I could toward the barb wire without any expectation of actually making it there. To my surprise I made it untouched. I looked back down the beach at all the men that weren’t as fortunate. My mind racing, I lay on the sand not knowing what to do next. I thought to myself, of all these men why am I still alive? Of these men there are plenty whom are much more respectable then I. Maybe the man who could have found the cure to cancer was lying dead in front of me.
“WE NEED TO GET RID OF THIS BARBED WIRE AND PUSH UP TO TAKE OUT THESE MACHINE GUNS!” shouted the officer.
We managed to find some explosives off of the dead bodies and cleared it. As we started to cross through it, we realized that there was a minefield on the other side. Probably every five seconds a bomb went off and one more soldier had fallen. I stayed behind, loaded my gun and pulled the warm metal trigger with authority. I repeated this multiple times until I realized that if I didn't start to move I would die. So, I crawled across the warm red sand toward the opening. Taking shelter behind the dead bodies I was able to make it. Nobody was talking anymore, the only sounds to be heard now are the bloodcurdling screams of the injured. Without doubt, i shot up like a rocket and ran as fast as I possibly could toward the wall where the men were with every ounce of willpower I had left in my body. When I got there I collapsed on my knees and threw up all over the sand. I was weak mentally and physically.
We managed to get rid of the machine guns, after that the enemy retreated. Although they were better prepared and came equipped with better weapons, they were outnumbered. Even though they retreated, they won this battle.
37,000 American men had died here today. I had to help clean up the bodies. For the next few days Silence was everywhere. Nobody said anything unless they had to, what was there to say? The screams of our fallen brothers would always be heard. Sometimes If I close my eyes, I can still hear them.
After that day I wasn’t afraid of anything anymore for i knew that death was inevitable and that any day now, I shall be released. I finally knew what my father was talking about when he told me i’d see things no man should ever have to see. Makes me wonder why I ever decided to choose this life of mayhem. If this was god’s version of punishing mankind I'd sure as hell believe it.
We recovered the wounded and said goodbye to those we lost, the war lasted only a year longer as the third reich fell and the germans were defeated. Unfortunately  I had to stay in Europe until the war was over, when I was able to leave, the first thing I did was get rid of everything I owned that reminded me of the war. For that was all behind me. When I got back home, everybody viewed me as a hero. I hated being called that, The only thing That I was is lucky. The real heroes were those who didn't make it home.
After that I lead a pretty normal life.Married my childhood sweetheart just as I planned. We have five beautiful children now. However that day changed me into the man I am today, The year is 1992. Not a day goes by where I don't think about what happened on Omaha beach that unforgiving day. For the tears of rage will never be forgotten.