Monday, June fifth, 1944. the attack on Omaha beach, led by American forces took the lives of more than 425,000 American and German lives. this is also where our story begins, when the first wave of soldiers were deployed a man named Ned Patterson, a man from a small town called Amado in Arizona. he was drafted in December of 1942, but he wasn't happy about where he was going, sailing to the shore waiting to die.