When the roar of an engine fades with your voice

Move out, now!

The tanks were waiting quietly inside the landing craft. In the dimly lit environment, the 75 mm cannons were pointing forwards. Lieutenant Davidson was sitting under his commanding cupola inside his vehicle, holding onto the radio, patiently waiting for the order to disembark. Underneath him, towards his left leg was his driver, Private Addams. He had a handsomely combed hair and his jacket, issued by the army, wrapped around his neck and over his shoulder like a Great War veteran's cape.
-"So, Addams, you never told me where you come from"- Davidson asked, hoping to break the boring silence inside the vehicle.
-"Well sir, I haven't heard the same from you either"- said the private, answering him back with his own question, slightly turning from his seat in search for visual with the commander inside the dark compartment.
-"I come from Nevada. I hope that is all you want to know"-
-"Nevada! What a nice place to live in right?"-
-"What about you then?"- he insisted
-"I'm from good old Kentucky"-
-"Sweet place, Kentucky"-
Davidson tried to think of a new conversation theme, when his radio beeped:
-"Company D, this is your captain speaking, we have arrived to Omaha beach. Don't forget your seatbelts, as we hope you to enjoy your stay, over"-
Another tank commander responded -"Blanc Belle disembarking now, over"-
The front hatch of the boat lowered and the company started moving out of the LST.The low grumble of the engines cried out towards the beachhead.
               -"Alright, private, follow the line"- he said, as he opened the hatch and climbed out.
       When he reached the top, he felt the cool wind sweeping by. He looked at the sky over the fields inland. Beginning from there, a dark blanket of clouds covered the sky, becoming less and less intense towards the shoreline.
          The timid sky greeted the entire army, who were established on the sandy beach, with a kind and almost unnoticeable drizzle. These tiny droplets that landed on the lieutenant's face began clumping together until they became heavy enough and slid down, following his cheeks and hanging by his chin.
          The company drove past the sandy beach and a ramp, then climbed to the top of the cliff that separated the beach full of sand from the ground packed with soil. On the end of the ramp, the gunners of each tank were waiting.
          -"There's our Sgt."- Davidson grabbed his microphone and put it in front of his mouth -"Addams, you should pop out"-
          -"I am already up sir"- said the private.
          -"Good morning sir!"- greeted the sergeant.
          Their gunner was the only female soldier in active frontline combat duty of the allied Army they had ever known. She was a woman, but she wasn't famous for having a kind smile, but rather feared by her rough mouth. Every time someone asked her about how she became part of a tank crew, she would deny them an answer. Because of this, everyone in the company had made a bet: the first one to know her story would take the money that each and every man had placed on the game.
That was how the personal stories were treated inside the company. The more mysterious a person's story seemed, the more interest between the ranks would rise, and consequently, a big game would begin.
Sergeant Smith had a short ponytail that held back her hair. She had a scar on her ear made by a shrapnel during the campaigns on Northern Africa. On the same accident, the driver and assistant driver were severely injured and had to be hospitalized. Later, when the rest of the crew arrived to England for Operation Overlord, they greeted the new members: Addams, the driver, and Jefferson, the assistant driver.
-"Good morning!"- Davidson answered back -"Will you be kind enough to lead us to our place?"-
-"That's the only reason I am here"- she answered, and climbed up towards the driver's hatch -"Morning Addams"-           

     The company briefing was hosted inside a captured german bunker. On one end of the concrete room there was a giant map of the region hung on a board. On the map several pins and arrow pieces were stuck. On the right side of the board, there was a giant open section facing the beach. Through that opening on the wall entered the misty air that hugged the men inside. They were tank commanders from the 1st battalion of the 66th regiment, receiving their places for deployment.
          -"Now, us, the 2nd armored division, is going to move up into Carentan and support the 101st division. They were met up with a considerable resistance by what we identified as the 6th Fallschirmjäger division. We hope that we will be able to get onto the northern part of the city. A big part of the battalion is already headed there"- said the colonel, looking fiercely at every single man inside the room. -"Don't let down your guards, gentlemen; and I wish you all luck"- he said, ending his part in the briefing
          -"Any questions?"- asked a captain.
          Slowly, the officers stood up from their seats. Some simply walked out, others like Davidson took out from their pockets a small map and made some notes on it. He looked into the details of the map and found out that their company was moving on the outer sections of the convoy, away from the rest of the battalion.

          Davidson found all of his crew sitting by the right side of the tank. Jefferson, his quiet assistant driver, had gathered a handful amount of bullet casings and made a tower on the ground. The rest were playing a game of poker while sitting around an improvised sandbag table.
          -"What are you betting?"- he asked, as he took a spot on the ground.
          -"Well, not too much"- answered Addams.
-"If fifty bucks isn't too much I'd say"- bluffed the sergeant.
-"If you took in to account the other fifty you lost to me, sergeant, I suspect that you earned anything at all"- taunted Hamilton, the loader.
In response, the sergeant slapped his head.
-"Don't take away a woman's fun, you little rat"- she said.
-"Well my lady, I am sorry to take away your fun, but we are departing"- the lieutenant announced. -"Pack up and get ready to mount. Go take a piss if you need to."-
-"Sir, where are we going? I do think you haven't told us. Yet"- asked the driver.
-"Ah oui, c'est vrai!"- he exclaimed in an english-tanned accent -"Please clear your board"-
Addams quickly jumped from his seat and collected all the cards. Hamilton quietly walked towards the improvised table. Davidson took out his map from his chest pocket and extended it on the rough sandbag's surface.

-"It seems like the only thing that the French sky can do is to pour water"- complained Hamilton through the radio.
-"Private, please avoid using the radio for anything except than receiving orders because I think I can sense your filthy mouth smell through my speaker"- commented the sergeant
-"I do think that is because you are seated right next to me sergeant"- he responded
-"Guys, I do think that you could be kinder..."- the lieutenant tried to calm down what he felt like a serious discussion.
-"At least all of you can stay inside, me and the commander are with the heads popped out"- complained Addams
-"Seems as if the rain flushed what tiny brain you had in there cause you don't need to be unbuttoned"- said the sergeant.
-"Sorry, but I don't think that my intelligence has anything wrong"-
-"Oh well people, we have a man proud of his miserable abilities"-
Jefferson ignored the discussion and closed his eyes. As the assistant driver, there was not much to do during movement. With his eyes closed, he started imagining what could be outside of his hatch. In front of his tank, there would be three more. Behind it there would be another one following. His section was on the middle part of the convoy, the second heavy part of it. Way head of the line, there were other units scouting ahead for any possible ambush. Behind the middle section, there was also another group of tanks, six of them, following the rest.
He was sitting in his place, when boredom struck him, as his closed eyes led him to his sleep, a very light sleep. Occasionally, when the tank had a bump, he would wake up and keep hearing the discussion going on.