The Chronicles of Captain Johansen

Destiny Day

"When do we deploy sir?" said Pvt. Johansen

"I'm not sure private, I'm still waiting for word from command." replied Cpt. Lawrence "I've been hearing all kinds of chatter across the comms but nothing ironclad."

Suddenly the alarm sounded, surprising the milling troops in the landing craft bay. it was time for the soldiers to get in their transports and be ready for war.

"Go, go, go, get in your assigned craft maggots, I need to see some fast feet if we're gonna win this war!" said Major Simmons, the bulky but short company officer.

The soldiers quickly ran to the boats preparing their webbing belts and weapons for the coming battle.

As the alarm continued the men of 3rd company, also known as Charlie company, rushed to get into their spots on their transports. The L.C.V.P.'s or "Landing Craft, vehicle, personnel" had high walls made of thick metal armor and the capability of holding 25 to 30 men or about a platoon. In them, alongside the troopers, was the driver and two gunners. They sat at an elevated position in the rear of the craft while the soldiers stood in a lower open topped area with a landing ramp at the front for quick egress from the craft.

After several moments of waiting the men were all in place and the boats began their launch procedure. 3rd company was part of the second wave for the omaha invasion on Normandy's coast. Johansen was not a raw recruit like many of his comrades, but he had yet to see more than guard duty. He had been stationed on a base too far away from the front to even hear gunfire. He felt ready, he was 20 years old and filled with courage and grit. He carried the typical M1 garand that most of his company had and kept it in good order. All men had their weapons in plastic water safe bags to protect them from sea water as they landed on the beach. His friend and platoon commander, Captain Lawrence, had a Thompson submachine gun. It was a nice little weapon, it fired bullets you'd put in a pistol but almost as fast as a support weapon. The Cap had let him shoot it once, while they were stationed in Italy. Now they were a long way from there and about to see how their weapons fared against real enemies.

As the landing crafts got launched into the water they finally heard the sound of artillery and gunfire, the first wave of men had hit the beach, hard. Johansen saw the obstacles and the distance from cover to cover. He reviewed his objectives in his head. Hit the beach and get to cover then regroup with his platoon or fire team, get to the enemy trenches and get a foothold on the beach. He knew he had a lot of running ahead of him, it wasn't going to be easy. Even with the first wave on the beach there was always a good chance they wouldn't make much progress. All he could hope is that he'd be lucky and keep it together in the heat of battle.

In the first wave there were several infantry battalions as well as two armored companies. That meant lots of men on foot and hopefully a good number of still functioning tanks. From the sound of things, it didn't look like many of the first waves armor made it far. Johansen's battalion was spearhead of the second wave. They had armor support, even more than the first, as well as four other infantry units and three more tank companies.

He'd seen these tanks in training. The Sherman tank was a big solid block of cast iron and American muscle. Though the armor was thinner than some of the beefier German tanks. However, they made up for it in speed and infantry support capabilities. Having seen their 75 mm cannons in action during an armored infantry advance drill, he'd seen what kind of work those guns could do. They blew big holes in the ground and cleared out bunkers with their high explosive payload. He hoped he'd see them on the beach.

"Hey Johansen, you ready for this?" asked Captain Lawrence with a grin.

"As ready as I'll ever be sir." he replied looking down at his rifle and making sure his bag was sealed.