Brothers of War

Seargent James Daniels grasped the side of the Higgins Boat, which was violently shaking up and down. "Alright men, as soon as we hit the beach, you better hit it running!" he yelled to his squad. They grabbed their weapons, as they got ready to storm Omaha Beach. James held his Thompson tightly, and looked up at the beach. Other LCVP's were landing, and the troops they held emptied out of it. He looked back at his squad to see one of the youngest soldiers, holding his stomach. "You OK Private?" James asked. The soldier shook his head, and threw up on the wet floor of the Higgins Boat.

Bullets began flying at the LCVP, splashing water in to the air. "Get down!" one of the soldier's yelled. All the troops in the boat crouched down, trying to avoid the machine gun fire from the German bunkers. Some of the soldiers were too late, and hit the bottom of the boat, with blood pooling around their wounds. Some of the troops had climbed over the side of the boat, and jumped in to the water. "Steady! Steady!" James yelled. The boat slammed in to the beach, and the ramp began going down. "Go, go, go! Move it!" James screamed to his squad. They began pouring out of the Higgins Boat, and on to the Normandy beach. The beach was hell. Bodys were scattered about, blood soaking in to the wet sand. James ran as fast as he could, seeing the bullets around him penetrate the sand, sending puffs of it in to the air. He took cover behind the nearest hedgehog, panting. His fellow soldiers either ran past him, took cover, or died. Another soldier came up to the hedgehog James was hiding behind. "Brown, man am I glad to see you." James said with a smile. PFC Jacob Brown was a soldier in James' squad who wore circular framed glasses.

"Good to see you, Sarge. What do we do now? Those MGs have us pinned down!" James signaled Jacob to follow him. James ran up to the next hedgehog, with Jacob following him. A Springfield sniper rifle was sitting in a dead soldier's hands nearby. James reached over, and grabbed the rifle. "Cover me with your M1, PFC." James told him, leaning over to the right of the hedgehog. He aimed the Springfield at one of the bunker windows, and toward the machine gunner. James pulled the trigger, but the machine gun kept firing. "Son of a *****!" James yelled, getting ready to fire another shot. He quickly aimed, and fired the sniper rifle again, this time, killing the gunner. Another German ran up, and took the machine gun, this time aiming at James. The machine gun began firing as James scrambled back behind the hedgehog. A bullet skimmed his shoulder, causing him to curse in pain. "****! ****! Son of a *****!"