Jedihunter80: Hello everybody! Welcome to opening day of Jedi's FanFic Theater. I am Jedihunter80, Jedi for short, and I will be your MC.

Doc Bradley: Hi. My name's Jack "Doc" Bradley, one of this story's characters here to introduce today's chapter.

Jedihunter80: But before you do, I have to take care of the disclaimer (audience groans). I do not own any of the following characters. I own the events in Odaiba, but all events on Iwo Jima belong to the men who fought there.

Doc: Today we begin on the crowded deck of an LST (Landing Ship, Tank) that was modified to carry Marine riflemen and their smaller landing craft, amtracs (Amphibious Tractors). The men stand in awe as the United States Navy begins shelling a small island in the distance…

The curtains open to the scene.

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Doc Bradley stood with his friends Harlon Block, Franklin Sousley, Ira Hayes, Mike Strank, and Rene Gagnon on the deck of the crowded LST illuminated by a strange orange glow from distant explosions. They could not sleep due to the constant boom of the battleship's guns firing. There was much anticipation in the air as the thousands of Marines aboard LSTs all throughout the area watched the small piece of land they would soon invade be blasted by tons of explosives. Humor still existed however as they boys whispered things like "There won't be anything left to land on" and "I hope there's still some Japs left for me when I get there" to one another. Some actually did manage to fall asleep. Others gambled the night away. Still others questioned the point of invading a small island not more than eight miles long.

At first light, D-Day began by waking those who had slept so they could do a quick tidy-up before one of the nicer breakfasts they had had since the operation had begun. They then suited up and prepared to board their amtracs, DUKWs (amphibious tractors with wheels instead of treads, much larger than the amtracs and able to carry light artillery pieces and tanks ashore), and LCVPs (smaller than DUKWs, larger than amtracs, used for carrying infantry). The watched one more time as at 0800 hours, the big guns on the battleships and destroyers opened up once again. They watched over the edges of their many assault craft as artillery pounded the beachhead, followed soon after by the roar of engines and more explosions as B-24s and B-29s began dropping bombs as big as 1-ton on the island. Smaller fighters such as Navy Corsairs strafed defensive positions on Mt. Suribachi and fired rockets and small bombs at it. The bombardment lifted at precisely 0857 and the first wave of modified armored amtracs (amphibious tanks that couldn't carry infantry) at 0902, only 2 minutes behind schedule. Right behind them came the first wave of troop-carrying amtracs that deployed their men on the shorelines and then moved back into the sea to make room for more. The men were anxious. They expected the Japanese defenders to begin returning fire at any moment. Nevertheless, they were caught off-guard when suddenly…inexplicably…they didn't.

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"So it's agreed then, we meet at the museum at 8:30," Tai Kamiya, 19 years old, was saying over the phone. "Great. See you there." He turned to his fiancé, Sora. "It's settled. Everyone is meeting at the museum tomorrow."

"It'll be great to see everybody again" said Sora.

"Yeah, it's been a while…" Tai said before fading into memory. "I'd better get going. I'll pick you up tomorrow at 7:00 so we can head downtown."

"See you tomorrow," she gave him a quick kiss before he headed out the door.

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Jedihunter80: Sorry this chapter is so short, I just needed to start gaining readers. All will begin to make sense in chapter 2, which I promise will be uploaded by Monday.

Doc: Until next time, everybody. Drive home safely!

You are now outside. Scram.