This was a project I undertook not long after I discovered a distinct lack of stories on the Normandy invasion on June 6th 1944. This story is dedicated to the men who fought on Omaha beach.
Naruto Uzumaki repressed the urge to vomit as the Higgins boat he stood in lurched in the swells of the English channel yet again. Glancing to his right, he got a good look at some of the other men in his squad. Sergeant Shikamaru Nara, a Harvard graduate with a young wife waiting for him at home. Captain Kakashi Hatake, a veteran of the last war and a man with too many secrets and too few friends. Private Kiba Inuzuka, a farm boy from Kansas, with a large family. Private Choji Akimichi, a large man with a restaurant waiting for him stateside. Corporal Neji Hyuuga, a Queens New Yorker with an attitude. Private Rock Lee, a Brooklyn native with a handful of old Indian blood about him. Private Shino Aburame, a bug researcher from Rhode Island. Private Iruka Umino, a schoolteacher from Maine. Private Asuma Sarutobi, a married office worker from Chicago. Private Dennis Douglass, a quiet farm boy and sharpshooter from the Spokane Washington area wilderness. And then there were Sasuke Uchiha and himself. Both privates from Denver, Colorado, where they had worked in the coal mines outside of town. Looking ahead of them he could see the second squad that shared their boat. Several of their men were puking their guts out as the boat tossed and turned in the waves.
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me." Naruto glanced over at Dennis, knowing that the man was completing a ritual he had started back in Africa, a ritual that the squad had quickly adopted as their own. As Dennis continued, the rest of the squad removed their helmets, bowed their heads, and joined in.
"Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me, in the presence of mine enemies; you anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, Amen." The squad lifted their heads, replacing their helmets.
"Thirty seconds!" They heard the boat's operator call over the sound of the surf and the shells that were suddenly falling all around. The squad watched in horror as an artillery round struck a Higgins boat not far from them. The boat burst into flames as the few who had survived the initial blast scrambled to get into the water, only to drown as their heavy equipment dragged them under. Naruto grimaced as he watched, then turned away before the sight became too much. He watched as Dennis, though not a Catholic, crossed himself, a habit that he always found comforting.
The squad turned as their boat struck the beach, and the ramp began to lower. As the slab of steel struck the sand, a wave of machine gun fire swept through the boat, wiping out the entire squad in front of them before moving onto the next boat. Captain Hatake jumped forward, motioning with his arms and screaming at his men to move. And move they did, to the nearest cover they could find. Wading through water already colored red with blood, Naruto slipped and found himself hauled up by a firm hand and set back on his feet, looking up into the eyes of his rescuer, he watched in horror as Choji's head burst like a ripe melon as a machine gun round tore through it. He sat staring at the corpse for a moment before the barrel of Douglass's M1903 rifle entered his view and the sniper dragged behind a massive steel caltrop, designed to stop tanks.
"Pull yourself together Uzumaki, we can mourn later!" he shouted in Naruto's face. "Get up to that embankment or you're a dead man!" Naruto shook his head and glanced at the man. Blood ran from a head wound he'd received, covering the left side of his face, making him look like some sort of demon from a forgotten tale. His shoulder length hair, which was normally pulled back into a low pony tail, now hung heavily around his face, the cord that had bound it long since lost. Naruto nodded and grabbed his M1 Garand, turning and looking across the beach.
Hell lay before him. Hundreds of corpses littered the surf and the beach. The small streams that ran through the sand were not water, but blood. Men were dead and dying all around, and the number was mounted constantly. Turning back toward the direction that he knew the shots were coming from, he charged out from behind his cover, aiming for the sand bank that provided shelter for a large number of men.
"Third squad! Third squad!" he shouted, hoping his unit could hear him.
"Over here!" he heard from his right. Crawling over, he found the remains of his unit. Crawling up next to Sasuke, he leaned in to make himself heard.
"Who's all made it?" he shouted. Sasuke looked down the line before turning back to him.
"You mean who can still fight? Or everyone that's still alive?" he yelled.
"Who's still alive?"
"The captain, the sergeant, Hyuuga, Inuzuka, Douglass, Sarutobi, and us!" Naruto looked around.
"I know Choji's bought it, round through the skull, but what about the others?" the voice that answered came from behind him.
"Umino and Aburame got hit by a mortar round. Tore Shino in half, left Iruka with his guts on the sand. Lee lost his leg to a machine gun, bled out before the medics could get to him." Dennis lifted himself off the sand and fired off a round toward one of the pillboxes that was laying down fire. His efforts were rewarded as the fired from the pillbox ceased for a minute before another German picked it up.
"Shit!" Dennis swore as a round from the MG42 ricocheted off of his rifle's stock and through his fingers, tearing the ring and pinky fingers off at the second knuckle. Naruto and Sasuke watched as he held the hand slightly higher than the rest of his arm, and applied pressure just below the wounds. A medic stopped by, wrapped the fingers up, and pulled out a shot of morphine. Dennis stopped him before he could use it on him.
"Save it for someone who needs it more." The medic nodded and moved on. Dennis looked at the mangled remains of his rifle before tossing them aside and picking up the rifle of a fallen comrade. "Sorry pal, but I need it more than you." He said as he stripped the body of ammunition.
Naruto looked around the battlefield. Everywhere the dead and dying lay, surrounded by the torrential streams of blood running into the sea. The sound of the machine guns, the bursts of Garand fire, the bark of pistols, the rapid bursts coming from the BAR.'s that some of the men carried. The sound of men crying, screaming, calling for medics, their mothers, or their god. The sight of a man, one arm missing, casually looking around until he knelt and picked up his torn off limb and calmly took cover. The sight of men being torn in two by machine guns, or blown to pieces by mortar fire. These images and sounds began to carve themselves into the minds of the men who saw them, never to be forgotten. Naruto glanced back at the sea wall just in time to see the Bangalore torpedos blow a massive gap in the structure. Kakashi waved his arm.
"Come on! Through the breach! Anyone who stays here, dies here!" The remnant of the squad surged forward, desperate to get away from the hell on the beach. For Naruto, it was the longest run he had ever made as he raced for the safety that lay on the other side. A battlefield where the enemy was forced to leave their safe, sheltered bunkers, and engage them face to face.
As the squad rounded a corner, several Germans burst out of a bunker, their MP40's swinging wildly. Neji went down amidst the firing, and the Germans fell as Thompson fire engulfed them. Kakashi turned.
"Someone check Hyuuga."
"I'm fine captain. It's just a flesh wound." Neji growled. The round had passed through his left shoulder, which he now gripped tight.
"Medic! Over here!" Dennis called out at a man who had just come through the breach. The man knelt next to Neji and gave him a shot of morphine as he began doing what he could to stop the bleeding. Glancing at Dennis he noted the bandage on his hand.
"How's your hand?" Dennis shrugged.
"Hurts."
"Need some morphine?"
"Nope." The medic nodded and gave Neji a pat on his good shoulder.
"Alright, I've got other men to handle." He said as he ran off. Kiba had already thrown a grenade into the bunker, and had watched as several Nazi's ran out only to be gunned down by the man's BAR. Kakashi gave him a nod before turning to the rest of the squad, hoisting his Thompson to his shoulder.
"Alright men, we're going to clear as many of these pillboxes as possible before the rest of the force gets out there. They need us to take out those machine guns or they are as good as dead and so are we. Let's move!" the squad picked up their weapons and followed him out.
At 6:30AM on June sixth, American soldiers of the 1st Division of the 5th corps landed on Omaha beach as part of the plan to invade mainland Europe known as 'Operation Overlord'. Upon landing on the beach these men encountered resistance that made that stretch of sand hell on earth. Over the period of a single day around two thousand men lost their lives. The names of these men have long been forgotten by most, but their sacrifice must never be forgotten. For they fell to free a world from tyranny and oppression, to preserve freedom and the privileges that we enjoy today. Remember them, for when we forget them, and why they fell, our struggle to be free will have come to naught.
Remember the fallen, passerby,
for in their graves they now lie.
Nameless and faceless yet Heroes all,
men who rose to answer the call.
And if ever we shall forget,
if their beliefs we should regret,
then rise up patriots old,
sound the cry to brave and bold.
Call the soldier, the father, the friend,
call the son from journey's end.
Call the fallen to heavens gate,
where at end of time St. Peter waits.
Their valor shall not go unrewarded,
nor faith which grows by blood afforded.
Remember all who passed away
and in their footsteps gladly stay.
And recall that freedom is not free,
but through blood is given liberty.
It is impossible for those of us who have not lived through the hell of war to imagine what it is like to be there. But I hope I have at least come close to reality with this story. I support our troops both past and present with great pride, and will continue to do so.
If you cannot stand behind our troops, feel free to stand in front of them.