Part II- Rolling Thunder

"We're just rolling along. The enemy seems so defenseless...well, not entirely. But we're gonna make it. As long as Leah and can drive this thing well and the Lieutenant keeps telling me where to shoot...we'll be all right."-Sgt. Leo "Scorpio" Saccamano of 11th Armored Division after the battle of Vijrundi. Saccamano and his fellow crew were the first Armored Division members in 40 years to win the Angel Cross. Unfortunately, Lieutenant William "Willy" Davis would not live to see it after he was killed at Cruik Fortress.

November 2, 2010- I have survived my first hours of combat. Yet there is still so much more to do. As we traveled to Yuktobania, all 15,000 of us in the 79th Airborne we were at low altitude. We got the signal to stand up and hook up. Then rumbling...we could hear flak guns, hundreds of them. There were some planes flying around outside fighting with other planes. I couldn't tell ours from the enemy planes though. I saw a plane holding some of 3rd Platoon get hit. Some guys got out though before the flaming plane hit the ground. I was second in the stick, right behind Lt. Jones. I wanted out of that plane so damn bad! Finally, we get the green light and we're out the door. We didn't come down exactly we were supposed to, but we managed. I was with Dave, Muller, and Jackson as we headed for our first objective, a little town called Geboa. It was basically one big OP. We got there at about 0330 hrs. Resistance was lighter than we thought. We sure did cause confusion. So one by one we had to clear the houses. Dave and I then positioned the M60 on the second floor of a building to defend against counterattacks. We weren't thinking about the seven men we'd killed between now and when we got here. We were mostly concerned about securing the town. Suddenly, there was a lot of Yukes coming over the hill right into our path. They came on a major counterattack. So Dave and I just unloaded with everything we had. It took everybody by surprise, but we had the situation under control. By the time we were done there were some 30 Yukes dead by our bullets.

We had to wait for more of our company to show up though, before we moved on. There were only 30 of us. Some Alpha Company people came to reinforce us, and 2nd platoon showed up as well.

By the time all of 1st Battalion showed up, it was 0740 hrs. They'd been involved in some fierce battles all around us. Our regiment slowly gathered along the line, then at 1000 hrs, we advanced. There was no resistance in the second town amazingly enough. Now we needed to take Vijrundi. We drew heavy fire from the city at first, but as we cleared the city we realized that we were fighting a rear guard action. They'd held us up for 5 hours. It was 1500 hrs by the time we took the city. We were lucky; no one in the company's been killed. A few people were wounded including Jackson and Davis. Now we have to wait for the tanks and defend against counterattacks. We've been digging in along the west side of the city. Our regiment defends this area. It started raining halfway though the day. A good thing I waterproofed this book. We were surprised at how poorly this area was defended, but something tells me that they're going to come back. Soon.

We listened to a speech on the radio today from General Howell mainly directed towards the Yuke civilians. We'd run into a few in our short time here, but most of them were very understandably frightened of us. He was talking about wanting to cooperate with our army. I think Haley's initial reaction was "That's just a fucking pipedream."

November 3, 2010- We fought in our first major combat action. Indeed the Yukes did come back. Not 5 minutes after I wrote the last time, Dave and I were called on the man the OP. There was no activity that night, so we spent the night having a little fun with our NVGs and talking about home. Dave mentioned his fiancée, Renee who was an air traffic controller at Black Creek Air Base. If this war hadn't happened, they'd be tying the knot in a month or so. Of course, they left us out there until about 5 A.M. It was strangely humid this time of year, and it very uncomfortable being in that foxhole. Suddenly, before first light, a dreaded moaning sound could be heard, mortars. They exploded all around us. So Dave's screaming, "We got contact!" So they pull us back to the MLR (main line of resistance). Then, there was fire from the trees. So we just shoot back and forth for a few minutes. Dave opens up with everything he's got. The tree line rumbled and enemy tanks came pouring out the woods. "You've got to be fucking kidding me!" I said. Then Andy and his assistant J.J Makie, runs out to try to deal with the enemy tanks. They managed to get two under heavy fire, but that did not stop them. All the while, Price, Jones, Thompson, and the other officers are running up and down the line telling us to keep up the fire. I got nicked in the shoulder by a mortar round that exploded right near our position.

However, at this point, most of us thought were we were going to get overrun. Then finally...11th Armored shows up and starts tearing the shit out everything. We just unload everything we've got. We were cheering and whatnot as they fell back. The funny thing is that despite all the rounds I fired, I don't think I actually hit anyone.

November 5, 2010-As we secured the areas around Vijrundi, a sense of relief filled my heart. I finally got the chance to call Jen and talk about all this. Our spirits our high, and we feel the war may be over soon if these good times keep on rolling. So far, casualties have been minor. However, half of 3rd platoon was missing. My shoulder is doing alright; it's just a flesh wound.

Captain Thompson mentioned something about another operation soon. He wasn't too specific on where we were going. If I was a gambling man, I'd say were going north towards Ocktabursk. He was also recommending Dave and I for the Silver Angel medal for our defense of Geboa. I couldn't believe it, apparently Lt. Jones thought very highly of what we did. I didn't think we saved the day there though. Then again, we didn't know what had happened elsewhere while we set up our defenses. It was perfectly placed; we were at the right place at the right time.

The people in this city have been somewhat tolerant of us, but tensions were still high. My encounters with them have been more successful than most other people's experiences. The city was mostly intact, with battle damage everywhere; but for the most part, it was still intact. Most had evacuated in a mad panic before we got here...yet we're still in foxholes and tents. I've tried to be a nice to them as I can be; I don't want to be viewed as some kind of terrorist or someone else to be hated. However, the more I think about it...the more I believe it really is a pipe dream.

November 7, 2010- Sgts. Terry Chappelle and Cpl. Scott Dalton and Pvt. Robert Sanchez from 3rd platoon showed up. I was heading for OP duty with Dave when they came back. I wonder what happened to them? Oh well, it's good to have them back.

There's been some shuffling in the officers. We'd lost some officers over the past few days, mainly in Yuke guerrilla attacks around the area. Lt. Hayes was killed while on a patrol, Lt. Jones has replaced him as company XO. Some guys were commissioned as officers and sent to other companies, who'd had losses as well. In turn we received some knew officers. One of which was a Lieutenant D'Mornay commissioned in from Easy company. SSgt Price was platoon sergeant for like...14 hours before she took over the platoon. She is the only female officer in this battalion.

Although, there was no concern from me. Apparently, they must have sent her here for a reason. She made an immediate impression. She went around from squad to squad on her first job, learning everyone's name and trying to find the people she'd been sent to promote. There were seven of us to be promoted, me being one of them. I, Dave, Haley, Charlie, and Knowles jumped from PFC to Corporal. Pvt. Sanchez from 3rd Platoon, who'd been misdropped on D-Day jumped from PFC to Sergeant. I have no idea what he did though. I remember Charlie was extremely impressed with her efforts to get to know us. I am too. D'Angelis was sulking a bit. I don't what his problem is...well I have a fair idea but...

Earlier, we received our new orders. In a few days, the 117th and 118th regiments would be a part of Operation Hammerblow. Our operation, Operation Callisto, would be a daylight drop into the Sonza region up north. Our goal was to seize the city of Noskuv and wait for the 11th and 12th Armored Divisions. It was the same mission template as Operation Footprint to an extent. Hammerblow would be the entire 2nd Army's assault on the Yuke defensive salient around Kessus, Vijan, and Gublina. It would kick off on the 14th, so time was critical. D-day for Sonza is November 10. Here we go again...

November 9, 2010- Andy, Van Obierk, Dave and I went on a quest to find the coveted drink of the gods in the country. Dajum. The best way to describe that heavenly stuff is like if you were drinking a strawberry smoothie with all kinds of fruits thrown in it. Goddamn, that stuff is good! My bilingual capabilities made the task easier. We eventually found a crate of the stuff in an abandoned warehouse on the southside of the city. There were 24 bottles of it. Far be it from me to be a selfish sort about this though. So we gave one to all the original troopers we could find or "OTs"; this made the replacements a bit jealous. They were hungry for experience and a chance to prove themselves.

The big picture is this: trying to end the war as quickly as possible. I called Jen and asked her how things were at home. So far it seems everything's fine back home for the most part. Her birthday's on the 14th, the same day the main offensive starts. So I sent her a birthday present. She's into flowers and gardening and all that stuff, and I managed to find a small crate of seeds for one the rarest plants in the world, arcadium vistula, or Blue Rose. Coveted more than white carnations, nothing says "I love you" like extremely rare blue roses. I can't wait to see the garden.

November 10, 2010- We'd been through battles before, but nothing like this. After he hit the DZ, we head north for the hills. It was about 1000 hrs. We needed to get the Luvo Bridge and take it or our tanks would have been stuck. We came under heavy artillery attack and had to take cover along a road side embankment. Luckily, our artillery dropped down right where it needed to be, and we answered back. There was shelling back and forth as rain hit our position. A small amount of tanks came along our right flank were C Company was, but they were driven off by artillery and bazookas. It lasted until about 1540 hrs. We'd advance and come under heavy fire. Right now, we've cleared everything in the area south of the Noskuv area. Now we must prepare for the inevitable assault on Noskuv itself.

Charlie's in high sprits. He overheard some officers talking about a possible end to the war by beginning of next month. I was somewhat skeptical. Something about this battle today told us were gonna be here awhile.

November 11, 2010- We endured a firefight on a much larger scale than yesterday. We took the Luvo Bridge at 0700 without incident; however, that was only the calm before the storm. The bridge was over a canyon, with a long downward slope to the city of Noskuv. Our battalion was advancing to the river and down to Noskuv. On our right flank were 2 battalions of the 118th PIR. We were supposed to play the 118th in a baseball game before the war started. I was looking forward to it, being a first baseman. You can't get a damn thing by me.

However, when we got there, the enemy had set up many defensive positions and roadblocks in town. They were pelting us with artillery, mortars, and for the first time…air attacks. Several Migs strafed our position and dropped their payloads on us. Lt. Jones tells Cpl. Burns, our main radioman, to call for some artillery support. All the while, the enemy had us pinned down outside the town. We answer back with mortars of our own. SSgt Price told our mortar team, Cpl. Asuka Yoko, and Pvts. Willy Morrison and Lee Gibson to get that mortar humping. Then our artillery comes in. Lt. Jones tells me to get up to spot those rounds. So I run up the hill to see and sure enough, they're hitting the concealed tanks in town and such. They enemy is shooting out of windows as well. I drew some heavy MG fire so I tried back to our embankment just as enemy artillery rolled in. I ran right through all that just as some air support came in and bombed the hell out the initial defense line. We stormed into the town, expecting to find heavy resistance. To our surprise, there was no one else in town. Some looked disappointed. Lt. D'Mornay commented that we were probably fighting a rear guard action. It was 1240 hrs when the town was secured. We set up camp south of town. The tanks are late, as usual. It started raining again not to long ago. Good thing we get to stay indoors this time. We don't expect any major counterattacks yet.

November 12, 2010- Lieutenant D'Mornay was looking for volunteers for a patrol to the northeast. We always seemed to have a lack of intel, so this wasn't surprising. She has impressed me, a real risk-taker this woman is. She'd always crack a joke before a big battle to break the ice. She was a figure of worship in Easy Company before she was transferred here. She was second only to SSgt Price in terms of popularity.

So I volunteered. I figured it would be nice to have some good marks; I also didn't want to seem like a third wheel. Cpl. Green (from 2nd platoon) and Pvt. Darby, a replacement, also went with us. We left Noskuv at about 1100 hrs. Along the way, the Lieutenant told us our main goal was to turn back Yuke patrols from the defensive salient 12 miles north. I thought right then we needed some more guys.

Me and Darby ended up checking out a small building, a farmhouse in the trees up ahead. My heart was beating rapidly, but you could probably hear Darby's heartbeat in November City. Not surprising...he was just out of high school.

I was expecting an enemy OP, but found nothing. So, we breathed a sigh of relief. We ran back to the humvee and reported to D'Mornay that we found nothing. I could swear she looked disappointed. Darby starts to get in the humvee, then I start hearing rumbling sounds. Suddenly...boom! We were 60ft from the humvee, and it was on fire a minute later. Suddenly more explosions followed all around us. Enemy tanks...

Then I see Green...or what's left of him. He'd been blown off the 50 gun. I just froze up for a second. Then the Lieutenant grabs me and she's saying "We gotta get the hell out of here!" Then I hear a moaning sound. Mortars. We had to run back a mile evading enemy tanks and incoming mortars. We made it to about 4 miles from Battalion. We ran up a ditch unto the main road. Then I see a jeep coming up with enemies in it. I just start shooting. I hit the driver and it goes off the road.

There was a blast behind me. It felt like a 100 needles jammed into my leg. I fell back down into the ditch. D'Mornay killed the other one and managed to push the jeep up the low bank onto the road. Then I see some infantry coming farther down the road. Despite the pain in my leg, I still kept firing. I eventually got all 5 that were approaching. So I tried to get up, and the Lieutenant helped me into the jeep and we drove back to battalion. Were did they come from?

November 13, 2010- It's 1 AM. I'm just sitting in the aid station for a second time. Nothing to do here except heal up. I called my wife earlier, told her I was okay. She was hoping I could get a ticket home...but its just some nasty flesh wounds. I'd be back on my feet in a week or so. Poor Darby. It was his first day.

I learned that we'd drove past a large group of Yukes on a counterattack. We were lucky. They hit 3rd Battalion CP in force though. I don't know the damage, but they were turned back with help from our battalion. Gordon, Seville, Johnson and Lally came to visit. Andrew was a little torn up about Darby. He considered Darby his "protégé". They were both in the anti-armor platoon. They were both very amusing people. I hope to be out soon, but it looks like I'll miss the fireworks tomorrow. I got a visit from the regimental photographer, he showed me this cool picture he had of the other day with me running through all those artillery blasts and MGs. It was amazing; not the picture, but the fact the guy got so close to the front and survived. It was going on the front page of the "Angel Warriors", our regimental newsletter.

November 15, 2010- I was awoken today by the screams of dying people. So many were brought in and I can't even...describe what they looked like. They were from A company, H company, I company...it didn't matter. I had no idea what had happened; I thought we had lost at first.

Luckily the 2 people next to me were alive. Sgt.Chappelle (of 3rd Platoon) was to my right. I learned that he'd become a father the on D-Day. He got misdropped along with several members of 3rd Platoon and ended up fighting on the beaches with the 4th Infantry Division. Then he spoke of the battle. He told me about how they were hit by anti-personnel missiles. He told me I was lucky to be here. They were leading the main assault toward the eastern flank along with 11th Armored. It detonated right over 1st Batallion. 3rd Platoon took it the hardest; of the 45 people in 3rd platoon, 29 survived. Chappelle had lost his arm to heavy shrapnel that just it tore it off in an instant. The dark-humored Lieutenant D'Mornay commented on it, saying he still had his "good hand". It was quite unusual, hearing such a bawdy joke from her. We got a good laugh out of it though. His return would be bittersweet; he'd go home to his wife and the son he hasn't met yet. But he'd lost most of his old friends, people he'd known for years.

I remember his good friend Scott was killed. I can't even desribe what he looks like now. Not even his own mother would recognize him now. I can't look anymore...

To my left, sits Pvt. Roxanne Valentine of our squad. "Foxy Roxy" was her nickname, one I'd given her. She was a very feisty person. She had been hit in the foot, most embarrassing. She'd been demoted for fighting two months ago, but she said SSgt Price remarked that she'd be an NCO again before long. She said she destroyed two tanks all by herself. When Price came to visit, he confirmed the story. I felt bad, especially since I thought she was full of shit. She had a lot of outlandish and humorous stories she'd tell. Most of us believed she was shooting hot air, but I guess there was always an off chance that it was true. That story being one of them.

Of course, they kept my mind off the grim mood of the aid ward. Captain Thomson, our CO, was also injured during the attack. Lt. Jones is now in command. Jones was a so-so person to be around. I believed it was just the gulf between the officers and enlisted. However, he's a good tactical planner and combat leader.

Victory came at a high price. For several, hours that battle was, as Chappelle put it, "A hell on earth." I felt relief and guilt. I wished I could have been out there, but what good would I have been if I was hopping around?

November 17, 2010- My wound healed faster than the doctors thought. So they were gonna release me. Then I run into Captain Thompson. He said he was recommending me for another Silver Angel (The Osean version of the Silver Star). So I'd probably end up getting two medals in like 2 weeks. I haven't thought too much about it though, it was just about that particular moment and nothing else. The idea of medals were fleeting while I was in the hospital. He said we were moving up to Vijan, on the outskirts of Gublina. Despite being near the Ralan Mountains near Jilachi desert, it was very cold there. This country has some whacked out weather.

Roxy, Dave Gordon, Don Seville, Haley Christian, and Mattias Johnson were nomiated for Bronze ones as far as I can tell. SSgt Price and McDowell also going to get Silver ones.

Dave said he was gonna buy us all a round when we get to Vijan. It was wasted on me, I don't drink.

The Division was stationed around the city. The Marines took the city the day before. B Company took up positions on the southeast side of the city. It was cold, but at least it wasn't snowing. Most of the Yukes were concentrated to the south of us. It seems Operation Firehammer was just a fight with a rear guard action. They retreated to Jilachi, where I assume we go next.

Captain Thompson was going around from platoon to platoon selecting members for a patrol south towards Gublina. Since we were holding the MLR, we needed to keep contact with the enemy. Most, if not all, of our planes were tied up in the main offensive. Each side's positions were like a point in the other's lines. But we had to know what was going on. I volunteered. SSgt Price, Powell (3rd platoon), Davidson (2nd platoon), Milton, van Obierk (1st platoon), Valentine, and Johnson are also going. We were going to go tonight, but they changed it to tomorrow night. I don't why. It goes down tomorrow at 1800 hrs.