Chapter 1, here it is, folks

Chapter 1:

English Channel, Near the Normandy Coast

June 5th 1944

It was night time on the 5th of June 1944, over the seas of the English Channel, opposite the Normandy Coast, there were hundreds of ships. Battleships, heavy cruisers, destroyers, minesweepers, assault craft of every size and type, to many of the Allied soldiers sitting on those ships, it was the biggest armada in the world that had been known to man.

On one ship, there were three soldiers, standing together, looking out at the other battle ships. One was writing in his journal, he had dark hair, dark blue eyes, the blue of his eyes were similar of his Rangers patch on his right shoulder. He had a clear metal helmet on, he had a BAR holstered onto his right shoulder, he was tall and muscular.

He had begun to write in his journal.

"Corporal Matthew O'Mara is my name, I am a soldier in the US Army serving in the 2nd Ranger Battalion. I was born on April 1st 1926, I am 3rd oldest of 4 siblings in my family. My older brother Paul was a sailor at Pearl Harbor, he was killed in action on December 7th 1941, my older twin brother is a Marine and my sister a nurse, at the hospital in England. I am the middle triplet in the family born to an Irish-Catholic police officer and soldier.

My best friends in the unit are Joseph Cross and Frank Miller. We've been best friends since Kindergarten. Joe is a wealthy Irish-Catholic son of a Police officer with a twin brother. Joe's a Sergeant in the same company as me, hell he's even my squad leader.

My other friend Frank is in Baker Company of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, also a Sergeant, he comes from an Irish family with a Russian mother, he used to have 2 other siblings, but his brother Peter was killed in action on Tarawa where he served with my older brother, his sister Natalia was killed 2 years ago, from a rape and beating by a Nazi-affiliated American.

Frank harbours a dark hatred for Nazis, he wanted to be the one to kill every Nazi in Europe and give payback for his mother's countrymen.

We're now on a ship headed for Normandy, which beach, I can't tell you that. The waitin's half the battle, we're the boots on the ground. This is our story."

Overhead of Matt, Joe and Frank, planes could be heard, the rumbling of the engines deafening. Joe then said, "Goddamn Airborne, gets to go in first, while we're puking on a ship!" "Don't worry, we'll be on the beach soon, we'll bust 'em, head on." One other Ranger said.

Matt chuckled as he said, "Don't speak too soon, Germans are tough, but they ain't got what we got!" "Yeah, tellin' it like it is, O'Mara!" "Back at you, Jack!"

Joe laughed saying, "Matt, you don't know when to give up!" "Trust me, when we get on the beach, all you can trust is yourself and the fella next to you."

Frank nodded. He was a tall blonde-haired giant, blue eyes, he was the quiet one, he held a distinctive M1 Garand in his hand, he was going over a picture, Frank had been going through a tough time and it had started when he lost his twin sister Natalia in 1942.

Her death crushed him, he had sworn to his dying breath that he'd protect his friends and his family. Now he was the last one of his siblings after his brother Peter was killed on Tarawa with the 2nd Marine Division as he was coming ashore. He was going to be coming home from the war, become a cop and defend New York, but he had to survive the war first.

Joe, held in his hands a Thompson sub machine gun, he was the son of a wealthy Police officer, his brother was a Lieutenant in the 1st Marine Division, Joe didn't want to become an officer, he wanted to serve on the front-lines as a grunt, be in the dirt like his buddies. He believed in fighting as a Non-Com.

In Joe's hands was a picture of him and his friends, the O'Mara siblings, himself, and Frank with his deceased two siblings. All the men enlisted in the Army or Marines. And Helen only enlisted to become a part of the nursing corps in England, she was stationed at one of the main hospitals.

Matt's brother Michael was currently overseas, he fought on Tarawa with the 2nd Marine Division, where the fighting was heavy, now he was still on the ocean, like him waiting for their next destination.

Matt stayed looking out at the water holding on. While most of the men on the ship were staring at pictures of their sweethearts or war brides*. Matt didn't have a girl back home waiting for him, only his family waiting for him, he was comforted by the fact that he signed insurance papers, meaning his family didn't miss out on 10,000 dollars, that gave him comfort.

Soon he was joined by another soldier who was a senior Sergeant with a shaved head and hazel/dark eyes who said, "You alright, kid?" "Yeah, sure thing Sarge. Just watching the ocean. How about you?" "Alright. This'll be the 3rd landing I've taken part in, now I'm heading back to France."

Matt looked at the Sergeant, Sergeant Pelayo was a senior Non-Com in the Rangers. It was rumoured he fought at Dieppe*, but it was true he fought in North Africa and in the Italian Campaign fighting like hell, he narrowly escaped the battle at Cisterna when the 6615th Ranger Force had been decimated.

He was wounded during the battle but retreated and was sent back to England before being assigned to the 2nd Rangers for the pending invasion of Europe. Pelayo liked Matt and his two buddies, seeing three aggressive-tactically minded soldiers. He knew the three men all had military men in their families.

Pelayo then said, "You don't have a girl?" "No, you got anybody?" "Wife and 4 kids." "Lucky, Sarge. I got 3 siblings. One older brother, an older triplet and younger triplet." "Nice."

Matt smirked saying, "2 older brothers, one younger sister. Sister's in Nurse Corps, England. My 2nd brother's a Marine in the Pacific just got out of Tarawa he's still island-hopping, I don't know." Matt said.

Pelayo noticed Matt didn't say anything about his 1st older brother as he said, "How about your oldest brother?" "He died, December 7th '41, fuckin' Jap bastards killed him after he shot down 30 of their aircraft. Awarded bronze star afterwards." "Sorry, buddy." "Thanks. Before the attack, he was a cop. 5 years, followed my Dad into the Force in '35."

Pelayo nodded as he said, "Who'd you follow into the Army?" "My Dad, Brother Mike followed my Uncle into the Marines. My uncle Seamus died 3 years before I was born, survived the war. But mustard gas left him with injuries, he died from complications of that."

Pelayo looked surprised as he said, "Where'd he fight?" "Banana Wars, 1916-1918. France in 1918 and served in Russia until 1921*. He returned home and spent the next two years with his family." "Sorry, kid." "Yea'. These bastards started this war." "We're gonna finish it. Get some rest, huh?" "Yes Sarge." Matt lied to his sergeant.

Matt just laid up against the wall just thinking about the invasion, Matt looked at the picture of him and his brother Michael before they left home. Now both were on different sides of the world fighting two different enemies. The German Army and the Japanese Army. He was loaded up with ammo, grenades and had a clean bayonet with him.

Joe was on the side of the ship looking out at the water hearing a harmonica play in the distance, the tune felt peaceful to him, he kept a bullet in his mouth just chewing on it, even ensuring his teeth didn't chatter a lot to do this.

Inside the ship, Frank was cleaning his M1 Garand, he laid it out on the table and was obsessively cleaning it, making sure nothing had gotten stuck inside the rifle, he didn't want it to jam on him at a vital moment of life and death when they prepared to hit land on the beach.

While it was peaceful on the ships for every allied soldier. It was only just beginning, the calm before the storm.

1. War Brides – Women who married military personnel during war-time or military occupations. This was very common for American Servicemen and the total number of servicemen that married in wartime was 60,000.

2. Dieppe – 50 US Army Rangers served alongside French and British commandos during the failed raid in August 1942. The most notably of the Rangers was Lieutenant E.V. Loustalot. This is true.

3. Marine Corps from 1916-1921 – The USMC fought during the Banana Wars, until called into service in 1918, the most notable conflicts the Marines fought in were Belleau Wood, Château-Thierry, Soissons, and Saint-Mihiel. After the war ended. The Marines headed for Vladivostok to protect the American Consulate and other places of interest from fighting during the Russian Civil War.

Sorry this has taken so long to write. I've had to focus on the other stories. I do send my deepest apologies for everyone who was eager to read this story.

Please like and review as well. Thank you so much.