June 6, 1944 marked the start of D-Day, one of the largest amphibious invasions of all time as I’m told. A great deal of preparation went into preparing this. Of course, they wouldn't tell what they were, since I was considered a "lowly soldier". All they told us was that we were responsible for taking over
The skies were a mess; a mixed-up chaos of paratroopers, gunfire, and bombs.
Being a paratrooper, my job in particular was to parachute down behind enemy lines a little past midnight and control one of the eleven German batteries, no matter what the circumstances were. I was already nervous when I boarded the plane with my friends. My friends and I didn't say anything during that ride. We were praying. It was clear that this was a huge battle and that many of us would not make it. By the time we reached the designated point, the bombers had already started dropping their payloads and transports had already released paratroopers.
The skies were a mess; a mixed-up chaos of paratroopers, gunfire, and bombs. Joe and Steven, two of my closest childhood friends, died while we were parachuting towards our landing site. Suddenly, fear and panic gripped me. I realized how vulnerable I was in mid-air, with gunfire all around me. I had no mobility. I was so certain, that at any moment, a bullet would come flying towards me and take my life. Every second turned into minutes.
By some miracle, I finally touched that beautiful ground with the rest of my squad. After a few hugs and tears with the rest of the group, we proceeded to successfully capture our assigned battery, this time without losing anyone. My panic and fear finally completely left me when our main force arrived in what seemed like hours. Though we were successful that day, I’ll never forget extremely lucky I am to be alive. How was your life changed by the battles you've taken part in?
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ReplyDeleteI was part of the liberation of Holland in which many many battles took place during the campaign. Never have I thought that I would experience the horror and pain of having my friends die left and right of me. What was equally as bad was seeing unarmed and innocent civilians also being killed. That was just taking it way too far. Till this day, their faces still appear in my thoughts and dreams.
ReplyDeleteMy live has been changed a lot due to battles I have taken in. I have seen way too many of my comrades die in battle and way too many people were sacrificed in battles. What's worse is seeing nurses and women getting raped just because the Japanese had been able to capture Hong Kong and China. R.I.P.
ReplyDeleteAfter being gifted a second chance in life, I don't take my life for granted anymore - never had from the beginning, but now my eyes have been opened even wider. It all happened when a handful of squads rode on transport boats to accomplish Operation Rutter. Germans surprised us with a few bombs from their planes...The boats in front of our own were demolished, it was truly a tragic environment to witness. Luckily, our driver had enough time to set sail off course to finally arrive at the beaches...We were all in tears by the end of it all and boy were we glad to finally be out of the water.
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ReplyDeleteWar affects everyone in the world who are in or not part of the war. Innocent civilians are held captive, countries are raided, people are stolen from and a lot of people died from getting killed accidentally or purposely.
ReplyDeleteI never knew war had changed so many people's lives. I thought that this war had only affected my life drastically. (This comment was supposed to be posted at MAY 14, 2010 8:12 AM. It was deleted because of a posting error)
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