Alliedassault - View Single Post - HELP. School project. Short Story on War.

Red Hammer · 10-09-2002, 07:00 PM

“No problem man,” said Joe in a calm, soothing voice. “Just try to calm down a little bit, its going to be fine.”

Joe knew he was lying, but it was all he could do. He thought of all of the things he could possibly say, everything possible. But he knew the sad truth, that war is hell. The only way to be a good soldier, the only way to survive was to completely forget about dying. Assuming that you are already dead is the only way many of the solders in the 67th, or any other company for that matter were able to perform in combat. That and the constant willingness of putting themselves in the line of fire to save the lives of their friends.

“O…o..ok,” Private Springer replied. Beginning to walk away. “I’ll try. Thanks for the cigarette”

At this point they were about a quarter of a kilometer from the hedgerow, the frequent flashes of light and the thunderous crashes of artillery fire filled the German night. The first few buildings in the town were just becoming visible. Most noticibly being a church and a few three story homes. Major Graham put his hand up and knelt down. Signaling the men to stop. Slowly he moved forward toward the open clearing.

“Binoculars,” he ordered.

One of the privates from the first truck fumbled through his pack and pulled out a large set of black binoculars. He handed them to Major Graham who immediately started to scan the town. Looking for any snipers of machine gun positions.

“Ok… there looks to be an MG-42 position in that church tower,” the Major said quitely. “Move to the hedgerow and continue as ordered. Move slowly and keep your head down. Go! Go! Go!”

The men scattered toward the hedgerow and leaned up against it. It was a fairly short one (Hedgerow) only about 3 feet high it would not provide a lot of cover. Using their entrenching tools the men began to dig small foxholes. They did been doing this for about forty minutes. Joe looked over and saw Mario a few men down, frantically digging his foxhole in the muddy clay. He also looked over at the major who was still scanning the town and looking at a map. He knew that they would be attacking soon, all they were doing was setting up a defensive position where they could fall back to if need be. So knowing this he went back to digging his foxhole.

It was no more than ten minutes later that the major spoke out again.

“Ok Men,” he said. “That MG-42 looks to be defending the main road leading into town. The 76st should be pinned down somewhere to the southwest of that gun. Springer, when I give the command I want you to use your sniper rifle and knock off any men who are manning the MG-42 on that tower. Private Brooks, Private Thomas, I want you to set up your machine gun and provide us covering fire right down the center that road into the town. My squad will take the left flank toward the southeast side of the town and Sargent Parel’s squad will take the right flank. Swinging over to the southwest side of the town where they will try and meet up with the 76th.”

“Yes sir,” many of the men whispered. They were ready, as ready as they could possibly be.

“Go! Go! Go!” yelled the Major.

Now this is the time in battle where the adrenaline takes over. For some men, time slows down, and everything happens frame by frame and for others time speeds up, like its in fast forward. For Private Springer, it definitely seemed to slow down. He brought the sight up to his eye and lined it up right on the operator of the MG-42. Bang! He pulled the trigger and the man fell. Just as he had looked away from his scope the men started to run toward their objectives. German soldiers in the town could be heard, yelling out orders obviously stunned by the surprise attack.

	(#12)
Red Hammer is Offline Member Posts: 47 Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Calgary, Canada	10-09-2002, 07:00 PM “No problem man,” said Joe in a calm, soothing voice. “Just try to calm down a little bit, its going to be fine.” Joe knew he was lying, but it was all he could do. He thought of all of the things he could possibly say, everything possible. But he knew the sad truth, that war is hell. The only way to be a good soldier, the only way to survive was to completely forget about dying. Assuming that you are already dead is the only way many of the solders in the 67th, or any other company for that matter were able to perform in combat. That and the constant willingness of putting themselves in the line of fire to save the lives of their friends. “O…o..ok,” Private Springer replied. Beginning to walk away. “I’ll try. Thanks for the cigarette” At this point they were about a quarter of a kilometer from the hedgerow, the frequent flashes of light and the thunderous crashes of artillery fire filled the German night. The first few buildings in the town were just becoming visible. Most noticibly being a church and a few three story homes. Major Graham put his hand up and knelt down. Signaling the men to stop. Slowly he moved forward toward the open clearing. “Binoculars,” he ordered. One of the privates from the first truck fumbled through his pack and pulled out a large set of black binoculars. He handed them to Major Graham who immediately started to scan the town. Looking for any snipers of machine gun positions. “Ok… there looks to be an MG-42 position in that church tower,” the Major said quitely. “Move to the hedgerow and continue as ordered. Move slowly and keep your head down. Go! Go! Go!” The men scattered toward the hedgerow and leaned up against it. It was a fairly short one (Hedgerow) only about 3 feet high it would not provide a lot of cover. Using their entrenching tools the men began to dig small foxholes. They did been doing this for about forty minutes. Joe looked over and saw Mario a few men down, frantically digging his foxhole in the muddy clay. He also looked over at the major who was still scanning the town and looking at a map. He knew that they would be attacking soon, all they were doing was setting up a defensive position where they could fall back to if need be. So knowing this he went back to digging his foxhole. It was no more than ten minutes later that the major spoke out again. “Ok Men,” he said. “That MG-42 looks to be defending the main road leading into town. The 76st should be pinned down somewhere to the southwest of that gun. Springer, when I give the command I want you to use your sniper rifle and knock off any men who are manning the MG-42 on that tower. Private Brooks, Private Thomas, I want you to set up your machine gun and provide us covering fire right down the center that road into the town. My squad will take the left flank toward the southeast side of the town and Sargent Parel’s squad will take the right flank. Swinging over to the southwest side of the town where they will try and meet up with the 76th.” “Yes sir,” many of the men whispered. They were ready, as ready as they could possibly be. “Go! Go! Go!” yelled the Major. Now this is the time in battle where the adrenaline takes over. For some men, time slows down, and everything happens frame by frame and for others time speeds up, like its in fast forward. For Private Springer, it definitely seemed to slow down. He brought the sight up to his eye and lined it up right on the operator of the MG-42. Bang! He pulled the trigger and the man fell. Just as he had looked away from his scope the men started to run toward their objectives. German soldiers in the town could be heard, yelling out orders obviously stunned by the surprise attack.