Randleman Descriptive Writing

Karl
English 10H One Day Down, One Thousand to Go

I gazed up into the bleak morning sky and viewed the wafts of smoke, anything to take my mind off what was to come. The sound of the landing craft’s engines revved up indicating we were on our final approach. I gripped my Thompson and carefully glanced over it. The functionality of this gun could mean life or death for me and so it received my dearest attention. Suddenly the ear shattering sound of the big .50 caliber machine gun opened up on our boat. Immediately thereafter, the screech of a whistle permeated the air, and the front of the boat began lowering. What was slowly revealed to us was horrifying; barbed
wire and anti-vehicle obstacles dotted the beach. Before I could take it all in, the enemy’s machine guns began finding their targets. Deep thuds mixed with sharp pings as the bullets struck my comrades, as well as the boat. Lieutenant Jamison called for us to reach cover, another useless command from him seeing that we were trapped in the boat. Sargent Talbert shouted “Get out of the boat now!” however; our fallen comrades and the German fire stopped us from getting out the front. I stooped down and boosted Private Vincent out of the boat as fast as I could. Sgt. Randleman launched me from the boat with such force I nearly dropped my gun as I flew over the high steel walls. Along with the other survivors I began plodding along through the water heavily weighted down by supplies. The German machine guns were relentless; they hounded us as we struggled forward. Finally we reached the dark sand, and I ceased to care how much sand covered me as I lay behind metal obstacles.
None of the amphibious tanks had made it ashore leaving us helplessly stranded on the unforgiving beach without any hope of support. I dashed from cover to cover, slowly working my way up. As soon as I reached a new place of cover, a German shell exploded next to me sending sand and Pfc. Johnson careening through the air. When he came to rest on the black sand he wriggled around vainly trying to stand as his legs had disappeared in the blast. As I huddled against the metal protrusion, I observed the desolate situation. Men lay in the grip of death all across the vast expanse of beach, and wave after wave of landing craft disgorged their cargo of men, adding to the fray. My best friend Pfc. Vincent crouched next to me screaming furiously into the radio about our dire need for support. Sgt. Randleman charged forward, and arrived at our hiding place a mere instant before another shell engulfed Lt. Jamison who was directly behind him. He appeared stunned as he looked upon the crater where our commanding officer had stood moments before. He quickly snapped back to reality and ordered us to move forward as fast as possible, and to regroup at the bluff a hundred yards inland. With this he dashed forward to other soldiers crouching like Vincent and I. Vincent and I quickly exchanged glances, and then drove forward weaving to avoid enemy fire. The thud of shells and the rattling machinegun fire tore about us blocking out all sounds but that of our pounding pulses.
I dove outstretched behind the small bluff staying out of sight of the machine gun emplacement.
Randleman suddenly appeared, and his presence calmed us because we knew we could trust his command. He gathered as many of us as he could and told us to take only weapons and ammo over the bluff when the time came. Only about 70 of the 160 men in our company were gathered along the bluff. There was a huge whump as a navy vessel’s round decimated the machinegun emplacement, Vincent’s radio calls had paid off. With that, Randleman yelled for us to go over the bluff and sprint to the destroyed German fortification. As we reached the ruins, a few surviving Germans crawled from the rubble, and Vincent and I dispatched them with impunity. We once again crouched under cover and began peppering the Germans who were farther inland. The men quickly gathered around as Randleman gave out orders for us to move forward in two groups and work on capturing the next machinegun position. In order to reach it however, we would be forced to climb up a rocky hillside with little to no cover. Despite the danger, we were all ready to follow Randleman to the end, for he had always been there supporting us since training. I snatched up an abandoned 30. cal. and Vincent picked up an ammunition box and the tripod. Our company surged forward and made our way up the hill. The Germans were shocked at the rapidity of our advance and those along the ridge fell back allowing for us to make it up with
minimal casualties.
As soon as we crested the hill, Vincent and I lied down in a shell crater and set up the machinegun. We set up a base of fire that tore at the backs of the retreating Germans allowing for the company to continue forward. After we unloaded nearly 100 rounds, we dashed up an adjacent hill to gain a better vantage point. We once again set up shop in a shallow shell hole and began unloading upon the German line. From this position we spotted a German Panzer tank group headed our direction for a counter attack. Vincent radioed Sgt. Randleman as I continued to fire. The men immediately began to swing around behind a building to remain hidden from the tanks. While I worked to keep Germans from advancing towards them, Vincent radioed the Navy to procure a strike against the advancing tanks. Almost immediately, the roar of airplanes streaking overhead deafened us and then the tanks began exploding. The lead tank took a bomb directly to the turret knocking it out immediately. The second tank was torn open by a shell that impacted the caterpillar tracks and nearly flipped it. The third and fourth tanks began to retreat for fear of another attack and we gave the all clear to Randleman to advance with the troops.
Vincent and I gathered up two stray boxes of ammo and dashed forward along the narrow ridge we occupied. The Germans main line of defense had been shattered; they were now in full retreat. Our company linked up with the remnants of Fox and Dog Company who had not fared much better than us. Our group of about 200 men continued forward in pursuit of the Germans hoping to drive them back far enough to link up with the others from Utah Beach. We came upon a small town and approached it carefully. As we ventured near the town, we spread out hoping to come in and attack from three sides. Just before our pincer movement closed in on the town German machine guns sprung to life and forced us to dive into a ditch. Our mortar crews set up and began generously heaping rounds upon the German guns. This gave us enough of a reprieve from the German’s firing to set up our own machinegun and unleash a torrent of bullets at the remaining enemies. The main body of the company began advancing and clearing out the town, house by house, street by street. Vincent and I, along with 8 machine gun crews, set up lead along the streets leading out of the captured town as well as a handful of stone houses along the rear of the town. After watching for about an hour in search of a German counter attack, we sought relief for our positions.
We then meandered towards the center of town just as a formation of C-47’s flew overhead dropping much needed supplies and ammunition. Thankfully, a few crates landed right in front of us, and so, we took everything we could carry and dragged ourselves into a nearby house to get re-outfitted. After we were fully restocked, and then some, we made our way to the newly set up Regimental HQ for an assignment. Once there, we were told to stand fast and watch for an impending German counter attack. I then made my way to the outskirts of town and sat down inside the second floor of a solid stone house where I was free to gaze upon the idyllic French countryside.
As night fell, there was still no news about any German troop movements and so I was able to finally relax and attempt to sleep.
As I lay in bed I realized that all the violent toils of the day were just the beginning. I had survived but one day of a campaign that could easily drag on for years. I awoke the next morning to the sound of another wave of C-47’s dropping supplies for us. Because of our huge and rapid advances, General Ike sent the first available tanks for our support. At around noon we received the orders to begin the advance again. We began marching behind a column of tanks that led us down the seemingly endless hedgerows. For the first mile we encountered only minimal resistance, and this could not have been more misleading for what was to come.
Out of nowhere, a massive onslaught of German fire erupted from the opposite hedgerow and we dove behind ours and were immediately locked in a stalemate. Occasional fire cascaded from both hedgerows as we fired and they answered, however, the exchange brought no casualties. As the standoff drew onward, a new captain named Henderson crawled along the line calling out “Hold fast we have tank support
coming”.
I silently hoped that this was not the same type of tank support when we landed. Vincent vocalized my thought “They said we would have armor support when we got here and look how that ended up”.
This drew several laughs from the men in adjacent foxholes. The next morning we gleefully observed the rumbling tanks roll down the causeway that separated the hedgerows and unload on the German side causing them to flee nearly immediately. In order to show gratitude, we invited the tankers into our holes whilst we waited for orders. The man who sat down explained why it took them so long to reach us “My CO ordered me to make sure the tanks went orderly and quickly ahead. After finally getting everyone into position we began to roll out. The last tank went by about 0:00 and I moved our unit into the column. The last tanks were going about twenty-five miles an hour trying to keep up with those ahead. I was afraid we might lose some vehicles at that speed so set the pace between fifteen and twenty miles per hour. This area had been recently liberated and so few markers had been put out, so it was sometimes a problem knowing where to go. In the edge of a town on a brick road I faced a problem; there was a fork and no guide or marker. I solved the problem by getting down on my hands and knees with a hooded flashlight to determine which way the tank tracks had scratched the bricks. This proved to be the correct route which was fortunate. It is not easy to turn such a column around in the dark and some areas were mined”.
As he finished his narrative, we once again rejoiced they they had negated the need for us to vainly charge the enemy hedgerow sometime that day, and had thus saved numerous lives. We finally were able to make our way forward along the causeway. For the next 5 miles we encountered no German resistance and eventually came upon a river that ran directly in front of a town.
Thankfully by this time, the 490th artillery division had managed to set up a few operational field batteries. The front was a river, which bordered a small town. Our forward observer called for a volley of white phosphorus for shock effect, and perhaps some burning. The lead battery was only about 1,600 yards from the target. I quickly gave the data to fire and away it went. Unfortunately, it never arrived. The down slope of the trajectory went through a forest of tall evergreen trees. So the shells never reached the intended target. I shouted “Add 200 yards and re-fire”. After softening up the German resistance with a heavy, dense shelling, we began to take up positions along the riverbank. Vincent and I were set up in a cluster of trees ready to provide covering fire for the advance. Four other pairs had set up along the embankment with their 30. Cal machine guns at the ready. Thankfully the river was fairly shallow, only about one foot deep, so it proved to be less of a hindrance than we had previously speculated. The main bulk of our force skirted around the hill I occupied and gathered along the riverbank. As they moved into position, the artillery fire increased tremendously, now shells were plastering the town and forcing all defenders into the cellars of partially destroyed houses. The infantry began to dash forward, slogging through the knee deep water, attempting to avoid enemy fire while still advancing rapidly. When they neared the far side the artillery fire suddenly ceased to allow them safe passage. As soon as the shelling stopped, I began unloading on the places Germans had just run into at the same time infantry began to reach the outskirts of the town. Under the base of fire that Vincent and I, along with the other machine gun crews provided, the infantry were able to advance to the center of town with ease. From there Sgt. Randleman organized the men so skillfully, the German defenses crumbled under their onslaught. A Lt. I had never seen before shouted “Move your gun forward we need to cut down their retreat”.
I retorted “Sir yes Sir” in the traditional manner, however, Vincent and I knew that we would never be able to catch up to the front line in time to do that so we leisurely advanced. As we left the grove of trees, a stray Luftwaffe plane thundered out of nowhere and opened fire. The trees were alight with bullets. Tufts of bark and pulverized wood filled the air. The sheer shock of the bullets sent me crashing to the ground, but the thick grove of dense trees managed to deflect them just enough to spare me. I glanced up and saw Vincent running towards me carrying the machine gun when a tremendous metal-on-metal smashing and tearing noise ripped through the air as Vincent was knocked off his feet. I scrambled through the settling dust and I came upon Vincent who had just taken a high caliber aircraft bullet to his chest. Thankfully, I saw that the heavy machine gun he had been carrying had absorbed most of the impact and stopped the bullet. The twisted metal lay beside him as he carefully examined himself to assure himself he was alright. I jokingly shouted “Get your ass up and move that gun down to the town!”
He smartly yelled “Piss off!” through the din.
We both knew just how narrowly he had escaped death and it was unnerving. I helped him up and we began meandering our way down the hill. We were but a few days into a war that could end up lasting years, and one of us had nearly died. This shocked us into finally realizing just how fragile life truly is, and just how hard we would have to work to protect it.