CRASH!
A deafening wave crashed against the LHD-7 aircraft carrier, waking me up. It all came back to me… gunshots, as the salty ocean water tapped against the window of the bottom deck. I got off, dropping down the full four rows of stacked bunks, to see where we were on our mission.
In the near distance, an island came into perspective through the open ocean mist. Fear struck me as the boat held course towards the Japanese territory. Every foot closer we got, I got more and more anxious, knowing that it was all going downhill from here.
The boat docked on the shore. We all trudged off, my U.S. Marine badge gleaming in the mid-day sun. My boots sunk into the tattered ash so far that they almost disappeared from sight. We all wavered in terror. Despite the dormant volcanic mountain and the ash that embedded the dry, cracked earth, something stuck out to me. I contemplated the shaded garrison looming towards the sky. I felt distraught as I stared at the tower; it’s fanged poles and grimacing look puzzled me. The more I looked at it, it seemed like it was ready to devour me. A brandish banner was mounted on the far right of the Imperial Army’s bunker. I stood there with my mouth dropped in awe.
“There’s no going back,” I mumbled as I turned to glance at the dark blue ocean currents.
“Get to your grid squares!” called out General Holland Smith, making sure the code-talkers got to their positions.
The code talkers dispatched to their positions. A few of the soldiers stood back as we proceeded to build dugouts and performed radio calls to test the systems. About halfway through the tests, the first shot was fired from the Japanese army. It all seemed to go in slow motion. My heart was racing, frantically reaching for my M1 Carbine, everyone scrambling to get down and circumvent the penetrating bullets. This was it, this was the start of the Battle of Iwo Jima.
We all ducked under the dugout, eluding the shots. We were impotent to fire until our general gave us the signal.
“Hold your fire!” called out General Smith.
We all froze there with bullets whizzing by our heads. The fear and trauma diffused over us like a disease. I stayed positioned there, lingering with impatience to fight back.
“FIRE!!” hollered General Smith.
All around me, people were dropping from each side. It was like for every death in the Japanese army, someone was shot on our side, like a train going in circles. Through all of this pain and fear welling up inside of me, I continued to shoot. This was our chance to give Japan what they deserve for bombing Pearl Harbor.
Static came from my radio. I could not hear the Navajo code over all of the gunshots. The ground rumbled. I feared it was coming from the Imperia4exl Japanese army. Jet engines thundered over me. There it was. The B-27 Superfortress flew overhead. The 4-engine, propeller-driven bomber wasn’t any joke, especially when it was soaring from the USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) aircraft carrier, coming to save us, our hero.
“Kinetic bombs dropping at the northern base!” Alerted General Smith over the radio system.
The bomb precipitated to the ground, descending at a rapid rate, ready to detonate. BANG! The deafening sound wave sent all of us down, including me, to cover our ears as the bright sky grew dark with ash. The reverberating sound echoed in my head. Through the dim light, the dust slowly cleared away, showing the desecration of the Japanese airbase.
I looked out in the open battlefield. The ash clouds parted ways to let the slightest beam of light shine on us.
“Was that it?”
“Is it over?” called out some of the marines.
“Yes, It’s over,” replied General Smith, “It's over.
I think the C.I is to have no regrets, and the line is, “There’s no going back,” because even if though he survived, he might not of if he was scared.
ReplyDeleteThe central idea of this story is perseverance or resilience. Even though the soldier was afraid, he and the team ended up completing the mission. "We all wavered in terror." The allusion of this story is the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.
ReplyDeleteI liked the line, "I stayed positioned there, lingering with impatience to fight back." I liked it because it shows that the character wants to protect their country. This brings the character to life by showing how they feel about the war.
ReplyDeleteI liked the way you described the water tapping the window "as the salty ocean water tapped against the window of the bottom deck." It tells us the where the character is without really saying where.
ReplyDeletei liked the way you explained to have no regrets, so i understoodjust like the soldier we should notbe afraid a proceed
ReplyDelete"CRASH! A deafening wave crashed against the LHD-7 aircraft carrier" or "My boots sunk into the tattered ash so far that they almost disappeared from sight. We all wavered in terror"
ReplyDeletereally brings you in to the story, puts you in the moment with the soldiers.
"We all wavered in terror. Despite the dormant volcanic mountain and the ash that embedded the dry, cracked earth, something stuck out to me. I contemplated the shaded garrison looming towards the sky." this has a lot of detail and I really like how you worded it and made it easy to picture.
ReplyDeleteI like how you brought the story alive by bringing in key details such as “Kinetic bombs dropping at the northern base!” Alerted General Smith over the radio system." Letting us know what things are happening.
ReplyDeleteI liked the line that says "as the salty ocean water tapped against the window" it shows the very good detail.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you said ¨We all froze there with bullets whizzing by our heads. The fear and trauma diffused over us like a disease. I stayed positioned there, lingering with impatience to fight back.¨ it really made me understand how the character felt and that he kept fighting even though he was scared.
ReplyDeleteI like how you brought the story alive with detail. like this section "My boots sunk into the tattered ash so far that they almost disappeared from sight," it made me almost feel there
ReplyDeleteI like how you made the history come alive in this story, by making it feel like an actual battle was going on. I also liked how you ended the story, ending it with real feeling. “'Was that it?'” “'Is it over?'” called out some of the marines. “'Yes, It’s over,'” replied General Smith, “'It's over.'"
ReplyDelete