Several missiles began streaking out from various positions on shore towards some of the AAVs. One missile smashed into the front of a vehicle as it was cresting a wave, exploding in spectacular fashion and killing everyone on board. They were now less than 50 yards from the shore. Bullets bounced harmlessly off their armor as the turret gunner fired back.
In minutes, Sergeant long felt the treads of the vehicle start to catch on the gravel floor of the beach and begin to move quickly up the sandy coast. Prior to leaving the troop ships, the AAV Commander had determined that the vehicles would drive just far enough up the shore to create a hole through the concertina wire before backing out to head back for their next load. This would save the Marines on the beach a lot of time in trying to breach the wire while potentially being under a lot of heavy fire.
“We are coming up on the wire now!” yelled the vehicle commander to Long’s team. “Get ready to disembark and then get away from the vehicle. We are going to start backing up once you guys are all out!”
“You heard the man!” shouted Sergeant Long. “I want Alpha Team to break right and advance to cover. Bravo Team, you break left and advance to cover as well. Once we are on the beach, look for targets and engage them. Remember, controlled shots-do not blow through all your ammo! Fire team leaders, remember fire discipline!”
Seconds later, they could hear the vehicle grind through a bunch of barbed wire. A landmine went off, but their vehicle shrugged it right off. Then, the back hatch opened, and they began to disembark as quickly as possible. Once out of the vehicle, the deafening roar of war was almost overwhelming to their senses. There were thunderous explosions from artillery and mortar rounds going off all around them, and shrapnel flying everywhere. Then there was the constant chattering of machine guns from all directions, and of course, the screams of agony from the wounded as the shrapnel and bullets began to slap against the soft human flesh of the Marines assaulting the beach.
Within seconds of exiting the vehicle and getting away from behind it, Sergeant Long saw the vehicle lurch backwards as it tried to get back into the water to go pick up the next set of Marines. He then turned his attention to his squad and saw most of them had found shelter against a small sea wall at the edge of the beach where the grass and beach met.
One of his soldiers was laying on his back, dead. After taking several bullets to the neck and face, Sergeant Long couldn’t even recognize his fellow Marine without seeing his name tape; he was reduced to a torn and bloody mess of bone and muscle chunks.
A second marine was lying on the ground a dozen feet away from him, screaming in pain as he reached down to the ragged remnants of his left leg, blood squirting with each pulse. Sergeant Long didn’t waste a moment and quickly ran to the man, dropping down next to him. Bullets were whipping past his head and kicking up dirt, rocks and sand all around him and his wounded comrade. He immediately grabbed the man’s belt buckle, undoing it and pulling it out from his trousers. He then wrapped it just above the wound and tightened it as hard as he could to stop his friend from bleeding out. Then, he reached under the wounded Marine’s left armpit, and in one strong oomph, he threw him over his shoulder and began to run towards the break wall. Shots were whizzing past him like crazy, but he knew he needed to get his friend to safety so that a corpsman could start working on trying to patch him up.
When he made it to the break wall, he placed the Marine up against it just as a corpsman ran up to them and began to apply a proper tourniquet just above the wound to try and stem the bleeding.
Tim just laid there for a minute, trying to catch his breath and collect his thoughts. He grabbed at his camelback hose and took a couple of long drinks of water from it as his heart was racing out of control.
“Sergeant Long, there’s a machine gun position in that house, near those resort buildings,” one of his Marines said, pointing in the direction of where the enemy fire was coming from.
Tim inched his head slightly above the wall they were hiding behind, and saw the house with the machine gun. Green tracers were flying towards their position, raking the beach behind them. The building itself was a single-story house with a front door and three forward-facing windows. The windows had sandbags built up around them, and several heavy machine guns could be seen with their barrels sticking out, shooting flame and death at his fellow Marines.
Turning back to face his friend, he yelled to be heard above the sounds of war. “Get one of the guys with an anti-tank rocket to put a round in there, and see if that solves the problem.”
Then he turned to look at the corpsman working on the wounded lance corporal he had carried to the seawall. “How’s he doing?”
The corpsman had tied off the leg a couple of inches above the wound, and began to apply a pressure bandage. Then he pulled a small bag of plasma out of his aid bag and began to start an IV. “It’s a pretty bad wound,” the corpsman explained, “although if we could get him back to the ship, he might still keep his leg. He needs a medivac. What are the chances of that happening?”
Tim looked back towards the beach. In the distance he saw another wave of AAVs heading towards them. Then he had an idea. “See if you can get some volunteers to help you with the wounded. I’ll try to have the squad give you as much covering fire as possible.”
The corpsman nodded and responded, “I’ll do my best to get as many of the wounded Marines loaded into the vehicles as possible.”
One of Long’s heavy machine gunners let loose a long burst of automatic fire at the house that had been converted into an enemy bunker, while another Marine rose above the seawall slightly. He aimed the anti-tank rocket and fired it off at the house. In seconds, he heard the loud popping noise and then the sudden SWOOSH as the rocket began to head right for the building. From their spot behind the seawall, they still heard the loud explosion and a splattering of sparks. Then they waited… silence.
With the machine gun neutralized, Sergeant Long yelled at the top of his lungs, “Alpha Team, assault forward and secure that building!”
Then he turned to his left and looked in the direction of his other fire team. “Bravo Team, lay down covering fire now!”
Both teams immediately reacted to his orders and began to assault the building. Sergeant Long stood up quickly and climbed over the seawall, advancing towards the cluster of buildings where the enemy was held up. As he ran forward, he raised his M4 to his shoulder and fired off a series of controlled shots into the enemy positions in hopes of keeping their heads down or maybe getting a lucky shot and killing one them. The rest of Alpha team also rose up and followed him forward; it was a mad dash to the buildings being used by the enemy. Alpha and Bravo team unleashed a hail of bullets as they ran forward; they had to move quickly as they were rather exposed. It was several hundred yards from the seawall to the enemy positions, with little in the way of cover.
His fire team moved quickly and methodically, pouring accurate fire into the enemy while they charged. Hundreds of other Marines saw their charge and joined in, adding their own firepower to the mix. As the American soldiers advanced, a pair of AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters banked in towards the shoreline and raked several of the buildings with 70mm anti-personnel rockets, exploding multiple vehicles that Sergeant Long’s men had not spotted lying in wait behind the buildings.