It was dark on the bridge. The ship gently rolled in the swells and the stars lit up the night sky almost as if it were daylight. Only dark shapes marred the sea’s surface. No lights could be seen. Yet there was no escaping the mighty forces transiting together. On one side of Iowa was the North Carolina. Further out was the carrier Nimitz and her escorts. Even further away was the Enterprise and Gerald Ford. Unseen were the transports, cruise liners, car carriers and other ships carrying several divisions of troops to go into battle. In the center of it all was the America with Admiral Hustvedt leading them. The sheer size of the force was far larger than anything Rhodes had ever seen.
Rhodes watched as his Junior Officer of the Deck walked to the window and lifted a stadimeter. Since there were no radars operating, it was the only way to make sure of the distance between ships. Seeing his officers reverting to the old ways of station keeping made him feel good. Doing it at night with relatively little light was remarkable.
A small gust of wind blew through the bridge as the outer door was opened and shut. Rhodes heard Danner request permission to say the evening prayer. Rhodes was glad it was Danner and not Mahew, the protestant chaplain. Mahew was from a denomination that still thumped Bibles and probably even used snakes. He had been a last minute addition before the ship left San Pedro. So far, none of the crew went to his services. Unlike Danner who drew in both protestant and catholic.
As expected, the prayer was short and Rhodes called Danner up. “Father Danner, it seems you are a highly sought after man,” he joked as he handed over the message.
Danner looked at the message under the red light of the Captain’s flashlight. Rhodes could see the chaplain’s face brighten as he read it.
“Wow. Isn’t this something. Maybe I should do a weather prayer kind of like Patton did at the Battle of the Bulge,” Danner said with a grin. “Or maybe the old Sheppard prayer, “Lord, don’t let me screw this up.”
Rhodes chuckled. “Either way, you might just make or break this effort.”
Danner rubbed his chin. “Hmmmm. I guess I better put on my prayer cap and churn something out,” he said as he folded the message and put it in his shirt pocket. “Goodnight Captain.”
“Good night Jim.”
General Claire Richardson was tired of going over the invasion plans. She knew them by heart. She just wanted all her staff and commanders to do the same. Only a couple of things had come up at the late staff meeting. One was a recommendation from a company sergeant to bring on a piece of equipment which really wasn’t needed, and the second was a concern about the noise the LCACs would make and how close they might need to be to the beach for a launch. No changes were made, but Richardson liked that they were getting input from all areas and levels of command. It told her they were ready and that they were a part of the plan, 100 percent. That could make or break any amphibious landing.
Needing some fresh air, she made her way to the flight deck and walked out into the cold breeze. The icy wind almost cut right through her heavy jacket, but it felt invigorating. Making her way to the opposite side of the island, the breeze was cut off by the island structure and she found several people standing and sitting along the deck. They were joking around and just watching the waves go by. Trying not to be noticed, she listened in.
“How many more days?”
“Maybe another week. For some reason these squids think they can only go at around ten knots. Not that I mind, but I’d just as soon get going. This waiting around is for shit.”
“Tell me about it. I really don’t like being on these ships. Too much brass and too many squids. Hell, just yesterday the Captain of this boat told Hogsworth that as far as he was concerned all us grunts could just stay in our compartments. Talk about welcome aboard.”
“Yea, he’s a walking turd. Always yelling at somebody and making people’s lives miserable. Makes me glad I’m a Marine.”
“Yea, I bet Richardson wouldn’t give people that kind of shit. She’s nothing but Marine, and Marines take care of their own.”
“No shit.”
“You hear the stories about her from Korea? Damn! Talk about kicking ass and taking names.”
“Yea, and that’s just what we’re going to do when we hit the beach.”
Nearby a door opened and a crewman came on deck. He walked over to the group. “Excuse me, guys, but the CO doesn’t really like people on the flight deck at night. Too easy to fall off. I don’t want to break anything up, but I know a place that’s safer and a whole hell of a lot warmer.”
One of the Marines spoke up. “The CO doesn’t like it, huh.”
“Probably throw a fit.”
“No problem, man. We’ve seen some of his fits. Where is this place you are talking about?”
“Follow me.”
The sailor led the group through the door and down a passageway headed aft toward the fantail. Going down a few ladders the group emptied onto the hangar deck and made their way to a refueling station on the starboard side. A set of vents from the ship’s interior brought a little heat to the area, making it quite pleasant. All the way under the dim red lights, Richardson stayed back so the Marines couldn’t see her. Only the last two recognized her, but she smiled and placed her index finger to her lips. They nodded and kept going.
When the door to the outside was opened, the lights in the passageway went off. Everyone went out onto the refueling station.
“Thanks, man. We appreciate it,” one of the Marines said.
“No problem. Saves us all a chewing,” said the sailor as he turned and went back inside.
“Nice guy,” said one.
“Yea, not bad for a swabbie,” joked another. They all settled down on pieces of equipment as they had before, but this time, another of the Marines saw Richardson and called out, “Attention on deck.” All the Marines jumped to their feet.
Saddened that she had been found out, Richardson motioned them down. “Have a seat guys, don’t mind me. I came out for the same reason you did,” she said.
“Sorry we didn’t see you before, Ma’am,” said one.
Richardson chuckled. “I didn’t really want you to. People tend to clam up whenever a general is around. I’d rather just sit and talk a while. What’s been going on?” she asked.
“Bored as hell, Ma’am,” said one. “I’d rather we were somewhere getting shot at than this.”
“Yea, the Gunny said it would get bad, but I never thought it would be this bad.”
“Yea, I guess we’re all a little anxious to get there and get going,” said Richardson. “For me, there’s only so many times you can go over things. I was hoping the Navy would do a few gunshoots in between for us to watch, but there won’t be but one unrep between now and hitting the beach, so I guess we just have to hang in there,” she said.
“Now that would have been cool. I’d love to see one of those battlewagons torch off. I’m told it’s impressive as hell,” said a younger man.
“Bud, you have no idea. In Korea, those things patrolled up and down the peninsula and cleared a path all the way north. I told them this time I wouldn’t go unless they came along,” she joked.
There were chuckles from the group. “How long before we get there, Ma’am?”
“Well, tomorrow night we pass Gibraltar. Three more days and we’ll pass through the Dardanelles. One more day and we hit the beach.”
“That’s good to hear. You going in with us, Ma’am?”
“You bet your ass, Marine. I’m not one of those that sits in the rear. You and I are going all the way through this. Think you can keep up with me?”