Albert had always been drawn to the beach. Although he had actually never been to one he had seen the ocean and some beaches several times in postcards. Albert had longed for the day when he would finally be at the beach himself. Now his wishes were going to come true, but not exactly as he had hoped.
The day of his big adventure came along with an upset stomach. Maybe it was something he ate at breakfast; more than likely he was just nervous. Albert really didn't like being hasty, and today looked like one of those days that was going to be filled with activity.
Everyone seemed to be in a big hurry to leave at exactly the right time. "Are we going to go or not, and what was all of the commotion about?" Albert began to wonder. Then more news about the tide and the moon. What the heck he just wanted to see the beach.
The trip had been a long one and it was almost time to embark on the final leg of his journey to the beach. The time was now 5:00 AM and his stomach was still giving him fits as he changed his mode of transportation. Albert bent over and threw up relieving some of the stress in his stomach.
He watched the full moon and made some small talk to an acquaintance of his. The two of them talked about home and the ones they had left behind. And now Albert was starting to get emotional; like this was going to be the end of the road or something.
"Just another walk in the park," Albert had remembered saying when he got up that morning. But he knew today was special by the look on the faces he saw that morning on June 6th 1944. He was going to the beach alright; one of the beaches of Normandy France for the big invasion; D-Day.
The word from General Eisenhower had just come through and it (operation Neptune as it was called) was on. Over 160,000 troops would embark at 6:30 AM to five beach sectors of France and Albert was going to Omaha beach.
It sounded like a nice beach Albert thought to himself. He wondered how the day would turn out. Would it be sunny as forecasted or would it be cloudy. If he had the chance he'd love to swim in the ocean and check out the surf.
"Move back!" A voice shouted as everyone shifted to make room for more troops. Albert was crunched up in the rear of his amphibious unit. Every time the boat hit a wave the weight of everyone shifted back up against him.
The chatter amongst the troops was sometimes noisy, but then it got quiet again. Several times he heard sobs coming from some of the soldiers that were in front of him. Now, he began to wonder himself if he would even survive the first hour at the beach.
Talk of the stronghold on Omaha beach was sometimes scattered. Some of the troops spoke as if they were riding off into infamy while others said they'd wipe out the Germans in the first wave of the attack.
The attack was designed to operate in two fazes: an air assault which began at midnight, and the amphibious attack at 6:30 AM. Albert was in the infantry division of the invasion. He quickly glanced at his watch; it was 6:22 AM.
"Barricades ahead!" Someone shouted as the boat shifted again throwing everyone to one side nearly capsizing the vehicle. As Albert looked through the morning fog he could see the high bluffs of the beach ahead of him. He could hear rapid fire coming from the strongholds on the bluffs and see movement on the beach of just a quick flurry then nothing.
Another five minutes and it would be his turn on the beach. Albert's vehicle had become deathly silent. Quiet murmurs of prayers and sobs were heard amongst some the soldiers. Then the boat hit the breakwater and it was time for action.
It was low tide as the vehicle stopped and lowered the ramps as all hell began to break lose. Albert was part of the first infantry and also part of the first wave of the attack.
"Go, go, go!" Someone yelled as everyone made their way off of the ramp and towards the beach. Several soldiers in front of Albert fell the moment the ramp was opened and everyone had to step over the bodies to get out of the vehicle.
"Well, I'm at the beach," Albert thought and stepped out into the bloody salty water of France. Over 5,000 soldiers died that day at Omaha beach with most of them dying in the first few hours of the invasion; but Albert was not one of them.
He managed to scale the bluffs with a committee of soldiers and in two days several strongholds had been developed at Omaha beach. The battle had been a bloody one. "It was worth the sacrifice," Albert thought to himself as he looked at the beach again for the second time in his life.
Memories of that day back in 1944 had haunted his mind for years. So Albert took his wife and headed back to France to see the beach again from a different perspective. He figured if he could replace some of his memories with good ones maybe that would help him to clear his mind of that day so long ago.
As Albert sat on the beach he watched the surf breaking and inhaled the familiar smell of the ocean. The beach did in fact look different; but the landmarks were still there and the sounds of war were still fresh in his mind.
"Are you alright?" His wife asked him. Albert sat and thought for a second then said: "Well, I finally made it. I'm really at the beach," he replied with half a smile. He sat for a few moments staring at the shoreline where so many of his friends had died that day. Finally he slowly got up and walked away; leaving the memories of the beach lost in the vastness of his mind.