Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: End Times (02/27/14)
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TITLE: The Best Generation | Previous Challenge Entry
By Robert Douglas Brown
03/05/14 -
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Deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, small farms dotted the landscape. Two farms shared a 40 acre valley of rich farmland below Feed-Rock Mountain. The Sutton’s and McCoy’s were not blood related, but were much closer in many ways. Their ancestors settled in the mountains of North Carolina two centuries ago.
Each family had 3 sons. Ted Sutton, Eli Sutton, and Scotty Sutton were brothers aged 21, 19, and 18. Each young man stood 6’-5”, and was “as strong as a government mule” as their poppa, Sammy-Tom Sutton, described them.
The only father besides Sammy Sutton that spoke this highly of his boys was Dewey McCoy. The 3 “Real McCoy’s” as Dewey liked to call his boys, were Dewey Jr., Malcolm, and Judd, aged 20, 19, and 18. Each boy stood exactly 6’-4”, and as “solid as Stonewall Jackson,” as Dewey described his sons.
The sting the country had felt since December 7, 1941, had intensified since; Adolf Hitler declared war on America. At every corner, young men were volunteering for all branches of the service. Just about every young man vowed to be the first to put an end to Hitler, and the Japanese Emperor, Hirohito.
“Gentlemen, move closer. We have to process each of you before midnight.” barked an older army sergeant to the young men in line. There were probably 5,000 men, each ready to defend their country, and become the world’s best fighting force since the beginning of time. All 6 mountain-men stood out in the group of 5,000 men. It was December 12, 1941; World War II was underway.
President Franklin Roosevelt had spent nearly every working hour since December 7, 1941, meeting with the Pentagon brass to put the war machine into motion for the world war at hand. There would be a plethora of work ahead for the sleeping giant that had been angrily awoken by the Axis Powers.
All 6 young men were welcomed into Uncle Sam’s Army. The men were sent to Camp Toccoa, Georgia, for 2 years of intense training. When they stepped off of the bus at the camp’s entrance, the 6 were greeted by a fire-breathing First Sergeant who proceeded to let them know that he was going to be their worst nightmare for a long time. First Sergeant Bradley Winters was one of Army’s best training instructors.
The men were a part of the 506 Battalion Group, and were the first paratroopers to ever serve in the army. This training was the toughest that the military had to offer.
On June 22, 1943, all men of the 506 Battalion left the harbor of New York to England for additional training for the invasion of the Normandy Coast of France. The training was as mental as it was physical. The 6 young men were the top 6 out of 750 men that had successfully made it through the 2-year grueling training.
The 3 McCoy and 3 Sutton young men were more than ready to put their 2 years of training to the test. The men had been drilled to the point to where they knew every feature of the Normandy Coast from end to end blindfolded. The British, Canadian, and the United States were all assigned specific beachheads along the Normandy Coast.
The weather on the coast was the worst in 20 years with strong winds and blinding rain. On June 6, 1944 the weather improved enough for the D-Day invasion. The 6 young men met, and prayed for the Lords will in each of their lives before boarding the ship that would take them and thousands of others heading for Normandy. Two of the young men were heading for Omaha Beach, and the other 4 for Utah Beach.
The smaller Higgins boats took the men for the last 500 yards to the beachhead.
Eli Sutton and Malcolm McCoy were in the first Higgins boat to land on Omaha Beach. Before boarding the boat, they hugged each other and prayed for the Lords will. Omaha Beach was loaded with mines and machine guns ready to kill and destroy. When Eli and Malcolm reached the beachhead, they were cut down along with hundreds of others.
Eli and Malcolm were soon welcomed into heaven.
The other 4 men of the 6 lived and made it safely to Utah Beach. Both families were saddened, but were thankful for the lives of the other four, and their heroes safely in heaven.
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You've managed to collect and place a lot of data into a limited amount of words.
Good job.
God bless~
Enough information to get ones attention.
Historian or family knowledge needed and used nicely.