War stories Stories

Lieutenant Commander James Reed gripped the wardroom rail as rain pounded the deck above. The table before him bore Admiral Sinclair’s rough chart: Pointe Verdure—a narrow cove along Normandy’s silver coast—and, barely a mile inland, the Freya radar station at Cap d’Épine. “Last month,” Reed intoned, “five U-boats picked up convoy signatures here. Losses: over forty merchant ships. Our mission: land at 0130, breach the pe...

It was 1998, in a U. S. motor-pool on Zoeckler Station, South Korea. “…and the shine on your boots’ll catch the eye of Charlie and he’ll see you.,” Specialist Josh Thorton said in a comical croaky voice “ … and you know what happens when Charlie sees you.” “YOU’RE DEAD,” Bo and Josh said in unison. Actually they were Private Henderson and Specialist Thorton, but in Korea things tended to get less formal because we spent s...