s waiting their turn, and dodging Stuka bombs and
bursting shells. And after such an ordeal they were too stunned to know
or even care about talking. Each had a single, all important goal. A
boat of some kind. And they slogged and sloshed toward it, numb to all
that was going on about them.

"It's ... it's almost as though it isn't real!" Dave heard himself
whisper aloud. "It's like being at a movie, and seeing something you
know was just made up. Gosh, there's thousands of them. Thousands! I
wonder how many have got away already? And...."

The last froze on Dave's lips. At that moment above the crackling and
sullen roar of the flames devouring the city there came the dreaded
sound. It was like the drumming moan of night wind in the trees, only
it wasn't. It was a sound that chilled the blood of every man on shore
and off shore. It was Goering's Stukas and Heinkels and Messerschmitts
coming up with the rising dawn. For a long second Dave and Freddy heard
it, and then it was drowned out by the mounting groans and curses that
welled up from the throats of those thousands of soldiers on the beach.
Yet as Dave stared at them, unable to move, he saw that not a man broke
ranks. Everybody stayed in his place, as though they were on a parade
ground instead of on a beach strewn with their own dead. Rifles and
portable machine guns were grabbed up and pointed toward the fast
lightening heavens, but no man gave up his place in line.

And then the winged vultures under Goering's command came howling down
out of the sky. Their noise drowned out all other noises, including the
noise of the guns that greeted them. It was as though some mighty giant
were tearing the roof right off the top of the world. It wasn't a
scream, and it wasn't an earth trembling wail. Nor was it a continual
thunderous roar. It was just a sound that had never been heard before,
and, perhaps, will never be heard again. A mighty collection of all
sounds in the whole world blended into one mighty inferno of noise.

As Dave and Freddy stood transfixed it didn't so much as even occur to
either of them to run for some kind of shelter. Their feet were lumps of
lead and the ground was one great magnet that held them fast. Something
spewed up orange and red flame a couple of hundred yards away from them.
It was a bomb exploding, but they couldn't even hear the sound. Another
fountain of flame, and sand showering down over everything, but no
individual sound of the bo