23 AUGUST 2013:

I guess this will be the first and last time I write in this journal. My sisters had mailed this journal in a few weeks ago so I could record my days in the military. But I never got a chance or the means to write in it. Nothing really happened here at Mahan Camp that was worth writing about. But I figured today would be a good day to write:

It was the 18th of August. A Sunday.

I remember it clearly. It had been a normal Sunday--a little bit of sunshine with some clouds overhead, the air humid and heavy. Like most of our Saturdays and Sundays, our weekend passes were revoked for the umpteenth time and we were getting dressed to run up Changjo Mountain: three miles up, three miles down. And then it happened.

The Demoratic People's Republic of Korea had declared war on the Republic of Korea by threatening to bomb Seoul. To be honest, I don't think our government took much precaution because they thought the North was bluffing. The missile barely missed Seoul and hit the ocean, a few miles away from the coast. Pyongyang's actions provoked Seoul to fight back.

So now, here I am, the night before Shinhwa Company gets shipped to Seoul to await our mission. I don't think they're going to let me take any personal items to Seoul, so I decided that I would at least write in this journal before I leave. I don't know what to expect when I get to Seoul, but I'm sure today might be my last. I hope to God that the training I endured here at Camp Mahan will be enough for my survival.

But anything can happen in war.

--- Captain Eric Mun of SHINHWA Company, 707th Special Mission Battalion White Tiger

title: Band of Brothers

author: _winters

characters&setting: ERIC, MINWOO, DONGWAN, HYESUNG, JUNJIN, and ANDY as military soldiers in the fictionalized SHINHWA Company of the Special Mission Battalion during the re-initiation of the Korean War (AU)

warnings: war/violence, language, BL/ 

[author's note]

I'll be completely honest: I have no knowledge of how Korea's military system works, let alone any military system. But I'm a huge fan of military/war films like HBO's Band of Brothers (which this fanfic is obviously inspired by), Saving Private Ryan, and Flyboys. I tried and still am doing research on basic military information, but honestly, I think I'll be making a lot of things up. Hopefully, incorrect information won't deter your enjoyment of this fic. Most of us, however, are probably unfamiliar with military terms and whatnot, so at the end of each chapter, I'll have a little "military notes" section which will provide some explanations. 

A little bit about me--I used to be an author on Winglin, under a lot of different pen names. I took a break and when I came back to WInglin, the website seemed completely inactive, so I decided to start writing here. This will be my first fanfic here on AsianFanfics, so I'm still trying to get used to the format of this website. For one thing, as I'm typing this, the spacing between paragraphs is really getting on my nerves. Is there a way to get rid of the automatic space in between paragraphs? I don't know; I'll figure it out someday.

Thanks for dropping by and hopefully, you'll stick around for this fic!

[military notes]

From biggest to smallest: field army, corps, division, regiment, battalion, company, platoon, squad, fireteam.

The 707th Special Mission Battalion (code name WHITE TIGER) has a little less than 1000 soldiers. It's a rather unknown battalion that specializes in secret missions for the government. SHINHWA Company is one of the companies underneath WHITE TIGER.

As for the ranks, starting with the higher position: a general commands the field army; lieutenant general (corps); major general (division); lieutenant general (regiment, battalion); captain (company); platoon leader; squad leader.

Companies usually have about 100-200 soldiers, and then are broken into platoons or squads of 20-50 soldiers. However, SHINHWA Company is part of a Special Mission Battalion. SM battalions don't really follow the norm.