"Death of a Cigarette" is a historical fiction novella that explores World War II, D-Day, memory, survival and the silence many veterans carried home after war. Written by Timothy Webber, a service-connected disabled U.S. Navy veteran and independent Texas author, the story approaches one of history’s most defining moments from an unusual perspective: a single unlit Lucky Strike cigarette carried by an American soldier from Omaha Beach through the end of the war.

Blending historical realism with symbolic literary fiction, the novella follows “Chance,” the last remaining cigarette in a pack shared among soldiers during the Normandy invasion. Through Chance’s narration, the story examines courage, friendship, trauma, loss, and the small personal objects that become witnesses to history. While fictional, the novella incorporates real historical settings and details, including the Stars and Stripes National Museum in Bloomfield, Mo., the D-Day landings at Omaha Beach, field rations, landing craft, and the emotional aftermath veterans often struggled to explain once they returned home.

At its core, the novella is about remembrance. It reflects on how veterans carried experiences that families and later generations often inherited only through silence, fragments and memory. The story also explores how ordinary objects can become sacred symbols of survival and legacy.

"Death of a Cigarette" was recognized as an Indie Texas selection and also received recognition through the International Impact Book Awards. The novella speaks not only to readers interested in WWII history and military fiction, but also to veterans, military families and anyone interested in the emotional legacy left behind by war.

With the June 6 D-Day anniversary approaching, the story serves as both a literary reflection and a tribute to the men who landed on Omaha Beach, the families who carried their memories forward and the generations still learning how to understand their silence.