Sometimes we do stuff in the Army that just doesn’t make sense at the company level.
That’s exactly what we had here.
However, this is one of the differences with the military during WWII that always blew my mind.
So I knew when I had two weeks left and knew not to do anything stupid to get hurt.
All these men had in Easy Company was their gut.
Because you knew where you were going and could gauge time.
Mentally, you could prepare yourself for those two hours listening to your wife’s horrible taste in music.
Not to mention, the toll it must’ve taken on the men to survive Bastogne.
This is a very real consideration when planning covert missions in the military.
Showers
What is the longest you’ve ever gone without a shower?
I went 6 months in Iraq without running water and a shower.
You’d get wet.
Turn the spout off.
Then use the remaining water to wash off the soap.
The water was cold and it was cold outside so this was a miserable experience overall.
Ripping darts
It seems like nearly everyone smoked cigs during WW2.
Smoking cigs in the military, especially while deployed, is something that endured over time.
People who don’t smoke at home will smoke while deployed for any number of reasons.
Bored, coffee alone isn’t working, stress, bonding.
I never smoked cigs but I always had my cigars.
I assure you, I was not special.
The West Point of it all
This episode we meet Lieutenant Jones who is a West Point grad.
You hear the men say, “Isn’t that where Ike went” referring to General Eisenhower.
- LT Jones is largely squared away from an appearance standpoint.
Relax, LT Jones.
Before the mission we see LT Jones remove his ring and place it on his necklace for safe keeping.
Fun fact: the tradition of school rings started at West Point in the 1830s.
Go ahead and google that if you don’t believe me.
It is part of the reason we hold the tradition in such high regard to this day.
We dedicate an entire weekend to receiving them.
However, most folks don’t wear them in combat now; I know I didn’t.
I left mine at home.
But it was prevalent for grads to wear them during WW2.
- Being a 2nd Lieutenant largely stinks.
At least as a First Lieutenant, Soldiers don’t think you’re a newb.
Disobeying a direct order and lying would easily get you relieved of command and possibly busted down in rank.
He weighed all of that and still went ahead with his plan to cancel the mission for the men.
Yet another example of why Winters was a leader that anyone should want to emulate.
