— Dick Winters, Beyond Band of Brothers (via thedenofcaseywolfe) —

What little enjoyment I had resulted from my daily contact with Nixon and the members of the battalion staff.  Now operating as a battalion operations officer (S-3), Captain Nixon had always been a hard man to wake up.  On one morning, I needed to get an early start to visit one of the companies, so I sent a runner to wake up Nixon.  Nixon, as usual, could not be talked into getting out of his sleeping bag, so I personally went to his darkened room.  The shutters were closed and without ceremony, I grabbed his feet while he was still in his sleeping bag and threw them over my shoulder.  I asked him, “Are you going to get up?”
“Go away, let me alone,” he mumbled.
I looked over at the bureau and saw the water pitcher was half full.  Still holding his feet over my shoulder, I grabbed the pitcher and threatened again.  "Are you going to get up?“
Again he yelled, “Go away.”
So I said, “I am going to let you have it!” and with that I started the pouring motion.
At that instant, Nixon opened his eyes and started to holler, “No!  No!”
It was already too late.  The contents were on the way, and with his, “No!  No!” I realized the content of the pitcher was piss and not water.
Nixon came sputtering and laughing from his sleeping bag in a hurry.  We both agreed that we better alter our plans and visit those showers we had been hearing about in Nijmegen.

—

Major Dick “How Did I Get Saddled With All These Alcoholics” Winters

jesus fucking christ, harry.

(via bal-lantine)

—

Both cognac and Calvados lay in abundance in every Norman village and farm. Lieutenant Harry Welsh had found a barrel of cognac, and I was convinced that he attempted to drink it all by himself. On one occasion he passed out in the middle of a road and there he was, lying on his reserve parachute, propped up in full view of the enemy. The Germans began zeroing in on Welsh and I had to get out there and grab him and pull him off the road. My God, he was lucky. There were times when I talked to Harry and I realized later that he hadn’t heard a word that I had said – and it was not because his hearing was bad.

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