Gilda, are you decent?
Gilda | 1946 | dir. Charles Vidor
Gilda (1946)
We spent our night in Rachamps in a convent. It was the first
time we’d spent a night indoors in a month. The sisters brought in
their choir to sing for us. It was heaven. The mood of the men was
relaxed. We were finally being relieved and would soon be in Mourmelon.
In the morning, we found out Mourmelon would wait. Hitler had launched a
counteroffensive. We were bound for Hagenau to hold the line. But for
that night, we didn’t know it yet. That night, we were okay. I tried to
make a roster for the company to see who we had left. We’d come into
Belgium with 121 men and officers plus 24 replacements. That’s 145
total. We were going out with 63. Guarnere was badly wounded, and
Hoobler died accidentally. Joe Toye had lost his leg. Among the dead
were Herron, Mellet, Sowosko, Kenneth Webb, Harold Webb, Alex Penkala
and Skip Muck. A month in Belgium cost us one good officer, Buck
Compton… and one bad one, Norman Dike.
Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die,
Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die,
Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die,
He ain’t gonna jump no more!
Equipment carried into Holland by David Webster of Easy Company, 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. Part of the Band of Brothers
Richard Winters, Lewis Nixon and other 101st Airborne troops celebrating V-E day in Berchtesgaden, May, 1945.
Ronald Speirs: You know why you hid in that ditch, Blithe? [I was scared.] We were all scared. You hid in that ditch because you think there’s still hope. But, Blithe… the only hope you have is to accept the fact that you’re already dead. And the sooner you accept that, the sooner you’ll be able to function as a soldier’s supposed to function. Without mercy. Without compassion. Without remorse. All war depends upon it. / +
