Band of Brothers

Easy Company arrived at Camp Mourmelon, a historic French garrison town, on November 26. The men transitioned to garrison duty by cleaning themselves up on the first day, drilling on the second day, and practicing retreat formation the next day. On December 1 the men of the 101st and of the 82d Airborne got passes to the nearby town of Reims, but the passes were withdrawn after the men began brawling in town. Several days later the men received their pay, and several of them promptly gambled it away. The men then began working on the barracks and thinking about their Paris passes, which were handed out by companies or individually to some officers.

Most men assumed they be would be staying in the camp until spring. Meanwhile, new recruits and veterans who had recuperated from wounds were integrated into the company. The replacements from the United States were young and terrified by the intimidating appearance of the veterans, who “could not take field maneuvers seriously” (168), making it difficult to integrate the replacements.

The company was up to 65% strength by the second week of December and had more than the needed complement of officers, the latter implying that the commanders “expected the casualties in the next action” to be “highest among the junior officer ranks” (168).