by Hoorf » Mon Dec 31, 2018 12:16 am
Hope you guys have had and are having a great Holiday Season. Wanted to celebrate Hanukkah but I lost my dreidel and menorah, so Christmas it was. Plus a little bit of Festivus, and...
...and my own holiday on the 20th, Hinkeltag. That is the day in 1944, during The Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne, when Easy Company members "Babe" Heffron and Ralph Spina, patrolling in the snow & fog, fell into a covered German foxhole and the German in it began calling out "Hinkel? Hinkel, ist du?"; Heffron & Spina escaped running, albeit with bolt-action Mauser bullets chasing them. That day and from then on at random times, the Easy Company members harassed each other while taking Hinkel's name in vain. These days, we who observe Hinkeltag celebrate with lemon-powder snow-cones, cold white beans and cold cornmeal fritters, then later we sing "Stille Nacht" (German version of "Silent Night"). And, on occasion throughout the day, we randomly harass each other with the immortal words of the late, great Donald Malarkey: "Hey, Hinkel-Vinkel, eat ze armpit, huh?"
The final cap is ending the day with a midnight Apfelstrudel fest with warm schnapps...and toasting the remaining 5 survivors of Easy Company. 5 years ago, it was 18 members; four enlisted remain:
* Mampre, Albert L.
* Matz, Leo J.
* Strohl, Roderick G.
* Wingett, William T.
And one officer: Shames, Edward D.
Anyway, have a good New Year, y'all, we're almost there!