Donnie then watches as Malarkey and Compton say an awkward farewell. He repeats that Buck was forever changed that day, as we see him stoically salute Malarkey and hop atop a Jeep, riding off into the sunset. But not, fortunately, out of the opening credits, so we'll all still get our fix of strapping Buck.

And now, after all that, Donnie decides to note the obvious. "The barrages on Jan. 3 and the shelling on the ninth marked a low point in the war for many of the men in Easy," he understates. But he's got more than just no-shit-Sherlock details for us. "Few actually broke, but I knew the terror of those shellings and the unrelenting pressure we'd been under since we got to Bastogne would take a toll in many ways," he continues. "I was afraid men would lose focus, suffer a drop in morale, and that was dangerous, especially in combat...More of which lay in store for us." More combat? This is still going? Are we there yet? How much further? Mom, Julie just made a face at me! Lordy, this is the Shellacking That Wouldn't End. Someone other than Hoobler's trousers needs to fire a gun.

Donnie repeats again that they've cleared the woods on either side of Foy, but the Foy-a-thon was still imminent, and he dreaded it with every fiber of his being. The week's carnage and casualties belted home the reality not only that some men who ran Currahee together would die, but that all of them might. So, in sum, there is death all around. Thanks, big D. Blessed Perconte and Randleman are still kicking, as is my undead Liebgott, survivor of the weapon that is this Compaq keyboard. Donnie frets to us that Easy will be diving into combat again without a proper leader.