Beer in Battle

[3 Dawg Night]

The idea for this came from a conversation between myself and @KBW PilotHouse. I enjoy learning about military history, and I enjoy learning about beer history, so why not join the two! The intent of this thread is a discussion of cool stories of beer and the military. It could be a story/legend from military history, or it could be an interesting story from your own time in the military.

I nominate @KBW PilotHouse to lead us off with a story he alluded to in our conversation; it's the story of a guy from the 101st ABN who brought beer back to his wounded buddy in the Siege of Bastogne in World War II.

 

[user 298779]

I will DEFINITELY look that up again. It was in a documentary with live footage then the man was interviewed on camera. The have drinking helmets in Belgium in his honor. This stuff is so cool, especially given the hell these people were living through.

 

[user 298779]

Vincent Speranza. He’s no doubt a character! A GI drinking helmet mug(?) was created in his honor and is still used today. And ”Ranger Beer” was created!

https://warontherocks.com/2015/07/beer-at-the-battle-of-the-bulge-2/


Cheers

KBW.

 

[user 298779]

Almost forgot- thanks for creating the thread 3 Dawg!

 

[MaxStout]

I don't have any interesting military/beer stories of my own, though I had downed more than my share of beers in glass boots (Bierstiefel) while stationed in West Germany in the Army.

The story I remember hearing re the origin of the boot glasses was that a 19th century German general promised to drink beer from one of his boots if his troops won a certain battle. According to the legend, the troops were victorious and the general held up his end of the bargain and drank from the boot.

 

[user 298779]

That’s a good story MaxStout. And it’s just the kind of thing that woulda happened at the time. Can’t imagine how disgusting the jack boots were after being on your feet all day...

Hey why don’t we come up with our own tribute beers? Like a Jackboot Bock...

 

[3 Dawg Night]

So, I'll key off that story with one of my own. Not really a beer in battle, but a beer about a battle? I currently have on tap a Belgian Pale Ale. I decided to name it "Screaming Eagle" in honor of the 101st:

One of my favorite stories about the 101st is another that happened during the Siege of Bastogne. The commander of the German forces in the battle sent a message to the commander of the US forces, Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe. The German commander's message was a full typed page detailing the current situation of the battle (i.e., that the American forces were surrounded by German armor and artillery) and demanded the surrender of the American forces. BG McAuliffe's response is included below in its entirety:

December 22, 1944

To the German Commander,

NUTS!

The American Commander