“Men slept on their rifles to keep them from freezing. On bitter mornings they urinated down the barrels of automatic weapons to thaw them out. After fording streams, the wheels of Jeeps froze solid in a few minutes; GI’s loosened them with blow torches in one hand and a fire extinguisher in the other. Wet zippers on hooded, blanket-lined sleeping bags froze tight so that the men could not slip out of them quickly when attacked. Some Yanks cut holes in their sleeping bags, wearing them underneath their overcoats and knee-length snow capes while sleeping and fighting.”
