They Did It without Complaining
The advance up the Italian peninsula was slow and grueling. Moving forward in the valleys was impossible as long as the enemy held the hills and mountains. Therefore, many battles raged at elevations above 4,000 feet, where winter conditions made the soldier’s lives almost unbearable. Keeping these men supplied with the basic necessities for staying alive and fighting was a nightmare in itself. Reminiscent of wars gone by, pack mules and horses were used to move supplies where vehicles couldn’t go. Even then, there was a point where the animals could climb no farther, and soldiers had to do the rest. On a typical night, a battalion fighting in the mountains needed eighty-five cans of water, one hundred cases of K rations, ten miles of telephone wire, twenty-five cases of ammunition, one hundred heavy mortar rounds, four cases of first-aid supplies, bags of mail, and countless other items.232
All this logistic activity took place at night, since most of it was under enemy observation and artillery fire. Guides were necessary along the route to keep the supply trains from getting lost in the dark. This duty fell, of necessity, on the combat soldiers. The men who shouldered this thankless task were an inspiration to one reporter:
Sickness and exhaustion overtook many… so they were sent back down the mountain under their own power to report to the medics there and then go to a rest camp. It took most of them the better part of a day to get two-thirds of the way down, so sore were their feet and so weary their muscles. And then when actually in sight of their haven of rest and peace they were stopped and pressed into guide service, because there just wasn’t anybody else to do it. So they stayed on the mountain-side for at least three additional days and nights… just lying miserably alongside the trail, shouting in the darkness to guide the mules. They had no blankets to keep them warm, no beds but the rocks. And they did it without complaining. The human spirit is an astounding thing.233
When they hurled insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.
—1 Peter 2:23