[rpierce]

My neighbor, who passed away recently, was an infantry grunt kid in WWII European Theater.

One of the many heartbreaking stories he told was of a couple brand new LTs who showed up to his unit fresh out of West Point/OCS and were to lead an evening patrol. When queried about the area terrain and directions they couldn't even point out which way was north. When my neighbor politely suggested they let one of the experienced men navigate for the patrol while they observed, they arrogantly refused.

They led the patrol, got lost and led the company into a german stronghold. They and over 100 of their men perished that night. It still greatly disturbed my neighbor, 70+ years later.

(I'm not much into military history, but if any Freepers have ever heard of such an instance, I'd love to hear the details. My neighbor wouldn't speak much about the details and I didn't press too hard.)

[2CAVTrooper]

It sounds more like battle of the bulge.

Malmedy, Baugnez crossroads, Ligneuville, Stavelot, just to name a few.