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Originally Posted by Ocala Mike

Gotta wonder if he was flashing back to Pete Seeger's anti-war song that Pete sang on the Smothers Brothers tv show during the height of the Viet Nam war.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXnJVkEX8O4

• A platoon is not commanded by a captain. It is commanded by a 2nd lieutenant.
• If the platoon leader is taking the point then the second in command, the sergeant, should be in the rear. This is to keep them both from being taken out by the same shot, or the same artillery, or the same land mine. In this story they would have to be shouting at each other.
• The platoon leader should have had a map of the area. But maybe these were in short supply in 1942. Lacking a map the platoon leader should have been briefed on the geography of the area.
• You do not send an entire unit into a natural obstacle like a river. A single man, possibly two, should first have been sent across alone to assess the situation.