One of the most precious resources in war, and the one most often in short supply, is sleep. Physical exhaustion, combined with the strain of combat, wears even the most young, physically fit men down. Advancing or retreating, bivouacked on the front lines or a bit to the rear, sleep, with all its recuperative qualities, is scarce.
During World War II, enemy snipers, artillery barrages, and the occasional “Bed Check Charlie,” single enemy aircraft which dropped bombs or buzzed the rear areas at night just to prevent soldiers from sleeping, kept adrenaline pumping and nerves on edge. American soldiers in Europe, however, improvised, using any flat surface as a bed and even learning to sleep standing up or snooze lightly while marching.
GIs learned the term “Hurry up and wait!” and made the most of it. Even before shipping out, soldiers learned the value of rest. During winter maneuvers in North Carolina, Lieutenant Van Mayhall could not find a place to bed down, so he reclined under a tree during a light rain, thinking, “I am sure my mother would have thought we would catch all sorts of colds, flu and pneumonia.”
During the fighting inland from the Normandy beaches, soldiers of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division, who fought for three days without proper food or sleep, suffered periods in which they would blank out, later unable to remember parts of the battles around Carentan.