99 Infantry Battalion (Separate) (USA) billeted in the vicinity of Henri Chapelle day 24

The 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate) was billeted in the vicinity of Henri Chapelle, Belgium, from the first through the 25th of November, 1944. During this period a training program was set up which included firing weapons, conditioning marches, and training films. This time, due to inclement weather, the men were quartered in farm-houses and barns; steady rain, high winds and the cold made it far from pleasant. Eating outdoors, most of the time the meal resolved itself into a race to eat the food before it was blown out of the mess-kits. Deep mud and manure furnished and interesting mixture for the men to plod through whenever they left the smelly, damp confines in which they were housed. At night the men huddled about the few stoves in the area and vainly tried to dry their shoes or warm themselves in the fire's feeble glow. A few lucky men were allotted passes to Liege or Paris but the quota was small. All in all it was definitely "nothing to write home about".