Independence Day in the Austrian Alps
On July 4, 1945, the 101st Airborne was stationed in Zell am See, Austria, enjoying its first peacetime summer.
Colonel Sink planned a big Independence Day celebration, but rain washed out the fourth and fifth.
When the sun finally broke through on the sixth, the men threw a party they nicknamed "Sink on the Sixth," complete with gliders over the lake and a C-47 dropping twelve paratroopers into the water for fun.
One thing that becomes clear when you visit Zell am See is how much the setting itself explains the mood that summer. The lake, the mountains, the resort-town calm — it's easy to see why men who had just fought through Normandy and Bastogne treated this place like a reward.
Standing on the same lakeshore today, you can picture them finally exhaling.
If you want to explore the Easy Company trip for yourself, start here: www.BergsAndBurgs.com