Band of Brothers

pp. 248 - 250

E Company moved west into western Germany, and found its towns delightful, with flower boxes outside clean windows, and admirable German citizens. “Wonder of wonders,” GIs really liked the Germans. They were “clean, hard-working, disciplined, educated, middle-class in their tastes and lifestyles. . . the only people in the world who regarded a flush toilet and soft white toilet paper as a necessity were the Germans and the Americans.” GIs concluded that the Germans were “just like us.” Americans commandeered German houses as billets. They did steal souvenirs, but they did not burn or trash German homes. They returned them basically intact.