08/14/2023
This is Captain Lewis Nixon of Easy Company, the morning after celebrating V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day) in 1945. You can see that he is terribly hungover.
In Berchtesgaden (southeastern Germany), Nixon had first dibs on an extensive wine collection that was assembled by Hermann Göring, a veteran World War I fighter pilot ace and one of the most powerful figures in the N**i Party. The booze you see in the photo was stolen by the N**is from wineries across France and other European occupied territories.
Throughout his service in World War II, Nixon never fired a single shot in combat, even though he experienced intense fighting on the front lines. Nixon was best remembered for always having whisky on him, and in particular for his love for the blended scotch whisky called Vat 69.
This is what Dick Winters, commander of Easy Company, had to say about Nixon: "Captain Lewis Nixon and I were together every step of the way from D-Day to Berchtesgaden, May 8, 1945, VE-Day. I still regard Lewis Nixon as the best combat officer who I had the opportunity to work with under fire. He never showed fear, and during the toughest times, he could always think clearly and quickly. Very few men can remain poised under an artillery concentration. Nixon was one of those officers. He always trusted me, from the time we met at Officer Candidate School. While we were in training before we shipped overseas, Nixon hid his entire inventory of Vat 69 in my footlocker, under the tray holding my socks, underwear, and sweaters. What greater trust, what greater honor could I ask for than to be trusted with his precious inventory of Vat 69?"
The drink was also a favorite of Sir Ernest Shackleton who decided to take it with him on his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914 "for medicinal and celebratory purposes"
It took archaeologists and researchers 107 years to locate the wreck of Endurance, Shackleton's ship that sank in the Antarctic.
