Have I gotten into the Christmas eggnog too heavily and too early? The title of this piece might well make you think so. But no, I’m completely sober as I write these words. I have scant use for Jimmy Fallon as a talk show host, or as a comedian, and I rarely even think of him as an actor — I rarely even think of him at all.

Then into their midst, a jeep pulls up, laden with ammunition of every sort, driven by George Rice.
But there’s one shining moment in Jimmy Fallon’s body of work, one worth noting less for his acting job and more for the real-life hero he portrays. In the “Crossroads” episode of the epic war series Band of Brothers, Fallon portrays, touchingly, 2nd Lieutenant George C. Rice, the battalion S-4, or supply officer of the 20th Armored Infantry Battalion of the 10th Armored Division. As we mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, it’s worth taking a moment to reflect upon the understated heroism of George Rice and how it reminds us of countless other anonymous heroes of the greatest battle in the history of the U.S. Army.
Second Lieutenants are famously disregarded, and those who become supply officers are rarely chosen with heroism in mind. When the Germans launched their massive Ardennes offensive on December 16, 1944, 17 divisions spearheaded by some of the best tank divisions in the German army, many of them fanatical SS troopers, were met by only four American divisions, two totally inexperienced newcomers to the war, and two rebuilding after having been virtually destroyed in the Hurtgen Forest. Catastrophe loomed as American generals frantically cast their eyes across the entire front to find divisions that could quickly respond.
One such division was the 10th Armored, itself a relative newcomer to combat, having had only a few weeks of combat experience in the latter days of the just-concluded Lorraine campaign. But it was only about 100 miles to the south of the German breakthrough and was immediately turned north to help shore ...