 Screenwriter Robert Pirosh (qv) based this story on his  experiences as an infantryman during the Battle of the Bulge. Pirosh  did not serve with the 101st Airborne and wanted to create a script  that was faithful to their experiences. He used his fist hand  knowledge of the battle of write the script. This was done with the  blessing of General McAuliffe, who was commanding the 101st during  Bastogne. Consequently many of the incidents in the film 