They'd watched a 13-point lead dissolve into a two-point deficit in the span of just one quarter, and the Indiana Pacers, full of momentum and already up by one game in the playoff series, seemed to have the home team right where they wanted it for a second straight victory.
Few senior officers had the capacity to give their troops a laugh, and the single feature that made tolerable my vision of D Day, if there was such a feature, was that Happy Halloran would be the one to lead me into the jaws of death.