Give him a pair of dry socks and he will be your friend for life. Things really got down to basics for us. An example comes to mind that only someone has been there would probably understand. One day after a trying operation, I stopped back at the Admin Company bar. SGT Garvin was gone and I did not recognize the bartender.
Morale can be extremely fragile and is affected by the most trivial matters.
Soon after I took over Alpha Company noticed that the iced tea in our mess hall was served presweetened. I told the mess sergeant to serve the tea unsweetened and to have sugar available for the troops to sweeten it to taste. The whole idea made sense to me. The next day the mess sergeant told me that the men were very unhappy about my decision. I asked a few soldiers what they preferred and why it mattered whether they or the mess hall personnel put the sugar in.