re: Just starting Band of Brothers

Just returned from trip to Normandy. Took this pic inside the museum at Utah Beach. The little card on the left lists the men from Easy who signed the book.

quote:

---

My favorite interesting sidenote, Eugene Roe came home, started a construction company off of Choctaw right here in BR and ran it for 40 years practically unknown for what he gave to our country. he died before the show came out.

---

Man. Imagine the number of people that knew him but never knew his story. Probably watched that or read the book and thought "Wtf Eugene was an American hero?"

The show came out after he passed but the book was some years before, I'm sure he got a little recognition. Hopefully so, but all of these guys seemed like they couldn't care less about that.

Sorry bud. Never had that problem. Band of Brothers is a GOAT series. I watch the series once or twice every year. CLASSIC.

My favorite interesting sidenote, Eugene Roe came home, started a construction company off of Choctaw right here in BR and ran it for 40 years practically unknown for what he gave to our country. he died before the show came out.


Man. Imagine the number of people that knew him but never knew his story. Probably watched that or read the book and thought "Wtf Eugene was an American hero?"

The show came out after he passed but the book was some years before, I'm sure he got a little recognition. Hopefully so, but all of these guys seemed like they couldn't care less about that.

I graduated HS with Doc Roe's grandson. He wrote a couple books about Easy and is doing his alot to keep all of those hero's actions remembered.

quote:

---

Almost all of the actors except for David Schwimmer were unknown, many of them british actors because they filmed a lot of it in England

---

Was watching Wolf Hall on PBS and couldn’t quite figure out how I knew the actor playing Henry VIII. He was Damian Lewis, a British actor who also played … Dick Winters on BOB. I couldn’t believe it.

Steven walked into a gold mine when he was let go at his last University and moved to New Orleans.

The 506th held their reunions in New Orleans for years on end and many of the men of the unit were on WWL radio all the time, mainly the Priest. I used to listen to them talk on the radio driving to New Orleans between 1981-1986.

The Priest was writing a book on the unit, he is the battalion Priest from New Orleans.

Steve just lucked out and it is Dick Winters that picked who would write the book.

The show and book are totally focused on 2nd platoon of easy company of the 506th battalion.

The role of the first platoon is cut back and the 3rd platoon is like doing a disappearing act.

You can find the letters of these men writing Steve and getting on to him, but the driving force is Winters.

The show makes out that Dike froze in the attack on Foy, he did not he was wounded in the right shoulder, this is when Spears takes over the company.


The show makes it seem Sobel did not jump on D-day, he did and lead an attack taking out a German machine gun position.

Winters when confronted about misquotes and mistakes would stop talking.

Sobel in the end outranked Winters, which may have played a major part on why he did not want to be called up for the Korean War.

The Sobel -Winters battle has more to it than the show or book tell. The sgt revolt was likely planned higher up and the spot light is on Sink being behind it.

Winters was not a fan of Sink and mainly Maxwell D. Taylor who he felt did not give the medals out to the men as he should have during his time in command.
.

quote:

---

There are several members of E Company that did not like Sobel's portrayal at all and disagreed with it entirely

---

Where can I read or watch these?

From everything I’ve seen and read, including the OG Ambrose book, Sobel was universally disliked. And the show didn’t even mention that he attempted to court marshal Winters not once, but TWICE! So there’s documentation of him being a complete arse to the point where all of the non-coms quit weeks before the start of war. You can’t tell me that he was given too harsh of a treatment in that show, especially when clips are played of the men saying they don’t become who they are without him. And even Nicks says he’s a genius. They were very fair to him.

I've never watched BOB. Starting my first episode today because of this thread.

quote:

---

Exactly. The Pacific, if anything, held back from some of the truly horrific stuff that actually happened. I believe it was Sledge's book, but he described instances of cannibalism of the American casualties by the Japanese.

---

I wouldn't doubt this at all. As bad as the experience of American servicemen in the Pacific theater was, that of your average Japanese soldier had to be far, far worse. Towards the end of the war the Japanese high command was sending men to garrison islands in the path of the advancing US and effectively telling them, "The Americans are coming and we cannot stop them. You will receive no reinforcements, supplies, or support of any kind. There will be no attempts made to rescue you. If you surrender or allow yourself to be taken prisoner it will bring horrible shame on your family. You will die in defense of this island. Your only objective is to hold out for as long as you can." Considering there were Japanese soldiers holding out and refusing to surrender still being discovered years after the war had ended, they took that order seriously.