re: Rewatching Band of Brothers today

I did the same last night, watched the first 3 episodes. Makes me miss my paw paw, as he was also in Battle of the Bulge. He never told any of his stories until one day my cousin talked him into doing an interview on camera. It's amazing what those guys went through. It truly gives you a feeling of pride and respect for the men that fought and died for us all.

Man, I binged almost the entire thing yesterday.

Their first jump during the invasion at night with the planes and anti-aircraft artillary is one of the most intense scenes I've ever seen in a movie or TV.

You're sitting on a couch at home scared shiteless.

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I watch BoB every Memorial Weekend. My dad was a paratrooper in WWII. He was in the 508 PIR not 506 like BoB.

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My great Uncle was a Marine in Okinawa, so I watch the Pacific too. And then when the war ended he was stationed in Shanghai for 5 years to help rebuild that country.

I also have a great Uncle on my Mom's side who served in Africa under Rommel. My grandparents and extended family were displaced persons from Croatia and first got shipped to Poland in a camp and then to army barracks in Austria.

And in Austria, every living boy got conscripted into the Army. A great Uncle was little more than a teenager and got captured in North Africa and was shipped to Texas as a POW. He said it was the greatest time in his life as they got to go to town and pick up girls...and it got him out of the war. He was shipped back to Austria after the war and lived to be 90.

So sort of odd, that I have relatives on each side...my mother was a child during the war living in Europe and my great Uncle on my Dad's side was fighting in Okinawa.

FWIW, historians are very critical of the book to the point they do not see it as an accurate representation.

I've read all of the biographies and autobiographies about Easy company I could find and the biggest complaint that they have is the Webster was kind of a douchebag that no one liked and his autobiography was very inaccurate. The stories of all of the other members of Easy are all consistent. Winters said before his death that he felt Sobel was not as incompetent as portrayed in BoB.

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A person I’d be humbled to meet IRL

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Dick Winters died in 2011 at the age of 92. He was one tough SOB. You should check out his book, it is a great guide on leadership.

great story

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Webster was kind of a douchebag

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The line “Say hello to Ford and General fricking Motors” was his only redeeming quality.

One of my favorite scenes is the conversation between Spiers and Lipton in the church after Foy.... LINK

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FWIW, historians are very critical of the book to the point they do not see it as an accurate representation.

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It’s pretty well documented that Ambrose relied too much on David websters memoirs. But damn the miniseries and book are based on the SOLDIERS remembrances. Not empirical data. That’s kind of the whole point. I mean it interviews the actual huge penis swinging heroes who were in those fricking foxholes in the Ardennes. Yes some people were unfairly portrayed, but even winters doesn’t really dispute much in his book. He just kind of sets the record straight on people he thought were characterized unfairly, sobel being one. Essentially though he says it happened the way it was shown. Sobel ran their asses into the ground up and down Currahee to the point the noncoms did revolt, Winters led that attack at brecourt manor, Winters did run up behind that line of Nazis. Speirs did run thru nazi held Foy to link up with another group and then ran back. Winters did fake scouting trips at the end of the war so as not to put his men in harms way.
There is not a lot to be pissed about from an historical point of view. Did they get a battalion number wrong? Yeah but it wasn’t meant to be 100% accurate. Memories aren’t and that’s what this was about.

Btw the part that always gets me is when malarkey comes back to the cleaner lady and gets his clothes then she starts handing him the bundles for all his friends that weren’t coming back and he can’t tell her and he just pays for them all!


Btw Eugene Roe the Louisianan medic feautured during the battle of the bulge episode came back from the war and had a construction company off Choctaw. A hero among us and we didn’t even know.