Watching *BAND OF BROTHERS* For the First Time! (Episode 3-4)
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- Опубликовано: 9 июл 2024
- This is our First Time Watching Reaction to the Band of Brothers (2001) Episodes 3 "Carentan" and 4 "Replacements". Easy Company sustains casualties while waging battle in Normandy; Pvt. Blithe has trouble adjusting to combat; the company returns to England. A fresh group of paratroopers join Easy Co shortly before they drop into German-occupied Holland. The company are forced to retreat when met by a superior force, and the Allied plan to enter Germany through Holland before Christmas falls.
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well, michael fassbender is also in this... you didnt notice him in the first episode
@@tahnadana5435 Yep, he was the one who had to repeat all 12 miles of the march for drinking from his canteen.
Reaction 3 decade of srk
Cool fact, there was one mistake that the show made, and they admitted later. In the end, they say that Blythe died, but it was incorrect. Blythe lives, and no one heard from him for years after the war; that's why it was believed he was dead.
Blithes family actually reached out when this episode premiered to say that they had gotten it wrong. Blithe did indeed survive his wounds. The showrunners did in fact apologize and manage to communicate that to his family. But odd how there was not a correction or revision done to the end of Episode 3.
Not only that, but according to Winters he served in Korea and was awarded for bravery.
The episodes were written from the direct memoirs of Steven Ambrose and interviewing the men of EZ company. They were the primary source. By all accounts, Blithe did die from his wounds. You have to remember this was in the 40s. The telephone, television, and radio were new technologies. The Interstate highway system would not even exist for another decade. There was very little you could do to reach out to people, or reconnect with old friends. Everyone thought Blithe was dead for 50 years until he randomly showed up to a military reunion in 1996. This miniseries went out of its way to get things right, and used nothing but primary sources of information. That being said, even firsthand accounts can be wrong. (The other huge inaccuracy is Lt. Dyke, who got a complete hatchet job in episodes 6-7. Again the result of primary sources and witness testimony being sometimes unreliable)
@@saltwatertaffybag he died in 1967 he went to the first annual reunion of the first airborne they just forgot or he was quiet and left early
@@saltwatertaffybag Lt. Dyke deserved much of the criticism he got from the men of Easy, but not all of it. He was a flawed man, but not the coward he is portrayed as. During the attack on Foy he got shot in the right shoulder and was panicking because of the wound until he was evacuated by medics and Spears took command. And during the war he received 2 bronze stars for acts of valor. The first one in Holland on September 23 1944 for organizing and leading scattered paratroopers in defending an important road junction on the supply route against superior and repeated attacks while completely surrounded. And the second at Bastogne on January 3 1945 for personally removing from an exposed position, in full enemy view, 3 wounded members of his company, while under intense small arm fire.
Someone had to say it
FUN FACT: The Father/Priest that was walking around checking the bodies was actor Doug Cockle, who voices Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher games.
I’m sure someone else has already answered this, but orange is the color of the Dutch royal family, so it’s basically their national color. Many Dutch sports colors are usually orange. But essentially the orange blanket in the window was like a “we’re on your side, thanks for coming to liberate us” sign
im dutch. orange is the main colour of our traitor royals who broke constitutional laws. since under no circumstenes were they were allowed to leave the country. secondly: they were were heavily involved with the nazi's prior 1940. infact one of the biggest bastards was prince bernard who WAS a SS-member. the hubbie of our former queen beatrix served IN the german army! queen wilhelmina even wrote letters to hitler,on their boat they had a swastika flag. so no those pricks arent innocent and should be shot for treason.as for our english,i dunno back in the days,but present day we rank 1 as in nation who speaks the best english as second lingo. also our royals are NOT from orange-nassau,its simpley NOT possible since that bloodline died out back in 1890. anyone after that is most definetly NOT from orange nassau
No one shot the family. Dont know why so many reactors come to this conclusion. The Allies invaded France to liberate it, not to kill French civillians. I mean sure some where killed accidentally but no one was coming across them and murdering them.
The way the show cuts to the next scene doesn’t help the issue to be fair.
Luz and Hoobler were just in shock cause if they had fragged the room they would have killed those civilians
@@jamesa4793 True. In reality, it was Malarkey who was going to throw the grenade but he heard a voice tell him to not do it. When he opened the door, he saw the family. Saved him from terrible grief.
Nah, americans set up concetration camps in europe after "liberating" it. They were killing everything that moved because to them everybody who's not american was either a nazi or a commie.
The way "Winters" handles "Blythe's" hysterical blindness is text book. I wish it were actually IN the training manuals in ALL the academies and candidate schools, but it's just being a good human being and recognizing when one of your men needs guidance with either leadership or medical assistance. "Look after your troops."
Fun fact: The amount of pyrotechnics and ammo used in the filming of episode 2 and 3 combined was the same amount they used in the filming of Saving Private Ryan. This series used a whole lot more.
At 13:30, the officer that you call "crazy" -- the guy with the reputation of executing prisoners, capturing enemy soldiers all by himself, and who tells Blithe that war is about learning to kill without feeling or remorse -- is Lieutenant Ronald Spiers. Remember him, he has his moment coming in a later episode.
Nicknamed "Sparky." Perfect. 😏
the only other thing I've seen the actor in is I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, were they making a reference to that?
@@MaxStone289 The Chicks should know Matthew Settle from 'Gossip Girl'.
They need to watch the actual documentary for bob where they go into more detail on the stories told.
He did kill thr germans, told them they could tell it that way. they choose to leave it ambiguous.
Soldiers did get drafted (I think), but the paratroopers are volunteered because that job was particularly dangerous.
Blythe actually ended up in another hospital and didn't contact anyone, but later he volunteered again to fight in Korea where he did get a bunch of medals.
Yes, there was a draft back then. But it sure didn't seem like it, seeing how there were far fewer documented instances of resistance to it than, say, the Vietnam War. Different times, different mindset.
soldiers were drafted
@BLUE BIRD32 not all soldiers in WWII were drafted. Many many of them volunteered after Pearl Harbor. They literally talk about it in thr very beginning interviews of this series.
@@m_v__m_v Yes I know, I was merely pointing out to the OP that "soldiers were drafted" because they stated they (I think). The beginning of series also mentions guys who were 4-F that lethally harmed themselves because they couldn't enlist. They had enlistment centers, recruitment films and big ol' poster saying "Enlist". I know people enlisted and I know it was "many, many of them" but they did have a draft as well. Which was the only point I was making. You "literally" jumped to conclusions about my statement.
Being drafted didn't mean you were just in the infantry. Drafted ended up everywhere. Paratroopers being volunteers meant that you couldn't be ordered to be a paratrooper and not that you couldn't be a draftee. Draftee could, and did, ask to be assigned to the paratroopers.
12:04 This scene actually is accurate. Talbert had scavenged and picked up a German soldier's raincoat as a souvenir. So when he got stabbed by mistake, it was because be did seem to look like a German when he startled Smith.
That's exactly what Smith says. "He looked like a Kraut!"
The Dutch were under German occupation. Being a Germanic people, the Germans thought they would join forces with them, but the Dutch were not having anything to do with the Germans, so Germany was very brutal toward the Netherlands. The Dutch were ecstatic when the Allies drove the Germans out.
The Netherlands had their own National Socialist Party called the NSB that collaborated with the German occupation and there were some Dutch troops, a regiment called SS-Grenadier-Regiment 1 'Landstorm Nederland' and an SS guard battalion called 'Nordwest' previously used to guard Dutch concentration camps, that were fighting on the German side, but they were very much in the minority. The Allied forces in Market Garden included the Dutch Prinses Irene Brigade, made up of troops that escaped to England in 1940 and was transferred from 1st Canadian Army to British 2nd Army for Market Garden, since they would be liberating the Netherlands first.
Some notes/fact for yah:
- No, they did not kill those French civilians in house in episode 3
- There are two guys that want a Luger: Malarkey (dude who ran into the field to try to grab one in Ep. 2, AND Hoobler, who checked out that British soldier's Luger in Ep. 1 and had the funny conversation with him)
- German tanks have heavy armor in the front and on the sides, so they're most vulnerable in the back and underneath
- Lipton, the "new Easy Company 1st Sgt." is not new, he's been there the whole time
- Michael Fassbender is ALSO in this show - he's Sgt. Christenson
- General Rule: don't read too much into things - they do a good job displaying and explaining
- No, they didn't wander into a Dutch celebration, the Dutch are celebrating the Allies liberating them from the Germans
- No, McAvoy's character's name is NOT Mack, nor is it Mack Miller (RIP)
- American vehicles are usually olive green with a white star on it
- American planes have a start on it
- Allies planes, at least during part of the series, all have white and black stripes on it
at the 8:35 mark, that was Edward Tipper, he was the one who was handling the map for Sobel in episode 1 in training. He lost his left eye and had 2 broken legs from the blast. He survived and his daughter Kerry Tipper was a politician in the Colorado House of Representatives. She was recently appointed Deputy City Attorney of Denver.
He is the vet wearing the peach/salmon colored shirt in the intros.
Holland was occupied brutally by Germany for 5 years. The liberation by the Americans and British was celebrated enthusiastically. The bombing of Eindhoven at the end of episode 4 was not by the allies, but by the Germans.
Gosh, guys! Holland had been invaded and occupied by the Germans. The Americans and the British were their liberators and the people were thanking them. The color orange is the national color for the Dutch, as the Prince or Princess of Orange is one of the titles of their royal house. The British rules of engagement were part of the problem in that campaign.
Albert Blithe was sent back to a hospital in the US to recuperate, where he remained until his discharge from the Army in October 1945. He was then recalled to serve in the Korean War, where he was awarded 1 Silver Star, 3 Bronze Stars, and, 2 more Purple Hearts. He then chose to remain in the Army, where he eventually reached the rank of Master Sergeant. He died, from complications of a burst ulcer, in an Army hospital in Weisbaden, Germany in 1967.
Yeah that's one thing I don't like about episode 3 but even his platoon thought he died because he disappeared.
The ribbon he had the replacement take off was a unit citation. Once you are assigned to a unit you are authorized to wear it. In fact it is mandatory to wear it when in dress uniform, which they are in that scene. Individual ribbons are personal decorations, unit citations are for everyone in that unit, while you are assigned to that unit. BTW, my background is I am a retired US Army (20 years) NCO.
The little boy tasting chocolate for the first time is pretty iconic.
Because that kid was most likely a baby or born just before the war began. His whole life until he got to taste chocolate, his family had to endure the German Occupation of Holland.
And, as Holland 🇳🇱 is a major producer of chocolate 🍫
@@dioghaltasfoirneartach7258 Well, perhaps will be first taste of the lousy US stuff. Amazing how little some know about the world.
@@colinjones360 Yeah, you've proved yourself at just that. Repeatedly. Why such an exhibitionist to constantly display your stupidity? 🙄
Carentan: Blithe did not die until the 1967. It's possible the veterans telling their story confused him with another man. Blithe's family found out they thought he was dead in the 40s upon watching the episode. He also served in the Korean War, got a Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and Silver Star, and made Master Sergeant (same rank as Lipton is in this episode). He's buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Replacements: The orange flag symbolizes national pride in the Netherlands/Holland. They'd been occupied by the Nazis since 1940. They loved us showing up because it was liberation.
There is a grand tradition of commenting on Reactions to Ep. 3 that Blithe in fact survived; the series is based on a collection of reports from soldiers who had heard he died, but they lost track of him and he actually kept on serving. So a little bit more hope there in the real story than is captured in this retelling!
quit spamming the channel bruh
jesus christ
Yes - he went on to serve in Korea, earning a Silver Star and Bronze Star for bravery after fighting behind enemy lines. He stayed in the military until his death when he was stationed in Germany in the 60's. Major Winters himself stated many times that he wanted it on record that Blithe was depicted poorly in this series and that it was undeserved
@@CR055FIRE 2 posts is spam to you? Are you crazy, or were you trying to reply to hellowhat890?
@@freefall945 yeah sorry about that
Wait did Viggo Mortensen really break his toe?
Gotta thank Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks for creating this critical acclaim series, and also serving as executive producers to it.
for sure, they did The Pacific and an upcoming mini-series I heard that is it about B-52 bombers and the people who flew the Memphis Belle.
@@MaxStone289 called "Masters of the Air" and will debut on Apple TV+ sometime in 2023 (HBO turned it down after the production cost was too high). Back in Nov 2022, one of the producers said it'll arrive on Apple TV+ by "mid-spring 2023" but at this point, there haven't been any trailers for it, so it's assumed it'll be late summer, fall or early winter.
Man, you guys are cutting out some serious good dialog. I would have liked to see your reaction to Speirs comment about accepting the fact you are already dead. I wonder how many comments have already told you Blithe didn't die. Oh, and Speirs 100% killed those German prisoners. That was D-Day. They didn't have the manpower to guard them or the facilities to keep them in. It happened a lot that day, on both sides. My favorite t-shirt I own is black with a Thompson submachinegun on it and it says, Lt. Speirs last stop smoke shop. And the guy your saying is the Lt. there near the end isn't a Lt. That's First Sergeant Lipton.
I was gonna comment on this as well. I couldn’t believe they cut that!
I don't think they got full understanding of the dialogue. So would be very hard to make good cut ,when they don't got clue what there exactly watching.
Glad I saw this. I’m not going to bother watching if the editing is that poor. ☹️
Yeah that Speirs conversation with Blithe is one of the most important ones in the entire series and it reveals a lot about how he's able to do what he does in battle. To cut it out like it's nothing.....is kinda ridiculous.
@@edwinbekedam1845 I don't think they have an understanding of much of anything to be honest. Even the common sense stuff. They actually thought that town was just in the middle of a celebration when Easy Company dropped. It's like......what? They're celebrating BECAUSE they're there to liberate them. They've been under Nazi rule for years at that point.
Love the way you guys didn't notice micheal Fassbender has been in this since episode 1. This show was the launch of so many great actors careers. James mcavoy & Tom Hardy to name a few.
40:58 Fun fact, if you look carefully, some of the Easy Co. Old veterans are also participating as extras in the background of the Eindhoven celebration.
quit spamming bro
it's out of control
@@CR055FIRE Bore off pal.
@@bigwezz no it's unacceptable
@@CR055FIRE No, you aren't the comment police. Bore off.
@@bigwezz yes i am
How do you all edit out the best line of the whole series? When Spears tells Blythe, “you still think there’s hope…”
Man I’ll be honest I’m struggling to finish their reactions bc the editing is killing me! Lol. They’re rarely letting the scenes pay off.
Last episode, they edited out “Guarnere, I’m not a Quaker”. My head almost exploded
@@C-Russ yeah, I gave up
3:05 That's a different guy.
44:04 You are getting all of them completely mixed up. Two of the guys you mentioned are not new. And the guy with the scar is Donnie Wahlberg and he is not currently a Lieutenant.
48:26 He quite literally introduced himself as "Private Miller, Private James Miller" and you called him Mac because he's played by McAvoy.
49:37 You haven't caught it? Then pay more attention because they've said it at least half a dozen times already.
50:07 He's not a Lieutenant. That's Lipton, he's played by Donnie Wahlberg and he's the company first sergeant. They literally introduced him as the new easy company first sergeant, because he got promoted, at the start of the episode.
That moment when the little boy smiles while eating chocolate makes me tear up every time. To be a child during a major conflict, to not experience life as care free as other children.i couldn't begin to imagine it. I get that they don't know what's going on, but the horrors of war are something no child should carry with them. It's so good to seem him in that one moment of pure happiness.
I feel like you are missing the point a little bit. In episode 4 they are being dropped in the Netherlands (Holland), to free Holland from Nazi/German occupation. Only Germany was the enemy. The people celebrating were celebrating being liberated from being occupied by Nazi Germany.
Germany was allied with Italy and Japan. The Axis also had other pacts with various countries. But yeah. I'm surprised these reactors don't seem to have looked up even the most basic of facts about WW2 before (or during) watching this series... But hey, maybe watching this series will make them want to learn more 😊😊
McAvoy's character was actually named Miller. When somebody called him "Mac" in the beginning that was just slang from that era, like saying "buddy" or "sport." I guess today somebody would say "bruh" or something just as stupid
Winters became commander, in case you missed it, in episode 2 the pilot yelled to the co-pilot, "Tell Mehan to get em out of there" just before fire consumed the plane and it hit the ground. A marker with the name of everyone aboard stands at the crash site today.
Okay, love that y'all are watching this fantastic series, & I'd like to point out a couple of things. Good that you have questions, but it seems you talk over dialog that would answer them. I know its difficult to figure out the men, but perhaps writing down names would help some? Some critical moments have included recurring men of Easy. Let. Spiers for instance; he was the officer who shot the German soldiers on D-Day. This was due to a no prisoners policy at that point (no where to contain them). Malarkey was guy riding in side car on motorcycle & witnessed it (&went to pick up laundry). Nixon is Winters fellow officer & friend as is Lt. Welsh. Tipper was the fellow hit by blast & had his face & legs injured (Liebgot held him). Talbert was the guy accidentally stabbed & then making out with the woman who was them apprehended for being a Nazi collaborator. Lipton took a hit at Carentan that almost took away his "privates" & is Company 1st Sgt. Anyway, not trying to be ugly just trying to help.
There are way too many reactors that talk over dialogue and I will never understand it.. it’s annoying when people are laughing at something or talking about something that was just said and then they end up missing everything that they should’ve been watching while they were yapping.. i’m just glad I don’t have a laugh like this guys.. reminds me of a kooky clown 🤡
One good thing is the makeup people gradually show Lipton’s scar healing over the episodes.
i lived in Geldrop, Son, Oosterbeek and Arnhem. all these towns have been involved in operation market garden. every town has a memorial of some sort dedicated to the US and British airborne. every year veterans and their family are welcomed to Arnhem to commemorate the battle. Oosterbeek has a British military cemetery where they hold a service for the veterans and family members. i was present at the 50th anniversary and queen Beatrix of the Netherlands hosted prince Charles.
These men are not drafted. They volunteered
We use to say that "almost everything in the Band Of Brothers TV show is true"; the Blithe final explanation at the end of the 3rd episode is the reason we say "almost everything".
It's kind of hard for me watching this knowing so much about easy co and the 506th seeing you groping for answers I just want to scream out no it's this or that but this is how people learn our history it is very important to learn history please keep learning you two are great thank you on behalf of my grandfathers who fought in ww2 for watching this watch the pacific next
I agree. It frustrating how little people actually know about history.
I remember when the The History Channel, Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, had all kinds of documentaries about this war, WW1, Korean War, Vietnam, Gulf War, etc etc. A lot of times when doing chores or homework, I'd have the TV on for background noise, and was amazed how much I learned from that. Yes I want to scream at them with ya 😂
I mean, if they didn’t talk over the dialogue so much they might learn more 😂🤦🏼♀️.
My grandfather was 509 gliders 🇺🇸
@@vancouvervixen4253 that's awesome gliders where very dangerous they should do a show on glider crews and the hell they went through
@@vancouvervixen4253 Yeah, I noticed they tend to talk when there's a conversation going on and then they complain that they can't figure out who is who. If they actually listened and paid attention, they would know better. How many times did they not recognize Guarnere even when people were calling him by name and his nickname, "Gonorrhea"? Not paying attention.
The guy didn't shoot the family @6:59 he had a funny feeling and double checked to make sure it wasn't civilians.
"Mac" was a 40s name you called someone you did not know. Like "hay dude"
It comes up a lot, especially ep. 9 (stg grant asking "mac" for his sidearm). Also at 37:38 the character they're referring to, Miller, making them think his name is Mac Miller. Perfect.
The family in the house was not shot. It was just showing how the US soldiers had to be aware of civilians being in the houses. It was as terrifying for them as for the families.
I'm a Desert Storm vet, i think everybody should watch this show. What i experienced was no where near what they went through, but it gives a representation of what we volunteer for.
Offering someone who is about to die a last cigarette was a thing. A final courtesy, a final taste of a vice, luxury or comfort, depending on how you look at it. There are a lot of scenes in older movies with people being offered cigarettes just before they die or are killed, and I've noticed a lot of younger viewers are confused by it.
My grandmother lost her father and two brothers because their neighbor had a relationship with a German soldier and she knew they were part of the Belgian resistance. The women being shamed got off way too easy.
Lipton (the "new" guy with the scar) isn't new. They were saying he was the new First Sargent because he has just been promoted. He was the one that lead the other sargents to protest against Sobel in the first episode and the one that had a piece of shrapnel almost hit his balls.
A title card at the end of the episode reads that Blithe died of his wounds in 1948. This is not true as he lived for another 20 years. The reason it was assumed by his fellow soldiers that he had died was because he chose never to attend any reunions and didn't keep in contact with any of his battalion.
@@highcountrydelatite He attended a 101st Airborne reunion, not an Easy reunion.
Actually, here's an amazing fun fact: 8:24
Tipper actually survived the explosion.
He was immediately sent to a hospital back in England. He lost his eye and had severe burns on his legs from the blast and was sent back to the U.S. and spent the rest of the war in the hospital.
He got out of the hospital in 1945. About a year later after the blast. He had to use a cane for the rest of his life but he lived and passed away in 2017.
Tipper's daughter...he was married at age 60!...was elected as a representative to the Colorado legislature. She adored her father.
40:45 The national color of the Netherlands is orange. At this point they had been occupied by Germany for four years and so they're pretty excited to finally be liberated.
Yes, the episode is about fear. Lt. Welsh dealt with it by likening it to a game "just moving the ball forward one yard at a time" Lt. Spiers said you have to accept the fact that you're already dead. Blythe was "born again" with his first kill.
Abraham's name in this is Bull. He's pretty much like the big brother everyone wants to have.
Denver "Bull" Randleman
48:00 Yes, in World War 1, tanks were big game changers.
World War 2 actually was airplanes and controlling the skies as the gamechanger. Most of my historical papers and essays in college were about how far air warfare contributed to a lot of advances in technology and provided the edge in a lot of historical moments.
If you want to learn a little bit about Operation Market garden there's an older movie called "A bridge too far". It has an all star cast, its a little dated want to say it was made in the 70's but it's pretty good and covers a lot. Band of brothers simplified Market garden, in reality they took several bridges and had a lot more fights. The brits got completely cut off and lost a lot of men.
1977 was the release date, based on an incomplete book by Cornelius Ryan (he had terminal cancer), directed by a British director who wanted to make an "anti-war film" and the American producer only intended to entertain the mainly American market, not make a historical epic. It's only about 50% accurate historically. Band Of Brothers follows the story of one Company and they had minimal impact on Market Garden. Perconte was wrong on this occasion - they were "in the middle" for much of the time, and in this action in the Nuenen area it was a flanking probe and had nothing to do with the main advances to the north - Nixon's comment at the end was a general one about the operation and did not refer to Easy's engagement at Nuenen.
The Lieutenant who was shot in in the butt and carried away on a barn door was Buck Compton. The bullet traveled sideways, through one side of the buttocks and out the other side. So he had the distinction of having four bullet holes in him caused by only one bullet.
The reason why Randellman( Abraham) was crawling from the tank instead of running was that there were German soldiers on the other side of the road flanking the tank. All he could do was crawl as fast as he could to safety.
Harry Welch (1st platoon commander) was a transfer from the 82nd Airborne. He had already jumped into Sicily and seen combat.
Albert Blithe survived, stayed in the army and died of a heart attack as a first sergeant (1967) in the 82nd Airborne in Germany.
General Maxwell Taylor, commander of the 101st Airborne, supposedly instructed his paratroopers to ‘take no prisoners’ during the Normandy Invasion. Paratroopers, by their nature, don't have the ability or facilities to handle prisoners - surrounded by the enemy with no support structure, there is very little they can do with them and it was considered taking prisoners could interfere with completing objectives. There are stories and allegations of German prisoners being executed in the early days of the invasion. It was never official doctrine though. When they linked up with the main invasion force, then prisoners could be taken to the rear (though you just know it still happened, people are people).
"This episode is so brutal"
The descent has only just begun
I heard an interview with Blithe’s only surviving relative about ten years ago. It was an interview with Blithe’s son and also with the actor who played Blithe. Yes the show got Blithe’s fate wrong, but his son said they portrayed his father really well, managing to show the sensitive and sweet man he was. He was deeply traumatised by his experiences during WW2 and Korea and he became an alcoholic. He died from complications arising from alcohol abuse mere months before he was due to retire from the army. His son said he loved the show but couldn’t watch it anymore because he missed his Dad so much. Utterly tragic.
This is why they are called and always will be called the greatest generation ever, they literally save the entire world from evil
Don't forget there were so many drops missed that different airborne units were scattered all over the place and they're all scrambling to find their units like Blyth
Temporary blindness from trauma or fear is a real thing
The Episode 3 battles were the taking of Carentan which was the key town the 101st needed to secure to connect the beaches of Utah and Omaha. The second battle was called the Battle of Bloody Gulch and was just outside of Carentan. These 2 fights were the biggest fights for the division in Normandy. At Bloody Gulch, the 101st ran into a German counterattack which included paratroopers (like the guy with the flower) and armor. This is know as a meeting engagement which is when both sides are advancing and literally run into each other unexpectedly.
0:26 Actually... this is not a spoiler especially with the end of episode 3. They showed Meehan's plane going down in the the beginning of Episode 2.
They believe that his entire airplane burned up and crashed.
It was that scene where the engine caught fire and lit the rest of the plane ablaze. 😢😞
They found where it crashed because a farmer found 1Sgt. Evans' dog tags in a tree some years later. There's a memorial there now.
@@benschultz1784 Yep. The army tried cleaning the site, but there is still some debris there. The site itself is on private property, so you cannot walk it. The memorial is close by, if I recall.
Well that sucks. I would have liked to see your reaction to Spiers speech to Blithe.
Agreed, poor editing decision.
@@Rocket1377 he/she didn't know so I understand how it happened. I just like to see that part and then compare it to how they think of him towards the end.
@@TheWindcrow Didn't know what? How can they not notice that it's an important scene in this episode? What he said was profound. Flew right over them, I guess.
@@catherinelw9365 I doubt that b/c he mentions it as they are watching the next scene. It happens, but I'm not in their shoes to know why it was cut out.
Of course, the Purple Heart is a real thing.. 🤦♂️🤣🤯 and God damn do you guys love to say “I FEEL LIKE” & “LIKE” you’re gonna make my head explode! 🤯
The point is that Blythe climbed the mountain of killing another man in battle. That's why he put the flower on his uniform. The series is incorrect about the final matter regarding Blythe. Blythe actually survived his wounds and lived for many years after the war. There is no doubt he had many mental scars to accompany his physical ones, however.
9:50 Blithe went through a form of "Hysterical Blindness." Under certain circumstances, it can make you blind for a few hours or up to a few years.
historical note: most ww2 parachutes were made out of silk. As silk was rationed in the States, parachutes became a highly valuable commodety and many servicemen sent them home. Many a girl in the 40s was married in a dress made by parachute silk!
the only major goof in this great series is the information that Blithe succumb to his wounds in 1948!
it was assumed by his fellow Easy Company soldiers because he never attended any reunions and didn't keep any contact, which is also not accurate! after the mini series, relatives of Albert Blithe came forward with information, documents and he actually died in 1967 while on active duty in Germany, he was buried with full military honors.
his son personally thanked actor Marc Warren for the portrayal of his father! pour it on them, Private Blithe!
The helmets that they wear don't actually protect you from bullets. They were designed to stop shrapnel but rifle rounds will go right through.
I just realized after several years that the German soldier Bull killed at the end of E4 was likely also a replacement. He was so nervous and unskilled.
That scene with Malarkey getting the laundry always gets me.
This has probably been said in Patreon comments already since you're so much further ahead there, but it's really important to remember that most of these European countries the Americans fought in like France, Holland and Belgium were under Nazi occupation. So yeah, most of the civilians weren't big fans of the Germans, and it's why many welcomed the Americans like in that one town celebration. Obviously it's more complicated than "Americans good, Nazis bad" as any kind of foreign force coming to your country would understandably be met with some reservation. Especially when early on people couldn't have known for sure which side would win, so there's always a risk in aiding either army in case that side loses, because then you could be outed for being a collaborator. So it's often safer for civilians to simply stay neutral to protect themselves and their family.
“What if the backup chute fails?”
Well, like the Airborne running cadence says…
“If my main don’t open wide…
“I got a reserve by my side…
“If that one should fail me too…
“Look out ground ‘cause I’m comin’ through…
“Tell my girl I did my best…
“And bury me in the leanin’ rest!”
28:11 idky people assume they shot the family but that’s not what happened. the look the two soldiers share is relief that they didn’t simply toss a grenade through the window like they did in the previous building.
French hedgerow country, this is where the most casualties occurred trying to move inland through those thick French hedgerows and the Allies were making slow progress. This is when general Bradley activated Pattons third army operation Cobra, to bust through and carry out their famous end around sweep across France
These men lived a whole lifetime in a matter of just a few months.
In civilian life, parachutes are reused many, many times. They're inspected carefully and repacked. But the military doesn't do that. They just ditch their parachute as soon as they land. That's weight they don't need to carry into battle with them.
45:00 the really crazy part is, the amount of people from so many countries that joined the german side.
i mean, even i did not know that we had a muslim unit, and a british free corps that joined our military ...
in school, they only talk about the axis nations, no word about the volunteers from so many other nations.
Something to remember is that a final cigarette is a common gesture before an execution. So giving the men a final smoke before their death is symbolic of that.
the bullet that hit Nixon's helmet came at an angle and went in and out. His helmet did nothing to stop it. The story told by Winters to Ambrose about the incident was that he turned and saw Nixon on the ground with a mark on his forehead from where the bullet barely grazed him.
At episode 4, talking about cutting the parachutes, I read a sweet story online the other day so I'm not sure if it is really true or not but I would like it to be.
A woman went to work during World War II in a parachute factory while her only son became a paratrooper with the 101st. He made it through D-Day and Market Garden, and indeed, the rest of the war. When he came home at the end of the war his mother told him how much she had worried about him. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a scrap of fabric, and said, "Oh, Mama, I knew you had my back all along! " and handed her a piece of silk from his parachute written on it were her initials. She had made his 'shute!
The weapon you asked about that the German had on his back was Panzerfaust. It was a rocket propelled anti-tank weapon. It was a one shot weapon and EXTREMELY deadly. It would hit the armor, compress the charge, burn a hole in the side of a tank and behave like a blow torch burning everyone alive in the tank.
47:18 Actually, the reason why Bull wasn't able to stand up was because of two possible reasons.
He saw the Germans approaching him from the front. So he had to stay down. If he tried to retreat, there was enemy fire from above that he had seen that tried to shoot him. He managed to avoid getting hit by running next to the burning Sherman.
Also, it was for a brief second and also not in the reaction so I don't know if you both saw it. But when the Sherman exploded and caught fire, a piece of it blew off and actually struck Bull from behind.
Not enough to kill him but it was most likely painful for him to stand hence why he desperately dragged himself forward as fast as he could.
What works best for mosqitoes is Purple Martins or Barn Swallows. A few years ago I had a large house on a small acreage. It had a big covered porch, like a verranda. Barn swallows started nesting there. They left a lot of shit on the siding, but, they came back every spring. Their babies came back and nested there. We got to sit on the porch and watch them feed their ravenous babies. We never had a mosquito while we lived there. When I mowed, they would follow the mower and feast. But, you need much less for Purple Martins. Get the specialized PM bird apartment house and a pair of PMs, and watch them relieve you of your problem. And you can watch their babies.
Winters IS an "outsider". He's an officer.
You can learn more about Operation Market Garden in the movie A Bridge too Far.
16:18 They aren't called wheels. They're tank treads.
16:40 The spot that they hit on the tank is actually where the driver sits. The underside of the tank and the rear are where the armor is usually weakest. But yeah, once they successfully took out the driver, they disabled the tank and it got stuck there.
Operation Market Garden occurred due to two reasons.
1) Lack of supplies to support the vast Allied armies in France. The Germans destroyed all of the major ports and they took time to get up and running. Once the Allies broke out into the center of France the Germans tactically retreated back to Germany and the low countries as the defense was easier.
2) Politics and best case scenario. SHAEF felt that a single thrust was the best option from a political and strategic viewpoint. The V2 rockets were still hitting London and they were based in northern Belgium and Holland. The Germans did not have the resources in the West like they did the East and they took a beating in the Falais Pocket. The Allies felt getting into Holland would open up the vast plains of Germany to their mechanized armies, ending the war quicker.
What the Allies didn't realize until it was too late and they were stubborn is two SS Panzer Divisions, though under strength, were moved to Arnheim which pretty much checked this plan and all but destroyed the British paratroopers.
Blythe got what is known as Hysterical Blindness. When your stree gets so high that your brain stops processing visual stimuli. When you calm down, your sight can return.
As for the battlefield being in their towns you are right. A large part of Western and Eastern Europe were leveled. That was why the Marshall Plan was considered essential. The Western Allies and the civilians basically rebuilt Europe after the war. Russia largely left the vanquished to their own devices to dig out and rebuild since they were also destroyed by the war. The Western allies largely fed most of Europe for 5 years following the war.
Blithe died from a perforated ulcer in 1967. He also received awards due to his service in the Korean War.
Ronald Spiers is not crazy at all. He is a soldier who understands his job, and who has no sentimentality about it at all. He is also very kind to the men he leads. Notice that he does not rebuke Blythe or make him feel bad, but he tries to help him. There is a new biography of Ronald Spiers that I would like to read. He stayed in the army for a long time, and led well.
@@DistractedArachnid Very interesting, Thanks.
There are more than a few lieutenants in the company. Each platoon had one and some had two. There are several platoons in the company.
26:27 So remember Lieutenant Meehan is the one who was picked to lead easy company after they got rid of Sobal.Hes the one at the very first episode saying”No jump tonight”as well as with Winters in that tent going over battle plans.His plane,though dark,was one of the planes that went down with no survivors and that’s why Winters automatically moved up in rank to lead Easy Company.And a quick add when in episode 2 and they were destroying those guns,that’s exactly why.Those are the same guns that were shooting their planes down and since more planes were coming they wanted to make those guns unfireable
Fun Fact: There is a very cool, blink-and-you'll-miss-it tie-in to Saving Private Ryan with Band of Brothers (other than Hanks/Spielberg):
In Saving Private Ryan, after the Omaha beach scene, the scenes where the war department discovers the Ryan family causality connections and the General orders to find Private Ryan, Captain Miller walks up to a command tent where you hear the major on the phone saying:
"but if we don't offload those dual-drive shermans by 0600 we're going to have an entire division stuck at Carentan with its pants around its ankles"
That "entire division" he's speaking of is the 101st Airborne and we see in this episode the sherman tanks that save them.
Shortly afterwards, he says to Captain Miller "the airborne was supposed to win an open door for the rest of us and instead they mistracked and scattered all the sticks to the wind" , referring to Episode 2 of Band of Brothers when all the planes taking fire couldn't reach the DZ and dropped troops everywhere.
You can see the Saving Private Ryan clip by searching for "Saving Private Ryan - Omaha Beach HD (6/27) Movie Clip" and starting at the 2 minute mark.
This series cast a number of young unknown actors who later became famous -- James McEvoy, Michael Fassbender, Simon Pegg, and Jimmy Fallon (shows up in episode 6), among others. There's a Band of Brothers drinking game in which you take a drink every time you see an actor you recognize.
Tom Hardy too.
How about you refrain from spoilers and let them get surprised?
You'd die if you've seen it before.
Just to set the facts straight, Blithe survived . he died in 1957.. He had also fought in the Korean war w I th the Airborne.... He recieved the bronze and silver star.... besides the purple heart in WW2.
Seen a interview with Major Winters where is explained this discrepancy. about Blithe and the HBO series.
While there was a draft, units like the Airborne and Rangers were 100% volunteer. Blythe didn't die, the Easy Co. men were under the impression he did due to the fact he was reassigned to a different company after recovering from his wounds, he stayed in the army and also served in Korea, and passed away in 67, while stationed in Germany. the Replacements ep. takes place in the Netherlands (Holland). All of western Europe had been conquered and occupied by the Germans, this included France, the Netherlands and Belgium, also further north, Denmark and Norway. There were resistance movements in all these occupied territories.
The show is based on the military history book Band of Brothers, by Stephan E. Ambrose, the book was compiled by interviewing the survivors, and also by using official documents, such as unclassified after action reports and the official regimental histories.
Some of the show is artistic license but mostly based on actual accounts. The story of Sgt Blythe is recounted in the 2010 book A Company of Heroes. Those are the real personal memories of the 101st members. You should also watch We Stand Alone Together: Band of Brothers Documentary after this series it wraps things up for the actors and the real veterans.
No. It's widely considered inaccurate by historians. Historians consider first hand accounts to only add flavour to history and shouldn't be used as the sole evidence as Ambrose and the series did. The historical records of the time disagree with a lot of what the interviewees said. There are historians who have accused both Winters and Lipton of using their time being interviewed to settle old grudges.
@@RandomStuff-he7lu About the only people I have heard say anything close to this were people who were in some way related to members of the 82nd who have their own grudges against this series and the 101st. Historians always have issues with dramatizations of historical events and this series does not make an attempt to be a record of actual fact. Its entertainment. But even in the entertainment it can be educational to the past. I personally would like to see these historians you speak of because there are many WWII historical groups that do not give a negative view of this series or the Pacific. It is recognized as being entertainment but when you have the accounts of people who were there it is hard to dismiss them to settling old grudges.
@@rnkelly36 It was people from the other companies Easy was in. They were pretty disparaged by the series.
@@RandomStuff-he7lu Huh? That makes no sense. "People from other companies Easy was in". Easy IS A COMPANY.
@@RandomStuff-he7lu Which historians consider it "inaccurate"?
Blithe went through a major psychological rollercoaster.... His arc represents the human aspect. He killed another person, which also had picked the Edelweis, which resembles the will of a true soldier or whatever. What im trying to say is that its not so bad to feel bad for taking another humans life. Its called empathy/ethics... He had to confirm his kill to cross the barrier between being a civillian or a soldier..
So the reason the people of Eidenhoven came out and celebrated was simply because of the arrival of the allied advance, the germans decided to retreat from the town without fierce resistance. however there was a counter attack later which did cause a lot of destruction so im sure joy of that moment was short lived before all hell broke loose.
A movie that ties in to this time period and is really good is “A bridge to far” it focused on the failed Market Garden operation.
My favorite little detail of this episode is that the tank on fire 'chasing' Bull has a bull decal on the back of it.
Both Hubler and Malarkey were looking for a Luger. Malarkey was the one who rushed into the field to check the German officer for a Luger and almost got killed, not Hubler.
Hoobler was they guy in episode one who had the miscommunication with the British soldier showing what German weapons looked like.
@@michaelstach5744 yes, correct.