History Professor Breaks Down Band of Brothers Ep. 3 "Carentan" / Reel History
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- Reel History delves into historical films to separate fact from fiction. These engaging episodes explore, contextualize, and clarify stories related to the most famous historical movies. In contrast to the more prevalent "reaction" videos, these installments seek not only to entertain but to educate and inform.
For host Jared Frederick and video editor Andrew Collins, these Reel History episodes are a labor of love and a means of expressing passion for the past as well as cinema. Courteous viewer feedback is always welcomed. Contact information for the hosts is available on the homepage.
HBO's 2001 series Band of Brothers brought television to a whole new level. Produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, it brought cinema quality story telling and production to the small screen and has become a classic historical mini series for many.
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There was a story about Guarnere's mortar team back in training. They fired at a target, too long. Fired again, too short. Right then there was a brass on inspection, and told Guarnere to fire the mortar as demonstration. They made adjustments and fired 3 rounds and hit the target 3 times at the same spot. The brass asked Guarnere if they were always that accurate. Guarnere replied yes Sir, my boys never miss.
“There’s a story...”?
It’s in the book...
That's awesome, seems that Guarnere's character is represented well in BOB
@@benhaney9629there’s a book?
@@shazzthedonoh jeez
I love his accent! God damn I love how much work, love, effort, and dedication went into making Band of Brothers, The Pacific, and Generation Kill.
That shirt you're wearing is amazing lol. "Spiers Last stop smoke shop lol with a tommy"
I need that shirt in my life.
"Lt Speirs Last Stop Smoke Shop."
I never thought the scene with Blithe and Winters to be weird or magical or anything like that. I fully believe that Blithe did go "blind" from shock and his "healing" came from Winters believing in him, encouraging him and not belittling him. Blithe thought poorly of himself and didn't think he had it in him, but having someone as "big" as Winters take the time to talk to him and not even hinting at Blithe being weak or a coward gave Blithe the confidence to believe in himself and that's what shook him out of his shocked stated.
If someone else believes in you, it makes it that much easier for you to believe in yourself.
I'm pretty sure he was just lying out of fear and panic just so they would pull him off the line as he was in shock, permanently stuck in flight mode. The small bit of kindness from Winters would be what it took for Blithe to calm down and come to his senses and immediately feel guilt for trying to find a way out.
@@Mike23443 Being scared shitless and lying about being blind was my first guess, but a temporary psychosomatic blindness is also possible. I think they show Winters waving his hand in front of his eyes without a reaction.
@@Mike23443No you’re wrong. Hysterical blindness is in fact very real and is what happened to Blithe.
Professor the film behind you is blurrie as u speak.
We only see a few seconds of the movie
@@joerhea9340 Add to that he was going through kind of a sleep deprivation as unlike rest of unit he joined right before attack, so all this factor could just join together and shut him down. Nothing too strange.
My Grandfather came back from Europe with multiple items, several Nazi Flags, 6 x Bolt Action Mauser rifles, an actual picture of Hitler and Mussolini walking out of a restaurant. etc. Fascinating stuff to look at when I was a kid. Still amazing to think about. Miss you Ed Kovacik.
Ppppp🌱🌱🖕🏾🧙🌱❤️
How did he carry 6 kar98s with him? Any idea how heavy that would be not to mention awkward and bulky.
It’s not like they had some locker back at at “hq” they could just drop their stuff off at.
I can’t remember if it’s mentioned in the BoB series or book but one guy kept his parachute with him the entire war so when he got back they’d have material to make his wife’s wedding dress.
But he literally had to lug it around with him the entire time.
Normally souvenirs were small item or things that could be folded up like the flags. I have my great uncles Springfield 03 from before they switched to the garand but that’s different. I’ve just never heard before someone bringing back 6 rifles so I find that really hard to believe unless he was some rear echelon pencil pusher who traded for them.
Or is their some cool story behind this you failed to mention. If so please share for our curiosity sake.
Also why would you even want that many?
@@matts5247 Personally, I would want that many. I would want all I could get, cause there's no such thing as too many. But that's just me.....
My Great Grandfather was a Master Sergeant with the 101st Airborne and he brought back a bunch of souvenirs as well, but almost all of them were stolen en route back to the US. All of them except for a German helmet
Had the privilege to visit Carentan while serving in Europe. The most telling part of the trip was seeing the WWI memorial in the middle of the town. It was an angel on a pedestal; riddled with bullet holes and one wing blown off from this engagement.
I will be damned if I did not notice that! I kinda looked but maybe it was repaired. I was just there a month ago.
Ww1 is so interesting. Ww2 is interesting too but there’s something so nasty about ww1 because it was the first huge industrialized war and 1914 was basically still the 1890s: “War is glorious and an adventure” Lies and cavalry charges, no steel helmets yet, new weapons of all kinds, 19th century mindset commanding officers, and so on.
Hi everybody, I know this will come up so I'll just pin it here. After editing this for hours I somehow chopped out the footage mentioning the controversy behind the inaccurate date of Blithe's death. He actually served in Korea and later in December 1967, while still on active duty, was attending a ceremony in Bastogne when he fell ill. He died shortly after in a hospital in Germany. Sorry for leaving that out.
He's not the only death and date they get wrong. But that one will you go "WHAT... HOW".
What amazes me is that the BofB producers never corrected that information in the DVD and Blue Ray versions. It would have been easy to do and kept everyone from discussing it so much on social media as it happens now.
Wait, so was he in the military for a continuous 25 years? Or did he rejoin later on?
@@bronsonstrange3827 He never retired. Well, he did for a while in 1963 with a "temporary disability", but returned to active duty in 1967, shortly before his death.
His WW2 didn't end with that wound in June, either -- he returned to duty, jumped with the rest of the 101st in Holland (Market Garden), and was later wounded again on October 1, which kept him out for the rest of the war. But he went on to have a fantastic military career, becoming a Master Sergeant, performing over 600 parachute jumps, getting named Trooper of the Year by the 82nd Airborne Division in 1958 and being awarded a Silver Star and three Bronze Stars in WW2.
Yeh, he did have his case of "hysterical blindness", but that's about the only thing Stephen Ambrose and the TV series got right about Albert Blithe.
Somehow that tidbit being forgotten and falling through the crack of the video just seems... right somehow. Like meant to be. Fate or whatever
damn Dick Winters really was the greatest leader a soldier could ask for.
The legacy of Leaders, such as Major Richard Winters, continues to this day. My first Company Commander, Captain Cancilla was extraordinary! He was my Jump Master for my 6th Jump; first after Airborne school; as he was for every soldier who was assigned to his unit.
He is the extremely high standard by which I measured other officers. Captain Streight, 2LT Grossruck, 1LT Marcks, and several others were nearly as good! Leading by example, demonstrating Moral and Physical Courage. As an NCO, I did my best to emulate them in training, and in combat.
I was mentored to earn my CIB (Combat Infantryman's Badge), to serve more than 60 months in combat, during 4 deployments, and to bring all of my soldiers home alive!
Even outside of military matters he serves as a good example of leadership by creating a sense of trust in your subordinates.
@@paladinsix9285 I don't doubt it. But as commentary around that series revolves around leadership, why does America worship unscrupulous people who are the opposite of the leadership, courage, and values so rightly revered? How much could we really value such virtues in a country that makes endless excuses for people serving our side? Take note that you have no idea which "side" I'm on (or if I'm on any side). And that's precisely the point -- these principles are to be universally applied (that's what makes them principles).
The beauty of this series front to back is that it maintained a theme each episode. I always looked at this episode as how each soldier handled fear. You have Blythe who feels like he's all alone and scared and terrified looking at his leaders as being fearless and constantly pushing them in. Even though you find out his leaders are just as scared.
Blythe later volunteered for the Korean War and got a bronze star and silver star.
Yes I agree with you! Love how how they had a great and significant name for each episode. It made you connect with the episode more. Just like with Generation Kill. I wish they would have named the episodes in The Pacific. BoB is King no question but all of GK and The Pacific are worth watching at least a couple times. I watch all 3 once per year
The movie depicted Blight dying of his wounds, but in actuality he recovered, stayed in the Army and became a 1SG.
I was actually waiting to see if he mentioned that and was disappointed he didn't. That's part of Real History he left out 🤨
@@jasonhazen8298 look at his comment addressing it. He accidentally cut it out
I read somewhere that Blithes family were very upset about the portrayal of him and the terrible inaccuracies about him such as dying in 1948.
I've noticed when it comes to Ronald Speirs, almost no one brings up the fact that all the Airborne units were ordered NOT to take prisoners during the Normandy invasion. This was done to allow the soldiers to move quickly to their objectives, as keeping prisoners would only slow them down. If you take this order into consideration, it seems all but fact that Speirs shot German prisoners.
Stay tuned...........
@@ReelHistory Hey, I've got a question, but I will patiently wait for Ep 6 for the answer. When Doc Roe asks Toye where his boots are, he says "In Washington up General Taylor's @$$." Now, it's obvious Gen Talyor was not present during the Battle of the Bulge, but was he necessarily in Washington the entire time? Or did he go back to England or France following any conferences in Washington? All I can find is that he was "absent" from the Battle. Thanks in advance!
@@bronsonstrange3827 In the words of General McAuliffe himself-
It didn’t occur to us, until it was all over, that the eyes of the world were on the 101st Airborne Division and the attached armour during the defence of Bastogne.
The first thing we heard was that we’d been ‘rescued’ by the 4th Armoured Division. Now I, and everyone else in the 101st, resent the implication that we were rescued or that we needed to be rescued.
When General Taylor arrived on the 27th the first thing he asked me was what kind of shape we were in. I told him, ‘Why, we’re in fine shape: we’re ready to take the offensive.’ General Taylor said: ‘I should have known it, but all that stuff I read in the newspapers was beginning to worry me just a little.’
The fact is we were thinking about what a tough time the Kraut was having. We Weren’t alarmed about our own position at all. After all, we’d deliberately jumped into that kind of position in Normandy and Holland.
There's an online interview with Winters where he sais he asked Spiers if he shot the prisoners and "Sparky" as Winters called him said he did.
Reading about other’s recollections of places like Carentan are very interesting. I want to read more about Lt Col Cole’s bayonet charge where he got the Medal of Honor. Don Burgett’s book is a must read. In fact, his book (which was the first written about the Airborne and endorsed by Ike) is simply jaw-dropping. I still think they need to put an update on the end of Episode 3 as Blithe did not die in 1948 and served with distinction in Korea. They are not doing his legacy any favors. I drove down the road into Carentan and spent a couple of minutes in front of the house where the machine guns were. The town square is exactly like it was in 1944. The same memorial, the same buildings…really cool.
it was depicted in Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30
Just to add, as for the road leading up to Carentan, the reason Winters needs to get the men up and moving forward as soon as contact is made is to get out from under any mortar or artillery fire that is sure to be zeroed on the road.
They were also farther away from the town than what's depicted in the miniseries.
My great-great uncle was a participant in D-Day, and he was killed on June 16, 1944, and is buried in Normandy. His name is Joseph Perehinec and he was 25. So, seeing what he would of gone through just gives me chills. He wasn't a paratrooper, but he was part of the Third Army, which I believe was Patton's army that he was in charge of.
Much respect to your uncle.
My Grandfather served as a driver in the British Army and spent most of the war in Burma. He never really shared anything of what he actually experienced beyond speaking of his friends, jokes they'd play on each other and the like. One of the very few stories that gave a hint of what they went through was about someone that became one of his closest friends. This guy experienced something very similar to Blyth. His fear paralysed him but when it came time for him to be taken back for medical help my Grandfather described how he just snapped out of it, took a breath and faced his fears head on. My Grandfather considered him to be the bravest person he ever knew and had a huge amount of respect for him.
If you read James Jones' book WWII, which covers the broad history of the war, illustrated with fabulous art, as well as his personal experience in Guadalcanal, he talks about The Evolution of a Solder, and the later DeEvolution of a Soldier. The Evolution was basically the slow acceptance of the idea that you were unlikely to survive, to accept your probable death, and that allowed you to take crazy risks. Then later, near the end of combat, you had to go through the opposite process and accept your probable survival, and deal psychologically with that. He said both processes were equally wrenching and difficult to deal with. The little Spears speech to Blythe immediately took me back to that book, that I'd read 30 years ago. I wonder if that's where the series writers got it. Nice job!
Takes 6 months to go from civilian to soldier and only 24 hours to go from soldier to civilian
Myself and 4 mates cycled from Le Harve to Cherbourg to cover the landing beaches and visit as many B.O.B places as we could.
We had breakfast in carentan and cycled into the town the same route (although very different now) as this lot did…
We also went into breacourt manor and all the landing beaches. Would highly recommend cycling Normandy.
Yeah, I am American and was just there and got chatted up by a Brit on his bicycle. Does seem like a great way to see Normandy….if you have the damn time!!
The Rumors about Spiers were addressed by Dick Winters in an interview before the miniseries came out. HBO was worried about Lawsuits against them for certain portrayals of people. So Dick called Ronald Spiers and asked him. Spiers said yes they were true.
I saw that interview on RUclips. I laughed hard at “Sparky”!!
Yes, but were they actually true, or was Spiers just trying to perpetuate the myth. We'll never know.
I can’t believe I just found you. You have absolutely become one of my favorite RUclipsrs. I love when history experts break down historical media, and you do such an excellent job at being informative AND engaging.
Why thank you!
@@ReelHistory I’m curious - “contact right” (or whatever direction) seems anachronistic to me. I don’t recall it ever being used in older war movies. Of course, I could be wrong (which is why I’m asking - because I don’t know for sure). I was just wondering if you might know. Anyway, great work!
More great information in your video about Easy Company. Enjoying your reaction and analysis.
One thing about the announcement to jump given by 'Danny Reagan' is the jump and many other jumps were cancelled before the jump for Operation Market Garden. The reason was Patton kept over running the drop zones.
The poem "Night of the Bayonet" is one I recognized from my youth. Floyd Talbert was from Kokomo where my Grandfather worked for The Kingston Factory. Living on the same street was the chief of police. When a squad car radio needed to be repaired they would come to my Grandfather's house and he would repair it. My Grandfather read us this poem a few times. We didn't get the story behind it. After watching "Band of Brothers" and then reading books I knew where he got the poem from. During WWII I am not sure if he was Chief of Police in 1940's but certainly was in the late 30's. I have never seen the name of the Police Chief who gave Talbert the pistol and the note. I do not know the name of the police chief who lived on the same street as my Grandfather.
Well, that I'm currently listening to the audiobook 'Hang Tough' and then came across your videos is pure coincidence. Then to learn you actually co-authored that book. That just blew my mind.
Google spying on you, has nothing to do with luck😅
Excellent review and analysis. I love getting more of the real history. The one soldier who you really have not talked about yet who I found to be a very interesting, but under explored character in the series is Lt. Welsh. I remember reading that he had been enlisted and because of his ability and natural leadership get getting promoted up to sergeant but then would get busted back to private for fighting with other soldiers. Apparently this happened to him several times while with the 82 Airborne. The story, that i heard, was that his commanding officer saw his potential and recommended him for OCS. After graduating from that was assigned to the 101st. Not sure how true that story is perhaps you can shed some light on that if you know how true it is. Also the line that stands out to me in this episode is Picante' s line about always been in the front or exposed on the end, never in the middle. I remember reading in the book that was by design as Easy company was the designated strike company of the Group so they would always be out front, and where given "extra training" over and above the rest of the group because of that. Is this true or is my memory faulty (which would be very believable, it has been over 15 years since i read the book). Just wondering if you could shed some light on either of these. Thanks for you reviews the are great!
Pp
Also according to Winters, he often picked 1st Platoon for duty ahead of the other platoons while he was company commander. He only realised after that had he rotated the platoons more often, perhaps more of 1st Platoon's men would have survived the war.
You continue to engage and educate. I would wish I had a professor like you for history. What a gift you have.
The trooper on the horse, Farnsworth, is part of Dale Dyes Cadre that trained the actors. He is also a professional horse rider. In Ron Livingston's behind the scenes video, it is Farnsworth that tells him to put the camera away.
If you’ve ever played brothers in arms hells highway , that guy on the horse always reminded me of the guy you play as in that game. Looks just like him and they’re both staff sergeants. When I was little I always thought that guy you play as and lead in hells highway was the guy on that horse
I worked with CWO-4 Dale Dye on Okinawa 1980.
Great series and very nicely done videos. I'm liking the content.
I've been a history buff for about 50 years and I have sought out battlefields, old fort emplacements and old trails that armies marched through for over 40 years now. Since I began in central Canada and the Northeast United States - I've called it "searching for the spirit of Natty Bumpo" ever since.
Love your analysis and insights on Band of Brothers! Keep them coming!
It's really hard to express in a comment how much your breakdowns, reviews, interviews, etc, etc mean to me. My Father is not the best at navigating the internet, but after watching your Gettysburg videos, he might have surpassed me in terms of watches and likes. So much appreciated.
if only I had an amazon wish list of the shirts you wear in your videos.
Yeah this would be an awesome addition! I want this Spiers shirt so badly. Haha.
Enjoying your reactions. Kudos! You're a reactor the reactors should watch! 👍
Thank you so much!
He's also someone who knows what he's talking about and used to giving lectures, not just one rando with a camera.
Babe and Bill meeting knowing that they would spend every day after that as best friends is the best. Your shirt is a close second.
Winters himself says in an interview that Spiers confirmed with him that he killed the prisoners. Spiers wrote band of brothers permission to use that storyline, due to their fear of lawsuits.
In each regiment, the Easy Company was the assault company. This accounts for their Sobel's motivation, the brutal training and they reason Easy was always in the front.
Wow - that's great insight, something I've never heard explained before.
As a amateur historian of world war II for some 30 years actually beginning with the time life series of books in high school. I really enjoy your high level of knowledge and analysis. Looking forward to market garden. I'm going to go order your book now.
Just noticed this channel the other day. Really loving your stuff man, I'm all about history, and especially early to late 20th century warfare.
You & Mr Terry are awesome new(ish) history channels :D
I am a secondary Social Studies teacher. That means I can teach middle school thru high school. You have presented this mini-series with professionalism and distinction. I take your expertise with me into the classroom. Thank You!
Wow, thank you!
Nice work. Exploring history through mass media is a hobby of mine and often do fact v fiction research on my own. A very nice companion to my research. Can't wait to see more on BoB and what seems like will be entries on other historical media.
Thanks for the kind words. We did "42" and "1917" as well if you haven't checked them out already. Plenty more to come!
amazing teacher, I would have loved taking classes from him. Thank you so much for this!
I finally got myself one of those t-shirts, it's awesome. From Ranger Up.
4:40 Also, this was a green regiment so they were still learning their trade.
6:40 The Germans had also faced this flooding situation in the Netherlands.
Winters and Speirs are two different models of effective leadership.
24:30 Also, Welsh transferred in from the 82nd which didn't always have the best leadership.
I know they had to simplify things, but I really would have liked to see more of their weapons platoon. or where ever the mortars were. I'm still not certain how airborne practice differed from regular infantry practice.
I wouldn't expect it to be any different, it's just infantry tactics. With that said, Airborne companies were smaller than their ground-borne counterparts. Notably, airborne units did not have a weapons platoon. An airborne rifle platoon had just two rifle squads (instead of three) and a mortar squad of just 6 men. However, each airborne rifle squad had an M1919 MG instead of an M1918 BAR.
In summary, regarding the line troops of the company, this meant that airborne rifle companies had no weapons platoon, just as many mortars, more LMGs, and 6 soldiers less per platoon. (SMGs in debate/"resourceful" troopers, and also notably missing any BARs)
The main difference in use I'd expect is simply the method of insertion, and even then in ideal conditions/if things go as planned, they all are regrouping at a staging area after the drop and before heading into combat. Market Garden being a daytime drop and mostly unopposed in contrast to D-Day meant that organizationally things went pretty much as planned.
Once they're on the ground they're all just legs.
Here are some great references, beyond that, go ahead and research old Field Manuals and such. Additionally talk to veterans if you at all can, they won't be around much longer. They will have a different, albeit biased in its own way, and possibly clouded by being obscure details from lives lived almost a century past.
www.battleorder.org/us-airborne-ww2
www.battleorder.org/post/usa-rifleco-1944
I would radher be under Winters, Spiers looks like GunHo guy who got lot of his men killed,..
@@marianmarkovic5881 he did look like a gungho guy who was not afraid to die, but interestingly, he did show on occasion, the care he had for his men.. also, he did take over Easy at the end of Bastogne.
Love that RangerUp t-shirt you're wearing. I've worn their shirts since I was in high school 2013.
I would imagine that blithes accent is as it is because he is played by Marc warren, a English actor from Northampton. I assume this was his best impression of an American accent
Was watching an interview with Winters on the band of brothers series and things based off his book, the interviewer asked about the spiers shooting incident and if it was okay to put it in. Winters told him that he knew it was a very sensitive thing to put in there but he wanted to put everything that happened in.. so he said he called spiers and asked him plainly if he did it, spiers said yes
Imo I think this is the best screen depiction of the typical kind of fighting in Europe and specifically Normandy. Clearing out small towns, hamlets, fighting in the very close confines of the hedgerows. You see how tough it was to attack in this terrain and how that affected allied troops and the Germans. It wasn't just the allies who struggled with the terrain. Any attacking force in the confines of the bocage was in for a difficult time navigating different routes and exploiting weaknesses. This is a great, immersive episode.
While assigned to 3AD, in 1974 I was detailed to march in a parade in Normandy marking the 30th anniversary of the liberation. It was an amazing trip, visiting the beaches and the cemetery. One of the memories that will always be with me is when a Frenchman who had survived the occupation brought his grandson over to meet American GIs, to say "thank you." THAT was my most humbling experience as a soldier.
Thank you for your service and helping to keep the stories alive.
@@ReelHistory Whenever some says "Thank you for your service", my reply is "Be someone worth serving"...
@@RossOneEyed, we agree--and we try!
Watching the TV show I got the feeling that the difference between officer and regulars was blurred. At times they joked between each other. As Winters had said, these men had protected his life, hence the band of brothers. Once you have that bond it is difficult to let go. A sad and awe irony impossible to fully understand except for soldiers who have been in that situation.
I found that building and pizza place on street view 😀. you can still see battle scars on the walls. So interessting. Nice video series 👍 greetings from germany
The only problem I have with "Carentan" is that the producers and HBO have never removed the false assertion that Blithe died in 1948 as a result of his battle injury. Blithe did not die then; he served in Korea a few years later, and was still in the Army when he died in 1968.
Excelent video! Loving these reviews/analysis!
One mistake I noticed was that the fallshemeiger didn't train "above the treeline". That was the mountain division I believe. Wonder where he could have gotten the edelweise? Correct me if I'm wrong. Great series on BOB. You have cleared up a lot of questions I have had. Can't wait to see them all.
You are correct, and thanks
You are correct Jon. The Gebirgsjägers wore the edelweiss by default as they were the Mountain Troops. Seing a Fallschirmjäger with one wouldnt be impossible but would be highly unlikely.
"The Germans used water to funnel attackers onto a single causeway, like Napoleon"
Menno van Coehoorn: hold my water.
Thank you for your helpful information.
I'm a modern veteran and I don't know if these guys had it worse, but they were definitely thrown at obstacles in a way we never were. The magic touch is a real thing too, you become almost a family... for me, closer than my family a lot of times, with these people and one of them reminding you of your duty and whats at stake for everyone really grounds you again. You remember that if you leave or fail, these people you love might die where you would have had a chance to save them.
How many civilians would volunteer to stay safe if they knew their son or brother or spouse was going to be going into a dangerous situation?
Maybe you could put out a short video explaining the inaccuracies about Blithe's death, maybe one for Dike later as well.
Not a bad idea. A wrap up to the series of sorts. Thanks!
@@ReelHistory Awesome! It would be cool to get a bit more of a deep dive into the Truth about Blithe, I've heard plenty of people explain that he didn't die at that time but not much else about him.
@@ReelHistory A little more on Cobb might be good too. The series paints him as an asshole and edging towards coward. However many people who love the series states he was a well liked guy. Some of the others that are only in the background could use a spot light. Like Christianson, McClung, Grant, and a few others.
This would be great! I love BoB but I know very little of the real life soldiers and a video like that would help me clear up what got edit out
When I visited Berlin in 2001, I stayed in a pension a few blocks away from Checkpoint Charlie. I would go for a run in the morning, and around almost every corner were buildings or parts of buildings that still bore the marks of WWII, pockmarked with bullet holes and scarred by shrapnel. It really was impactful, giving history a kind of living quality. Definitely not something I experience living in Seattle where buildings are continually torn down to make way for the new and there is so little history on the average street.
Your "Lt Spiers Last Stop Smoke Shop" t shirt is amazing lol
Very interesting guidance and comments, much appreciated work. Looking forward next episodes.
Okay man, great job. One suggestion, when you are talking please narrate and let us watch the footage, while your talking. Cutting to your self and blurring out the footage, does not have the same impact. We are asking ourselves “ let’s us see what your talking about, while your taking about it.”
The city of carentan (well the set piece) is the same set used in saving Private ryans end scene. Fun fact. But i heard you say "i dont think the company would rebuild the city" all i could think was they didnt really build anything haha
I listened to a journal of German Panther commander on YT and he said they ran people over pretty frequently as the German 9th army was trying to break out of Halbe to get to the 12th. Not on purpose but they had to keep moving. It was a brutal story of the fighting in the east
I "went blind," "blacked out," whatever you want to say, during an incident. My difference was, I continued to function -- I just could not remember a portion of the incident. I didn't do anything wrong, in fact I did everything right during that time, including protecting another soldier.
My sergeant sent me to the CO. The CO said it happens. It meant my training had kicked in. "You're the kind of soldier the military wants. One that acts without thinking."
I knew what he meant, but it wasn't exactly worded the best....
Just a wee correction Naval Gunfire was supplied mainly by the Royal Navy and they also supplied the majority of landing craft crews. Love ur videos
Not quite true. The Westerrn Task Force for Utah and Omaha Beaches was under the command of Admiral A.G. Kirk, USN. Under him was the Utah Bombardment Group, commanded by RADM Mort Deyo, USN, consisting of the battleship USS Nevada, the heavy cruisers USS Tuscaloosa, USS Quincy, and HMS Hawkins, and the ligh cruisers HMS Black Prince and HMS Enterprise. In the Omaha Bombardment Group, commanded by RADM C F. Bryant, USN, were two USN battleships: Texas and Arkansas, two French cruisers, and one RN light cruiser. Admiral Kirk later wrote that the most effective naval gunfire provided for Omaha and Utah came from U.S. Navy destroyers that were able to run up almost onto the beach and provide rapid, accurate fire with six five inch guns. Most of the Royal Navy's combatant ships were in the Eastern Task Force, providing covering fire for Sword, June and Gold beaches. Most of the spotting for the naval gunfire was provided by 17 U.S. Navy pilots flying borrowed RAF Spitfires. These pilots were experts in adjusting fire and did superb work for all the ships of the bombardment forces. It was a team effort of all the Allied navies.
I’ve watched the series many times and find myself dismayed over the change in Albert Blythe’s story. To me, Hanks & Spielberg have done a great disservice to this soldier and his family.
Ambrose took a lot of the soldiers' recollections at face value when he wrote the book, and the producers in turn took Ambrose at his word which is how they missed a simple fact check.
@@tbeller80 Yep, they should have fact checked some of the stories as any mischaracterization could destroy an otherwise good soldier’s reputation, namely Blithe and Norman Dyke.
Why they have not bothered to change the coda at the end of the episode is beyond me. This is not honoring a soldier who served with distinction in Korea etc. (He did not die right after the war).
these are so great, thanks Jared!
I think the reason as to why Blithe has a southern accent is that the actor portraying him which the actors name is Marc Warren and Marc is from the UK. So maybe they thought that it was the best they could get out of him.
A lot of actors say the southern accent is the easiest to do.
@@moose2577 Yeah, i can understand that. I don't have a southern accent but i can do one as well.
When mentioning the fact that the portrayal of Blithe has a Southern accent, it is just as odd that the portrayal of Carwood Lipton does not sound like he is from West Virginia.
Lt. Speirs Last Stop Smoke Shop!!! Nice shirt Jared!
Please! Where did you acquire that t-shirt? Its so welcoming to hear an intellectual speak of these events.
Rangerup.com
Gonna get mine. It’ll go with my 101 ball cap that I picked up at the Airborne museum in St. Mere Eglise
RE. Pvt. Blithe “controversy.” The main “problem” that is seldom discussed is the career of Dr. Stephen Ambrose, the author of the book “Band of Brothers” and an advisor for the TV series. Ambrose had a distinguished academic career and wrote a raft of well-received, best-sellers. He also made a lot of money and donated to many great causes. He endowed a chair at the Univ. of Wisconsin and was responsible for the WWII Museum in New Orleans. Unfortunately however, it was discovered that he had a propensity for plagiarism, dishonesty concerning research, and not letting facts get in the way of a good story. This is not even controversial at this point. See his Wikipedia entry for example.
If a veteran told him something, that was good enough for print. Ambrose became so famous that it just rolled downhill from there.
Not saying you're wrong or anything, and I really don't know anything about Ambrose other than that he wrote that particular book, but just in general I trust Wikipedia about as far as I could throw the average tiger tank. That's maybe not the best example to use to back up your point.
So true and such a shame
@@tbeller80 The problem is, when Ambrose was told by other veterans that he was wrong about something, something in the proofs of his books, Ambrose would tell them that the falsehoods would be corrected. But they never were. Some members of Easy wouldn't talk to Ambrose after that because he preferred his story to the truth.
When I was in during the early 2000's the Marine Corp had Couriers mounted on off road motorcycles (don't know if they still do, they should). If you have access to an asset, use it. In OIF I, there was a protocol for waking up fellow Marines. You do it wrong, you could get a broken nose.
Semper Fi brother
There's a guy here in town (Alameda, CA) riding a USN surplus Harley WL WW2 vintage still wearing the original paint job that he bought in Michigan from the Navy in the '60s!
@@alswann2702 I vaguely recall going to indoor flea markets in the late 70's and seeing military gear going for cheep.
is it tickle the feet?
@@rocketsmall4547 No, but similar. You either tapped the feet if they were on the ground or lightly kicked the legs of the cot if they were in one.
I can't remember the exact show. A member of the 2nd SS Panzer division commented on the difference between fighting in the east and west. In the west Germans and Americans would sometimes declare a temporary truce for the evacuation of the wounded. In the east, he said this never occurred and they would run over the wounded unfortunate enough to get in the way.
Perhaps the most famous truce was among medics in the Hurtgen Forest.
I have always thought of when winters says in the woods something like "this is what happens when officers crap out on their training" is he talking about Walsh to Nixon or is it about the officers of fox company?
Other officers besides Easy company, who did not take their training seriously prior to Normandy.
In this incident, Fox Company was right where it was supposed to be. It was Easy Co who lost contact with them and the ultimate responsibility for that lies with the company commander. I think Winters acknowledged that afterwards.
'Lt. Spiers Last Stop Smoke Shop.' nice.
Holy shit I love your shirt. That is a very very specific reference :)
Really enjoying all of these. Thanks
Great breakdown yet again!
How many time Maj Richard D. Winters will win my only heart,
Much respect R.I.P great man
And many others like him !!!!
Ambrose was unable to have Band of brothers published originally because the possibility of legal lawsuit by members of easy company particularly speirs because the rumors of his brutality with prisoners and shooting one of his men for intoxication. Amberose called up Winters very concerned. Winters told him to calm down and that he would take care of it. Winters had no idea what he was doing, but he called Speirs on the phone, and basically explained to speirs about how there is legal concern with his portrayal in the book based upon the writings, stories, and accounts of the men in the company. Winters asked him for the only time ever is these accounts were true, and speirs responded with a confident “oh yea, they are all true. I will even sign off on it in a letter”. There is a Winters interview on RUclips where you can find this.
My father marched in Pattons 3rd army.. He earned the bronze star and 2 purple hearts. He never would talk about it ,but I was just a boy. He marched across Europe. I am a humble forecaster of the news I learned. I met the great niece of "Wild Bill Guanere," in Bellma😢wr NJ around c.1990 .. we are all worthless in comparison
Anna Guanere, Stand tall and proud. Your grandfather made the difference.
. Wild Bill led the line at Bastogne. My father was there. He wasn't wounded at this point b.ut it would come
The one inaccuracy that I can’t get over is the lack of panzer mark 4s in this battle scene the tank destroyers were used but more often the tank most commonly encountered would be the panzer 4 and some panzer 3s
Love the t-shirt
Btw,surpirsed you didnt mention the error with the edelweiss, its not fallshirmjaegers, but gebirgsjaeger who got the flower.
Love your series, saw the shirt and had to order one
Im a bit late here not sure if you l read this but i would strongly recommend the book Lions of Carentan by Volker Griesser, it focuses on the 6th Fallschirmjäger Regiment and from having the full battle accounts and dozens of soldier reports troughout the war it depicts with great accuracy their battle for Carentan and Normandy overall and their struggles against the "Screaming eagles".
I have that book, among others... excellent source of info. FJR.6 at the time was made up of a cadre of hardened veterans from Crete, North Africa, and Italy, and some of the best Fallschirmjaeger replacements in the later war period. Regimental CO Oberst von der Heydte was a formidable but consummate professional soldier. I count myself lucky to have met a few veterans of FJR.6, veterans of Carentan and some later engagements... this was 20 or so years ago, so most of them have probably passed on by now, but all of them were kind men who were proud to be paratroopers first & foremost.
@@thedoctor755 wow! Must have been quite an experience for you my friend
They were great men indeed.
May they rest in peace now.
If memory serves I think we see General Taylor in the last episode when Winters is requesting a transfer over to the Pacific.
That would be Major General Elbridge Chapman, Deputy Cmdr of the 101st portrayed by David Andrews.
Was General Taylor the one that was asking about the status in Bastogne? They tell him the line is too thin...
@@moose2577 that was actually general McAuliffe
The Army runs on scuttlebutt, but we called it Rumor Control (which, despite the name, was utterly uncontrolled).
Really enjoying this companion series. Now I gotta re-watch BoBS.
The line that Speirs said about considering yourself already dead is very similar to what General Savage said to his aircrews in the 1949 film Twelve O'Clock High. Although that film is fiction, most of the characters are based on real people, like Savage was based on Frank A. Armstrong. I would like to see you review that film.
That's an awesome shirt man!
As a Mortarman Im a bit offended by how you portrait us. There are line company mortars and Battalion mortars. Line company mortars can be a as close as 500 meters from the front and in many cases where the company is being overrun we are right in the middle of the fighting. Mortars ARE infantry. We are at the "front".
Overall, they did an excellent job of capturing the essence of the battle. The only nitpicks I have (other than getting Blithe's postwar story wrong) were a couple of inaccuracies with the Germans. For one, the Edelweiss flowers on the Fallschirmjaeger (revered and collected by German Gebirgsjaeger, or mountain troopers, not FJ, and in the ALPS!).... they should've just focused on their jump badges, which depicted a scary-looking diving eagle inside a wreath, something the FJ were intensely proud of wearing, sometimes even on the outside of their camo smocks. Later during the Carentan battle, we only got a quick taste of what should've been a 2-day long battle, with the 502nd PIR locked in nasty combat with Fallschirmjaeger-Regiment.6 in town on the first day, and 501st, 506th, & glider troops swinging in on the 2nd day. But hey, had to condense for screen time I guess. Also, most of FJR.6 withdrew during the first night, with all of their rear guard (that we see fighting Easy Co in Carentan) either killed or captured, not running away for their lives across the flooded terrain.
A philosophy accepting you're already dead certainly assists in combat; it gives you one less thing to worry about. The problem comes when you have to learn how to live again.,,,
Dick Winters, in interviews in his advancing years, still had a scary aura of total authority.
In a later interview of Dick Winters, Winters said he asked Speirs about the "rumers", Speirs said it was "all true".
Opinions still differ on whether there is such a thing as a "perfectly good airplane".
Love the t-shirt. Very clever. 😄great series.
One story that gets me from their time in England is that of An interaction between Joe Toye and Don Malarkey, Joe was forced by his father to drop out of either elementary or Middle school to work. He hated it. Later in the army he felt very self conscious about his knowledge. He thought everyone thought he was dumb. This was wrong he was very well respected but he still felt that way. He at some point confided this to Malarkey. Later He went missing at a hotel and Malarky found him either on the roof or standing on a balcony drunk about to jump. Malarkey convinced him not to. I wish I knew all the details perfectly but it's been a while since I read and I guess if anyone wants the better telling they should look into Malarkeys account.
"You never know what that shadow is, hiding in the brush" It didn't help that the guy was wearing a German parka. ;)
If you are in a tank and you are under threat you hit the reverse no matter what. Especially if you are in a tank company and have seen the inside of tanks that have been hit. Most of the time other people outside are running for cover aswell. But sometimes people get hit or just fall over.
Another book is “Beyond Band of Brothers “ authored by Major Dick Winters.
The Battle of Bloody Gulch was on June 13, 1944.
Love your t shirt on this! Where can i get one? Cheers
This t-shirt is gold!