Band of Brothers Episode 7 - Breaking Point | Canadians First Time Watching | Reaction & Review |
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- Опубликовано: 31 май 2024
- Simone & George are reacting to and reviewing Band of Brothers Episode 7 - Breaking Point
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00:00 - Intro
02:25 - Episode 7 - Breaking Point
24:04 - Discussion
Welcome to Cinebinge, this time we are reviewing and reacting to Band of Brothers Episode 7 - Breaking Point
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Curiously, Colonel Sink didn't chastise Winters when the attack faltered because Winters stopped himself from nearly charging onto the field. He reminded himself that he was the battalion XO and it wasn't his place. He also didn't have to shout for Lt. Spiers. In his memoirs, Winters recalled that without making a sound, Spiers just sort of appeared beside Winters, anticipating what Winters needed to ask of him.
Lt. Spiers was not even with his own company, but on hand.
I'm all for following source material, but from a television perspective, making Winters rush into battle and be yelled at by Sink makes more sense. You can't really give internal thoughts and dialogue effectively on television and that's a case where it's easier to show it than say it, so to say.
Ive never been more satisfied by a contextual fact than right now with this one
I'm not entirely convinced Ronald Spiers isn't some sort of supernatural being.
Buck yelling "MEDIC" and him dropping his helmet gets me every freaking time.
"It's amazing he can run that fast with balls of steel" George, 2021 xD
It's been said that the only two things visible from space with the naked eye are the Great Wall of China and Ronald Spiers' balls.
That got a legit real LOL out of me...
I'm stillaughing at that, and the video ended already
Met Bill Guarnere when I was a kid. Was so go lucky about what he had survived through, told me stories about him racing kids up the street in philly with his hand crutches!!! We exchanged jump wings pins and I leaned in the hug him and tell him he was my hero. Never understood the sacrifice they went through till I got older. What I wouldn’t give to go back and talk to him again. Such a humble modest and enduring group of men they became. Will always look up to them.
That's awesome.
Wow lucky you to meet such an incredible hero. The actor who played him said he was very fast on his crutches (understandable given he had spent more of his life with one leg than he did with two) and the actor said he went to meet Bill at the airport in full dress uniform when he arrived in the UK to visit the set and he just shoved past him saying “hey kid” and headed straight outside for a smoke moving unbelievably fast on his crutches. Babe followed slowly behind carrying all their bags. When they got outside they found Bill smoking and flirting with any woman who passed by 😀 what a character
@@ginjamutha i was 11, hearing this story of him cracks me up cause i dont doubt it for one second lol
Wow! That is amazing! He was one legendary soldier! I really wish I'd got to meet "Wild Bill". At least I do have an autographed _Band of Brothers_ poster signed by "Wild Bill". It's signed:
"Wild Bill Guarnere
Co. E 506 101st
Band of Brothers"
I salute these soldiers, and their sacrifice for our freedom!
After Shifty got the sniper (who was significantly further away than was depicted), Popeye Wynn and a couple other guys went looking for him. They found him with a single wound between the eyes. Popeye said “It really doesn’t pay to be shooting at Shifty when he’s holding a rifle.”
He scored a dead center mass head shot on a partially concealed enemy sniper at a distance greater than 100 meters in a combat situation…That is unbelievable marksmanship. The only difference from the series and what really happened is that the sniper was in a window of a church down the road. He wasn’t in a barn. Today, you can still stand behind the building where he made the shot from and look right to the window where the enemy sniper was hiding… Astounding accuracy.
- RIP Shifty
@@opkearney Amen.
The episode doesn't even scratch the surface of just how insane Spier's run through the German lines really was. It was a much longer run through and back again under much heavier fire than shown in the episode.
Spiers ran thru the enemy lines laterally (yes, like football) to contact I Co attacking on Easy's flank. It did take longer than portrayed in the episode but Hollywood gotta cut the runtime for us ADDhDD'rs!!
The charge of Ronald Spiers, chills every time
Absolutely! Flash, Batman and Superman can look on in awe as Spiers does his thing ♥
IIRC it's only a line or two in the book but it's _easily_ one of the most memorable moments from the show IMO.
(none of us beat death of course but in that moment Ronald Speirs literally gave him a run for his money :)
The Real Captain America
@@GerSan1979 And he didn't need any Super Soldier Serum to get there.
He was badass
The problem with this episode is that, like the book, the TV series is based on the memories and recollections of the men. And the men of Easy Company hated Norman Dike with a passion. According to the official record, he wasn't anywhere near as cowardly or incompetent as he is portrayed here. (In fact, he was awarded to medals for valor). He was nobody's idea of a perfect officer, but he was hardly the asshole he's portrayed as here. For example, it isn't mentioned in the series -- or the book, for that matter, mainly because the men of Easy Company had no idea - but the actual reason why Lieutenant Dike fell apart during the attack on Foy had nothing to do with incompetence or shock or cowardice and everything to do with the fact that, very early in the attack, Dike was shot in the chest twice. By the time Easy Company reached the outskirts of the town, Dike had become incoherent and confused due to blood loss and shock. At the time, the men described him as "pale" and "mumbling incoherently" and assumed he was panicked. Truth is, he was very slowly bleeding to death, and like all cases of severe blood loss, his brain was suffering the most.
The heavy cold-weather gear he had been wearing hid the fact that he had two bleeding chest wounds from his fellow soldiers, who merely assumed Dike was just being Dike again. The truth wasn't found out until Dike had been evacuated to the nearest aide station after the invasion of Foy was over.
To add to your post, from the "historical inaccuracies" section of the BoB wiki:
In the series, Lieutenant Dike is portrayed as being an incompetent coward. However, in real life he performed many acts of heroics. For example, Dike was awarded a Bronze Star for his action at Uden, Holland, with the 101st Airborne Division between 23 and 25 September 1944, in which he “organized and led scattered groups of parachutists in the successful defense of an important road junction on the vital Eindhoven (sic)-Arnhem Supply Route against superior and repeated attacks, while completely surrounded."
Dike was awarded a second Bronze Star for his action at Bastogne, in which "he personally removed from an exposed position, in full enemy view, three wounded members of his company, while under intense small arms fire" on 3 January 1945. In preparation for the 13 January 1945 attack on Foy, Belgium, E Company was attached to the 3rd Battalion, 506th PIR. Division Headquarters ordered the attack to begin at 0900 hours.
During the assault, Carwood Lipton, at that time the company's first sergeant, described Dike as having "fallen apart." Clancy Lyall stated that he saw that Dike had been wounded in his right shoulder and that it was the wound, not panic, that caused Dike to stop. Dike survived the assault, and eventually returned to the rear in the company of a medic. Afterwards, he was transferred to 506th Regimental Headquarters to become an assistant operations officer. Dike then moved on to become, as a captain, an aide to General Maxwell Taylor, Commanding General, 101st Airborne Division. He later served in the Korean War.
Lt Dike did not earn the Medal of Honor. He may have been a brave man at times and that is far from any act that I have done in my life. That does not take way the fact that Dike failed as a company commander for Easy Company. Period.
@@andrewcharles459 They were all based on the interviews and memories of the survivors, so it could be argued that they are their opinions and also the dramatization of the book for the series would be my guess.
@@andrewcharles459 Told from the perspective of Easy Company men. Not a libel case.
@@markm994 Who mentioned the Medal of Honor, precisely?
Oh wait... nobody did.
Yes, he was a poor commander. That's not the point. The point is he was not the utter waste of air he's portrayed as.
Perhaps you should work on your reading comprehension before commenting again.
After nearly 20 years, the scene of "Buck" Compton shocked watching his two best friends badly injured, as his helmet falling to the ground is always devastatingly touching.
Forreal, this episode makes me tear up/cry almost as much as…trying to not spoil…other episodes
The shoot was apparently also intense for some of the actors, as well. Neal McDonough, the actor who played Buck Compton, remarked, years after BoB came out, that this episode was one he couldn't watch, because of how intense it was.
That scream, and Blithe scream in ep.3, chills every time.
The rumor of Speirs shooting his own drunk sergeant was true. Back in Normandy, Speirs was assembling a patrol for night Ops and he realized one of the sergeants he picked was in a complete drunken state. He ordered the sergeant to fall out, to which the sergeant refused and declared he was fit for the patrol. An argument broke out between the two and escalated when the sergeant drew his weapon at Speirs. Speirs, aimed back and shot the sergeant and immediately reported the incident to his CO. Witnesses came forward confirming Speirs’ story and he was allowed to remain in his commanding position.
I love how people get to see Speirs truly shine in this episode. That man was born for war.
He will be in combat for 20 more years. Korea and Vietnam.
Speirs also confirmed that the shooting of some German prisoners was true, but during the first 2 days of D-Day they were told not to take prisoners which is why there wer no issues.
Without spoiling anything, there is an interview with one of the guys that speak in the beginning about it.
@@andrewcharles459 There is no official source that you can find on the internet but several books has stated Allied units (particularly airborne units) were not allowed to take any prisoners since they don't have the means to keep watch on them as they needed every manpower they have to complete their tasks. And they can't exactly let them go either since the former POWs would find their nearest unit and report the Allied last known position. War is hell
@@andrewcharles459 You can't expect a war to be full of cupcakes and rainbow. I am well aware that those who handed out such orders should've been taken to court but there is a very fine line between duty and moral. Many soldiers will still take up the audacity on doing everything they can to address issues that would've jeopardized their mission. Heck, General Peiper giving the order to execute US POWs that leads to the Malmedy Masscare could fall with this reason.
I'm not justifying these atrocities. I'm trying to paint the picture to you of what you can expect in a war.
As for the books, there is not a single one that explained into details about the order as far as I'm aware. You can find any D-Day books that covers the order of battle and find references of the 'No Quarter' order. I believe Stephan Ambose 'D-Day' book also contained some references
@@andrewcharles459 Mate, I literally told you where you can find such references. Not everything is on the internet. If you're still not convinced and instead chose to be lazy, then I have no point on continuing this conversation with you. You need to find this on your own.
Don't expect a reply from me anymore. Good luck and have a great day!
And yet in spite of their horrific injuries both Toye and Guarnere survived and lived to be old men.
The image of Guarnere being carried off the field minus a leg while casually saying "Told ya I'd beat you back to the States!" just shows you what these guys were made of.
I watched an interview with Winters recently and he asked Spiers if the stories were true about him and Spiers agreed that they were true
I just watched that video this week.
@@JoeMama410 Watched it last week
Spiers definitely shot one of his men in Normandy. He was even relieved of his command because of it and was going to be court-martialed. Most who witnessed they event said that Spiers shot the guy in self-defense as the guy was drunk when he assaulted Spiers. The only reason why he wasn't was that D Company suffered high casualties during the attack on Carentan and a number of the key players involved were either killed or wounded.
Spiers admitted he did, winters and producers were worried about legal action. Winters book hang tough explains it all
Dike's portrayal in this episode was a little harsh, During the attack on Foy, Easy Company trooper Clancy Lyall saw Dike get shot in his right shoulder. Omitted from the on-screen depiction, this wound inhibited Dike’s decision-making and caused him to panic. he also wasn't killed he served in Korea and later got his law degree
He also had two Bronze Stars so not the empty uniform they are portraying him as.
9:32 Thats Michael Fassbender who Spiers is talking to... There were so many stars who had their start on this show...!
Really emotional episode! From what I've read Lt Dike was kind of a hero up until the battle at Foy, earning multiple bronze stars etc. Lipton had said that Dike was shot in the shoulder and that was what made him stop his charge, but it could also just be that he had passed his own breaking point and just wasn't capable of effectively leading anymore. Hard to really say what the truth of the matter is at this point. Spiers taking over for him gets me every time, it's like a real life Captain America moment. When I first watched this series I felt a real distrust / dislike of the guy, and then by the end of this episode we see a totally different side of him.
Whoops, it wasn't Lipton who mentioned him being shot in the shoulder but someone named Lyall
Kind of sort of. Everything is true (including the other far lesser remembered/known Lyall) Dyke WAS wounded in the opening salvo, but he either ignored it or didn't know how bad it was and his actions shortly after were a delirious bleeding out. No one noticed until he was brought out behind the line and some doctor noticed it was a wound, not/just him breaking mentally. As mentioned, Dyke was highly courageous and had proven extremely capable against extreme tactical odds and conditions. One was rallying a impromptu rag tag group of random men into a 360 defense of a key full cross roads against a full strength German attack in Market Garden. Another was pulling to cover several wounded men by himself under a heavy field of fire and in the open and minimal covering fire.
The reason he was portrayed as such here was because Dyke was transferred out of real need to the 101st with full merit backed, it was just days before Bastogne happened. 2 weeks of short, brief snippets of impressions and conversations most of which only happened once of twice with every person (Randleman might have only exchanged any words once with him while Lipton two or three). Notwithstanding 101st's penchant for folklore, gossip, and sewing circle mentality, they've been through the absolute worst together, have been together from the literal jump, and this is the peak of their war and you just show up in their lives. Speirs' rumors get explained and fleshed out at some point, but imagine people not knowing what actually happened (especially by the end) of the war? No one saw him get wounded/word never got back of what actually happened to him so the rumor of what would have been him being awkward beginning that would have worked itself out in time turned into the "reality" of him being a coward/inept/broken. Plus no one really got to know him/his service in that short timeframe.
BoB was written juuuust before the Internet really took off/the complete wealth of blogs and stuff that have documented essentially the entire war through these diaries and journals/etc. So as long as what Easy members said/recalled/related didn't contradict something/someone else, it was written. This episode had the most inaccuracies/changes. Hubler did shoot himself by accident, just it was during Foy. It went off in his belt/holster climbing a fence. It was a common accident at the time because most Americans knew that 1911's (our sidearm) was safe to carry with a round in the chamber (but still on safety). But they did NOT ALSO know that Luger were not. They were designed to be carried with only with a magazine (it's common for us to carry the magazine PLUS another in the chamber too. Besides old western folks who carried revolvers with the hammer on a dry chamber which acted as their safety since it hadn't really been invented yet). They changed it for the show to keep a story flow going throughout. But still, great job in that it was only 5-7 changes/mistakes AT ALL, all of which are over with besides the drunk pissy dude. IRL he drunkenly sucker punches a superior officer in Austria? a few months before surrender, agreed to be put in the brig for several months knowing the war was ending and them dishonorably discharging him with a "brand" on his records for life. He was IRL well liked and even keeled throughout the war/capable/brave (on the Randleman mission he was a volunteer, not guilted in). Just a shit drunk.
Yeah, glad you mentioned it -- Dike got done dirty, lol.
Dike was hit while helping another wounded Trooper. yeah this didn't do him justice as he was a good officer
Odd. I've read every Easy memoir and NONE of them had anything good to say about Dike. And getting your information from the internet is not substantive.
Great reaction. You need to steady yourself for the next two. A point about comments from people saying it does not match up to the official report. Band of Brothers is not a documentary, it is a drama about real events as recalled by the men who lived through it. It is why in the beginning of each episode there are the men who were there talking about what is to follow. I have studied Brecourt Manor (ep2) and the next episode The Last Patrol (ep8). Do the facts of what happen differ, yes but only by a little. The essence of being in the trenches of Brecourt, or how close the action is in Patrol gives the viewer a feeling of being there. What was it like to be in their boots as it was happening. In this reaction, the death, the shelling, the cold builds your stress level right up to the church scene. If you are asked do you know what it was like for them in what you just saw, you answer is yes. ps- you will also see an example of how the "Official Report" sometimes is not actually the truth either.
Excellent summation! Finally a succinct statement of the truths of the story!
That end scene in the convent is one of my favorite scenes of the entire series.
There are few things that can REALLY make one understand the impact of losing dozens, hundreds or even more. But when you show their faces...knew a little bit about who they were...and then watch them fade away like here....it hits different.
The episode we learn that Spears was a bad ass and that his reputation was well earned. The Bastogne episodes are always hard for me to watch. My mother lost her brother (my uncle) in Bastogne. So every time I watch people react to this show these two episodes are hard. Even though I never knew my uncle.
This series made you feel like a participant rather than just a viewer. By the time I watched the final episode, I felt glad and sad that it was over.
From a filmmaking standpoint, the scenes in the forest, including the barrages, were filmed on a set inside an airplane hanger. It was a great piece of set design and dressing.
Vapes would have useful...
@@stuarthastie6374 useful to kill you your longs!!!!!!!!!
Growing up, I knew of course that my father had served in WWII. But as he never spoke of his experiences, I never heard much about them. My dad died in 1999, and Band of Brothers came out in 2001. I started to try to learn as much as I could about him and discovered he was also Airborne...Glider Trooper 194th Glider Infantry Regiment, 17th Airborne (my avatar here on You Tube is their shoulder patch)...and his first combat experience was about 10 miles further west of Foy in a little town called Flamierge at the same time Easy Company was fighting in Foy. This series made it possible for me to understand maybe just a little of what my dad experienced as an 18/19 year old man in 1945 and I will be grateful for it till the day I die. I only wish I knew more about his experiences. Maybe it's better I don't. I don't know. Cheers for the fine reaction. :)
5:36 Dike is 1st Lieutenant, only the second rank of commissioned officers
Enlisted and officers are on totally different tracks. Being an officer is generally more prestigious, but a new one is still a new one.
Dike yawning just before starting the assault, was a nervous reflex. I've seen it lots of times. It's not fear or tiredness, it's just nerves.
Yep. Dike had already hit his breaking point and shouldn’t really have been there but as Winters pointed out, they were short of officers.🤷♀️🥺
@@sandraback7809 go read Lt. dikes combat record you have no clue what you’re talking about ☕️
@@falaramal3979 Are you for real right now? Bill Guarnere, Babe Heffron, Dick Winters, and Carwood Lipton just to name a few all spoke of how much of a poor leader he was. Lipton said he "fell apart" at Foy and NONE of the Easy Company men had anything favorable to say about him or his 'leadership'. There is no information of any kind to suggest that Dike had any business leading anybody anywhere at that time. He was replaced MID BATTLE because he quite literally could not carry out the tasks required of someone in his position.
He did go on to serve after the war as he remained in the Army Active Reserve and went on to fight in Korea and serve in the CIA and more. His post war career was a huge deal and he went on to achieve a lot ending his service at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel when he resigned in 1957. NONE of that changes the fact that during WWII he was relieved of his position commanding Easy Company, and he was transferred to a position as an aide to General Maxwell Taylor (commander of the 101st Airborne) because of the simple fact that he was not capable of doing the job. He was not, at the time, a good soldier by any stretch of the imagination and his service record does not change that fact in the slightest.
I remember back during the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge with E/506th at the battle reenactment in PA . we were having a Prop Blast Bash in the barrack's with all the org Trooper's .i was drinking with Wild Bill when 1 of r guys tells Bill he was going to visit the site of were he had fought on his trip and he asked Bill if their was anything he could get him.Wild Bill lowers his beer looks right at him and says "Yeah, if you could find my leg that would be great" and then smiled and lifted his beer. we all raised our drinks and toasted to Bill's leg. well we toasted many times to his leg the rest of the night. god those were some epic hangovers
Buck became a famous prosecutor and judge, who prosecuted Sirhan Sirhan for the assassination of Bobby Kennedy
Watching this reminded me that Lt Edward Shames passed away Dec 3 2021........a week ago. He was the last EASY Company member alive, and this i believe was the first episode hes directly mentioned in the show. RIP to a era of men we will sorely miss.
Colonel Ed Shames (Lieutenant Shames during WWII), the one shown screaming at his men in the montage as Winters talks about who could replace Dike, is 99 years old and is the last surviving member of Easy Company.
When locations for the series was being scouted, several of the Easy Company veterans came with Spielberg and Hanks to the different locations including the forest at the edge of Foy. The foxholes are still there and Bill Guarnere made the trip and and showed Steven his foxhole and where him and Joe Toye were hit.
I just recently watched your reaction to ep2. Joe Toye was the guy who barely escaped two grenades at Brecourt and Simone thought he lost his legs.
The story of Dyke is so weird. They portray him as a complete fool, but in reality, while not the best for Easy, he actually was leading the men correctly during Foy until he got shot up and Spears had to take over. Its one of several historical errors committed in the name of artistic license.
Everyone in Easy told the production to not put Buck's breakdown into the miniseries and Buck basically said "it's how it happened. put it in"
That "Woo! It's fun" sounded so unenthusiastic that it almost seemed like you were being sarcastic, but you two are indeed fun.
The weird, awkward "where are you from" conversation between Lt. Dike and Lip looks bad, but in leadership training, "sociability" is taught as one of the traits a leader should have. That scene could have been Lt. Dike trying to do what the textbook says a leader is supposed to do but being really bad at it. When people who fundamentally lack confidence try to exercise theoretical principles of leadership, they often come across as clearly just going through the motions, and they end up looking weak and clueless.
In real life, Lt. Dike was unable to function or lead effectively in that assault because he was wounded. Also, he had previously been cited for valor. With that in mind, this episode may be treating him unfairly. However, it could still be an accurate representation of how the men perceived him. On the other hand, some people can handle physical danger better than they can handle responsibility, and valor doesn't necessarily make someone a competent leader.
I knew a soldier in Vietnam who had a lieutenant he nicknamed "Lt. Gladly" because he always said "I wouldn't order any of my men to do anything I wouldn't GLADLY do myself." Once, when they were unable to advance because of an enemy machine guy, the lieutenant ordered the soldier to leave cover and throw a grenade to take out the machine gun. The soldier knew this would be suicidal and refused. The lieutenant said "I'm very disappointed in you. We're going to talk about this when I get back" then ran out to throw a grenade himself and was immediately killed by machine gun fire. He was very brave, and he had very good intentions, but that was very bad judgement and poor leadership.
Dyke didn't die at Foy that day he made it through the war alive. When a soldier drops their helmet the way Buck Compton did is a sign that they have mentally broken and they have to get him off of the line, just like the guy digging a foxhole with his bare hands.
I have watched a lot of your stuff over the past few years but this one hit deeper than usual; I think I fell a little in love with Simone for that emotional honesty. It surprises me I missed your going through BoB and it is odd that RUclips served Episode 7 up to me out of nowhere. I shall happily retreat to Episode 1 ...
I had a LT as my platoon leader in Afghanistan who reminded me a lot of this buck Compton guy. He was always in the thick of it with his soldiers and when we weren’t on missions he was hanging out with us playing dominos or cards or helping us doing dumb details. I can’t remember what brought it up but someone asked him why he’s always with us lower enlisted guys (he did t have to do anything with us) and he said that if something happened to any of us, he’s the one who’ll have to look our parents or our wives and kids in the eye and apologize for us not being there anymore and he wouldn’t be able to do that if he didn’t know us for the people that we are. He had the utmost respect from us and anyone of us would’ve followed that guy into hell itself or taken a bullet for him. He was the definition of a combat leader.
One thing I've noticed watching reactions to this show is how often the show makes the people ask a question, and then IMMEDIATELY answer it. It's amazingly well written, I love this show
Spiers ran to meet a flanking company on the other side to tell the commander to be careful not to shoot at them as they were pushing into the town, seconds after he ran back the commander he talked with was shot by a sniper.
I'll say this for both David Schwimmer and the actor portraying Norman Dike (don't remember his name): They did a tremendous job of making you hate their characters. Very very good acting.
General Sherman (US civil war) stated:- "War is cruelty". I believe that this episode clear demonstrates that.
I don't know if it's the same quote, but he gave a speech to a graduating class and told them that instead of war being glorious, "War is Hell". Then I know Robert E Lee had his quote of 'It is well that war is so terrible... we would grow too fond of it'. Which is a sobering thought, war is already so awful and we've STILL fought all these times, if war ever lost that terribleness I can only imagine...
The early German Luger, while a huge advance in handgun technology which is still copied today, was quite prone to "accidental discharge". A light trigger and the absence of an external safety made proper handling of it a crucial skill for anyone who had one. On another note, Lt. Col. Ronald "Sparky" Speirs was a true badass. The depiction of him in this series barely scratches the surface of his exploits in WWII and Korea. He was the kind of stuff legends are made of.
a huge part of what makes this such a remarkable series is how each episode builds ( even if totally uniquely) on the overall experience of following these men thru this almost unfathomable time.
Spiers was chosen simply because he was the closest ranking man to Winters as he glanced around at the moment as he (Winters) recalled later. One fluke happenstance changed history and created a legend.
Such a good series. Vividly remember recording it on videotape during highschool, to watch it before leaving in the morning.
Damien Lewis' performance is still incredible, double so if you hear him talking as an American.
Also standout in this episode is Neal McDonough - generally I know him as a character-actor, but in this one he's the shit.
Speirs was actually Born in my home country Scotland! He moved to the US with his family when he was 3 years old.
The safety mechanisms of the Luger P.08, which is the one Hoobler picked up, were VERY foreign to Americans, it was actually semi-common that the Luger's taken as trophies by Americans had a tendency to go off if carried in a pocket rather than an actual holster or unloaded.
This was the one that got me to subscribe. I enjoy the genuine reactions.
Knowing that the openings are the most powerful parts of the episode, don't forget to watch the companion documentary at the end 'We Stand Alone Together'. All the expanded interviews with the surviving members... It was made in 2001, so most of them have passed away, I believe there is one surviving member of Easy company to this day. The documentary is fantastic and a must watch to go along with the show.
Let's clear the air on Spiers now that you have reached this episode. In interviews after this series released he fully admitted to executing those prisoners from back in Episode 2. But under orders. The invasion of Normandy was by no means certain to be a success. It was a very risky operation that could have been turned back as easily as not. All resources were committed to fighting the enemy and securing their position. The allies did not have the resources or capability to take prisoners. So Spiers, and others, were ordered to execute the prisoners because they could not commit men to guard them and they could not just be let go as they would likely have regrouped with other German units to fight another day. It wasn't a choice that anyone loved, but it was a military choice made to execute prisoners at the start of the invasion. Later, once they established a foothold, when they were able to take prisoners, they did. Spiers followed orders.
I know your comment is a year old, but I felt like adding a bit to it. When you say "Speirs followed orders", some people can interpret that the wrong way, because that is something that is also said about the Germans sometimes, most of them didn't know everything that was going on and they were "just following orders", and when you see what the Germans did, that's just not an acceptable thing to say.
So having said that, I think the important thing to realize about what Speirs did is that there was no other choice. Like you said, at that point the allies simply couldn't take prisoners, so the only option that makes sense is to execute them. It's a terrible thing and many people might say they wouldn't be able to do it and that it's wrong and whatever else, but that is actually exactly why it's actually a good thing that they showed us Speirs doing it. Speirs was a good man, he knew very well exactly what he needed to do and he did it, no questions asked (if it made sense), no hesitation, doesn't matter the consequences or the outcome, he did what needed to be done. Which is actually perfectly portrayed by his runs in this episode, he knew that the only that they could win this battle was by linking up with the other group and so that's exactly what he did. He didn't think he was invincible, he just had a job to do and he did it, done.
Winters, in the extended documentary, said that he had to give Spiers a call to ask if Spielberg could add the story of him killing those German POWs. Spiers gave them the okay to add that. Oh, and I heard you mention Blithe. This is my first time watching one of your reactions. Blithe's character was changed for storyline purposes. I don't think any soldier in Easy Company ever said anything about Blithe being scared, nervous, and that unsure of himself as portrayed in the show. He was wounded, shot through the neck, but by all accounts, Blithe was a good soldier. He also did not die of complications from that wound 2 years later. He would actually become a career soldier, serving with the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team in the Korean War. He would stay in the US military until his unfortunate death of a perforated ulcer in 1967. Although he didn't fight in Bastogne, he went to a ceremony commemorating the brave men of Easy Company that did. On his way back to his base, he would fall ill and sadly pass in surgery for the ulcer. RIP to all the men of Easy Company. There's a reason why their generation was called the greatest generation.
Ronald Charles Speirs ended up staying in the army after the war and retired a Lt. Colonel. He led a VERY successful career and was a truly gifted soldier / tactician. People called him "sparky" "killer" "bloody" and other terrifying nicknames. Absolute badass.
Your reactions to them being alive is wonderful. Your elation is how I felt ever so many years ago when I watched this the first time.
Don"t know if he really said that but when the severely wounded Guernere is taken away, he says, "Hey Joe, I told you I would beat you back to the states". Amazing on many levels. The want to share a last joke with his friends; keeping up his friend's spirits because they are shocked and, saying good bye.
"how did someone like that become a Lieutenant?" Lol gotta love it!
Hoobler certainly knew how to use the gun. Most guns have operational similarities. From what I have heard, he actually shot himself with a captured Walther P38 and NOT a Luger. Not sure if that is true, but the Luger I own has a very light trigger once cocked. Most likely his part of his clothing made its way into the trigger guard and activated the trigger.
It wasn't a Luger or a P38. The exact model of pistol is not known but it was probably some Belgian gun without a mechanical safety. And it went off because it got snagged on barbed wire during an advance, not just by itself.
In 2007, we got to visit Europe, and I stood on the spot where they charged across the field at Foy, and I saw their foxholes which are partially still there. I'll never forget that.
If it makes you feel better, Lieutenant Dyke was confused in the assault on the town because he'd been shot and was going into shock. He wasn't a good company commander, but he was decorated for bravery. The problem is he was trying to do the job of a major coordinating companies when that wasn't his job.
As for Captain Spiers, he's the real life Captain America as far as I'm concerned.
"Speirs...real life Captain America." Oof. You might want to look deeper. He was more akin to Homelander.
@@dudermcdudeface3674
Because he killed enemy soldiers without a lot of remorse and chest beating?
Life isn't Marvel Comics. A real soldier shoots the enemy before they can shoot his fellow soldiers, and there are no points for being a nice guy.
@@kenle2 "Life isn't Marvel Comics." That's the point, son. Stop spouting 'edgy cop' TV dialogue about a real war. Surrendered, disarmed enemy troops are called POWs. Everything done against them discouraged further surrenders and cost American lives. Which is why Speirs' actions were not the norm.
@@dudermcdudeface3674
I'm a 58-year-old former Army Field Artillery Officer who was trained to drop 100 lb., 155 mm high explosive shells on enemy troops, regardless of whether they were "in combat" at that particular moment.
Not. Your. Son.
There was no practical way to secure those prisoners until the beaches were taken and physical contact was reestablished with the paratroopers. With vital missions to carry out, no one was going to be able to stay around and guard them, and most of them would have just walked back to German lines and revealed the paratroopers position.
Right or wrong and "legality" was a luxury they didn't have at that moment.
Even the law recognizes the concept of "exigent circumstances". And being surrounded by tank and Artillery equipped enemies seems about as "exigent" as circumstances get.
@@kenle2 This is not a matter of debate, son. You're not gonna rewrite history or international law because you like a scene in a TV show. The "exigencies" you're talking about are for *accepting* surrender, as in it may not be safe to accept. But there are no conditions under which surrender may be accepted and then discarded later by a superior officer, disarming enemy troops only to then deliberately massacre them. You're welcome to like the fictional portray of Speirs, but his war crimes were what they were. End of story.
Great reaction...hard to see Joe and Bill get hurt...can't wait for next reaction
It's not mentioned here, and there's no way to know if it's the case with that particular dud or not, but this late in the war Germany was having a serious labor shortage and they were using some slave labor in their munition factories, and forcing various conscripted populations from occupied countries to work as well, manufacturing things like artillery shells. It was a big risk, and if they were caught they'd surely be executed, but many of these forced laborers deliberately sabotaged the German war effort whenever possible. A lot of German munitions late in the war didn't work as intended specifically because the people making them didn't want them to work. So it's possible that dud was sabotaged so it wouldn't blow up. Some unknown heroic factory worker may have saved those soldiers' lives. The most common form of sabotage was to simply work slowly, to slow down production, but deliberate manufacturing "errors" were also introduced by some conscripted workers if not monitored closely enough by their German overseers. There were also Germans who did not agree with the Nazi ideology and resisted in various ways. Anyway, just an interesting thing to think about.
Lugers were infamous for misfiring, that's why when Hoob picks it up he loads it, standard practice was not to keep one in the chamber.
So, one detail about Lt. Dyke I have not heard many people spell out is that, in the scene where he's panicking, you can see his right hand and there is a big class ring, which is likely a West Point (military academy) class ring. Later, Colin Hanks joins the company as a West Point Lieutenant and everyone kind of treats him like shit. I think this is because of Dyke being a West Pointer.
Dike went to Yale, not West Point.
That was the episode where you see how good Spiers was.
Speirs did shoot POWs on D Day, he later admitted it, but it wasn’t in the context seen in this episode. You have to remember that they were jumping behind enemy lines a few hours before the D Day invasion. They had objectives to achieve to aid the success of the invasion, they were completely surrounded by enemy with nowhere to hold prisoners and they couldn’t let them go because they would take that intelligence (of their positions etc) back to their units. Until they had established headquarters where they could hold prisoners they had little choice. I am not saying it was morally right, but they had orders and Speirs followed them. Speirs was described by many of his men as brutal but he also showed a lot of compassion and empathy towards the men he lead and although he had a different leadership style to Winters, he was as respected by the men as Winters was and they would have followed either man without question whenever they said “follow me”
..... "The Breaking Point" ....Probably the most profound of the 10 chapters. The fading images of soldiers in the church (of casualties dead & wounded) was sheer cinematic genius. And the sound that only you can hear during that scene? Is your heart breaking for these extraordinary men.
Dammit Simone. Your crying is making me cry while listening to this at work.
Visited muck and penkala's graves in Luxembourg... It was very emotional standing there
The real Dike was a well accomplished soldier, he got medals for his achievements in Holland and a Bronze Star for single handedly saving 3 injured men of his company while under heavy fire
I showed the Dike vs Speirs scene to my sister to demonstrate leadership, since she was gunning for a promotion and had to write a paper about what it meant to be a leader.
I enjoy watching you two. You were totally invested in the characters.
Michael Fassbender (Magneto) is playing Christensen
Great reaction.
If you both thought this was an emotional episode (which it still was 100%), just bring extra tissue for episode 9. That episode is the heaviest episode in this series.
"How does somebody like that become lieutenant".. well if you don't know military ranks that's a fair question. Short answer is he went to college before joining the military and the very first rank you get when you commission as an officer (an officer being a college educated person) is lieutenant. The officer rank structure generally goes 2nd lieutenant, 1st lieutenant, captain, major, lieutenant colonel, colonel, then generals.
The producers of BoB arranged tours of the forest battlefield and Foy in company of several surviving members of Easy Company. They found items abandoned in the fox holes during the bombardment. One comment was the corner where Shifty shot the German sniper is still there and the angle he chose exposed his right side when he took the shot - while standing. Spiers was not the only soldier that day with balls of steel.
@8:30 I scrolled down a bit to see if anyone commented it but I didn’t see it. The reason these guys, when they get out of hospital from being wounded, are so driven to get back to their own company is likely because when you’ve got a good solid unit you know you can trust to get the job done and have your back 100%, you’ll do anything to avoid going through “Repple-Depple” (the replacement depot). When you’re in the replacement depot they will basically send you anywhere they need men, and you will most likely not see your old unit again. So being part of an “elite unit”, you want to get back to the people you trust with your life, not be sent to fight alongside strangers.
Femoral artery bleeds can kill you inside of 5 minutes if it's bad enough. It's why police officers and EMS and anyone trained in basic medical should be well versed in tourniquets and how to use them, they can literally save lives.
Speirs was a godsend and a total badass for Easy Company, his nickname funny enough was actually "Sparky" lol.
If you're wondering if the stories about him were true, I wouldn't doubt it on most of them, but the facts get skewed and I believe according to Winters, he actually admitted he did kill prisoners, but keep in mind, when they dropped in to Normandy they were behind enemy lines with no method or ground or way to keep prisoners, so he was likely acting under orders from his own superiors to do so. General Maxwell Taylor was said to have issued such orders to the 101st to dispose of prisoners because they would impeded the mission at hand. Take the word dispose how you will in that type of context....
As far as him shooting his own Sergeant, from what I understand, it was purely self defense. Speirs had given a combat order to him, he was apparently drunk and refused, thereby putting lives at risk. Speirs relieved him of his duties and told him to retire to the rear, the Sergeant grabbed a gun, Speirs warned him, and when the Sergeant pointed it at Speirs, he shot him dead. It was investigated and concluded to be self defense.
Its a common problem with the Luger's firing pin. they have been known to go off while holstered that is why they were phased out of circulation by 44'. But plenty of were still fielded.
The practice of artillerists to pause barrages, intentionally, to lure your enemy out of their holes, before resuming them. Never you fear about ‘Wild’ Bill Guarnere, you can find video of him giving walking tours of the location of the artillery positions at Brecourt Manor that was Easy’s first attack on D-Day in episode 2, really recently.
Great reaction as usual!
The person who was having trouble not crying in the beginning was Sgt. Malarkey.
No spoilers.
Can't wait to see your reaction to episode 9. And episode 10.
It is unfortunate that the representation of Lt. Dike as being absent in command has become popularized by this show. I think it was a fictionalized version of reality perpetuated by Stephen Ambrose who wrote the book. Dike most likely suffered from PTSD/depression and that explains his disconnect once he took command of Easy.
I always loved in the church scene, when showing Dike. He's staring off into space.. and yet.. playing with a wedding ring. I thought that very humanizing. It reminds me of a Churchill quote about Czar Nicholas II or the German leader, Kaiser Wilhelm II. Or maybe it was some general in WWI who broke under pressure. I cant recall just now.
The quote was something along the lines of:
"...and see here now, this man. Not a bad man; A good man. _But certainly not a great man._ A man who loved his family, his country, and was brought to utter ruin by the crushing weight of history crashing upon his shoulders"
I've ruined the quote completely, but Norman Dike always reminds me of that sentiment. Not bad, maybe not good, but absolutely in no way, not a great man of history.
He's no Richard Winters.
This and Episode 5 are probably the best of the series
I served in the US Army and very vividly remember several situations where my major just said f* this move. “What Sir?” F*king move. “Where Sir?” Not here.
Inaction is the easiest way to die.
My favourite part of "what's a guy gotta do to get killed around here" is that Toye is also the guy that avoided two grenades in episode 2.
Constant shelling was as much if not more damaging psychologically as physically - ergo the term "shell shock." Every time the whistle of a shell would be heard, men would have to hunker down and essentially prepare to die - in both WWI and WWII there would be periods of near constant shelling for hours on end, day after day - the human will can only take so much.
Apparently IRL Dike had already been wounded, so he wasn't thinking too well and that contributed to his collapse.
That old thing they use to say in the Marin bootcamp .They would tell them to take a look at the man next to you because most like be dead when he goes to nam
This wasn’t fair to Dyke. According to Winters the series got him wrong. Or at least mostly wrong. And he didn’t freeze up during the assault. He was injured so he was relieved.
Cant wait to see your reaction to the rest of them :)
Dike was not liked by the men, but was not the ineffectual coward portrayed on screen. This is entertainment, remember, and when he "froze", in reality he'd just been shot. His inability was tied to being in shock not to incompetence. Winters also didn't like him (even around the time of this series, saying in his memoirs he was the worst officer he'd served with), so his portrayal was just narratively designed to make him unlikable on all fronts. In reality, in later engagements, (when he wasn't in shock after being shot) he earned two bronze stars for valor in combat (one for rescuing wounded men under his command, dragging them to safety while under close fire, the other for doing essentially what Winters did organizsing scattered paratroopers from various units and accomplishing a number of dicey objectives).
As a character, he was written to be hated, but don't wish ill on the real man, who was (As First Sergeant Lipton pointed out) being assigned men who had been together for 3 years and didn't like or trust the "new guy" and who they thought broke down under fire. Like Blithe (who lived more than 20 years after the events of his episode, definitely not dying in 1948, as the post script said) the men either didn't learn or didn't care to know him better.
Simone still doesn't understand why Spiers executed those prisoners earlier. He did so because they were on a mission that required them to reach and destroy an objective as quickly as possible. They could not risk taking prisoners with them. They did not have the facilities to secure them nor the manpower to watch them and letting them go was out of the question.War is brutal that's just the way it is.
Carwood Lipton is played by Donnie Wahlberg, Marks Wahlberg's big brother.
I have to say, they did Lt Dyke dirty in this. He wasn’t as bad as portrayed in this. He was actually quite heroic and was awarded two bronze stars for some of his actions. Quite a few of the soldiers disliked him for various reasons including Winters, but he was a good soldier and maybe not a good leader. Some say he froze by the haystack because he was shot, others say he just froze and didn’t know what to do. Winters recalled seeing him walking back after the attack with a medic but didn’t think he was shot. Another soldier said he saw Dyke get shot in the shoulder. Regardless, that was his worst day and not at his best and unfortunately he’s remembered for his worst day, and not many other occasions when he rose to the challenge.
9:34 michael fassbender (magneto) xD
From what I've read he didn't accidentally shoot himself, he had the pistol either in a holster or tucked in his pants and the trigger got snagged on a piece of barbed wire.
And now you've met the actual Captain America, aka Ronald Spiers.
Telling Shifty Powers not to miss is like telling water to be wet...or as some of the other men in Easy Co put it, "It just doesn't pay to be shooting at Shifty when he's got a rifle in his hands"
22:09 Just a fun fact/cool story as to how good a shot Shifty was.
Back during Episode 6, in the Ardennes Forest, Shifty was on patrol and keeping an eye on the enemy lines when they were surrounded at Bastogne. He spotted some German artillery observers who were trying to spot Easy Company's lines/position.
How?
The Germans were using a fake tree to conceal their position but Shifty was able to tell that it hadn't been there before. He relayed this information to Lipton who showed up and confirmed Shifty's report. Not only that, but Lipton and Shifty both spotted German artillery guns being set up as well and they sent the coordinates to their own artillery. Despite limited ammunition, they were able to destroy the enemy as a result before they could cause any damage.
(history facts) they portray lieutenant Dyke, as an ass in the searis, but the truth is, he was severely injured before bastonge, so he had P.T.S and could not function as a soldier.when in Bastonge.
Next The Pacific and then Hacksaw Ridge. :)
So enlisted soldiers & commissioned officers are very different. Enlisted is basically the guys that dive in although watching this you see officers doing this too but none below the rank of Major. Winters, Nixon, Spiers were officers in command. Lipton got a battlefield commission which basically means he was awesome in battle & a true leader so he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant. The last promotion of this kind was in Vietnam. It’s usually a result of so many commanders killed hence replenished leadership is needed. Once above Captain as you see Winters becoming a Major they don’t usually advance into direct combat their role is command.
The lady is a lover of fine music. I was waiting for her to recognize what the choir was singing. Hint: Elvis would approve.