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The 'sleeping with the enemy' thing wasn't for one or two incidents where they were pressured or forced into it; the germans had occupied Eindhoven for four years at that point, and the collaborators being punished had helped or worked with the axis troops during that time. The women who'd slept with german infantry had done so routinely and entered into relationships with them to get 'the good life' and better treatment, and were known as 'moffenmeiden'.
@@BlackDeathThrash Like everything in life, the answer probably lies somewhere in between. Some did, some didn't, some who were punished were just caught in a situation where collaborating looked like the only way to survive. You don't know what you'd do until you face the question.
Agreed it's something everyone should watch to not only hear their story but respect all soldiers in war throughout history. Even though it can be horrible to watch the cruelty on both sides it's important to know. Lest we forget. I also think it gives you a better idea of what's war and battle really is like and may even make you understand and respect fictional battles, death and good commanders in movies and shows more as you get a better sense of what it's really like just because of how realistic this is.
@@Dene181 yea! don't think they would want to watch another show like this (pacific) but Chernobyl is amazing and one of the best rated series of all time. Would be a great reaction if they haven't already seen it
My dad was literally that dutch child with the chocolate. His first taste of chocolate was when my grandfather helped facilitate the surrender of some Germans in his barn. The Canadian forces gave them chocolate as a reward.
Nice to hear some history inolving the Canadian Military. Truly, those men don't get the acknowledgement they deserve, and it's nice to hear of their kindness. Lest we forget.
Ayyyy, I had family fight in France (Normandy), Holland (especially around Nijmegen area), and the Sheldt with the Brits and CEF. Shout out to those badasses. They don’t make men like that anymore
The British that died at Arnheim put up some of the bravest fights of the war honestly. They dropped into literal hell on earth with very little support with probably the cream of the crop of Nazi troops and tanks and all they really had was the PIAT anti-tank gun which had a bit of a reputation for being quite cumbersome to use and to be effective had to be fired pretty close to the intended target. Yet they managed to pull of some truly heroic defenses when trying to hold what is now known as John Frostbrug bridge after the commander of the British forces at Arnhem. They held the bridge for as twice as long as they were expected to. The 1977 film A Bridge Too Far is a wonderful holywood dipiction of the battle. 5 Victoria crosses (the highest military honour in the British armed forces) were awarded because of the actions of those men during the battle. 4 of which were awarded posthumously which is so often the case for Victoria Cross receipients. Often times taking actions that saved a multitude of fellow soldiers and hindered enemy actions of an untold scale.
They actually had 6 pounder anti tank guns too and in fact knocked out two Panzer IVs of Kompanie Mielke with them, and also damaged a Tiger I of Kompanie Hummel, so they weren't defenceless.
@@lyndoncmp5751 they had 2 at the actual bridge. Obviously these became a huge target for German forces. Especially after ambushing the reconnaissance detachment crossing the bridge. The men in and around Arnhem were fighting against unreal odds to last as long and effectively as they did. Manning those field guns essentially was an exercise in bravery by itself. So when 2 6 pounders are your heaviest weapons, and you lose the use of them after a couple days, you become near enough defenseless against armoured units. Stens and Enfields are fine weapons, even piats. But they aren't going to cut it unless they fight with ferocious determination. That was tooth and nail stuff, it wasn't nicknamed "the cauldron" by the SS for nothing.
My grandfather was an American medic in WWII. The lead medic in his column was shot, so they called him up. A japanese sniper shot him in his head as he was tending over the first medic. Force multiplier, unfortunately this was early in the Pacific before we learned to scrub medic armbands and helmet identifiers.
I apologize for the question, because it may sound silly. Did he survive? I'm assuming a shot to the head would be an instant death, but many people have survived them surprisingly. I pay respect to your Grandfather, and a deep and sincere thanks for his work as a medic. The Pacific front was, for lack of a better word, hell.
@@ds90seph not a silly question. Thankfully he lived until 2007! He was shipped out to New Zealand then flown back to the states where they could perform surgery and place a titanium plate in his head. Went to college on the GI Bill, married and raised 7 kids.
@@tommcdonald5958That’s awesome. My grandfather also served, but he was tail gunner in a B-17. I have a picture of him and a crew mate standing in a hole in their wing from taking AA fire. Luckily those planes could take a beating.
Lipton being promoted to First Sergeant is both a direct promotion, but also a role. There's only ever one First Sergeant in an Infantry Company. They generally observe the entire Company and oversee *everyone's* training. They're the ones who muster all the guys into formation. They advise all the Platoon Sergeants. They also can act as advisers to their Commanders, since Officers have a different point of entry, it isn't uncommon for a grunt who worked his way all the way up to First Sergeant to have a lot more experience than their Company Commander. They are the link between the grunts and NCOs, to the Officers in a Company. Lipton being promoted to the rank of First Sergeant, and holding the role of First Sergeant, means he's been trusted with basically holding the enlisted men of the Company together. He's the one who represents the rest of the men to the Officers, and may even be getting noticed for being Officer material himself.
Something missed by many is the soldiers giving the woman with the baby a ration. There's an understanding with soldiers that in war, some people just do what they have to to survive. That was a bit of a recognition that they understood her predicament, and weren't there to judge. She was outcast, and hungry. Sad situation for everyone.
The hardest part is realizing that these men in the interviews actually walked these paths. They went through it, and saw these things up close in person. Can't imagine what it was like looking through their eyes at these events unfolding.
About what was said during the scene with the kid & the chocolate: "What's the catch here?" - sometimes there is no catch. Since it's all very closely based (almost exactly from what I've read/been told) on the true story as remembered/recorded sometimes they're just scenes of little interactions: moments as a snippet of life on or behind the frontlines there to show the overall feel of the environment & where they are.
Navy vet here. Military ranking is separated into two types: officer and enlisted. Officers are college educated and are higher on the chain of command. They are put in charge of units, battalions, armies. Think “captain, lieutenant, general”. Enlisted are people that joined up or were drafted. They’re the main fighting force of the military. 1st Sergeant is a high ranking enlisted. They work close with the leading Officer to carry out his orders, and to give enlisted feedback to the officer in charge. Just think Winters (officer) is always making the plan and giving orders to his unit (enlisted). Hope that makes sense!
Great explanation. One issue some non-NATO viewers may have is that their military may be based on the old 19th century model of only having a professional officer corps and no professional non-coms.
Lipton as a first sergeant or “first shirt” acts as the main link of communication between the field officers and enlisted personnel. Winters is a commissioned officer who serves as a commanding officer; orders come down from the top until eventually it passes down to Lipton - that’s why he’s always the guy with bad news
The boy with the chocolate get me every time. The Germans had stripped the Netherlands of food they were starving. When the father said "he had never tasted chocolate" I think; and this is the country that brought chocolate to the West.
@@Washanuga from wiki: In 1815, Dutch chemist Coenraad van Houten introduced alkaline salts to chocolate, which reduced its bitterness. A few years thereafter, in 1828, he created a press to remove about half the natural fat from chocolate liquor, which made chocolate both cheaper to produce and more consistent in quality. This innovation, known as "Dutch cocoa", introduced the modern era of chocolate and was instrumental in the transformation of chocolate to its solid form.
@@RuknaGeraltas Ehhh, that doesn't really justify that person saying "brought chocolate to the west" van Houten created the dutch process, then later in 1847 in Bristol, England is where "modern" solid chocolate bar got its start. Cacao and chocolate are native to Mesoamerica, where the Spanish discovered it, they shipped it back to Spain, Spain spread it through Europe, then their methods made it back to the British colonies of America. Plenty of countries had their hand in shaping chocolate as we know it today, and it all started right here in America, baby. So "and this is the country that brought chocolate to the West." this sentence is just a bit weird to me.
@@Washanuga It was an Italian who sent cacao seeds back to Spain in 1502, where it eventually gained popularity in the Spanish courts after adding sugar and honey. You may have heard of him. So chocolate was established in the West long before the US was even colonized, much less a nation, so I don't know what this "It all started right here in America" stuff is about, "baby." Jingoistic bullcrap.
In case it hasn’t been mentioned, there is a companion documentary called We Stand Alone Together: The Men of Easy Company. It’s extended interviews, archive footage, more information about the men, and footage from an E company reunion. The reunion footage is my favorite bit because you get to see these men interacting with each other. Sharing stories with their best friends, and laughing. There are also a few interviews with family members as well.
The Allies had zero chance of entering Germany in September 1944. Supplies were still being hauled up 400km from Normandy via the 'Cannonball Express' to northern Belgium but could not adequately prop up the front to allow further movement. Although Market Garden did not achieve the breakout across the Rhine, it reinforced the salient around the largest port outside Germany: Antwerp. The British fought off several German attempts to cut the port from Allied lines. The Canadians lost many thousands of men forcing the Germans out of the Schedlt Estuary, allowing Allied shipping to open up new supply routes to the front lines by the beginning of November 1944. The capture of Antwerp was so important, Hitler launched the last major German offensive in the western front on December 16 1944, leading to the Battle of the Bulge covered in future episodes. Antwerp became the key to victory in Holland and Belgium and breaking the Siegfried Line to open the road to the Rhine and passage into Germany in January-February 1945.
For someone who has been occupied, there is a UNIVERSE of difference between a woman who has been raped and a woman who is, say, the girlfriend of a German soldier. Eindhoven was a relatively small place and people knew who had done what. Everyone in town had suffered under foreign rule for five years. Most of them had friends or family who had been killed or imprisoned by the occupiers. None of them were inclined to be kind to someone who, as they saw it, had betrayed all of them and joined the enemy. The main thing was choice. Who chose to side with the Germans for love, money, or social advantage. It's also worth noting that some women who were in a relationship with a German weren't treated this way. That was because they were part of the Dutch Resistance and using their relationship to pass information and spy on the Germans. That was a choice too.
The point of showing the little boy (in my opinion at least) was to draw attention to the fact that they've been living in hell while occupied for the last few years. How can a boy in Holland have never tasted chocolate before? Because they've been prisoners in their own country. Also... this series hasn't even really gotten to the tough episodes yet lol. These ladies need to buckle up and get ready. Hard to watch but totally worth it!
Operation Market-Garden had the British Airborne farthest north in Arnhem, moving south the American 82 was in Nijmegen, then the 101 (Easy’s division) in the south. The section of the road the 101st was in charge of got the name Hell’s Highway. There is a pretty good movie based on an excellent book,A Bridge Too Far, that explains the entire operation and hey it failed. It has an all star cast.
Market Garden was not a failure: it was an impossible ambition. The Allies were in no position to cross the Rhine into Germany in September 1944 as supplies were still being hauled all the way from Normandy. Market Garden created an armoured shoulder to protect the largest port in north-west Europe outside Germany: Antwerp. The Canadians reinforced by the US 82ndAirborne cleared the Scheldt Estuary, opening Antwerp to become the main Allied supply port by the beginning of November 1944. From that point, the Germans knew they could not defend the Siegfried Line and would have retreated across the Rhine but for Hitler's refusal. The capture and opening of Antwerp led to the final German offensive in the west: Wacht am Rein, the attempt to drive through between US and British lines to capture Antwerp between 16 December 1944 to January 30 1945.
Winters is the Company commander of Easy. He's a Captain by now. The First Sergeant is the senior enlisted soldier in a Company. A rifle company will have 3 or 4 platoons. Each platoon within the company is similarly structured with one Lieutenant in command, and one Sergeant First Class or Staff Sergeant as the senior NCO in the platoon, each platoon will have 3 or 4 squads.
And those squads are led by basic sergeants. Then each squad will usually be broken up into teams led by a corporal. I'm not sure how common it is but in my country's army there aren't so many different levels of sergeant.
@@XaviRonaldo0 During World War 2, the U.S. army had Non-Commissioned Officer's (NCO) ranks (in ascending order) of: Corporal, Sergeant, Staff Sargeant. Technical Sergeant, Sargeant First Class, Master Sargeant and Sargeant Major. Platoon Sergeant, First Sargeant and Command Sargeant Major weren't actual ranks. They were designations of the NCO's position in the platoon, company, battalion, etc. organization table. It's describing their responsibility, not their pay grade. Like a person with a PhD is only described as a professor if they are working at a University.
What really puts "Band of Brothers" above other war stories, at least for me, it's much more about the people, than it is about the war. It's about the men, their experiences as individuals, and, how they dealt with it.
With regard to those woman we must understand that everyone knew eachother back then. Communities had not been ruined like they are today where noone knows their neighbors. These woman were not the victoms of grape, those would have been the woman in the crowd shouting at them and cutting their hair. The women whose hair was cut were willing participants who either supported the German natzi efforts, or wanted to get privileges by supporting who they thought would win the war (by selling out their own people). There is no more cruelty in their punishment than in the punishing of criminals with jail sentences or the execution of perticularly horrible murderers, serial killers, and pedophiles. What the Germans did to the Dutch, Belgians, Poles, Jews, and many other peoples was horrible. The people of those nations supported the germans in their efforts to subjugate their people deserved nothing less than a public shaming in the manner depicted. How can you argue that people who helped the germans grape and execute their fellow citizens deserve no punishment for their assistance in the evil perpetrated?
I feel as if, at times, the two of you react to this show as if it contains some overarching plot or narrative meaning outside of its real-life context. That isn't to say there isn't a story here. Of course there is. However, I think it is important to remember the true context of these events. There isn't a twist, nor is there a true protagonist or antagonist. It's simply an artful depiction of the true destruction, pain, and hard work that encompassed this conflict. Once again, I appreciate that you're watching this. Remembering these events and these men is *necessary* and ultimately rewarding in the long term.
It's them coping with a stressful situation AND it kind of just happens naturally when you make 100s of videos reacting to TV shows where you make predictions and analyze plots and character arcs. They just aren't used to docu-dramas
I think they point out pretty well during the video that they are sometimes thinking of it like a fictional show, but they realize it's based on history.
The scene with the women being shaved, I've had the impression that the scene was there in part because it was something that engraved itself in the memories of Easy Company. It definitely happened - we have pictures of it happening in various cities in throughout the occupied territories. That said, it's something where I don't like what happened but I also feel it is beyond ability to judge because I don't truly know what the situation was for them in the time - they were occupied for 5 years and I can't imagine what horrors they suffered, what friends and family they lost due to the actions of these men and women. Injustice was met with injustice.
Many reactors, including Lola, assumed that these women being shamed and abused may have been forcibly raped by German soldiers. The truth has been carefully documented by historians. Most of these women were well-known to the local population as ladies of high society - having accepted German occupation and were openly flouting their voluntary 'relationships' with German officers in fancy restaurants and theatres when out on the town. They were also known for giving away the identities of family and friends engaged in the resistance - causing their own countrymen to be executed, tortured and imprisoned. Yes, they were victims - but not innocent victims.
In regards to your question about the ranks, there are 2 kinds of ranks in the U.S. military: officers and enlisted. The position that Lipton was in is a rank, as well as a position in the company hierarchy. Most acting company 1st sgts are also ranked 1st sgts, however, in WW2 or when a lack of personnel demand, sometimes a Sgt 1st Class (one rank below 1st sgt/master sgt) occupies the role. His official title is still "1st sgt" and is thus referred to as 1st sgt by his men, even if that isn't his rank. 1st sgt is the highest ranking enlisted man in the company and makes up one arm of the "triad," which consists of the commanding officer, executive officer, and 1st sgt. Officer ranks work differently. Within the company, you have platoon leaders (2nd/1st Lieutenants), the executive officer (1st Lieutenant and second in command), and the commanding officer (usually a captain). The officer ranks within a company element are usually lower on the overall officer hierarchy, ending at captain (O-3), while officer ranks in the entire military go all the way up to General (O-10). On the enlisted side, a company hierarchy goes almost all the way up to the highest level at 1st sgt/master sgt (E-8), with the highest enlisted rank being a Sgt Major (E-9), which is a battalion position and beyond. You usually have the most experienced soldiers on the enlisted side in a company, while command functions fall to more inexperienced officers. Officers and enlisted are strictly segregated socially. Relatonships between active duty officers and enlisted men are to remain strictly professional. On paper, the lowest level officer outranks the highest level enlisted man. However, most soldiers will tell you that no lieutenant should ever be telling a seasoned sergeant what to do if it isn't in a tactical or strategic setting. In fact, it is usually encouraged for senior enlisted soldiers to train and mentor junior officers with leadership and tactics. It is an extremely complicated hierarchy if you don't come from a military background, so don't feel bad about being confused.
12:40 an interesting detail there is you see Winters and then the other officers follow his lead by folding up their collars; it's to hide their ranks in case of enemy snipers who might be hidden looking to take out the commanders.
Its funny about you guys calling Micheal Cudlitz Abraham. When he showed up pn TWD, I kept calling him Bull. Lol! Now, I too think of him as Abraham. One thing you may have seen, was the officers standing there in Eindhoven, tucking in their collars and putting their field glasses under their Jackets. They did that to make it harder for snipers to identify them as officers. When the one officer got out in front with his field glasses he got shot. Then Nixon got his helmet shot too. German snipers were targeting officers.
I don’t mean offense to anyone, but if you can’t even sort of understand how the Dutch could be so cruel to those men and women collaborators it makes me think you may not fully understand just how terrible and brutal the Nazis were and why the Dutch would be so angry with anyone that helped them. They hated the Nazis so much and by extension anyone that positively associated with them and especially those that personally benefited from those associations
I don't know if anybody has before, but to explain the military hierarchy (8:42): Winters is a Commissioned Officer, while Lipton is a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO for short.) NCOs are the most senior enlisted guys around. Lipton becomes First Sergeant, making him the most senior NCO in Easy Company. First Sergeants assist the Company Commander, in this case Lieutenant Winters, in running the Company (usually, the Company Commander is the rank of a Captain.) To make it simple, think of Winters and Lipton as the sort-of parents of Easy CO. It's a weird analogy, but it kinda works, and it carries throughout most of the leadership positions in the military: they come in pairs, one a Commissioned Officer and one an NCO. (PS: that does not apply to Team Leaders, Squad Leaders, Section leaders, etc. These are usually led by Corporals, Sergeants, Staff Sergeants, Sergeants First Class, Gunnery Sergeants, etc.) Easy Company consisted of: - 3 rifle platoons - A headquarters platoon (or section). Each platoon was led by its respective Platoon Commanders and Platoon Sergeants, and it usually consisted of: - 2 to 3 squads (~12 men) - A mortar section (~6 men each) - A Medic Easy Company was part of 2nd Battalion, 506th PIR (Parachute Infantry Regiment), 101st Airborne Division. (If I missed anything or made a mistake, please make corrections and/or additions in the comments section. Thank you, and God Bless.)
I've said it before but I just love this little tidbit from the behind the scenes. Turns out the scene where the camera is panning up and across to show the troopers parachuting down during the daylight drop isn't real. It was all done on an Windows 95 computer and MS Paint. Still looks great after all this time.
8:35 Lipton was promoted to First Sergeant which is an enlisted rank (but a relatively high one). Winters is a Captain, which is an officer rank. This is a rough example but if the military were a company, people can kind of think of it as sergeants are shift supervisors and officers are management.
They will work closely together because Winters is the company commander, and Lipton is now the company sergeant, So their duties encompass the whole company.
One thing that this show shows so clearly is that the crucible of war brings out both the very worst-and the very best in people. People brought to their breaking point tend to show what they are made of in these intensely stressful situations and we see both almost unimaginable brutality but also moments of extreme self-sacrifice, bravery, honor and generosity. Beautiful reactions, ladies!
Silencers aren’t as quiet as Hollywood would have you believe. Any round (as would come from a 30-06 rifle) would be supersonic and cause a sonic boom or “CRACK”. It would have given away his position either way. Also, Suppressors were big and heavy back then. The M1 was already very long and heavy.
8:40 No, Winters is an officer. He's a First Lieutenant and he was the executive officer of the company which means that he's second in command of the company. Now he's the company commander. Lipton is enlisted which means he's outranked by even the lowest ranked officer. He was just promoted to company first sergeant which means he's the senior enlisted man in the company. The only people in the company that he answers to are the 4 or 5 officers. Officers don't become officers by enlisting first, they apply and go to a military academy or if they've already got a 4 year degree they can go to officer candidate school. Enlisted men just go to bootcamp after highschool. So even though Winters out ranks Lipton he's actually a low ranking officer, where as Lipton is a high ranking enlisted man. So an easy way to remember whats what is Enlisted ranks have private, corporal or sergeant in the name of their rank and the officer ranks are ones who don't. Plus enlisted men don't salute each other or call each other sir. They salute the officers... that might not help much though because officers salute each other too.
The scene of the women being shamed and having their head shaved for "sleeping" with the Germans was NOT done by the American soldiers (the good guys)....but by the local Dutch people..who felt those women had betrayed their country (and as they pointed out...the "men" who collaborated with the Nazi were taken out and shot). Cruel yes...but also understandable for people who had been under Nazi occupation for years (and felt they had been betrayed). Thanks for the continued review of this show. You are almost 1/2 way through. WARNING...episodes 5 through 9 are VERY VERY VERY HEAVY/TOUGH. But you can do it. It's a story that needs told. Minor spoiler...at the end of the final episode you will find out "who" the men are who have been providing commentary to start each episode. Peace.
25:11 silencers were a thing in WWII, but they were only used in clandestine operations and not issued out widely to infantry. In fact, it is only just recently that the US Marines officially equipped their entire squad with suppressors.
I'll remember this ''they had no choice, they had to do it'' mentality in one of the future episodes. I hope it wont change when its not about a woman. Also, remember the men who helped the Germans were being shot, they didnt get to survive
Thank you for watching this. I truly appreciate your reactions. I know it's difficult. I shed tears with you and each year during my annual watch. It is no wonder why Americans refer to that generation of people as "The Greatest Generation".
It is easy to criticize the Dutch citizens’ reactions to the shaming of the collaborator women if you don’t know what the Germans had been doing to those people. Watching your countrymen and women being taken away to unknown fates, hearing them scream as they were tortured, seeing them hanged and left hanging for days… Four years of that terror from brutal occupiers might harden even your sweet hearts, dear ladies.
As a quick primer on American military ranks: its easier to think of American ranks as two separate ladders (Enlisted and Officer) both run parallel to each other (meaning if you're on one you get promoted up that ladder as opposed to making a switch). In general, officers (lieutenants, captains, colonels, generals) regardless of how low or high on the ladder outrank enlisted personnel (privates and various kinds of sergeants) but respect is always given to sergeants as they are often more experienced than most officers. As to how they differ: Officers are the commanders and the planners of the military and Sergeants (NCOs in US military speak) are the people responsible for taking care of soldiers and getting the plan done (they are also often in charge of smaller units like squads and sections). Winters is an Officer and as such is in command of the company but First Sergeant Lipton is the First Sergeant which means he is the senior sergeant in the company and is responsible for all of the soldiers in Easy (their health and well-being as well as their readiness for battle). Company commanders and 1st Sergeants are considered a pair and both are key partners to each other (often they are referred to as assigned best friends)
My favorite episode in this series is Bastogne just couldn't imagine being that cold the elements in which the soldiers have to fight in is just incredible true heroes everyone of them
The breaking point is my favorite because of what spears does. How he didn’t earn a MOH for his actions I do not know. Also crossroads for winter’s actions, I think he deserves a MOH for his actions as well in that episode.
Operation Market Garden was good in theory, but it really was one of Montgomery's biggest blunders. German coastal defenses were even stronger around the Netherlands than Normandy, and the paratroopers really needed an Allied-controlled port for resupply in order to capture objectives at the speed Monty wanted.
Fun Fact: In the scene where Floyd Talbert is kissing a woman (Lt Foley yells at Talbert), the old man in the left of the frame is the actual Babe Heffron.
Having difficulty watching this series? Then it is time to put “Saving Private Ryan” and “Schindler’s List” on your watch list right after you complete “Band of Brothers”. They will help lift your spirits about the war. One is fiction based on several incidents, and one is absolutely real. They are both Spielberg masterpieces.
The scene you are talking about so much is basically this....the women who were $exu@lly abused, were not the targets of the hair cutting. The people there only targeted the women who slept with the Germans, to better themselves, aka siding with the German Army. When this moment of happiness occurred ( the temp liberaton), they outed them as traitors. The same thing would happen if this occurred in modern times. what isn't shown in the episode is what happened when the Germans took back over.
Just so you know, they said they were paratroopers, so they knew their training had been good; but they were 'green'. Green means they had not been in combat yet, so they didn't have the instincts that those who had been under fire had developed, so they were likely to die until they could learn that in combat. This wasn't just a problem in the airborne, all of the American units in combat in WWII had the same problem because of the way America replaced losses. Rather than stand up new units, America just sent large numbers of new people into existing units; this meant you'd have a few people who had been through it and a lot of new people with no idea. The new people would die quickly because they hadn't learned what the veterans knew; the veterans had no time to teach them before going into combat. It was a vicious circle. America has been testing different methods of dealing with this ever since; currently units go into combat as a group, and then are replaced as a group. Then they train with their new people out of the firing line before going back in.
The little boy had never tasted chocolate before because literally the Germans took evrything from there for their war effort. At this time the people of Holland and Belgium had been starved. Many died as a result, and after liberation, the allies took great efforts to get them food and medicines and heat for the winter, often at the expense of sending supplies and ammunition to the front. This becomes very clear in the next episode!
I really appreciate you watching this and reacting to such an important part of history. It's good for younger folks to watch stuff on ww2 to get perspective. I don't agree with you about the collaborators. Those women were extremely lucky to only be shaven and ostracized. The men who cooperated with their occupiers were executed. Think of how many innocent citizens were killed because of info those women gave to the nazis they slept with. Yes, it's very difficult to see the mob in action, but they deserved the punishment they received, and certainly, the town's residents knew who was in the resistance and who was helping the enemy or just doing it for an easy lifestyle under occupation. You reap what you sow.
A Battalion has 4 to 5 companies. Example- Easy Company, 1st Bn/ 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Each Company has 4 Platoons plus the Company Headquarters section. The "Commissioned Officers" (commonly called "Brass" due to their rank pins) are as follows....The Company has a Captain as the Commander. He has a 1st Lieutenant as Executive Officer and 4 2nd Lieutenants as Platoon leaders. The 1st Sgt (3 stripes and 2 rocker stripes) is the highest ranking "Non Commissioned Officer" (NCO), each Platoon has a Staff Sergeant (3 stripes and a rocker stripe on the bottom) as the Platoon Sergeant and each squad, which there are 4 of, has a "Buck" Sergeant (3 Stripes) as a squad leader.
Your sympathy for the ‘Replacements,’ the name of the episode is kind. There are two basic administrative ways to deal with the losses of a unit over time. The Allies usually used the ‘replacement’ system. A man is injured or killed, a new man from a pool replaces him. The advantage of this system is that the men who survive in the unit can pass on the wisdom, the knowledge they’ve acquired to the ‘green’ troops. If, that is, they can keep them alive long enough to learn those skills. It is a simple truism, though, that under a system like this, replacements die at much higher rates than veterans.
Lessons in every war that lead to survival are based on a whole bunch of small things that add up to the difference between life and death. Experienced infantry, I’ve read, develop the habit, for instance, of constantly scanning their immediate surroundings. It gets to be subconscious. They are always looking and planning for spots of cover. Artillery, planes, snipers and a whole host of other dangers surround these men. The split second you save by knowing where you’ll dive for cover if your senses alert you to danger versus hearing a threat and then looking around for a spot to dive to safety often mean the difference between life and death. A group of veterans and replacements could be standing in a group and the veterans will hear the sound of an incoming artillery round and already be scrambling for cover while a replacement might look stupidly at the sky at the sound of ‘thunder.’ The second or two head start to a good spot of cover will see the veterans safe and the replacement’s body torn to shreds.
Recall the scene where the men were gathered in a ditch by the side of the road as a German attack starts. One replacement asks the other, “What do we do?” “Stay down…” comes the unsure reply. Sgt ‘Bull’ Randleman screams at them to “Get up! Spread out!” The veteran knew, at that moment, bunching up was the wrong response. The two-part lessons replacements have to learn are, first, to identify threats: what sounds can be ignored, which spell danger. Second, though, is the appropriate response to the threat you’ve perceived: do I run? Which direction? Do I stay down and find cover? Do I shoot or be quiet? Only time, the commodity replacements don’t often have, can show the new men these lessons.
Under the ‘Replacement’ system, in a unit, such as Easy Company, that sees sustained combat, it’s not unusual for the unit to suffer, over the course of the war, over 100% casualties. As men die, they’re replaced. The other administrative solution to losses in combat is to raise a whole unit together. They train together, live together, know each other. That unit will fight together until it’s eliminated and a whole new unit will replace it. That new unit, though, is all ‘green.’ There’s no one to teach those hard-won survival skills. Each new unit has to learn those skills, techniques, tricks for themselves. The Soviet Union used this method in World War II.
A truly sad component of the ‘Replacement’ system is brought out in the veterans’ interviews. Consider the experience of a replacement. He knows no one. Probably doesn’t even know where, exactly, he is. He recognizes from all sorts of clues the differences between himself, armed only with the basic training available to all recruits and the infinite little tricks, habits, appearance and mannerisms acquired by veterans. From the replacement’s point of view, no one seems to want to talk to him, ask his name, even meet his eyes. The men in the unit seem to not care at all about him. The veterans report a very different experience, “I hated to see them get killed. I got to where I wouldn’t talk to them, learn their name, until they’d survived awhile.” I’ve often wondered about the different stereotypical approaches the genders have to social situations and how they might manifest in combat. Israel, for instance, fields a special forces unit of all women and different countries do allow for mixed gender combat units. Of course there are exceptions, but stereotypically women tend to be more welcoming of new people in social/group settings. Again, allowing for exceptions, women will often greet or ‘take under their wing’ a new member of a group. I’m speaking only of stereotypes, please remember, not individual situations, but men tend to be a bit more standoffish and want/expect new members to prove themselves before accepting them. Hazing new members seems to be more of a trend among predominantly male groups. Certainly this was my individual experience in the Army. Being new, you were going to be hazed or challenged or pranked or teased to test your response or toughness or intelligence. I completely allow this is not universally true. I wonder if all women units in sustained combat or women, individually, in mixed units in sustained combat would respond to replacements as was so widely reported to be the norm in combat units in WWII? Women would certainly be as distressed by the higher incidence of losses of ‘green’ replacements as their male counterparts, if not more. I wonder if women would develop the same defense mechanism, “I’m just not going to be open to this new person until they’ve survived for awhile.” I really don’t have the first clue what would be stereotypical in that scenario, though I have no doubt there’d be individual exceptions to the stereotype, as there always are.
I ascertained, based on your reaction to the scene in the pub where the ‘veteran’ (He was only a veteran of the plane ride over the channel. He was wounded in the plane and rode home to the hospital, missing the combat Easy saw in France, I’d point out.) making the replacements remove their unit citation pin. I’ve often wondered about this scene’s veracity. A unit citation is, in one sense, an advertisement for the unit as a whole. Service personnel joining a unit, ship or squadron today will be issued and expected to wear with pride unit citations for acts performed by absolutely no one in that unit today. They’re expectations, in a sense. “This is what people of the part in this unit have done. Make sure you live up to that reputation today, though no one currently in this unit was even born when the actions taken to earn this ribbon, this medal, this pin were performed.” You reacted negatively to someone bullying or hazing the replacements. Were you in a similar situation, how might you treat a replacement? Would you be welcoming and try to get to know them or might you adopt a harder attitude as a self-defense strategy, I truly wonder?
This is a great show, it might be tough to watch at times but I'd like to say thank you to the both of you. You watching this series I think gives some people an insight into some of the realities of war. Sadly during these current events in the world too many are oblivious to what is actually happening and how people are affected.
It may surprise many people, but a helmet is not designed to stop bullets. It's designed to deflect shrapnel from artillery and environment. If a bullet doesn't enter or ricochets to the side It's pure luck. The more you know :)
8:41 Some basic US Army Ranks simplified for you. From low rank to high rank. Private, Corporal, Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, First Sergeant. Those are enlisted men. Then for officers you have 2nd lieutenant, 1st lieutenant, captain, major, lieutenant colonel, colonel. And that's all you really need to know. For reference Winters is a Captain in this episode.
Next to Dick Winters, Bull Randelman is my favorite character in the series. Can't go wrong with a tough, easy going cigar chomping country boy from Arkansas.
If you two think this is exhausting, wait until you watch The Pacific... Thats Rami Maleks break out role too so now that you are watching Mr Robot AND this, gotta watch The Pacific for sure.
I'm not sure these poor girls could make it through The Pacific. They're going to have PTSD by the time this is over and The Pacific is even uglier IMO. I have to admire these girls for sticking with this.
The important thing to understand about military ranks is that there is a very rigid distinction between officers and enlisted men, and there is an enforced social barrier between them. Officers and enlisted men were normally prohibited from living or even eating in the same areas. "Non-commissioned" ranks like sergeant and corporal are within the enlisted class, and are still considered distinct from officers. Under normal circumstances, an enlisted man would never be promoted to be an officer; it was possible (as we will see later) for a sergeant to get a "battlefield commission" and to be promoted to an officer, but this was very much the exception rather than the rule.
the shot that hit Nixon in the helmet wasnt stopped by the helmet, it actually went sideways through and grazed him in the forehead. Had it been at another angle, Nixon might have had his brains blown out, but fate had other plans for him that day.
I see why they are touchy about the women and their fate. The country these two list as home was 50 percent pro bad guy. The women that received that treatment were not rape victims. Only the ones in a relationship with the Germans got it. Just like CoCO channel 13. But hey lets give those ladies a trophy. While 99 percent of Holland was fighting the Germans 1 percent cashed in and played house. At least it was just one percent. Serbia might of had half the women playing house.
8:38 To put it simply, Colonel - Major - Captain - Lieutenant - Sergeant - Private. Winters was a first lieutenant but he's been doing CO role since their CO was missing or killed.
LM Reactions; Band of Brothers is so traumatizing and exhausting! The Pacific: Hold my beer. Along with "The Pacific" which can be a tough watch but gives a view on the fighting in the Pacific which even fewer people seem to know about, I very highly recommend the Ken Burns documentary "The War".
Just fyi in the american military you have non-commissioned and commissioned officers. The first group (NCO) are enlisted people who have joined as regular soldiers and been promoted into positions of authority. 1st Sargent Lipton has been promoted about as much as an regular soldier can be. Above all NCOs are commissioned officers or just officers, these people have usually gone to the military academy and been trained since enlistment to lead. Winters is such an officer, he started as a Lieutenant which is the lowest officer rank but is higher than any NCO. In extremely rare cases an NCO who does something amazing can be given a "battlefield commission" and promoted to an officer. Sorry if that is still confusing, love your reactions and please keep going despite how hard it is. This series is very important and people should see it.
The allied soldiers showed some compassion; I don't know the time on the clip but one of the American soldiers as a column was passing one of those bald women holding a baby jumped down and gave her a ration kit of food.
Enlisted Ranks go from E-1 private to E-8 sergeant major. First sergeant is E-7. Officer ranks go from O-1(second Lieutenant)to O-6 (colonel) Lieutenant winters is a first Lieutenant (O-2) then it goes captain (O-3) major (O-4) Lieutenant colonel (O-5) then generals are there own rank structure too
Winters is what they call a commissioned officer. Lieutenant and above. A sergeant along with corporals (the step between private and sergeant) are a non-commissioned officers NCO or NonCom for short. There is only one 1st sergeant per company and he acts as the leader of all enlisted men in the entire company. A 1st sergeant along with a sergeant major is the highest enlisted rank there is in the US Army. In order to be promoted (to 2nd LT) they need to receive a battlefield commission to become a commissioned officer. A sergeant major is usually an administrative role though.
Many Germans knew the war was lost when they found out the US was flying (and shipping) in chocolate and other luxury goods. The US had massive lift capabilty to move soldiers and materials anywhere in the world, to literally overwhelm an enemy with sheer numbers... Germany was under tight rationing, while the US was flying in chocolate.
When this show came out I was a TV news videographer. And Bull Randleman lived in our viewing area. We were supposed to film an interview with him, but he cancelled at the last minute. I really wish I could have met him.
Things have gotten progressively tougher with each episode. This trend is going to continue, and get steeper as you go. A lot steeper. You may want to carve out some time to let Ep9 sink in. You may want to take a really long break before going anywhere near "The Pacific." Just sayin'.
Any rank of Sergeant is an enlisted soldier and is an NCO…”non-commissioned officer”….an ACTUAL officer that has rank over any enlisted men starts with 2nd Lieutenant and then 1st. Lieutenant and then Captain…Major…Lieutenant Colonel…and then Colonel…pronounced like “Kernel”….Winters starts out as 2nd. Lieutenant which is a gold bar…1st. Lieutenant which is a silver bar then Captain…2 silver bars attached…then Major. A first sergeant is like the top ranked enlisted guy in their unit…
Yes, some of the people who collaborated with the Germans probably did do it to survive, though many probably did it for favourable treatment by the occupying force. Regardless, though that doesn't excuse turning in their neighbours for working against the occupiers, neighbours who would then have been executed. Exile was probably warranted, the head shaving and drawing of swastikas were probably mostly cathartic (retrubution for their actions during occupation) and would let other people know what they did, the executions of the men who collaborated probably wasn't warranted, but that's also a reflection of the environment they were living in.
The women who slept with the germans had most lilely also given them onformation from what they heard around town about the resistance movement. They didnt do this to girls that had done ot once or girls that were forced into it. Only people that collaborated and worked with the germans. This was normal all across europe. In denmark those women were known as feltmadras or field mattreses. The germans had killed alot of young boys amd girls that put up a recistance throughout the war. And here in denmark we had it easy compared to many other nations. Amd still we have an entire wall riddled with names of boys and girls, men and women from the age of 16 to 60 who were executed by the germans. Some of the first to put up a recistance were the gymnasiums, a thing between highschool and university. Age was 17-20 they were locked up when discovered. But later in the war when germans had full controll they would get shot. The first to get shot were a family and friends that made up the group "hvidstens gruppen" they took in airdrops amd distributed it. Their deaths ignited a spark in the danish people, and the germans got serious problems with controlling the danish population after that
That end card doesn’t really communicate how bad the casualties were during market garden. The British 1st airborne was probably about 12,000 soldiers at the time and they lost 8,000.
The series is difficult but well worth the time investment. Do yourselves the favor and watch the ‘11 th’ episode the documentary of the men. You will really appreciate it.
I enjoy your reactions, and I appreciate you doing this show. So I'm not saying this to criticize you, but you may find it hard to believe. But chances are if you were a non-colaborist dutch (or of any other occupied nation during this time) once liberated you would very much likely act exactly as the people in that mob. It's easy for you and me to look at that and judge it as wrong. I think it was wrong, but I was not in their shoes. I didn't live in German occupied Holland during WWII. This people were seen as traitors to their own people. The Dutch resistance would have put out hits on people who collaborated even during the occupation. Once free from the Germans it's obvious they are going to go all out after this people. And they aren't the Allies (who supposedly are the good guys, as you put it) they are the very people who live there. But on that topic Allies soldiers and American soldiers did plenty of shitty things during the war, on all it's theaters, because war is a shitty business and even good people will act at the very worst humanity has to offer in the right circumstances. But don't forget, psychopaths go to war as well. Back to the point, remember that effectively, when the Germans left the occupied Dutch cities for more defensible positions, they abandoned the very puppet governments that they had propped up to govern over the dutch. So effectively other than "the Americans are in town" there was no working or legitimate government, mob justice was absolutely inevitable, and as stated there was plenty of reasons why the population would not only think this acts were evil they would feel as justified and absolute justice to them.
Remember, a WWII helmet was only simple steel. It was not armor like modern helmets. The fact that Capt. Nixon didn't die is just the random chance of a richochet.
So the scene with the women being humiliated and tortured in public by the Dutch resistance fighters. That absolutely did happened. It's unfortunate, it's a tragedy, it's a crime, and it happened pretty much the way they are depicting. Many of the women who made a choice to engage in some kind of relationship with german soldiers did it out of necessity, not because of actual love. Western Europe was under German occupation, and when things started to get bad for Germany, the occupied territories were the first to suffer, food shortages, labor shortages, you name it they had it on top of the normal every day oppression that is to live under a fascist regime, plus we need to remember this is 1944, it's not like there were plenty of job opportunities for Women back then even in peace times. So many of those women probably found themselves with the unenviable choice of selling their body in order to survive the occupation. And on top of the trauma that this decision must have cause them, they also suffered the reprisals from their fellow countrymen who simply felt the need to vent their years of frustration that they had it under German occupation, against those that probably suffered just as much as they did. Mob justice isn't just. And yes those scenes are horrible to watch. But Band of Brothers as well as its other series called "The Pacific" is absolutely full of scenes that are straight up revolting to watch.
I would love it if you guys reacted to it's always sunny in Philadelphia. Id love to see you guys react to a comedy show and it's the breaking bad of comedy shows. No joke
You’ll have to watch The Pacific after this. Same production folks, but the War with Japan. Rough stuff… that’s where my grandfather and his brother went to fight. My grandfather came back intact; my great uncle less so. My mom’s family, what remained in Europe fled or was occupied/shot by Nazis. At least Europe is beautiful. Imagine rotting on some crazy miserable island dealing with the Japanese forces. Ugh 😣 Crazy miserable stuff.
The 'sleeping with the enemy' thing wasn't for one or two incidents where they were pressured or forced into it; the germans had occupied Eindhoven for four years at that point, and the collaborators being punished had helped or worked with the axis troops during that time. The women who'd slept with german infantry had done so routinely and entered into relationships with them to get 'the good life' and better treatment, and were known as 'moffenmeiden'.
Excellent points, and some collaborators also informed on their fellow countrymen to the Germans. They deserve what they got.
@@BlackDeathThrash Like everything in life, the answer probably lies somewhere in between. Some did, some didn't, some who were punished were just caught in a situation where collaborating looked like the only way to survive. You don't know what you'd do until you face the question.
Ya, and during that time the Germans did some pretty horrible stuff. Those women, if you think about it. . . Really did get off easy for what they did
Also maybe they missed it but the Dutchman was saying the women were lucky - the men collaborators were just being shot
@@justinclemons343 No, I think I remember them remarking on that.
I know it's hard to watch through but I think this is an incredibly important series people need to see.
I'm really glad y'all are sticking with it.
Agreed it's something everyone should watch to not only hear their story but respect all soldiers in war throughout history. Even though it can be horrible to watch the cruelty on both sides it's important to know. Lest we forget.
I also think it gives you a better idea of what's war and battle really is like and may even make you understand and respect fictional battles, death and good commanders in movies and shows more as you get a better sense of what it's really like just because of how realistic this is.
How is this comment from 2 weeks ago when this video was uploaded 21 hours ago????
Same with "The Pacific" or "Chernobyl" short, but very important to watch. I hope they watch those, too!
@@Eyepice channel members get access earlier, that's how
@@Dene181 yea! don't think they would want to watch another show like this (pacific) but Chernobyl is amazing and one of the best rated series of all time. Would be a great reaction if they haven't already seen it
My dad was literally that dutch child with the chocolate. His first taste of chocolate was when my grandfather helped facilitate the surrender of some Germans in his barn. The Canadian forces gave them chocolate as a reward.
What a great memory to pass down.
Nice to hear some history inolving the Canadian Military.
Truly, those men don't get the acknowledgement they deserve, and it's nice to hear of their kindness.
Lest we forget.
@@ds90seph Canadians had a huge role in the invasion of Europe
Ayyyy, I had family fight in France (Normandy), Holland (especially around Nijmegen area), and the Sheldt with the Brits and CEF. Shout out to those badasses. They don’t make men like that anymore
Amazing... cannot believe it man... I wish one day I can go visit Netherlands and go to those places.
Geeetings from argentina
The British that died at Arnheim put up some of the bravest fights of the war honestly. They dropped into literal hell on earth with very little support with probably the cream of the crop of Nazi troops and tanks and all they really had was the PIAT anti-tank gun which had a bit of a reputation for being quite cumbersome to use and to be effective had to be fired pretty close to the intended target. Yet they managed to pull of some truly heroic defenses when trying to hold what is now known as John Frostbrug bridge after the commander of the British forces at Arnhem. They held the bridge for as twice as long as they were expected to. The 1977 film A Bridge Too Far is a wonderful holywood dipiction of the battle. 5 Victoria crosses (the highest military honour in the British armed forces) were awarded because of the actions of those men during the battle. 4 of which were awarded posthumously which is so often the case for Victoria Cross receipients. Often times taking actions that saved a multitude of fellow soldiers and hindered enemy actions of an untold scale.
They actually had 6 pounder anti tank guns too and in fact knocked out two Panzer IVs of Kompanie Mielke with them, and also damaged a Tiger I of Kompanie Hummel, so they weren't defenceless.
@@lyndoncmp5751 they had 2 at the actual bridge.
Obviously these became a huge target for German forces. Especially after ambushing the reconnaissance detachment crossing the bridge.
The men in and around Arnhem were fighting against unreal odds to last as long and effectively as they did.
Manning those field guns essentially was an exercise in bravery by itself.
So when 2 6 pounders are your heaviest weapons, and you lose the use of them after a couple days, you become near enough defenseless against armoured units.
Stens and Enfields are fine weapons, even piats. But they aren't going to cut it unless they fight with ferocious determination.
That was tooth and nail stuff, it wasn't nicknamed "the cauldron" by the SS for nothing.
My grandfather was an American medic in WWII. The lead medic in his column was shot, so they called him up. A japanese sniper shot him in his head as he was tending over the first medic. Force multiplier, unfortunately this was early in the Pacific before we learned to scrub medic armbands and helmet identifiers.
I apologize for the question, because it may sound silly.
Did he survive? I'm assuming a shot to the head would be an instant death, but many people have survived them surprisingly.
I pay respect to your Grandfather, and a deep and sincere thanks for his work as a medic. The Pacific front was, for lack of a better word, hell.
@@ds90seph not a silly question. Thankfully he lived until 2007! He was shipped out to New Zealand then flown back to the states where they could perform surgery and place a titanium plate in his head. Went to college on the GI Bill, married and raised 7 kids.
@@tommcdonald5958That’s awesome. My grandfather also served, but he was tail gunner in a B-17. I have a picture of him and a crew mate standing in a hole in their wing from taking AA fire. Luckily those planes could take a beating.
Lipton being promoted to First Sergeant is both a direct promotion, but also a role. There's only ever one First Sergeant in an Infantry Company. They generally observe the entire Company and oversee *everyone's* training. They're the ones who muster all the guys into formation. They advise all the Platoon Sergeants. They also can act as advisers to their Commanders, since Officers have a different point of entry, it isn't uncommon for a grunt who worked his way all the way up to First Sergeant to have a lot more experience than their Company Commander. They are the link between the grunts and NCOs, to the Officers in a Company.
Lipton being promoted to the rank of First Sergeant, and holding the role of First Sergeant, means he's been trusted with basically holding the enlisted men of the Company together. He's the one who represents the rest of the men to the Officers, and may even be getting noticed for being Officer material himself.
Don’t forget that in peace time the first sergeant basically runs the company as the executive non commissioned officer.
Something missed by many is the soldiers giving the woman with the baby a ration. There's an understanding with soldiers that in war, some people just do what they have to to survive. That was a bit of a recognition that they understood her predicament, and weren't there to judge. She was outcast, and hungry. Sad situation for everyone.
The hardest part is realizing that these men in the interviews actually walked these paths. They went through it, and saw these things up close in person. Can't imagine what it was like looking through their eyes at these events unfolding.
@@callmecatalyst just like my comment went way over your head.
About what was said during the scene with the kid & the chocolate: "What's the catch here?" - sometimes there is no catch. Since it's all very closely based (almost exactly from what I've read/been told) on the true story as remembered/recorded sometimes they're just scenes of little interactions: moments as a snippet of life on or behind the frontlines there to show the overall feel of the environment & where they are.
Navy vet here. Military ranking is separated into two types: officer and enlisted.
Officers are college educated and are higher on the chain of command. They are put in charge of units, battalions, armies. Think “captain, lieutenant, general”.
Enlisted are people that joined up or were drafted. They’re the main fighting force of the military. 1st Sergeant is a high ranking enlisted. They work close with the leading Officer to carry out his orders, and to give enlisted feedback to the officer in charge.
Just think Winters (officer) is always making the plan and giving orders to his unit (enlisted). Hope that makes sense!
Well said my friend. Subtle explanation.
Great explanation. One issue some non-NATO viewers may have is that their military may be based on the old 19th century model of only having a professional officer corps and no professional non-coms.
Lipton as a first sergeant or “first shirt” acts as the main link of communication between the field officers and enlisted personnel. Winters is a commissioned officer who serves as a commanding officer; orders come down from the top until eventually it passes down to Lipton - that’s why he’s always the guy with bad news
The boy with the chocolate get me every time. The Germans had stripped the Netherlands of food they were starving. When the father said "he had never tasted chocolate" I think; and this is the country that brought chocolate to the West.
"and this is the country that brought chocolate to the West." ?
@@Washanuga from wiki: In 1815, Dutch chemist Coenraad van Houten introduced alkaline salts to chocolate, which reduced its bitterness. A few years thereafter, in 1828, he created a press to remove about half the natural fat from chocolate liquor, which made chocolate both cheaper to produce and more consistent in quality. This innovation, known as "Dutch cocoa", introduced the modern era of chocolate and was instrumental in the transformation of chocolate to its solid form.
@@RuknaGeraltas Ehhh, that doesn't really justify that person saying "brought chocolate to the west" van Houten created the dutch process, then later in 1847 in Bristol, England is where "modern" solid chocolate bar got its start. Cacao and chocolate are native to Mesoamerica, where the Spanish discovered it, they shipped it back to Spain, Spain spread it through Europe, then their methods made it back to the British colonies of America. Plenty of countries had their hand in shaping chocolate as we know it today, and it all started right here in America, baby.
So "and this is the country that brought chocolate to the West." this sentence is just a bit weird to me.
@@RuknaGeraltas Chocolate was well-established in the West long before 1815.
@@Washanuga It was an Italian who sent cacao seeds back to Spain in 1502, where it eventually gained popularity in the Spanish courts after adding sugar and honey. You may have heard of him. So chocolate was established in the West long before the US was even colonized, much less a nation, so I don't know what this "It all started right here in America" stuff is about, "baby." Jingoistic bullcrap.
In case it hasn’t been mentioned, there is a companion documentary called We Stand Alone Together: The Men of Easy Company. It’s extended interviews, archive footage, more information about the men, and footage from an E company reunion. The reunion footage is my favorite bit because you get to see these men interacting with each other. Sharing stories with their best friends, and laughing. There are also a few interviews with family members as well.
The Allies had zero chance of entering Germany in September 1944. Supplies were still being hauled up 400km from Normandy via the 'Cannonball Express' to northern Belgium but could not adequately prop up the front to allow further movement. Although Market Garden did not achieve the breakout across the Rhine, it reinforced the salient around the largest port outside Germany: Antwerp. The British fought off several German attempts to cut the port from Allied lines. The Canadians lost many thousands of men forcing the Germans out of the Schedlt Estuary, allowing Allied shipping to open up new supply routes to the front lines by the beginning of November 1944.
The capture of Antwerp was so important, Hitler launched the last major German offensive in the western front on December 16 1944, leading to the Battle of the Bulge covered in future episodes. Antwerp became the key to victory in Holland and Belgium and breaking the Siegfried Line to open the road to the Rhine and passage into Germany in January-February 1945.
For someone who has been occupied, there is a UNIVERSE of difference between a woman who has been raped and a woman who is, say, the girlfriend of a German soldier. Eindhoven was a relatively small place and people knew who had done what. Everyone in town had suffered under foreign rule for five years. Most of them had friends or family who had been killed or imprisoned by the occupiers. None of them were inclined to be kind to someone who, as they saw it, had betrayed all of them and joined the enemy.
The main thing was choice. Who chose to side with the Germans for love, money, or social advantage.
It's also worth noting that some women who were in a relationship with a German weren't treated this way. That was because they were part of the Dutch Resistance and using their relationship to pass information and spy on the Germans. That was a choice too.
The point of showing the little boy (in my opinion at least) was to draw attention to the fact that they've been living in hell while occupied for the last few years. How can a boy in Holland have never tasted chocolate before? Because they've been prisoners in their own country.
Also... this series hasn't even really gotten to the tough episodes yet lol. These ladies need to buckle up and get ready. Hard to watch but totally worth it!
I got pstd in Bastogne _in my bedroom?!_
@@SwiftJustice lol exactly
@Swift Justice Literally feels like we're brothers in this band of brothers, especially by that point. Bastogne was beyond words.
Please don't spoil it for them. No warnings no mention. Let it play out, please.
@Steve Fields they've actually already watched through episode 7 and posted on their Patreon, fwiw.
Operation Market-Garden had the British Airborne farthest north in Arnhem, moving south the American 82 was in Nijmegen, then the 101 (Easy’s division) in the south. The section of the road the 101st was in charge of got the name Hell’s Highway.
There is a pretty good movie based on an excellent book,A Bridge Too Far, that explains the entire operation and hey it failed. It has an all star cast.
Market Garden was not a failure: it was an impossible ambition. The Allies were in no position to cross the Rhine into Germany in September 1944 as supplies were still being hauled all the way from Normandy. Market Garden created an armoured shoulder to protect the largest port in north-west Europe outside Germany: Antwerp. The Canadians reinforced by the US 82ndAirborne cleared the Scheldt Estuary, opening Antwerp to become the main Allied supply port by the beginning of November 1944. From that point, the Germans knew they could not defend the Siegfried Line and would have retreated across the Rhine but for Hitler's refusal.
The capture and opening of Antwerp led to the final German offensive in the west: Wacht am Rein, the attempt to drive through between US and British lines to capture Antwerp between 16 December 1944 to January 30 1945.
Winters is the Company commander of Easy. He's a Captain by now. The First Sergeant is the senior enlisted soldier in a Company. A rifle company will have 3 or 4 platoons. Each platoon within the company is similarly structured with one Lieutenant in command, and one Sergeant First Class or Staff Sergeant as the senior NCO in the platoon, each platoon will have 3 or 4 squads.
And those squads are led by basic sergeants. Then each squad will usually be broken up into teams led by a corporal.
I'm not sure how common it is but in my country's army there aren't so many different levels of sergeant.
@@XaviRonaldo0
During World War 2, the U.S. army had Non-Commissioned Officer's (NCO) ranks (in ascending order) of: Corporal, Sergeant, Staff Sargeant. Technical Sergeant, Sargeant First Class, Master Sargeant and Sargeant Major.
Platoon Sergeant, First Sargeant and Command Sargeant Major weren't actual ranks. They were designations of the NCO's position in the platoon, company, battalion, etc. organization table. It's describing their responsibility, not their pay grade. Like a person with a PhD is only described as a professor if they are working at a University.
What really puts "Band of Brothers" above other war stories, at least for me, it's much more about the people, than it is about the war. It's about the men, their experiences as individuals, and, how they dealt with it.
With regard to those woman we must understand that everyone knew eachother back then. Communities had not been ruined like they are today where noone knows their neighbors. These woman were not the victoms of grape, those would have been the woman in the crowd shouting at them and cutting their hair. The women whose hair was cut were willing participants who either supported the German natzi efforts, or wanted to get privileges by supporting who they thought would win the war (by selling out their own people).
There is no more cruelty in their punishment than in the punishing of criminals with jail sentences or the execution of perticularly horrible murderers, serial killers, and pedophiles. What the Germans did to the Dutch, Belgians, Poles, Jews, and many other peoples was horrible. The people of those nations supported the germans in their efforts to subjugate their people deserved nothing less than a public shaming in the manner depicted.
How can you argue that people who helped the germans grape and execute their fellow citizens deserve no punishment for their assistance in the evil perpetrated?
The Nod at 29:21. From Bull to Winters, and the return nod. It shows up again in later episodes. Watch for it. And thank you for reacting!
I love “The Nod” that continually shows up. It’s THE real sign of respect. It always gets me in Black Hawk Down as well…
I feel as if, at times, the two of you react to this show as if it contains some overarching plot or narrative meaning outside of its real-life context.
That isn't to say there isn't a story here. Of course there is. However, I think it is important to remember the true context of these events.
There isn't a twist, nor is there a true protagonist or antagonist. It's simply an artful depiction of the true destruction, pain, and hard work that encompassed this conflict.
Once again, I appreciate that you're watching this.
Remembering these events and these men is *necessary* and ultimately rewarding in the long term.
It's them coping with a stressful situation AND it kind of just happens naturally when you make 100s of videos reacting to TV shows where you make predictions and analyze plots and character arcs. They just aren't used to docu-dramas
I think they point out pretty well during the video that they are sometimes thinking of it like a fictional show, but they realize it's based on history.
The scene with the women being shaved, I've had the impression that the scene was there in part because it was something that engraved itself in the memories of Easy Company. It definitely happened - we have pictures of it happening in various cities in throughout the occupied territories. That said, it's something where I don't like what happened but I also feel it is beyond ability to judge because I don't truly know what the situation was for them in the time - they were occupied for 5 years and I can't imagine what horrors they suffered, what friends and family they lost due to the actions of these men and women. Injustice was met with injustice.
Many reactors, including Lola, assumed that these women being shamed and abused may have been forcibly raped by German soldiers. The truth has been carefully documented by historians. Most of these women were well-known to the local population as ladies of high society - having accepted German occupation and were openly flouting their voluntary 'relationships' with German officers in fancy restaurants and theatres when out on the town. They were also known for giving away the identities of family and friends engaged in the resistance - causing their own countrymen to be executed, tortured and imprisoned. Yes, they were victims - but not innocent victims.
@@zh2184 TBH, rape was frowned on in the Wehrmacht, and it really wasn't that common, especially as opposed to the Japanese and Soviets.
@@catherinelw9365 Exactly right. It's classic war propaganda. Both sides used it and this is an example. The Wehmacht even had a War Crimes Bureau.
@@catherinelw9365 It was super common on the Eastern Front. It was only somewhat rare on the Western Front.
@callmecatalyst Damn, am I going to have to explain how history works to someone on youtube?
Your reactions to this series is refreshing, I love it. You two ladies are wonderful. ❤️ from 🇺🇸
Bull was like a big brother to the younger guys
Winters named him as the finest soldier he commanded.
It's hard to watch but everyone should see it to get some perspective and understand what all these people went through. Thanks for watching!
In regards to your question about the ranks, there are 2 kinds of ranks in the U.S. military: officers and enlisted. The position that Lipton was in is a rank, as well as a position in the company hierarchy. Most acting company 1st sgts are also ranked 1st sgts, however, in WW2 or when a lack of personnel demand, sometimes a Sgt 1st Class (one rank below 1st sgt/master sgt) occupies the role. His official title is still "1st sgt" and is thus referred to as 1st sgt by his men, even if that isn't his rank. 1st sgt is the highest ranking enlisted man in the company and makes up one arm of the "triad," which consists of the commanding officer, executive officer, and 1st sgt.
Officer ranks work differently. Within the company, you have platoon leaders (2nd/1st Lieutenants), the executive officer (1st Lieutenant and second in command), and the commanding officer (usually a captain). The officer ranks within a company element are usually lower on the overall officer hierarchy, ending at captain (O-3), while officer ranks in the entire military go all the way up to General (O-10). On the enlisted side, a company hierarchy goes almost all the way up to the highest level at 1st sgt/master sgt (E-8), with the highest enlisted rank being a Sgt Major (E-9), which is a battalion position and beyond. You usually have the most experienced soldiers on the enlisted side in a company, while command functions fall to more inexperienced officers.
Officers and enlisted are strictly segregated socially. Relatonships between active duty officers and enlisted men are to remain strictly professional. On paper, the lowest level officer outranks the highest level enlisted man. However, most soldiers will tell you that no lieutenant should ever be telling a seasoned sergeant what to do if it isn't in a tactical or strategic setting. In fact, it is usually encouraged for senior enlisted soldiers to train and mentor junior officers with leadership and tactics. It is an extremely complicated hierarchy if you don't come from a military background, so don't feel bad about being confused.
12:40 an interesting detail there is you see Winters and then the other officers follow his lead by folding up their collars; it's to hide their ranks in case of enemy snipers who might be hidden looking to take out the commanders.
Its funny about you guys calling Micheal Cudlitz Abraham. When he showed up pn TWD, I kept calling him Bull. Lol! Now, I too think of him as Abraham. One thing you may have seen, was the officers standing there in Eindhoven, tucking in their collars and putting their field glasses under their Jackets. They did that to make it harder for snipers to identify them as officers. When the one officer got out in front with his field glasses he got shot. Then Nixon got his helmet shot too. German snipers were targeting officers.
I don’t mean offense to anyone, but if you can’t even sort of understand how the Dutch could be so cruel to those men and women collaborators it makes me think you may not fully understand just how terrible and brutal the Nazis were and why the Dutch would be so angry with anyone that helped them. They hated the Nazis so much and by extension anyone that positively associated with them and especially those that personally benefited from those associations
I don't know if anybody has before, but to explain the military hierarchy (8:42):
Winters is a Commissioned Officer, while Lipton is a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO for short.)
NCOs are the most senior enlisted guys around. Lipton becomes First Sergeant, making him the most senior NCO in Easy Company.
First Sergeants assist the Company Commander, in this case Lieutenant Winters, in running the Company (usually, the Company Commander is the rank of a Captain.)
To make it simple, think of Winters and Lipton as the sort-of parents of Easy CO. It's a weird analogy, but it kinda works, and it carries throughout most of the leadership positions in the military: they come in pairs, one a Commissioned Officer and one an NCO.
(PS: that does not apply to Team Leaders, Squad Leaders, Section leaders, etc. These are usually led by Corporals, Sergeants, Staff Sergeants, Sergeants First Class, Gunnery Sergeants, etc.)
Easy Company consisted of:
- 3 rifle platoons
- A headquarters platoon (or section).
Each platoon was led by its respective Platoon Commanders and Platoon Sergeants, and it usually consisted of:
- 2 to 3 squads (~12 men)
- A mortar section (~6 men each)
- A Medic
Easy Company was part of 2nd Battalion, 506th PIR (Parachute Infantry Regiment), 101st Airborne Division.
(If I missed anything or made a mistake, please make corrections and/or additions in the comments section. Thank you, and God Bless.)
Aot 4 part 3 Teaser trailer is out, i need to see your reaction 🔥🔥🔥🔥
I've said it before but I just love this little tidbit from the behind the scenes. Turns out the scene where the camera is panning up and across to show the troopers parachuting down during the daylight drop isn't real. It was all done on an Windows 95 computer and MS Paint. Still looks great after all this time.
8:35 Lipton was promoted to First Sergeant which is an enlisted rank (but a relatively high one). Winters is a Captain, which is an officer rank. This is a rough example but if the military were a company, people can kind of think of it as sergeants are shift supervisors and officers are management.
They will work closely together because Winters is the company commander, and Lipton is now the company sergeant, So their duties encompass the whole company.
One thing that this show shows so clearly is that the crucible of war brings out both the very worst-and the very best in people. People brought to their breaking point tend to show what they are made of in these intensely stressful situations and we see both almost unimaginable brutality but also moments of extreme self-sacrifice, bravery, honor and generosity. Beautiful reactions, ladies!
Silencers aren’t as quiet as Hollywood would have you believe. Any round (as would come from a 30-06 rifle) would be supersonic and cause a sonic boom or “CRACK”. It would have given away his position either way. Also, Suppressors were big and heavy back then. The M1 was already very long and heavy.
8:40 No, Winters is an officer. He's a First Lieutenant and he was the executive officer of the company which means that he's second in command of the company. Now he's the company commander.
Lipton is enlisted which means he's outranked by even the lowest ranked officer. He was just promoted to company first sergeant which means he's the senior enlisted man in the company. The only people in the company that he answers to are the 4 or 5 officers.
Officers don't become officers by enlisting first, they apply and go to a military academy or if they've already got a 4 year degree they can go to officer candidate school. Enlisted men just go to bootcamp after highschool. So even though Winters out ranks Lipton he's actually a low ranking officer, where as Lipton is a high ranking enlisted man.
So an easy way to remember whats what is Enlisted ranks have private, corporal or sergeant in the name of their rank and the officer ranks are ones who don't. Plus enlisted men don't salute each other or call each other sir. They salute the officers... that might not help much though because officers salute each other too.
The scene of the women being shamed and having their head shaved for "sleeping" with the Germans was NOT done by the American soldiers (the good guys)....but by the local Dutch people..who felt those women had betrayed their country (and as they pointed out...the "men" who collaborated with the Nazi were taken out and shot). Cruel yes...but also understandable for people who had been under Nazi occupation for years (and felt they had been betrayed). Thanks for the continued review of this show. You are almost 1/2 way through. WARNING...episodes 5 through 9 are VERY VERY VERY HEAVY/TOUGH. But you can do it. It's a story that needs told. Minor spoiler...at the end of the final episode you will find out "who" the men are who have been providing commentary to start each episode. Peace.
A 1st Sergeant is the highest ranking enlisted person in the Company. Lt Winters is an officer and the Commanding Officer of the Company.
25:11 silencers were a thing in WWII, but they were only used in clandestine operations and not issued out widely to infantry. In fact, it is only just recently that the US Marines officially equipped their entire squad with suppressors.
I'll remember this ''they had no choice, they had to do it'' mentality in one of the future episodes. I hope it wont change when its not about a woman. Also, remember the men who helped the Germans were being shot, they didnt get to survive
Thank you for watching this. I truly appreciate your reactions. I know it's difficult. I shed tears with you and each year during my annual watch. It is no wonder why Americans refer to that generation of people as "The Greatest Generation".
It is easy to criticize the Dutch citizens’ reactions to the shaming of the collaborator women if you don’t know what the Germans had been doing to those people. Watching your countrymen and women being taken away to unknown fates, hearing them scream as they were tortured, seeing them hanged and left hanging for days…
Four years of that terror from brutal occupiers might harden even your sweet hearts, dear ladies.
As a quick primer on American military ranks: its easier to think of American ranks as two separate ladders (Enlisted and Officer) both run parallel to each other (meaning if you're on one you get promoted up that ladder as opposed to making a switch). In general, officers (lieutenants, captains, colonels, generals) regardless of how low or high on the ladder outrank enlisted personnel (privates and various kinds of sergeants) but respect is always given to sergeants as they are often more experienced than most officers.
As to how they differ: Officers are the commanders and the planners of the military and Sergeants (NCOs in US military speak) are the people responsible for taking care of soldiers and getting the plan done (they are also often in charge of smaller units like squads and sections). Winters is an Officer and as such is in command of the company but First Sergeant Lipton is the First Sergeant which means he is the senior sergeant in the company and is responsible for all of the soldiers in Easy (their health and well-being as well as their readiness for battle). Company commanders and 1st Sergeants are considered a pair and both are key partners to each other (often they are referred to as assigned best friends)
Second best line in the series is Nixon getting shot. "I'm alright. I'm alright. Am I alright? Quit looking at me like that."
My favorite episode in this series is Bastogne just couldn't imagine being that cold the elements in which the soldiers have to fight in is just incredible true heroes everyone of them
The breaking point is my favorite because of what spears does. How he didn’t earn a MOH for his actions I do not know. Also crossroads for winter’s actions, I think he deserves a MOH for his actions as well in that episode.
Operation Market Garden was good in theory, but it really was one of Montgomery's biggest blunders. German coastal defenses were even stronger around the Netherlands than Normandy, and the paratroopers really needed an Allied-controlled port for resupply in order to capture objectives at the speed Monty wanted.
hard to watch?... there are many band of brothers going on right now just down the road from you guys.
I'm not saying it's right but after you've lived under Natzi oppression and brutality for four years you may have a different perspective.
After Band of Brothers watch The Pacific. It's from the same production company from HBO.
I love how shattered you guys are after watching each episode, makes me hopeful for the future.
Fun Fact: In the scene where Floyd Talbert is kissing a woman (Lt Foley yells at Talbert), the old man in the left of the frame is the actual Babe Heffron.
Having difficulty watching this series?
Then it is time to put “Saving Private Ryan” and “Schindler’s List” on your watch list right after you complete “Band of Brothers”. They will help lift your spirits about the war. One is fiction based on several incidents, and one is absolutely real. They are both Spielberg masterpieces.
Schindler's List will lift their spirits? Um no.
The scene you are talking about so much is basically this....the women who were $exu@lly abused, were not the targets of the hair cutting. The people there only targeted the women who slept with the Germans, to better themselves, aka siding with the German Army. When this moment of happiness occurred ( the temp liberaton), they outed them as traitors. The same thing would happen if this occurred in modern times. what isn't shown in the episode is what happened when the Germans took back over.
Just so you know, they said they were paratroopers, so they knew their training had been good; but they were 'green'. Green means they had not been in combat yet, so they didn't have the instincts that those who had been under fire had developed, so they were likely to die until they could learn that in combat. This wasn't just a problem in the airborne, all of the American units in combat in WWII had the same problem because of the way America replaced losses. Rather than stand up new units, America just sent large numbers of new people into existing units; this meant you'd have a few people who had been through it and a lot of new people with no idea. The new people would die quickly because they hadn't learned what the veterans knew; the veterans had no time to teach them before going into combat. It was a vicious circle. America has been testing different methods of dealing with this ever since; currently units go into combat as a group, and then are replaced as a group. Then they train with their new people out of the firing line before going back in.
The little boy had never tasted chocolate before because literally the Germans took evrything from there for their war effort. At this time the people of Holland and Belgium had been starved. Many died as a result, and after liberation, the allies took great efforts to get them food and medicines and heat for the winter, often at the expense of sending supplies and ammunition to the front. This becomes very clear in the next episode!
I really appreciate you watching this and reacting to such an important part of history. It's good for younger folks to watch stuff on ww2 to get perspective. I don't agree with you about the collaborators. Those women were extremely lucky to only be shaven and ostracized. The men who cooperated with their occupiers were executed. Think of how many innocent citizens were killed because of info those women gave to the nazis they slept with. Yes, it's very difficult to see the mob in action, but they deserved the punishment they received, and certainly, the town's residents knew who was in the resistance and who was helping the enemy or just doing it for an easy lifestyle under occupation. You reap what you sow.
A Battalion has 4 to 5 companies. Example- Easy Company, 1st Bn/ 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Each Company has 4 Platoons plus the Company Headquarters section. The "Commissioned Officers" (commonly called "Brass" due to their rank pins) are as follows....The Company has a Captain as the Commander. He has a 1st Lieutenant as Executive Officer and 4 2nd Lieutenants as Platoon leaders. The 1st Sgt (3 stripes and 2 rocker stripes) is the highest ranking "Non Commissioned Officer" (NCO), each Platoon has a Staff Sergeant (3 stripes and a rocker stripe on the bottom) as the Platoon Sergeant and each squad, which there are 4 of, has a "Buck" Sergeant (3 Stripes) as a squad leader.
Your sympathy for the ‘Replacements,’ the name of the episode is kind. There are two basic administrative ways to deal with the losses of a unit over time. The Allies usually used the ‘replacement’ system. A man is injured or killed, a new man from a pool replaces him. The advantage of this system is that the men who survive in the unit can pass on the wisdom, the knowledge they’ve acquired to the ‘green’ troops. If, that is, they can keep them alive long enough to learn those skills. It is a simple truism, though, that under a system like this, replacements die at much higher rates than veterans.
Lessons in every war that lead to survival are based on a whole bunch of small things that add up to the difference between life and death. Experienced infantry, I’ve read, develop the habit, for instance, of constantly scanning their immediate surroundings. It gets to be subconscious. They are always looking and planning for spots of cover. Artillery, planes, snipers and a whole host of other dangers surround these men. The split second you save by knowing where you’ll dive for cover if your senses alert you to danger versus hearing a threat and then looking around for a spot to dive to safety often mean the difference between life and death. A group of veterans and replacements could be standing in a group and the veterans will hear the sound of an incoming artillery round and already be scrambling for cover while a replacement might look stupidly at the sky at the sound of ‘thunder.’ The second or two head start to a good spot of cover will see the veterans safe and the replacement’s body torn to shreds.
Recall the scene where the men were gathered in a ditch by the side of the road as a German attack starts. One replacement asks the other, “What do we do?” “Stay down…” comes the unsure reply. Sgt ‘Bull’ Randleman screams at them to “Get up! Spread out!” The veteran knew, at that moment, bunching up was the wrong response. The two-part lessons replacements have to learn are, first, to identify threats: what sounds can be ignored, which spell danger. Second, though, is the appropriate response to the threat you’ve perceived: do I run? Which direction? Do I stay down and find cover? Do I shoot or be quiet? Only time, the commodity replacements don’t often have, can show the new men these lessons.
Under the ‘Replacement’ system, in a unit, such as Easy Company, that sees sustained combat, it’s not unusual for the unit to suffer, over the course of the war, over 100% casualties. As men die, they’re replaced. The other administrative solution to losses in combat is to raise a whole unit together. They train together, live together, know each other. That unit will fight together until it’s eliminated and a whole new unit will replace it. That new unit, though, is all ‘green.’ There’s no one to teach those hard-won survival skills. Each new unit has to learn those skills, techniques, tricks for themselves. The Soviet Union used this method in World War II.
A truly sad component of the ‘Replacement’ system is brought out in the veterans’ interviews. Consider the experience of a replacement. He knows no one. Probably doesn’t even know where, exactly, he is. He recognizes from all sorts of clues the differences between himself, armed only with the basic training available to all recruits and the infinite little tricks, habits, appearance and mannerisms acquired by veterans. From the replacement’s point of view, no one seems to want to talk to him, ask his name, even meet his eyes. The men in the unit seem to not care at all about him. The veterans report a very different experience, “I hated to see them get killed. I got to where I wouldn’t talk to them, learn their name, until they’d survived awhile.” I’ve often wondered about the different stereotypical approaches the genders have to social situations and how they might manifest in combat. Israel, for instance, fields a special forces unit of all women and different countries do allow for mixed gender combat units. Of course there are exceptions, but stereotypically women tend to be more welcoming of new people in social/group settings. Again, allowing for exceptions, women will often greet or ‘take under their wing’ a new member of a group. I’m speaking only of stereotypes, please remember, not individual situations, but men tend to be a bit more standoffish and want/expect new members to prove themselves before accepting them. Hazing new members seems to be more of a trend among predominantly male groups. Certainly this was my individual experience in the Army. Being new, you were going to be hazed or challenged or pranked or teased to test your response or toughness or intelligence. I completely allow this is not universally true. I wonder if all women units in sustained combat or women, individually, in mixed units in sustained combat would respond to replacements as was so widely reported to be the norm in combat units in WWII? Women would certainly be as distressed by the higher incidence of losses of ‘green’ replacements as their male counterparts, if not more. I wonder if women would develop the same defense mechanism, “I’m just not going to be open to this new person until they’ve survived for awhile.” I really don’t have the first clue what would be stereotypical in that scenario, though I have no doubt there’d be individual exceptions to the stereotype, as there always are.
I ascertained, based on your reaction to the scene in the pub where the ‘veteran’ (He was only a veteran of the plane ride over the channel. He was wounded in the plane and rode home to the hospital, missing the combat Easy saw in France, I’d point out.) making the replacements remove their unit citation pin. I’ve often wondered about this scene’s veracity. A unit citation is, in one sense, an advertisement for the unit as a whole. Service personnel joining a unit, ship or squadron today will be issued and expected to wear with pride unit citations for acts performed by absolutely no one in that unit today. They’re expectations, in a sense. “This is what people of the part in this unit have done. Make sure you live up to that reputation today, though no one currently in this unit was even born when the actions taken to earn this ribbon, this medal, this pin were performed.” You reacted negatively to someone bullying or hazing the replacements. Were you in a similar situation, how might you treat a replacement? Would you be welcoming and try to get to know them or might you adopt a harder attitude as a self-defense strategy, I truly wonder?
This is a great show, it might be tough to watch at times but I'd like to say thank you to the both of you. You watching this series I think gives some people an insight into some of the realities of war. Sadly during these current events in the world too many are oblivious to what is actually happening and how people are affected.
It may surprise many people, but a helmet is not designed to stop bullets. It's designed to deflect shrapnel from artillery and environment. If a bullet doesn't enter or ricochets to the side It's pure luck. The more you know :)
8:41 Some basic US Army Ranks simplified for you. From low rank to high rank. Private, Corporal, Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, First Sergeant. Those are enlisted men. Then for officers you have 2nd lieutenant, 1st lieutenant, captain, major, lieutenant colonel, colonel. And that's all you really need to know. For reference Winters is a Captain in this episode.
Next to Dick Winters, Bull Randelman is my favorite character in the series. Can't go wrong with a tough, easy going cigar chomping country boy from Arkansas.
Honestly, I find it quite impressive that two young girls use more profanities than several companies of Army Paratroopers.
teenage?
If you two think this is exhausting, wait until you watch The Pacific... Thats Rami Maleks break out role too so now that you are watching Mr Robot AND this, gotta watch The Pacific for sure.
I'm not sure these poor girls could make it through The Pacific. They're going to have PTSD by the time this is over and The Pacific is even uglier IMO. I have to admire these girls for sticking with this.
The important thing to understand about military ranks is that there is a very rigid distinction between officers and enlisted men, and there is an enforced social barrier between them. Officers and enlisted men were normally prohibited from living or even eating in the same areas. "Non-commissioned" ranks like sergeant and corporal are within the enlisted class, and are still considered distinct from officers. Under normal circumstances, an enlisted man would never be promoted to be an officer; it was possible (as we will see later) for a sergeant to get a "battlefield commission" and to be promoted to an officer, but this was very much the exception rather than the rule.
the shot that hit Nixon in the helmet wasnt stopped by the helmet, it actually went sideways through and grazed him in the forehead. Had it been at another angle, Nixon might have had his brains blown out, but fate had other plans for him that day.
Abraham Ford's ( Michael Cudlitz ) name in this is Staff Sergeant Denver "Bull" Randleman, Lola and Milena.
I fear for these two when we get to the snow
Bastogne
They couldn't carry a man. They couldn't move. They couldn't lift a finger. They were heroes that no on could deal with.
The ranks are basically:
- General
- Colonel
- Lieutenant colonel
- Major
- Captain
- 1st lieutenant
- 2nd lieutenant
- 1st sergeant
- Sergeant
- Corporal
- Private
I see why they are touchy about the women and their fate. The country these two list as home was 50 percent pro bad guy. The women that received that treatment were not rape victims. Only the ones in a relationship with the Germans got it. Just like CoCO channel 13. But hey lets give those ladies a trophy. While 99 percent of Holland was fighting the Germans 1 percent cashed in and played house. At least it was just one percent. Serbia might of had half the women playing house.
8:38 To put it simply, Colonel - Major - Captain - Lieutenant - Sergeant - Private. Winters was a first lieutenant but he's been doing CO role since their CO was missing or killed.
Are you forgetting the corporals and Lt Cols? Not to mention corporals are the glue of a combat unit.
There is an easy company veteran making a cameo in the crowd at Eindhoven. I won’t say who, but I think it’s worth knowing he’s there :)
LM Reactions; Band of Brothers is so traumatizing and exhausting!
The Pacific: Hold my beer.
Along with "The Pacific" which can be a tough watch but gives a view on the fighting in the Pacific which even fewer people seem to know about, I very highly recommend the Ken Burns documentary "The War".
Just fyi in the american military you have non-commissioned and commissioned officers. The first group (NCO) are enlisted people who have joined as regular soldiers and been promoted into positions of authority. 1st Sargent Lipton has been promoted about as much as an regular soldier can be. Above all NCOs are commissioned officers or just officers, these people have usually gone to the military academy and been trained since enlistment to lead. Winters is such an officer, he started as a Lieutenant which is the lowest officer rank but is higher than any NCO. In extremely rare cases an NCO who does something amazing can be given a "battlefield commission" and promoted to an officer.
Sorry if that is still confusing, love your reactions and please keep going despite how hard it is. This series is very important and people should see it.
The allied soldiers showed some compassion; I don't know the time on the clip but one of the American soldiers as a column was passing one of those bald women holding a baby jumped down and gave her a ration kit of food.
Enlisted Ranks go from E-1 private to E-8 sergeant major. First sergeant is E-7. Officer ranks go from O-1(second Lieutenant)to O-6 (colonel) Lieutenant winters is a first Lieutenant (O-2) then it goes captain (O-3) major (O-4) Lieutenant colonel (O-5) then generals are there own rank structure too
Winters is what they call a commissioned officer. Lieutenant and above. A sergeant along with corporals (the step between private and sergeant) are a non-commissioned officers NCO or NonCom for short. There is only one 1st sergeant per company and he acts as the leader of all enlisted men in the entire company. A 1st sergeant along with a sergeant major is the highest enlisted rank there is in the US Army. In order to be promoted (to 2nd LT) they need to receive a battlefield commission to become a commissioned officer. A sergeant major is usually an administrative role though.
Many Germans knew the war was lost when they found out the US was flying (and shipping) in chocolate and other luxury goods. The US had massive lift capabilty to move soldiers and materials anywhere in the world, to literally overwhelm an enemy with sheer numbers... Germany was under tight rationing, while the US was flying in chocolate.
Nice reaction video to match the weather outside. 👌
Pacific is heavier in general just a heads up.
When this show came out I was a TV news videographer. And Bull Randleman lived in our viewing area. We were supposed to film an interview with him, but he cancelled at the last minute. I really wish I could have met him.
The cool thing about watching band of brothers in 2023 is you won't have to wait long for the sequel...
Things have gotten progressively tougher with each episode. This trend is going to continue, and get steeper as you go. A lot steeper. You may want to carve out some time to let Ep9 sink in. You may want to take a really long break before going anywhere near "The Pacific." Just sayin'.
Any rank of Sergeant is an enlisted soldier and is an NCO…”non-commissioned officer”….an ACTUAL officer that has rank over any enlisted men starts with 2nd Lieutenant and then 1st. Lieutenant and then Captain…Major…Lieutenant Colonel…and then Colonel…pronounced like “Kernel”….Winters starts out as 2nd. Lieutenant which is a gold bar…1st. Lieutenant which is a silver bar then Captain…2 silver bars attached…then Major. A first sergeant is like the top ranked enlisted guy in their unit…
Yes, some of the people who collaborated with the Germans probably did do it to survive, though many probably did it for favourable treatment by the occupying force. Regardless, though that doesn't excuse turning in their neighbours for working against the occupiers, neighbours who would then have been executed. Exile was probably warranted, the head shaving and drawing of swastikas were probably mostly cathartic (retrubution for their actions during occupation) and would let other people know what they did, the executions of the men who collaborated probably wasn't warranted, but that's also a reflection of the environment they were living in.
The women who slept with the germans had most lilely also given them onformation from what they heard around town about the resistance movement. They didnt do this to girls that had done ot once or girls that were forced into it. Only people that collaborated and worked with the germans. This was normal all across europe. In denmark those women were known as feltmadras or field mattreses. The germans had killed alot of young boys amd girls that put up a recistance throughout the war. And here in denmark we had it easy compared to many other nations. Amd still we have an entire wall riddled with names of boys and girls, men and women from the age of 16 to 60 who were executed by the germans. Some of the first to put up a recistance were the gymnasiums, a thing between highschool and university. Age was 17-20 they were locked up when discovered. But later in the war when germans had full controll they would get shot. The first to get shot were a family and friends that made up the group "hvidstens gruppen" they took in airdrops amd distributed it. Their deaths ignited a spark in the danish people, and the germans got serious problems with controlling the danish population after that
I hope everyone watching your reaction paid attention when you said this 13:25. Very true.
That end card doesn’t really communicate how bad the casualties were during market garden. The British 1st airborne was probably about 12,000 soldiers at the time and they lost 8,000.
The series is difficult but well worth the time investment. Do yourselves the favor and watch the ‘11 th’ episode the documentary of the men. You will really appreciate it.
15:52 - "That's fucking war crime."
Only if you live, lose, and get caught.
I enjoy your reactions, and I appreciate you doing this show. So I'm not saying this to criticize you, but you may find it hard to believe. But chances are if you were a non-colaborist dutch (or of any other occupied nation during this time) once liberated you would very much likely act exactly as the people in that mob. It's easy for you and me to look at that and judge it as wrong. I think it was wrong, but I was not in their shoes. I didn't live in German occupied Holland during WWII.
This people were seen as traitors to their own people. The Dutch resistance would have put out hits on people who collaborated even during the occupation. Once free from the Germans it's obvious they are going to go all out after this people.
And they aren't the Allies (who supposedly are the good guys, as you put it) they are the very people who live there. But on that topic Allies soldiers and American soldiers did plenty of shitty things during the war, on all it's theaters, because war is a shitty business and even good people will act at the very worst humanity has to offer in the right circumstances. But don't forget, psychopaths go to war as well.
Back to the point, remember that effectively, when the Germans left the occupied Dutch cities for more defensible positions, they abandoned the very puppet governments that they had propped up to govern over the dutch. So effectively other than "the Americans are in town" there was no working or legitimate government, mob justice was absolutely inevitable, and as stated there was plenty of reasons why the population would not only think this acts were evil they would feel as justified and absolute justice to them.
"I'm alright! I'm alright! Am I alright?"
"Yeah."
"Then quit looking at me like that."
I LOVE that this series makes them want to hide in their hoodies. 🤣🤣🤣
The hardest episode for you both will be the one titled "Why we fight" episode number 9.
Remember, a WWII helmet was only simple steel. It was not armor like modern helmets. The fact that Capt. Nixon didn't die is just the random chance of a richochet.
So the scene with the women being humiliated and tortured in public by the Dutch resistance fighters. That absolutely did happened. It's unfortunate, it's a tragedy, it's a crime, and it happened pretty much the way they are depicting.
Many of the women who made a choice to engage in some kind of relationship with german soldiers did it out of necessity, not because of actual love. Western Europe was under German occupation, and when things started to get bad for Germany, the occupied territories were the first to suffer, food shortages, labor shortages, you name it they had it on top of the normal every day oppression that is to live under a fascist regime, plus we need to remember this is 1944, it's not like there were plenty of job opportunities for Women back then even in peace times. So many of those women probably found themselves with the unenviable choice of selling their body in order to survive the occupation. And on top of the trauma that this decision must have cause them, they also suffered the reprisals from their fellow countrymen who simply felt the need to vent their years of frustration that they had it under German occupation, against those that probably suffered just as much as they did.
Mob justice isn't just.
And yes those scenes are horrible to watch. But Band of Brothers as well as its other series called "The Pacific" is absolutely full of scenes that are straight up revolting to watch.
They attempted to save, Sergent, Denver Randleman (Bull), in Holland.
I would love it if you guys reacted to it's always sunny in Philadelphia. Id love to see you guys react to a comedy show and it's the breaking bad of comedy shows. No joke
You’ll have to watch The Pacific after this. Same production folks, but the War with Japan. Rough stuff… that’s where my grandfather and his brother went to fight. My grandfather came back intact; my great uncle less so.
My mom’s family, what remained in Europe fled or was occupied/shot by Nazis.
At least Europe is beautiful. Imagine rotting on some crazy miserable island dealing with the Japanese forces. Ugh 😣
Crazy miserable stuff.