Forgive me. If you're annoyed by the giant face circle. I am too If you don't like the hazy edges. I hate them too. But BoB has one of the most intense content ID system's I've ever encountered so trying to get around it has been madness.
Don't worry...we're here for the reaction more than the movie itself. It's just a shame they're making you jump through so many hoops to get it to us. Those bastages.😡
In all honesty, nothing was wrong, the giant face circles are fine, we are here to see your reactions and the hazy edges, barely noticeable. if thats the way it has to look the rest of the series, no issues there at all.
Excellent review. I have watch the series multiple times and have watched multiple reviews I really enjoy your review and your discussions. I think that BoB is the best TV series ever made. Once you finish the 10 episodes be sure to watch the Documentary that goes with it called we Stand Alone Together, it is excellent as well and you get to see a lot more of the interviews with the actual veterans. I enjoy watching new people discover enjoy and discuss the show, so no need to apologize for hazy edges and what you have to cut to get it in. More interested in your thoughts on it. I will not give anything away but since you seem very interested in him i will tell you this one thing. What Winters through about Spiers. He called him the most natural born killer he had ever met.
Albert Blithe in fact survived. He went on to have quite a distinguished Army career, being highly decorated for his service in the Korean War. He died in 1967, in an Army hospital in Germany, of a perforated ulcer. He had reached the rank of Master Sergeant.
@Bruce Smeltzer Technically, it was written in 1999 and produced over the span of 2000, and the book published in 1992 so that's not true. Also they were going off the firsthand testimony of the surviving easy members, and the author, Stephen Ambrose's word and work which was also based on even more serving member testimony. The mistake apparently comes from Bill Guarnere and Edward Heffron swearing that they had been to Blithe's funeral in '48. Obviously it's still a silly error which only got caught when Blithe's son pointed it out but tbf you couldn't just Google Albert Blithe in 1999 and get his life story, but you could speak to about 20 living primary sources instead and unfortunately if they tell you something you tend to take their word.
The soldier that was in the building of Carentan that exploded was Ed Tipper. I'm only saying this now because he's never shown again or touched upon as to what happened. In the blast he broke both his legs and lost his left eye. He is one of the veterans that speaks at the beginning and his daughter Kerry Tipper is a currently a politician and member of the Colorado House of Representatives. This is just info i looked up on my own, so it's not spoiling the show at all.
@@andrewrippel6164 yeah, they only show his name in the documentary episode and i know a lot of reactors skip that episode which would be episode 11 unofficially and by that time people forget he was that same guy
The commentary on Speirs being a “psychopath” warms my heart. He’s my favorite, and the fact that he even strikes fear in the audience is exactly why. “Airborne all the way”
Dude is an absolute lunatic~ actually doing more damage than good considering he is in an leading position. As seen when taking out the 105, he basicly send his guys to death. But from a movie perspective dudes a chad and I really like him in the series.
@@Fischbroetchen2k actually spiers was an incredibly competent soldier. The kind of guy you wanted in your outfit. That why when he shot one of his own men on purpose, it was swept under the rug, they couldn't afford to lose him.
Spoiler alert: Regarding Blithe's temporary blindness and Winters checking on him, Winters said it happened almost exactly as it's shown in that scene.
@@lostpompeylad Actually, the book that this is based on was written by Stephen Ambrose. It wasn't that Winters said Blythe died, it's that nobody had heard what happened, so they assumed he was dead.
@@lostpompeylad Blythe never kept in contact with anyone after the war they assumed he never recovered from his wounds and i don't think he ever fought in WW2 again. Though he did stay in the military
The Last Scene where Malarkey Goes to get his Laundry is hard hitting... the Lady innocently asks him about the men who haven't picked up their Laundry... you can see in his eyes he doesn't want to tell the lady they were all killed...
“Accept the fact that you’re already dead.” That is a philosophy that makes a better combat soldier. If he lives through it, he’s pleasantly surprised.
Wow, you noted in the video that Blithe didnt die, and even added a photo of him, and yet over a dozen people still felt it necessary to tell you. 😆 heres something I found out about him. He was actually from Philadelphia like Babe Hephron and Bill Guarnere. I guess the British actor who played him maybe could do a better southern accent, so...
You aint kidding. it feels like people popped into the video just to drop their tidbit and bounce lol. And the accent thing is funny but good golly did i like that actors portrayal. I really wanted to reach through the screen and hug him.
@@Diegesis its tradition to tell the reactors... at this point it's an inside joke for us fandom. Actually if I may be so bold I was the first one to do it, cause I was watching the first reactor to ever watch Band of Brother years ago.
It's the most annoying thing about BoB reactions to be honest. It's like clockwork, if Episode 3 is shown anywhere, people come out of nowhere to needlessly flex their knowledge on you lol. It's not exactly like that, but that's what it feels like to everyone else. Plus this is a pretty well known fact by now.
Yeah, people tend to comment it before the reaction is through. Most people don't catch it and include it in the way you guys did, so I suppose they assume.
I love how strongly you are reacting to Spiers now and how I am certain you will feel about him later - he is by far the most complex portrayal in the show.
I read you had alot of trouble putting this out. I want to thank BOTH of you for working so hard for our entertainment. This is the best reaction on a great channel. Thank you very much!!
It’s worth mentioning that none of the tanks faced here by the Shermans are Tigers, as present in Fury. Looks like tank destroyers and possibly a standard panzer.
@@alexhohl8530 nah the Jagdpanther is a T-54 i believe. It’s a really good mock of one and it fooled me because it look so real but it’s not a genuine Jagdpanther. As for the stugs they are FV432 APC’s.
@@alexhohl8530 Exactly what Obi-Wan said, if you look at the wheels and tracks you'll spot the difference. On the Jagdpanther they concealed the wheels a bit with sideskirts but you can still see they are five single independent wheels and not the correct overlapping stack with 4 wheels in the front row.
What blows my mind is that the guy who got blown up in the pharmacy, taking the brunt of a mortar right to the face, survived. Edward Tipper passed away in 2017. He was a teacher for 30 years. His right eye was destroyed and needed to be amputated though.
I love how this episode portrays the way every man "rationalize" the situation they're in on their own to cope with it, just as they said in the beggining, and then when Malarkey go get the laundry and just then he realize how many of them have been lost to combat. The storytelling is soo good, Spielberg is a master of the "show, don't tell" motto.
Anecdote about the Edelweiss: yes, it's a mark of bravery for a soldier to climb up beyond the treeline in the Alps to collect an Edelweiss flower, but it wasn't necessarily the mark of a "true soldier" that all of the German military was open to wear. The Gebirgsjäger or Mountain Brigade were an elite brigade of the German military that specialized in high-altitude warfare, and their unit emblem that they wore on their caps was that of the Edelweiss. They were quite proud of that badge of honor, and from what I can tell any ordinary German Wermacht soldier who wanted to wear Edelweiss around was liable to get some impromptu education if they were seen by a Gebirgsjäger trooper
That's what i thought, It was like a "right of passage" thing for Gebirgsjäger rookies to climb up and pick one? Weird they should make such and error when so much else is accurate? The guy they find it on is wearing a Fallschirmjäger helmet so maybe the costume people f**ked up?
@@philb3549 I feel like they really just wanted to illustrate Blithe’s own ‘rite of passage’ narrative throughout the episode, so they may have fudged it a bit to make it work. It does make his story very impactful for sure
@@philb3549 They could've come from a mountain unit. Soldiers who transfer out to a new unit often wear patches or badges of some sort on their kit in homage to them...though it's likely not regulation, and done in low key or informal ways. Plenty of guys did so when I was in the Army, and i even wore an IR flag from deployment whenever we'd go out to train (got bitched at a lot for it lol great times)
A lot of the Fallschirmjager were trained for high altitude combat. The 2nd Fallschirmjager division (2nd paratroop div of the German army) was literally the best division in the whole of WW2. They fought off a combined Allied effort on the mountain of Cassino "Monte Cassino" in Italy. Even after heavy shelling and allied carpet bombing turning the monastery into pure rubble, these German paratroops fought on and defended the path to Rome as best as they could. The British threw everything at them, including the Canadians, the South Africans and the Indians and they were all sent back with heavy casualties. Only the Polish regiment who were willing to sacrifice themselves since their families and their nation were already conquered and decimated by the Germans, lost 1000 men KIA while scaling Cassino over 2 days and they finally after some suicidal levels of determination, brokethrough and send the 2nd FJ division retreating from the heights of Monte Cassino.
@@philb3549 "When so much else is accurate" They fabricated entire storylines that never happened , killed off people who survived, got names and locations incorrect ect ect. Bob is in no war a realistic depiction of what happened its partial fiction.
You'll be glad to know that this episode has one of the (very few) mistakes in the show. Blithe actually didn't end up dying from his wounds, the surviving vets thought he died because he didn't come back to the company (and it's not like they could easily keep in touch with people back then). Of course, when they made the show, Wikipedia didn't exist and they couldn't easily get information. But Blithe's entire arc, him experiencing histerical blindness and Winters talking to him and him suddenly recovering, is all true. However, the amount of extensive research and first-hand accounts by the surviving veterans (the talking heads in the begining of each episode who's identities will be revealed in the final episode), making Band of Brothers the most accurate representation of history in dramatic form ever made. Down to some of the lines of dialogue some character say. This episode perfectly captures the progress from an innocent young man to a soldier, demonstrating the three personalities of a soldier via the wisdom of each of the company's main officers (Winters - take care of your fellow man and lead with purpose, Harry Walsh - find levity wherever you can so you don't sink into a dark hole, and Speirs - do what must be done without preamble or emotion to get the job done).
If I recall correctly Blithe had been turning his head to signal to move up with the shot came, and everyone thought he had been hit in the neck because of the blood, but it was a deep shoulder wound. That plus him not going back to the company led people to assume he had been shot in the neck and died.
Okay so ive been watching these from Episode 1 to now, you are probably the most observant first time watchers i have ever seen. Catching Meehan's plane off the rip in Day of Days, associating names with faces. It makes watching people experience for the first time and actually understand so enjoyable it is likely unrivaled on other channels. Keep it up.
The story about Spiers killing the prisoners is true. It was confirmed in an interview with Dick Winters. The guy doing the interview asked Dick about this, and Dick told him about. He said that Steven Ambrose called him one day and told him they had a problem. Lawyers from Simon and Shuster called him and were worried about potential lawsuits from some of the stories that were in the book and would be in the series. The Spiers story was one of them, the portrayal of Nix drinking too much was another. Dick told him not to worry about it, he would handle it. He said he wasn't worried about Nix, he knew that wouldn't be an issue, but the Spiers story was something else. Dick said he called Spiers and said 'hey Sparky, you know those rumors that were floating about, about D-Day, were they true? He said Spiers said 'oh yeah Dick, they're true'. He told Speirs about the phone call from Ambrose and the Lawyers concerns and Spiers said don't worry about it. He would write them and letter and tell them what happened. Apparently he did just that, and Dick said it was never an issue after that, because it was true. The interview with Winters is out there on youtube, which is where I got this info from. I may have paraphrased a little.
Many Canadian and American units including the 101st and 82nd were instructed to not take prisoners during D-Day simply because they wouldn't have the capacity at the time to process prisoners. So Spiers actions that aren't exactly surprising nor was it uncommon.
@@OutcastSatyr ... In the circumstances I understand what he did. My favorite t-shirt says Lt. Spiers Last Stop Smoke Shop, and has an image of a Thompson on it.
@@OutcastSatyr Another thing to consider is that Hitler issued the commando order which called for the execution of captured "commandos." Paratroopers were not certain that they would be afforded the rights of prisoners of war if captured. If you don't think the enemy is taking prisoners (especially prior to the D-Day landings), it's much less likely that you're going to take prisoners.
I dont dare to impose I have any right to judge those people. I hope that under same circumstances I wouldnt do it. But under international law signed in Geneva was already in play. I have to admit I am not sure US signed it pre WW2. They deffinitely did in 1949 (the updated one). If they did, what Spears did was a war crime, killing UNARMED PoW's. That said, we know that Germans were not big on following it all the time. However. Soviet Union did not sign it at all. My Great Grandfather who fought in WW2 in the September Campaign got captured with part of his unit by Germans and was a PoW himself. He told me in the 90's when I was a kid that he thanks God that he got captured by Germans and not Soviets, because most of people he knew who were captured by Soviets were dead.
19:30 - Historian Nicholas Moran once stated that most armor battles were decided on who fired the first shot. As the initiator of combat was usually in a position of strength when the first round was fired. While those on the receiving end are having a significant emotional event. A great video about Tanks in World War 2 can be found here : ruclips.net/video/bNjp_4jY8pY/видео.html&ab_channel=TheChieftain
He also was a cold, hard man. He was an exceptional soldier, no doubt, but he also had the capacity to be very brutal. I love the contrast throughout the series with Winters, 100% I'd be happy under Speirs command, he was an exceptional officer, but Winters, while not as individually aggressive, proves beyond doubt that bravery, leadership and ability do not require cold brutality, I'd rather be under Winters direct command. Also some of Speirs bravery bordered on foolhardy (as demonstrated by the casualties he sustained in the Brecourt fighting, yes he took the gun but men were killed in the process), Winters took incredible risks, no doubt as to his bravery, but he was less openly aggressive, which I think is a good thing, course if Speirs was a 1 in a 1000 leader, Winters is a 1 in a 100,000.
After you guys are done with BoB, I’d like to recommend The Pacific series. It’s just like BoB, however it follows a unit that fought in Japan. Loved both of them.
As a millennial who grew up playing the early Call of Duty and Brothers in Arms games and nerding out on some WWII History Channel documentaries I guess I took for granted the built in knowledge I had on the subject by the time I got around to watching BoB in high school. The road of the 101st Airborne is legendary and D-Day is kind of the starting point for Americans when learning about the war so Easy Company is definitely well known to even the smallest of WWII buffs. Having functioning knowledge of little things like the fact that England was the prep-zone for the invasion, the differences between Tiger and Panzer tanks, and the Thunder and Flash call signs were just details that helped fill in the gaps as a first time BoB viewer. It’s really amazing to see you guys soaking this masterfully tragic show up in all its glory. Media like this is what really gave me an appreciation and understanding of what my grandfather went through in his 20’s. It is essential that these things exist to educate future generations. Also, BoB is essentially a spiritual successor/continuation from Saving Private Ryan as it was created and produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
@@Diegesis I've really enjoyed your review of this WWII series. I know this is a little different, but would you ever react to this veteran's WWII interview? m.ruclips.net/video/3MiEAkuRV7I/видео.html It is one of the most intense things I've ever heard.
My parents and i are watching BoB for the first time. We just watched episode 3. I bawled through the first half of the episode, and i just kept repeating how did my grandfather experience this and keep living? (He died 9 months ago in Oct 2021. fought in the Army in Germany during WW2. He was absolutely one of the greatest generation. He even asked in 2020 during the US riots if he was needed to defend his country again, he was absolutely willing.) I absolutely understand now watching this series why he spoke so little about his war experiences. Holy hell. Also, where the guy was blown up and lost an eye and a foot and the other soldier just held him and comforted- one of the last things my grandfather did was hold and comfort his eldest son who was dying of cancer and begging to die from the intense pain. My other uncle was witness to the scene and later asked my grandfather later how he could stand to hold his son and be so calm? my 98 year old grandfather replied he did it in war so of course he’d do it again for his children. That scene brought that to life to me. I both hate that scene and am thankful for it. Thanks for letting me get this out. Im sure all be back for the concentration camp episode i think it coming up. My grandad helped liberate at least one.
This episode is in my top 3 favorites for the series and I’m so glad you managed to catch the mistaken info for Blithe in the end! Looking forward to the rest of the series!
That line from “Apocalypse Now” you mention about the door gunner shooting women and children really happened. Michael Herr was a reporter for Esquire in Vietnam and wrote dispatches back to that magazine, later compiled into a book titled “Dispatches,” and that is one of the anecdotes within. “Dispatches” is rad. It’s a unique firsthand account of that war and very well written. You guys are doing great with these war flicks. I think at this point it might be mandatory for you to follow this up with “The Pacific” so you can keep the Navy and Marines content (it’s also just a different war and interesting to examine how so). Finally, “A Bridge Too Far” would tie in very well with BoB and is often said to be the best depiction of a combat mass drop of paratroops in film.
In the real battle, which was portrayed at the end, around 60 Sherman tanks and 12 Panzers were involved. It was a major counterattack by the 17th SS Panzer grenadiers and 6th Fallschirmjäger.
19:44 Fun filmmaking fact: That stunt of him getting "crushed" was done practically with a live human and real armored vehicle! What the filmmakers did was dig a hole, filled it with foam, then covered it with foliage. So when the StuG rolled over him, he was pushed into the foam. The stuntman was unharmed. My source is one of Corridor Crew's reactions (forgot which one, but it was one of the earlier episodes).
The Fallschirmjäger (German Paratroopers), the guys they were fighting in Carentan, were bad-arses. Not necessarily die-hard Nazis but tough S.O.B's with the same esprit de Corp as the US Airborne.
Very true! Also true is that they were absolutely gutted as a strategic force after jumping into Crete in 1941. The allied forces were under the command of General Bernard Freyberg, VC, the commander of the New Zealand 2nd Division. The NZ 2nd Div saw more continuous combat than any other divison in WWII, and made a strong impression on allies and enemies alike. Sorry, this is off topic but I can't resist any opportunity to hype my Great Uncles and their unit!
It amazes me how many reactors I’ve seen that don’t pick up on that right away. From my experience, the term “zero” is extremely common terminology when talking about aiming anything, be it a gun, a football, or even your eyeballs.
That was SOP for the German army. They would have their own positions measured out precisely. When they were overrun, they would call in a " stonk " on their old positions and there would be an inevitable counterattack.
You guys are a touch, good work. I'm a company commander in the National Guard. The Blithe storyline is like a case study on the elite military culture. Airborne rangers and Rangers in general, are a touch above the rest of the Army forces. I experienced some of that culture going through my own schools, but there's a selectiveness about how one enters that force and you must earn your place every. day. So the Edelweiss and Blithe's arc is like watching the transformation of the everyman thrust into hell, having to form to the strictures of an elite unit. The flower, the purple heart, the wound earned in battle, they're all "totems" for the "true Soldier". I'm ambivalent about how this incentivizes human performance. The episode shows at the end, you can have 3 purple hearts for stupid wounds or 1 purple heart for a life altering neck wound, but they're all the same purple heart. So what's the demarcation of valor to the heart, and what does that mean at all when you put your civilian clothes back on? It really -is- "just a game". That's why when Winters acknowledged him his blindness went away. He just needed leadership to give him a context in which to live. Speirs gave him another context. We're all in need of totems, and collect tokens to benchmark the path.
Y'all mentioned in your edit but yes, as is obligatory to mention, Blithe didn't die in 1948. He never showed up to Easy Company reunions, so his fellow veterans just assumed he died. They reported that to Stephen Ambrose, and Ambrose didn't question it and just put it in his book. Then Spielberg didn't question Ambrose. In reality Blithe was wounded in the shoulder and recovered, and went on to serve in Korea and reach the rank of Master Sergeant I believe. He died in 1967
God, this is why I don't like to watch BoB reactions anymore. Even if it's already said, a million other people feel the need to say it also.. as if it wasn't true unless they were the ones who said it lol. This is pretty common knowledge by now, and the reactors even pointed it out, so this comment is completely unnecessary.
@@TwistedSisler is that right? You knew every one of those details I added? Furthermore, you troll the comment section of every video you watch? Or did you come to this comment section knowing there would be posts about this factoid, so that you could get upset and scold one of them? You wonder what the point of my original comment is, yet I find myself wondering what the point of your response to it is just as much…
In sustained high intensity combat, every soldier on the front line passes along three states of delusion. The first is what everyone starts out with; “It can’t happen to me, I’m too smart/special/loved to die.” Intellectually they may know otherwise but deep down they believe it. This is dangerous and leads to action like you saw in Ep 2; Malarkey running for the supposed Luger, the sniper up in a tree in full view of the enemy, etc. This state usually persists until the first experience with serious combat and death, after which the soldier transitions to Stage 2. Stage 2 is ‘It CAN happen to me, but I can keep myself safe by being careful and listening to my NCOs/taking care of my weapons/using cover/etc.’ This is the ideal state for a combat-effective infantryman and what they will occupy for most of their useful service life. However after enough days on the line, eventually nearly everyone sheds that layer of delusion and progresses to Stage 3, the stark reality of things: ‘It CAN happen to me and eventually it WILL unless I get off the line, no matter what I do.’ At this point a mental breakdown begins and the man becomes useless as a soldier. Much of the reason units are rotated off the line has less to do with physical rest and more with keeping men in Stage 2. With Blithe, you have a man who went almost immediately from one to three. Things like his blindness come about as a way for the subconscious levels of the brain to resolve bravery and Stage 3: ‘If we stay here we’re going to die. What, you won’t leave because you don’t want to be a coward? Okay. What if you can’t see? Now you have no choice. You can’t fight without your eyes.’ And just like that the brain stops processing data from the optic nerve.
Speaking from experience, I don't really consider this to be completely accurate. Maybe back then, but myself, nor anyone of my close peers ever seemed to fall into any of these categories. Not taking away from anything you are saying, I'm just giving you my own experience to indicate that that's not an absolute by any means.
@@TwistedSisler It’s hard to translate a RUclips-comment sized summary into something that fits a real person’s modern experience. The above was what the US military’s psychologists understood at the end of the war. It may be out of date. Keep in mind that American culture and view of war was very different back then. Likewise WW2 was a different sort of conflict from modern anti-insurgent warfare, with different sorts of mental stresses.
Blithe recovered from his wound. Remained a career soldier. He fought in the Korean War and was highly decorated for his bravery. He passed away in 1967.
One thing you should keep in mind as you watch these episodes is Dick Winters’ exceptional leadership qualities. Especially in this episode, he leads by example which was able to get Blithe out of his hole during the battle and in the hospital. Every scene he’s in, he thinks tactically and efficiently with his men in mind.
Tipper, the guy that got hit by artillary and had his face messed up around 6:47 actually lived quite a long time after that. He died in 2017, but his daughter is actually quite young, being born in 83.
You should do a review of "Memphis Belle". It's a true story of a bomber crew that survived 25 bombing missions during WW2. It's terrifyingly amazing! Fantastic movie!
8:19 it was considered Hysterical Blindness, if i recall correctly. and it was very common among soldiers following combat. not on the same level of shellshock or what we now refer to as PTSD, but it was an initial or short-term reaction or psychological response to that.
When the show originally aired on HBO the family of Blithe watched it and realized their father/grandfather was listed as having died from his wounds in 1948. When they released the DVD editions with "The Making Of" behind the scenes interviews they do cover that Blithe lived and contacted HBO, it's also revealed that the army records stopped for Blithe in 1948 because that's when he was released from medical care because of his neck wound. As stated by others and in your reaction, he later served in Korea and died in 1967. He was actually still actively serving in the armed forces in Germany and passed away shortly after a commemoration of the Battle of the Bulge, he was 44.
Albert Blithe survived the war and volunteered for service in the Korean War. He was named "Paratrooper of the Year" of the 82nd Airborne in 1958. He died in 1967 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetary.
When it comes to Speirs, everyone that knew him believed he shot those POW’s, it’s a good chance he did. Also little fact about the production of the end battle scene on the hill, the guy who gets crushed by the tank actually did the stunt. He actually had like a coffin beneath him that he would go into so with a bit if camera magic it looked so real.
He confirmed to Winter that he did kill those EPW's however take this next statement any way you wish. Paratroopers in this mission were ordered NOT to take prisoners and because the Beaches were not secured when Speirs did this. You can either take it as him be a murder or following orders. Regardless, war is hell.
@@Seriona1 I'm inclined to believe it. As cold as it was, until the beaches were secure and a solid base established, attempting to contain hundreds to thousands of prisoners would have been asking to get killed.
@@josephgarrett5693 Right. A lot of people either don't know that or don't understand that. Paratroopers are light infantry equip with just enough for a few days. They are not designed to jump behind enemy lines and secure everything in site. In fact, the paratroopers on D-day had orders but the intent was to create chaos for the Germans.
Spiers did shoot one of his own NCOs. The NCO was drunk and he was actively disobaying a direct order and was about to charge a bunch of his men into an incoming friendly artillery's barrage. The NCO apparently tried to pull a pistol on Spiers, and Spiers shot him.
He also did shoot the prisoners on D Day. Winters said he called Spiers up when he learned that they wanted to include that rumor but were hesitant to sully his reputation. Spiers goes “oh go ahead and put that in, I absolutely shot em. I don’t regret it either. I’ll even write a formal letter of acknowledgment for the shows legal team.”
@@andrewrippel6164 I honestly don't have a problem with that in their circumstances. It sucks, don't get me wrong... But what if Overlord fell on it's ass? Or if the landings went slower and they didn't make it inland enough to the Paratroopers for a day or two. Those prisoners were a massive liability.
@@IIBloodXLustII 100%. Horrible things happen in wat, on both sides, no matter what. It’s a shame, sure, but I absolutely understand the dire nature of their positions in that time
@@andrewrippel6164 So you have no problem with SS units killing US POWs? Millions of soviet POW being starved to death in german camps? After all, Germany was experiencing a shortage of food... Honestly, this attitude is disgusting.
@@panther7748There's a difference when you're the party defending. Even if you don't have the materiel to support POWs, you at a minimum have either the space or the manpower to do so. The Airborne units on D Day had none of the three, they were severely understrength and any positions they took they couldn't be sure they'd be able to hold. It's an unfortunate fact of life in that circumstance. Can't keep them in a safe manner, can't let them escape and return to shoot back at you. There's only one option under such a circumstance. The SS were inhumane monsters that routinely executed POWs regardless of circumstances, and the Eastern Front was a savage war that has had no equal before or since. The Russians and Germans were locked in an ideological war driven by two authoritarian madmen who had no regard for human life.
Such a joy seeing watching an educated person like your hosting a reaction. Our history as country should not be revised , we need it to learn from our mistakes.
Interestingly enough, you mentioned that you were curious about what people like the ancient Greeks were discovering about ailments and battlefield trauma. It just so happens there's a recorded instance of a Greek soldier who suffered from, or appears to have suffered from, what Blithe did. He apparently went blind in the middle of a battle and never regained his vision, even though there was nothing wrong with him. The rest of the Greeks still treated him like an ordinary veteran with war related disabilities, which is nice to hear. This is recorded by Herodotus, and theoretically occurred during the battle of Marathon, after the soldier witnessed another soldier get killed. It is one of the first documentations of PTSD.
Blithe not only survived, but continued in the Army serving in the Korean War and stationed in West Germany until his death in 1967 from a stomach ulcer. He wasn't hiding due to fear on D-Day he passed out due to the air sickness pills paratroopers were given before jumping and was still out of it for a few days. The Edelweiss was more of a symbol for the Gebergsjäger than the Fallschirmjäger, unless those particular soldiers were Austrian. My great uncle served as a Fallschirmjäger at the end of WWII. The reason the German armor attacked and American tanks were sent to reinforce the 101st was because it was overcast. Most Panzer groups in France rarely operated on clear days was the threat of Allied aircraft. The reason for Patton's 3rd Army charging from Normandy to Lorraine in around 2 months was due in large part to General James Doolittle and the 9th Army Air Force's P-47 Thunderbolts destroying most enemies in the way.
Harry Welsh was an former NCO of the 82nd, who became an field promotion after serving on the mediterranean front and got transferred(because people think, officers from the ranks don't get the necessary respect and authority after an promotion from their old unit)
When you finish the series you need to watch 'We Stand Alone Together' the follow up documentary about Easy Company with the real surviving men telling the story of the war. It's a must see.
Albert Blithe is my favorite character on the show. I was drawn to him when I first watched BoB and even today find myself connecting to him more than anyone else.
Most likely spiers rumors are based on a guy who was with spiers and another soldier on d day that were able to take 3 German soldiers prisoners but couldn't do anything other than shoot them because they were told not to take prisoners and it was long before they were at the place where they were organizing themselves. Blithe was actually just shot in the shoulder and served in Korea too. If I remember correctly winters didn't really like how they portrayed him in this episode.
The Spiers rumors aren't rumors. They're the truth. Spears never refuted them and he actually admitted they were all true after Ambrose finished writing the book.
3:34 I live in this area, our towns are post war fast rebuilt frankenstein things, between what has been bombed, burnt, and what little has been saved. Northern and Western France still bears t he marks of that war. The courthouse in my hometown still has bullets and mortar holes, they wont cover them up as a reminder
Luz is a radio man. He carries the larger field radio on his back. You also saw a second smaller type of radio, it was the shoe box sized phone. Range is limited, so runners are still used.
It's obvious that you found out that Blithe survived WW2 and went on to serve with distinction in the Korean War. As for Spiers shooting his own man, the man was drunk and making a lot of noise which was giving away their position to the Germans and when Speirs tried to stop him he pointed his weapon at Spiers so Spiers pulled his pistol and shot him. At least that's the story that I heard.
The Sherman you see in "Fury" is a so-called "Sherman Firefly". The British, when they got their first shipments of Shermans rather liked the tank. It was fast and able to fight it out with the standard German tank of the time, the Panzer IV. Problem was that the Germans pretty quickly got the idea to add extra armour to the Panzer IV's sides and, of course, then eventually they introduced the Panzer V, also known as the Panther and the Panzer VI, called the Tiger. Both were massive upgrades, armour-wise over the Panzer IV's. The Panzer V had sloped armour which ensures that armour efficiency is increased by anywhere between a third and half of its thickness, and the Panzer VI was just stupidly armoured with ridiculous amounts of steel protecting it. Now, Tigers were RARE. Every movie about WWII involving German tanks throw Tigers around like they were omnipresent, but in reality, the Germans only ever built 1.600 of the damn things, and most of those ended up on the eastern front. There WERE Tigers in Normandy, but by far ... by FAR ... the most common type of armour that American troops would've encountered would've been Sturmgeschutz ... also called Stug ... in various versions. The vehicle that they shoot at with the bazooka is a Stug, for instance. The main difference is that a tank has a revolving turrent, whereas the Stug was a so-called assault gun, with a gun on a fixed central mounting that meant the whole vehicle had to be turned to fire it. However, it also allowed for a much lower outline of the tank, making it far easier to hide, it allowed for thick armour as well. The Stug III was the most commonly produced piece of German armour during the entire war, and came in a variety of versions with different guns on it, for use in a multitude of roles from anti-tank to anti-infantry to infantry-support, to actual artillery and so on. So ... the Tiger encounter in Fury COULD have happened, but it was quite, quite rare to find a Tiger on the western front. However, when they WERE encountered, they were absolutely horrendous to come up against for Sherman-crews, primarily for three reasons. Firstly, they were very, very heavily armoured, with 100 millimeters of armour on the front, making it impervious to the short-barrelled 75 mm gun on the Sherman at anything but point blank range. As in: you'd almost literally have to park the Sherman up against the Tiger and then fire in order to stand a chance of penetrating the armour in front (which is also why they try to get behind the Tiger in "Fury", the armour was noticably thinner there). And by 1944, the Sherman's gun was so underpowered that it was struggling mightily against German assault guns and up-armoured Panzer IV's as well. It was still a good tank to have in support for clearing out infantry, but against German armour, it was starting to have very real issues. The second reason why the Sherman-crews had such trouble against Tigers was actually a universal problem for the tank, not just against that type of German armour, but against -all- of their tanks. The Sherman was TALL. Hiding them was next to impossible, even behind terrain features. They just stuck out like a sore thumb and made for easy targets for that reason. And while the Sherman's armour stood up reeeeasonably well against earlier versions of the Panzer IV, which typically also carried shorter guns with lower muzzle velocities, that was no longer the case by 1944. The Germans had two absolutely terrifying antitank-guns that they were mounting on their armour at this time ... the famed 88 millimeter gun which started life as an anti-aircraft artillery piece, until Rommel decided to use them to shoot at tanks in North Africa instead, and the less well known but almost equally deadly 75 mm gun that got mounted on their Panthers ... and later on other tanks too, for that matter. Both of those guns could peel open a Sherman like a banana at ranges that the Sherman simply couldn't HOPE to match. The last of the three problems was that pretty much every tank ever built runs on a diesel engine. Diesel engines don't burst into explosive flames when they get hit. They may burn, sure, but they don't 'splode. Shermans ran on a gasoline engine and tended to go up like a damn Fourth of July-firework when hit. The Germans condescendingly called the tank "Tommie-cookers", because they saw so many British soldiers burn along with their tanks early on. This didn't bother the American planners TOO badly. As mentioned, the Germans built a total of 1.600 Tigers. The Americans built 42.000 Shermans. Weight of numbers and all that. But it DID bother the British who didn't feel like wasting manpower that they didn't exactly have enough of to begin with. So while the Sherman chassis was still a reasonably solid piece of equipment by 1944, if used intelligently, the main issue was that it was terribly undergunned. Fortunately, the Brits had a solution for that. Y'see, they had this one really TERRIFYING anti-tank gun in their arsenal, called "the 17 pounder". Which refers to the weight of the shell it fired. Brits have, traditionally, named guns in that way. The 17 pounder was a long-barrelled monster of a gun which basically raspberried German tank-armour with such efficiency that even the Americans went "Hey, hoooold on! Just wait a moment ... those look fun! We'll have some of those!" and then THEY started operating Sherman Firefly-tanks too. As did the Canadians. German soldiers found it grossly unfair that an increasing number of Shermans suddenly carried guns that could actually harm their best tanks. The tanks we see in the hedgerow scene in this episode are standard M4A3 Shermans, recognizable by the fact that there is an external Ma Deuce .50 cal machine gun on the turret. The Germans could, PROBABLY, have taken them on. They may even have stood a chance of beating them BUT the Germans at that stage would have been trying to conserve their armour and not risk it needlessly, and what's more, their best anti-tank gun, the Stug, had already been knocked out by the American infantry with a bazooka.
I don't know if anyone else said it but George Luz (the guy you said reminds you of Sam Rockwell) is one of the radio men for Easy Company also Ronald Speirs is to this day known as one of the baddest soldiers in the history of the United States Army I learned about him when I enlisted he was what I believe the Army wishes every soldier was like. That man was the embodiment of a warrior.
The thing with Speirs and the POWs was probably true. There are records of many units being instructed not to take any prisoners and this is quite understandable due to the nature of their mission and the logistical factor.
To answer the question about Lt Spears. Spears wrote a statement about the 2nd episode. In which he stated "He had no trouble delivering capital punishment. To those enemy soldiers.
Just keep in mind, these are real people with real stories. The group of men in this are real. The stories are real. Blithe had a good military career after ww2
I love that you're doing your character detective work from the intros.. and yes I will say it. Blithe Survived P.S. Hitler was actually gassed in The Great War, that's why he couldn't see.
The German self-propelled guns that routed the companies on Easy Company's left flank were new unproven troops so panicked when E Company took one out & beat feet when the Shermans showed up.
Remember… this is a true story based upon real guys. They aren’t charactatures of groups. This is fairly accurate, but I won’t give you spoilers beyond … you must see the “11th” episode that tells more of their story. It is not part of the mini-series, but is in the box set (and on RUclips). As to a tank giving retreat orders - - - no! As a former US Army infantry officer and all that entails, you hold the line no matter what the cost until told otherwise. You do it because your buddies’ lives depend upon you doing that as your life depends upon them holding their part of the line and protecting your back.
you're underestimating how much creative control is leveraged in stories based on real events. who you choose to focus on, when, and what aspect of their action to focus on all helps you weave a narrative with themes even if they're based on real people.
@@Diegesis you are correct that there is some editing, but this runs pretty true to Stephen Ambrose’s book, “Band of Brothers”, which was a compendium of the recollections of these men. As you get further into the series, this becomes more apparent. I won’t give too many receipts to you now on my point as they would spoil what lies ahead of you in your own journey. But I am excited for you and for taking this journey with you - as a former Airborne Infantry officer, a former history professor, and now just an old viewer! 😀
Both Band Of Brothers and Fury portray Sherman tanks which were designed with speed and agility in mind so it had less armor, and a smaller gun than much of the other tanks in WWII. It was fairly matched against the Panzer & StuG III, but was out classed later in the war by Germanys new Tiger Tanks. In Fury they had a fight with a Tiger Tank, Germany’s strongest tank in the war. They did a good job at showing that the USA did not have the best tanks. They didn’t have enough power to shoot through the thick armor on the front of the Tiger. Later on they also show how the Sherman could be penetrated with a Panzerfaust(German Bazooka) The battle at Carantan was early in the war and the Germans had Panzer and StuG iii tanks which were much more of a fair fight. Band Of Brothers references it to be a Tiger tank, and it is a replica Tiger turret, welded on top of a T-34 chassis. I believe this is inaccurate to the real battle, however. Not many tanks exist anymore to film.
My late good friend William T. Wingett was wonderful friends with Albert Blithe, and trained under Sobel at Camp Taccoa. He was one of the last Easy Company men left. He fought alongside with Blithe through Normandy, and said the series portrayed him very wrong. Blithe was “100% reliable in combat. Very sharp and a ferocious warrior”. Wingett hated the fact that they showed these men wrongfully to fit a story line when they were not there themselves to tell the truth. Wingett (Bill) was friends with so many of these men, including William Dukeman, Donald Hoobler, Johnny Martin, Albert Blithe, Pat Christenson, Ej Gray, etc.
There is a story that Herodotus retells about an Athenian soldier named Epizelus fighting in the battle of Marathon (490 BC). A Persian soldier was swinging an axe or sword towards Epizelus but struck the Athenian next to him. Although Epizelus was not hit, he went blind immediately and remained so for the rest of his life.
There's a couple of good YT channels with animated versions of the battle of Carentan and how important capturing and holding it was to the success of the Normandy landings. Definitely worth a watch.
Thank you. It seemed important. without it, there's no real air of mystery as to whether or not its true. plus i knew later in the review we talked about our theories on him so that conversation needed visual context.
It's a testament to how good the casting was, that I don't think anyone ever has a problem figuring out which one of the gentlemen in the intros is Bill Guarnere. ;)
Tipper survived the guy who got blown up in the building he even lead a very physical life he skied into his 80s played 4 wall hand ball and taught for 35 years
19:21 the shermans has 75mm short gun, armed with HE (high explosive) for fight infantry in fury the sherman of pitt has 76mm long gun with APCBC for fight against tanks, and some little improvements for armor different roles however shermans was butter in defence, rely on number, made for number superiority and less cost USA delivered anti-tank tanks later in the war for fight heavy enemy tanks
Blithe's story is incorrect here. He actually lived and went on to serve in the Korean War and I believe got the silver star. This is revealed in a RUclips interview with Lt Winters.
Albert Blithe was shot in the collar bone, not the neck. Due to his wound, on October 1, 1944, he was sent home and never returned to the European Theater of Operations. As a result of his service in World War II and Korea, Blithe received the Silver Star, Bronze Star (with 2 oak leaf clusters). On December 10, 1967, while on active duty in Germany, Blithe felt nauseated when he returned from a weekend at Bastogne, Belgium, where he had taken part in the ceremonies commemorating the Battle of the Bulge. On December 11, 1967, Blithe was taken to the emergency room at Wiesbaden Hospital, Germany, where he was admitted with a diagnosis of a perforated ulcer. He died in the intensive care unit on December 17 after surgery, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full honors.
Awesome as usual reaction. I'm really looking forward to these! Speirs is one of my favorite characters...you'll see why later 👍🏼 The German machine guns (MG42) were vicious and fired twice as fast (or more) than the American machine guns (M1919 .30 cal). This series and SPR/Fury portray that pretty accurately. The Sherman's in Fury they portrayed were up against a Tiger vs in this episode they are fighting lighter German tanks. The Tiger was scary even though there weren't nearly as many of them produced as the allied tanks.
I had the blind thing happen to me once, I cut my finger then I started feeling a bit odd, than sick, went to go upstairs and suddenly the edges of my vision went black, than I was totally blind. I got to the bathroom and just sat there until it came back. I wasn’t scared, I just thought I was fighting passing out.
James Jones (From Here to Eternity) said almost exactly the same thing about war that Spiers imparted to Blithe during their encounter in the dark. Jones fought at Guadalcanal and New Georgia in the Solomans. Jones was unrelentingly honest about combat and his experiences during the war. His novel, The Thin Red Line, is based on his time fighting in the Guadalcanal campaign.
My 70 y-old father had a neighbor close friend whose American father was quiet and kinda uptight. This gentleman was in the airborne division (not in Easy company tho) paratrooper. He was in Bastogne and survived the war physically unscathed. But the good man had a severe case of PTSD. In fact, every time the celebratory fireworks for the Mexican independence started, he ran to his basement where he actually built a foxhole , put his helmet on and cried 😔
Tipper survived that very injury. Served out the rest of the war. Blithe had what was called back then as hysterical blindness. Luz is their radio man. Look close at his back next through.
From what I understand from an interview with Major Winters before this TV series was shot lieutenant Spears admitted to Major Winners that "yes" he really did shoot those prisoners.
![Hunxho - Ball Forever [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nki9ZTF9Uls/mqdefault.jpg)
Forgive me.
If you're annoyed by the giant face circle. I am too
If you don't like the hazy edges. I hate them too.
But BoB has one of the most intense content ID system's I've ever encountered so trying to get around it has been madness.
You work with what you've got, no reason to apologize!
Don't worry...we're here for the reaction more than the movie itself. It's just a shame they're making you jump through so many hoops to get it to us. Those bastages.😡
Don't worry everyone knows it's YT's fault
In all honesty, nothing was wrong, the giant face circles are fine, we are here to see your reactions and the hazy edges, barely noticeable. if thats the way it has to look the rest of the series, no issues there at all.
Excellent review. I have watch the series multiple times and have watched multiple reviews I really enjoy your review and your discussions. I think that BoB is the best TV series ever made. Once you finish the 10 episodes be sure to watch the Documentary that goes with it called we Stand Alone Together, it is excellent as well and you get to see a lot more of the interviews with the actual veterans. I enjoy watching new people discover enjoy and discuss the show, so no need to apologize for hazy edges and what you have to cut to get it in. More interested in your thoughts on it. I will not give anything away but since you seem very interested in him i will tell you this one thing. What Winters through about Spiers. He called him the most natural born killer he had ever met.
Albert Blithe in fact survived. He went on to have quite a distinguished Army career, being highly decorated for his service in the Korean War. He died in 1967, in an Army hospital in Germany, of a perforated ulcer. He had reached the rank of Master Sergeant.
Also the only one of the "Band of Brothers" thats buried in Arlington.
yes, because they all think he didnt survive...and the internet wasent a thing like today, back when they made this
Thank you for telling the truth of Master Sgt Blithe. This was one of the major wrongs of this show.
@Bruce Smeltzer Technically, it was written in 1999 and produced over the span of 2000, and the book published in 1992 so that's not true. Also they were going off the firsthand testimony of the surviving easy members, and the author, Stephen Ambrose's word and work which was also based on even more serving member testimony. The mistake apparently comes from Bill Guarnere and Edward Heffron swearing that they had been to Blithe's funeral in '48. Obviously it's still a silly error which only got caught when Blithe's son pointed it out but tbf you couldn't just Google Albert Blithe in 1999 and get his life story, but you could speak to about 20 living primary sources instead and unfortunately if they tell you something you tend to take their word.
@@thomaspriest5278 And THAT is why witness testimony can't get a conviction on its own
The soldier that was in the building of Carentan that exploded was Ed Tipper. I'm only saying this now because he's never shown again or touched upon as to what happened. In the blast he broke both his legs and lost his left eye. He is one of the veterans that speaks at the beginning and his daughter Kerry Tipper is a currently a politician and member of the Colorado House of Representatives. This is just info i looked up on my own, so it's not spoiling the show at all.
The real guy is among the interview excerpts though, and he's featured a bit in the documentary portion. What a guy
@@andrewrippel6164 yeah, they only show his name in the documentary episode and i know a lot of reactors skip that episode which would be episode 11 unofficially and by that time people forget he was that same guy
Blithe also served in Korea and was decorated. I learned that watching Winters being interviewed.
omg
Thank you for sharing that!
The commentary on Speirs being a “psychopath” warms my heart. He’s my favorite, and the fact that he even strikes fear in the audience is exactly why.
“Airborne all the way”
Dude is an absolute lunatic~ actually doing more damage than good considering he is in an leading position. As seen when taking out the 105, he basicly send his guys to death.
But from a movie perspective dudes a chad and I really like him in the series.
He spent his career in the Military- he was the Commandant of Spandau Prison where Rudolph was imprisoned.
@@Fischbroetchen2k actually spiers was an incredibly competent soldier. The kind of guy you wanted in your outfit. That why when he shot one of his own men on purpose, it was swept under the rug, they couldn't afford to lose him.
Psychopath and, apparently also, a kleptomaniac.
But sometimes it's good to have one or the other (or both!) on your side!
Maybe "kleptomaniac" is not appropriate, but at the very least, a notorious looter.
Spoiler alert: Regarding Blithe's temporary blindness and Winters checking on him, Winters said it happened almost exactly as it's shown in that scene.
Yes but winters also said blythe died of his wounds but he lived well into the 1960s
@@lostpompeylad People know what they know, and (strangely) don't know what they don't.
@@lostpompeylad Actually, the book that this is based on was written by Stephen Ambrose. It wasn't that Winters said Blythe died, it's that nobody had heard what happened, so they assumed he was dead.
@@johnmiller7682 and for the younger people the book was being written pre common usage of the internet.
@@lostpompeylad Blythe never kept in contact with anyone after the war they assumed he never recovered from his wounds and i don't think he ever fought in WW2 again. Though he did stay in the military
The Last Scene where Malarkey Goes to get his Laundry is hard hitting... the Lady innocently asks him about the men who haven't picked up their Laundry... you can see in his eyes he doesn't want to tell the lady they were all killed...
Yeah that actor nailed that scene
“Accept the fact that you’re already dead.” That is a philosophy that makes a better combat soldier. If he lives through it, he’s pleasantly surprised.
Wow, you noted in the video that Blithe didnt die, and even added a photo of him, and yet over a dozen people still felt it necessary to tell you. 😆 heres something I found out about him. He was actually from Philadelphia like Babe Hephron and Bill Guarnere. I guess the British actor who played him maybe could do a better southern accent, so...
You aint kidding. it feels like people popped into the video just to drop their tidbit and bounce lol. And the accent thing is funny but good golly did i like that actors portrayal. I really wanted to reach through the screen and hug him.
@@Diegesis its tradition to tell the reactors... at this point it's an inside joke for us fandom. Actually if I may be so bold I was the first one to do it, cause I was watching the first reactor to ever watch Band of Brother years ago.
It's the most annoying thing about BoB reactions to be honest. It's like clockwork, if Episode 3 is shown anywhere, people come out of nowhere to needlessly flex their knowledge on you lol. It's not exactly like that, but that's what it feels like to everyone else. Plus this is a pretty well known fact by now.
Yeah, people tend to comment it before the reaction is through. Most people don't catch it and include it in the way you guys did, so I suppose they assume.
I love how strongly you are reacting to Spiers now and how I am certain you will feel about him later - he is by far the most complex portrayal in the show.
I read you had alot of trouble putting this out. I want to thank BOTH of you for working so hard for our entertainment. This is the best reaction on a great channel. Thank you very much!!
Our pleasure!
It’s worth mentioning that none of the tanks faced here by the Shermans are Tigers, as present in Fury. Looks like tank destroyers and possibly a standard panzer.
Very well executed mockups of a Stg lll and a Jagdpanther.
Looks like they built lookalike Sturmgeschütz IIIs and Panzers IVs
@@mattrobbins2268 I honestly bet they weren’t Mock ups. Pretty sure there are multiple examples of stg 3 and jagdpanthers surviving that they used.
@@alexhohl8530 nah the Jagdpanther is a T-54 i believe. It’s a really good mock of one and it fooled me because it look so real but it’s not a genuine Jagdpanther. As for the stugs they are FV432 APC’s.
@@alexhohl8530 Exactly what Obi-Wan said, if you look at the wheels and tracks you'll spot the difference. On the Jagdpanther they concealed the wheels a bit with sideskirts but you can still see they are five single independent wheels and not the correct overlapping stack with 4 wheels in the front row.
What blows my mind is that the guy who got blown up in the pharmacy, taking the brunt of a mortar right to the face, survived. Edward Tipper passed away in 2017. He was a teacher for 30 years.
His right eye was destroyed and needed to be amputated though.
I love how this episode portrays the way every man "rationalize" the situation they're in on their own to cope with it, just as they said in the beggining, and then when Malarkey go get the laundry and just then he realize how many of them have been lost to combat. The storytelling is soo good, Spielberg is a master of the "show, don't tell" motto.
Anecdote about the Edelweiss: yes, it's a mark of bravery for a soldier to climb up beyond the treeline in the Alps to collect an Edelweiss flower, but it wasn't necessarily the mark of a "true soldier" that all of the German military was open to wear. The Gebirgsjäger or Mountain Brigade were an elite brigade of the German military that specialized in high-altitude warfare, and their unit emblem that they wore on their caps was that of the Edelweiss. They were quite proud of that badge of honor, and from what I can tell any ordinary German Wermacht soldier who wanted to wear Edelweiss around was liable to get some impromptu education if they were seen by a Gebirgsjäger trooper
That's what i thought, It was like a "right of passage" thing for Gebirgsjäger rookies to climb up and pick one? Weird they should make such and error when so much else is accurate? The guy they find it on is wearing a Fallschirmjäger helmet so maybe the costume people f**ked up?
@@philb3549 I feel like they really just wanted to illustrate Blithe’s own ‘rite of passage’ narrative throughout the episode, so they may have fudged it a bit to make it work. It does make his story very impactful for sure
@@philb3549 They could've come from a mountain unit. Soldiers who transfer out to a new unit often wear patches or badges of some sort on their kit in homage to them...though it's likely not regulation, and done in low key or informal ways. Plenty of guys did so when I was in the Army, and i even wore an IR flag from deployment whenever we'd go out to train (got bitched at a lot for it lol great times)
A lot of the Fallschirmjager were trained for high altitude combat. The 2nd Fallschirmjager division (2nd paratroop div of the German army) was literally the best division in the whole of WW2. They fought off a combined Allied effort on the mountain of Cassino "Monte Cassino" in Italy.
Even after heavy shelling and allied carpet bombing turning the monastery into pure rubble, these German paratroops fought on and defended the path to Rome as best as they could.
The British threw everything at them, including the Canadians, the South Africans and the Indians and they were all sent back with heavy casualties.
Only the Polish regiment who were willing to sacrifice themselves since their families and their nation were already conquered and decimated by the Germans, lost 1000 men KIA while scaling Cassino over 2 days and they finally after some suicidal levels of determination, brokethrough and send the 2nd FJ division retreating from the heights of Monte Cassino.
@@philb3549 "When so much else is accurate"
They fabricated entire storylines that never happened , killed off people who survived, got names and locations incorrect ect ect.
Bob is in no war a realistic depiction of what happened its partial fiction.
You'll be glad to know that this episode has one of the (very few) mistakes in the show. Blithe actually didn't end up dying from his wounds, the surviving vets thought he died because he didn't come back to the company (and it's not like they could easily keep in touch with people back then). Of course, when they made the show, Wikipedia didn't exist and they couldn't easily get information. But Blithe's entire arc, him experiencing histerical blindness and Winters talking to him and him suddenly recovering, is all true.
However, the amount of extensive research and first-hand accounts by the surviving veterans (the talking heads in the begining of each episode who's identities will be revealed in the final episode), making Band of Brothers the most accurate representation of history in dramatic form ever made. Down to some of the lines of dialogue some character say.
This episode perfectly captures the progress from an innocent young man to a soldier, demonstrating the three personalities of a soldier via the wisdom of each of the company's main officers (Winters - take care of your fellow man and lead with purpose, Harry Walsh - find levity wherever you can so you don't sink into a dark hole, and Speirs - do what must be done without preamble or emotion to get the job done).
The only person who stayed in touch with him was dick winters
If I recall correctly Blithe had been turning his head to signal to move up with the shot came, and everyone thought he had been hit in the neck because of the blood, but it was a deep shoulder wound. That plus him not going back to the company led people to assume he had been shot in the neck and died.
@@AngelWolf12, Coupled with the fact that he never attended any of the company’s reunions.
There’s a George Luz in every unit I’ve ever served with. God bless them all.
You have to watch the documentary about Band of Brothers. It’s called “We Stand Alone Together”. It’s mostly about the interviews and their stories.
and the HBO Max podcasts on their youtube channel. 11 episodes.
Okay so ive been watching these from Episode 1 to now, you are probably the most observant first time watchers i have ever seen. Catching Meehan's plane off the rip in Day of Days, associating names with faces. It makes watching people experience for the first time and actually understand so enjoyable it is likely unrivaled on other channels. Keep it up.
The story about Spiers killing the prisoners is true. It was confirmed in an interview with Dick Winters. The guy doing the interview asked Dick about this, and Dick told him about. He said that Steven Ambrose called him one day and told him they had a problem. Lawyers from Simon and Shuster called him and were worried about potential lawsuits from some of the stories that were in the book and would be in the series. The Spiers story was one of them, the portrayal of Nix drinking too much was another.
Dick told him not to worry about it, he would handle it. He said he wasn't worried about Nix, he knew that wouldn't be an issue, but the Spiers story was something else. Dick said he called Spiers and said 'hey Sparky, you know those rumors that were floating about, about D-Day, were they true? He said Spiers said 'oh yeah Dick, they're true'. He told Speirs about the phone call from Ambrose and the Lawyers concerns and Spiers said don't worry about it. He would write them and letter and tell them what happened. Apparently he did just that, and Dick said it was never an issue after that, because it was true.
The interview with Winters is out there on youtube, which is where I got this info from. I may have paraphrased a little.
Many Canadian and American units including the 101st and 82nd were instructed to not take prisoners during D-Day simply because they wouldn't have the capacity at the time to process prisoners. So Spiers actions that aren't exactly surprising nor was it uncommon.
Saw that interview too. Such amazing men
@@OutcastSatyr ... In the circumstances I understand what he did. My favorite t-shirt says Lt. Spiers Last Stop Smoke Shop, and has an image of a Thompson on it.
@@OutcastSatyr Another thing to consider is that Hitler issued the commando order which called for the execution of captured "commandos." Paratroopers were not certain that they would be afforded the rights of prisoners of war if captured. If you don't think the enemy is taking prisoners (especially prior to the D-Day landings), it's much less likely that you're going to take prisoners.
I dont dare to impose I have any right to judge those people. I hope that under same circumstances I wouldnt do it. But under international law signed in Geneva was already in play. I have to admit I am not sure US signed it pre WW2. They deffinitely did in 1949 (the updated one). If they did, what Spears did was a war crime, killing UNARMED PoW's. That said, we know that Germans were not big on following it all the time. However. Soviet Union did not sign it at all. My Great Grandfather who fought in WW2 in the September Campaign got captured with part of his unit by Germans and was a PoW himself. He told me in the 90's when I was a kid that he thanks God that he got captured by Germans and not Soviets, because most of people he knew who were captured by Soviets were dead.
Love how you guys notice and distinguish so many "characters". That's something that always bugs me in a lot of other BoB reaction videos.
Or when other reaction channels talk over important stuff.
19:30 - Historian Nicholas Moran once stated that most armor battles were decided on who fired the first shot. As the initiator of combat was usually in a position of strength when the first round was fired.
While those on the receiving end are having a significant emotional event.
A great video about Tanks in World War 2 can be found here : ruclips.net/video/bNjp_4jY8pY/видео.html&ab_channel=TheChieftain
Good man, for sharing that link.
14:20 Speirs may seem psycho but he is Batman, The Flash and bravery incarnate :-)
He also was a cold, hard man. He was an exceptional soldier, no doubt, but he also had the capacity to be very brutal. I love the contrast throughout the series with Winters, 100% I'd be happy under Speirs command, he was an exceptional officer, but Winters, while not as individually aggressive, proves beyond doubt that bravery, leadership and ability do not require cold brutality, I'd rather be under Winters direct command. Also some of Speirs bravery bordered on foolhardy (as demonstrated by the casualties he sustained in the Brecourt fighting, yes he took the gun but men were killed in the process), Winters took incredible risks, no doubt as to his bravery, but he was less openly aggressive, which I think is a good thing, course if Speirs was a 1 in a 1000 leader, Winters is a 1 in a 100,000.
After you guys are done with BoB, I’d like to recommend The Pacific series. It’s just like BoB, however it follows a unit that fought in Japan. Loved both of them.
As a millennial who grew up playing the early Call of Duty and Brothers in Arms games and nerding out on some WWII History Channel documentaries I guess I took for granted the built in knowledge I had on the subject by the time I got around to watching BoB in high school. The road of the 101st Airborne is legendary and D-Day is kind of the starting point for Americans when learning about the war so Easy Company is definitely well known to even the smallest of WWII buffs. Having functioning knowledge of little things like the fact that England was the prep-zone for the invasion, the differences between Tiger and Panzer tanks, and the Thunder and Flash call signs were just details that helped fill in the gaps as a first time BoB viewer.
It’s really amazing to see you guys soaking this masterfully tragic show up in all its glory. Media like this is what really gave me an appreciation and understanding of what my grandfather went through in his 20’s. It is essential that these things exist to educate future generations.
Also, BoB is essentially a spiritual successor/continuation from Saving Private Ryan as it was created and produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Been binge watching y'all for a while now, trust me, ur gonna love my dude Ronald Spiers as the show progresses.. 👌🏽keep the reactions coming..
Been waiting for this reaction from you. Another excellent episode of those men who gave so much for this country.
Looking forward to y'alls reaction/reviews.... Really enjoying both your Band of Brothers and LOTR content. ❤ 👍 🎥 🇺🇸
Glad to have ya here man
@@Diegesis
I've really enjoyed your review of this WWII series. I know this is a little different, but would you ever react to this veteran's WWII interview?
m.ruclips.net/video/3MiEAkuRV7I/видео.html
It is one of the most intense things I've ever heard.
@@Diegesis react to platoon 1986 please.
My parents and i are watching BoB for the first time. We just watched episode 3. I bawled through the first half of the episode, and i just kept repeating how did my grandfather experience this and keep living? (He died 9 months ago in Oct 2021. fought in the Army in Germany during WW2. He was absolutely one of the greatest generation. He even asked in 2020 during the US riots if he was needed to defend his country again, he was absolutely willing.)
I absolutely understand now watching this series why he spoke so little about his war experiences. Holy hell.
Also, where the guy was blown up and lost an eye and a foot and the other soldier just held him and comforted- one of the last things my grandfather did was hold and comfort his eldest son who was dying of cancer and begging to die from the intense pain. My other uncle was witness to the scene and later asked my grandfather later how he could stand to hold his son and be so calm? my 98 year old grandfather replied he did it in war so of course he’d do it again for his children.
That scene brought that to life to me. I both hate that scene and am thankful for it.
Thanks for letting me get this out.
Im sure all be back for the concentration camp episode i think it coming up. My grandad helped liberate at least one.
This episode is in my top 3 favorites for the series and I’m so glad you managed to catch the mistaken info for Blithe in the end! Looking forward to the rest of the series!
That line from “Apocalypse Now” you mention about the door gunner shooting women and children really happened. Michael Herr was a reporter for Esquire in Vietnam and wrote dispatches back to that magazine, later compiled into a book titled “Dispatches,” and that is one of the anecdotes within. “Dispatches” is rad. It’s a unique firsthand account of that war and very well written.
You guys are doing great with these war flicks. I think at this point it might be mandatory for you to follow this up with “The Pacific” so you can keep the Navy and Marines content (it’s also just a different war and interesting to examine how so). Finally, “A Bridge Too Far” would tie in very well with BoB and is often said to be the best depiction of a combat mass drop of paratroops in film.
it's been a while since i've seen Apocalypse, but the line about not leading women and children so much is from Full Metal Jacket.
The tanks of second armour came from The invasion fleet, they broke through the beach defenses and started inland linking up with the airborne troops
In the real battle, which was portrayed at the end, around 60 Sherman tanks and 12 Panzers were involved. It was a major counterattack by the 17th SS Panzer grenadiers and 6th Fallschirmjäger.
Thank you for the specifics! Very cool!
19:44 Fun filmmaking fact: That stunt of him getting "crushed" was done practically with a live human and real armored vehicle! What the filmmakers did was dig a hole, filled it with foam, then covered it with foliage. So when the StuG rolled over him, he was pushed into the foam. The stuntman was unharmed.
My source is one of Corridor Crew's reactions (forgot which one, but it was one of the earlier episodes).
Luz is the radioman. He is carrying an SCR-300 pack radio good for 2-5 miles depending on the terrain and weather.
He did not die. He was wounded and recovered. He fought in the Korean War. Just incomplete info about his character.
Yeah. They lied about his death to give the audience a more sentimental reaction.
@@rithvikmuthyalapati9754 Incorrect they didnt have enough info at the time BoB was written in 1992
The Fallschirmjäger (German Paratroopers), the guys they were fighting in Carentan, were bad-arses. Not necessarily die-hard Nazis but tough S.O.B's with the same esprit de Corp as the US Airborne.
Very true! Also true is that they were absolutely gutted as a strategic force after jumping into Crete in 1941. The allied forces were under the command of General Bernard Freyberg, VC, the commander of the New Zealand 2nd Division. The NZ 2nd Div saw more continuous combat than any other divison in WWII, and made a strong impression on allies and enemies alike. Sorry, this is off topic but I can't resist any opportunity to hype my Great Uncles and their unit!
"They got us zeroed" means the German artillery is zeroed in an easy companies location.
It amazes me how many reactors I’ve seen that don’t pick up on that right away. From my experience, the term “zero” is extremely common terminology when talking about aiming anything, be it a gun, a football, or even your eyeballs.
That was SOP for the German army. They would have their own positions measured out precisely. When they were overrun, they would call in a " stonk " on their old positions and there would be an inevitable counterattack.
Plus the Atlantic Wall was covered by Artillery, Hitler made sure any landing spot would be dangerous.
You guys are a touch, good work. I'm a company commander in the National Guard. The Blithe storyline is like a case study on the elite military culture. Airborne rangers and Rangers in general, are a touch above the rest of the Army forces. I experienced some of that culture going through my own schools, but there's a selectiveness about how one enters that force and you must earn your place every. day. So the Edelweiss and Blithe's arc is like watching the transformation of the everyman thrust into hell, having to form to the strictures of an elite unit. The flower, the purple heart, the wound earned in battle, they're all "totems" for the "true Soldier". I'm ambivalent about how this incentivizes human performance. The episode shows at the end, you can have 3 purple hearts for stupid wounds or 1 purple heart for a life altering neck wound, but they're all the same purple heart. So what's the demarcation of valor to the heart, and what does that mean at all when you put your civilian clothes back on? It really -is- "just a game". That's why when Winters acknowledged him his blindness went away. He just needed leadership to give him a context in which to live. Speirs gave him another context. We're all in need of totems, and collect tokens to benchmark the path.
Y'all mentioned in your edit but yes, as is obligatory to mention, Blithe didn't die in 1948. He never showed up to Easy Company reunions, so his fellow veterans just assumed he died. They reported that to Stephen Ambrose, and Ambrose didn't question it and just put it in his book. Then Spielberg didn't question Ambrose. In reality Blithe was wounded in the shoulder and recovered, and went on to serve in Korea and reach the rank of Master Sergeant I believe. He died in 1967
HBO later apologized to Blithe's family about this inaccuracy
@@rithvikmuthyalapati9754 Good to know.
God, this is why I don't like to watch BoB reactions anymore. Even if it's already said, a million other people feel the need to say it also.. as if it wasn't true unless they were the ones who said it lol. This is pretty common knowledge by now, and the reactors even pointed it out, so this comment is completely unnecessary.
@@TwistedSisler is that right? You knew every one of those details I added? Furthermore, you troll the comment section of every video you watch? Or did you come to this comment section knowing there would be posts about this factoid, so that you could get upset and scold one of them? You wonder what the point of my original comment is, yet I find myself wondering what the point of your response to it is just as much…
In sustained high intensity combat, every soldier on the front line passes along three states of delusion. The first is what everyone starts out with; “It can’t happen to me, I’m too smart/special/loved to die.” Intellectually they may know otherwise but deep down they believe it. This is dangerous and leads to action like you saw in Ep 2; Malarkey running for the supposed Luger, the sniper up in a tree in full view of the enemy, etc. This state usually persists until the first experience with serious combat and death, after which the soldier transitions to Stage 2.
Stage 2 is ‘It CAN happen to me, but I can keep myself safe by being careful and listening to my NCOs/taking care of my weapons/using cover/etc.’ This is the ideal state for a combat-effective infantryman and what they will occupy for most of their useful service life.
However after enough days on the line, eventually nearly everyone sheds that layer of delusion and progresses to Stage 3, the stark reality of things: ‘It CAN happen to me and eventually it WILL unless I get off the line, no matter what I do.’ At this point a mental breakdown begins and the man becomes useless as a soldier.
Much of the reason units are rotated off the line has less to do with physical rest and more with keeping men in Stage 2.
With Blithe, you have a man who went almost immediately from one to three. Things like his blindness come about as a way for the subconscious levels of the brain to resolve bravery and Stage 3: ‘If we stay here we’re going to die. What, you won’t leave because you don’t want to be a coward? Okay. What if you can’t see? Now you have no choice. You can’t fight without your eyes.’ And just like that the brain stops processing data from the optic nerve.
Speaking from experience, I don't really consider this to be completely accurate. Maybe back then, but myself, nor anyone of my close peers ever seemed to fall into any of these categories. Not taking away from anything you are saying, I'm just giving you my own experience to indicate that that's not an absolute by any means.
@@TwistedSisler It’s hard to translate a RUclips-comment sized summary into something that fits a real person’s modern experience. The above was what the US military’s psychologists understood at the end of the war. It may be out of date.
Keep in mind that American culture and view of war was very different back then. Likewise WW2 was a different sort of conflict from modern anti-insurgent warfare, with different sorts of mental stresses.
I love you both! Your reactions are so companionate, intelligent, objective, realistic, and educated. Luv u both!
Blithe recovered from his wound. Remained a career soldier. He fought in the Korean War and was highly decorated for his bravery. He passed away in 1967.
In the photo of Blithe, he’s wearing an 82nd Airborne patch _and_ 101st.
"ooh i think thats homie" is EXACTLY how i felt seeing Guarnere for the first time. They nailed the casting completely from the off
One thing you should keep in mind as you watch these episodes is Dick Winters’ exceptional leadership qualities. Especially in this episode, he leads by example which was able to get Blithe out of his hole during the battle and in the hospital. Every scene he’s in, he thinks tactically and efficiently with his men in mind.
Tipper, the guy that got hit by artillary and had his face messed up around 6:47 actually lived quite a long time after that. He died in 2017, but his daughter is actually quite young, being born in 83.
You should do a review of "Memphis Belle". It's a true story of a bomber crew that survived 25 bombing missions during WW2. It's terrifyingly amazing! Fantastic movie!
Naw, it's not the true story, it's a story very loosely based on her last mission.
Winters was such a damn good man. He never puts down. He always lifts up.
8:19 it was considered Hysterical Blindness, if i recall correctly. and it was very common among soldiers following combat. not on the same level of shellshock or what we now refer to as PTSD, but it was an initial or short-term reaction or psychological response to that.
When the show originally aired on HBO the family of Blithe watched it and realized their father/grandfather was listed as having died from his wounds in 1948.
When they released the DVD editions with "The Making Of" behind the scenes interviews they do cover that Blithe lived and contacted HBO, it's also revealed that the army records stopped for Blithe in 1948 because that's when he was released from medical care because of his neck wound.
As stated by others and in your reaction, he later served in Korea and died in 1967. He was actually still actively serving in the armed forces in Germany and passed away shortly after a commemoration of the Battle of the Bulge, he was 44.
Albert Blithe survived the war and volunteered for service in the Korean War. He was named "Paratrooper of the Year" of the 82nd Airborne in 1958. He died in 1967 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetary.
When it comes to Speirs, everyone that knew him believed he shot those POW’s, it’s a good chance he did. Also little fact about the production of the end battle scene on the hill, the guy who gets crushed by the tank actually did the stunt. He actually had like a coffin beneath him that he would go into so with a bit if camera magic it looked so real.
oh god
Major Winters said he directly asked him and he said he did
He confirmed to Winter that he did kill those EPW's however take this next statement any way you wish. Paratroopers in this mission were ordered NOT to take prisoners and because the Beaches were not secured when Speirs did this. You can either take it as him be a murder or following orders. Regardless, war is hell.
@@Seriona1 I'm inclined to believe it. As cold as it was, until the beaches were secure and a solid base established, attempting to contain hundreds to thousands of prisoners would have been asking to get killed.
@@josephgarrett5693 Right. A lot of people either don't know that or don't understand that. Paratroopers are light infantry equip with just enough for a few days. They are not designed to jump behind enemy lines and secure everything in site. In fact, the paratroopers on D-day had orders but the intent was to create chaos for the Germans.
Spiers did shoot one of his own NCOs. The NCO was drunk and he was actively disobaying a direct order and was about to charge a bunch of his men into an incoming friendly artillery's barrage. The NCO apparently tried to pull a pistol on Spiers, and Spiers shot him.
He also did shoot the prisoners on D Day. Winters said he called Spiers up when he learned that they wanted to include that rumor but were hesitant to sully his reputation. Spiers goes “oh go ahead and put that in, I absolutely shot em. I don’t regret it either. I’ll even write a formal letter of acknowledgment for the shows legal team.”
@@andrewrippel6164 I honestly don't have a problem with that in their circumstances. It sucks, don't get me wrong...
But what if Overlord fell on it's ass? Or if the landings went slower and they didn't make it inland enough to the Paratroopers for a day or two. Those prisoners were a massive liability.
@@IIBloodXLustII 100%. Horrible things happen in wat, on both sides, no matter what. It’s a shame, sure, but I absolutely understand the dire nature of their positions in that time
@@andrewrippel6164 So you have no problem with SS units killing US POWs? Millions of soviet POW being starved to death in german camps? After all, Germany was experiencing a shortage of food...
Honestly, this attitude is disgusting.
@@panther7748There's a difference when you're the party defending. Even if you don't have the materiel to support POWs, you at a minimum have either the space or the manpower to do so. The Airborne units on D Day had none of the three, they were severely understrength and any positions they took they couldn't be sure they'd be able to hold. It's an unfortunate fact of life in that circumstance. Can't keep them in a safe manner, can't let them escape and return to shoot back at you. There's only one option under such a circumstance.
The SS were inhumane monsters that routinely executed POWs regardless of circumstances, and the Eastern Front was a savage war that has had no equal before or since. The Russians and Germans were locked in an ideological war driven by two authoritarian madmen who had no regard for human life.
Such a joy seeing watching an educated person like your hosting a reaction. Our history as country should not be revised , we need it to learn from our mistakes.
« Look at the G-D tank. That’s what gave the order!
That made me LOL. I love your reaction vids to this awesome series !
Interestingly enough, you mentioned that you were curious about what people like the ancient Greeks were discovering about ailments and battlefield trauma. It just so happens there's a recorded instance of a Greek soldier who suffered from, or appears to have suffered from, what Blithe did. He apparently went blind in the middle of a battle and never regained his vision, even though there was nothing wrong with him. The rest of the Greeks still treated him like an ordinary veteran with war related disabilities, which is nice to hear.
This is recorded by Herodotus, and theoretically occurred during the battle of Marathon, after the soldier witnessed another soldier get killed. It is one of the first documentations of PTSD.
Blithe not only survived, but continued in the Army serving in the Korean War and stationed in West Germany until his death in 1967 from a stomach ulcer. He wasn't hiding due to fear on D-Day he passed out due to the air sickness pills paratroopers were given before jumping and was still out of it for a few days.
The Edelweiss was more of a symbol for the Gebergsjäger than the Fallschirmjäger, unless those particular soldiers were Austrian. My great uncle served as a Fallschirmjäger at the end of WWII.
The reason the German armor attacked and American tanks were sent to reinforce the 101st was because it was overcast. Most Panzer groups in France rarely operated on clear days was the threat of Allied aircraft. The reason for Patton's 3rd Army charging from Normandy to Lorraine in around 2 months was due in large part to General James Doolittle and the 9th Army Air Force's P-47 Thunderbolts destroying most enemies in the way.
Harry Welsh was an former NCO of the 82nd, who became an field promotion after serving on the mediterranean front and got transferred(because people think, officers from the ranks don't get the necessary respect and authority after an promotion from their old unit)
When you finish the series you need to watch 'We Stand Alone Together' the follow up documentary about Easy Company with the real surviving men telling the story of the war. It's a must see.
Great job, looking forward to seeing your reactions for rest of episodes- one of my fav series of all time 👍
Albert Blithe is my favorite character on the show. I was drawn to him when I first watched BoB and even today find myself connecting to him more than anyone else.
"How far are we going???" "Until they tell us to stop...."
Lutz had the radio. When he was on the wall in the beginning, he was wearing it.
Most likely spiers rumors are based on a guy who was with spiers and another soldier on d day that were able to take 3 German soldiers prisoners but couldn't do anything other than shoot them because they were told not to take prisoners and it was long before they were at the place where they were organizing themselves.
Blithe was actually just shot in the shoulder and served in Korea too. If I remember correctly winters didn't really like how they portrayed him in this episode.
The Spiers rumors aren't rumors. They're the truth. Spears never refuted them and he actually admitted they were all true after Ambrose finished writing the book.
3:34 I live in this area, our towns are post war fast rebuilt frankenstein things, between what has been bombed, burnt, and what little has been saved. Northern and Western France still bears t he marks of that war. The courthouse in my hometown still has bullets and mortar holes, they wont cover them up as a reminder
Luz is a radio man. He carries the larger field radio on his back. You also saw a second smaller type of radio, it was the shoe box sized phone.
Range is limited, so runners are still used.
Winters showed what an amzing leader he really was.. supporting and getting blithe to get over his fear in that firefight
It's obvious that you found out that Blithe survived WW2 and went on to serve with distinction in the Korean War.
As for Spiers shooting his own man, the man was drunk and making a lot of noise which was giving away their position to the Germans and when Speirs tried to stop him he pointed his weapon at Spiers so Spiers pulled his pistol and shot him. At least that's the story that I heard.
Thank you for an awesome Sunday night you guys. New to your channel. I love both of you. Your newest big fan
Our pleasure!
The Sherman you see in "Fury" is a so-called "Sherman Firefly". The British, when they got their first shipments of Shermans rather liked the tank. It was fast and able to fight it out with the standard German tank of the time, the Panzer IV. Problem was that the Germans pretty quickly got the idea to add extra armour to the Panzer IV's sides and, of course, then eventually they introduced the Panzer V, also known as the Panther and the Panzer VI, called the Tiger. Both were massive upgrades, armour-wise over the Panzer IV's. The Panzer V had sloped armour which ensures that armour efficiency is increased by anywhere between a third and half of its thickness, and the Panzer VI was just stupidly armoured with ridiculous amounts of steel protecting it.
Now, Tigers were RARE. Every movie about WWII involving German tanks throw Tigers around like they were omnipresent, but in reality, the Germans only ever built 1.600 of the damn things, and most of those ended up on the eastern front. There WERE Tigers in Normandy, but by far ... by FAR ... the most common type of armour that American troops would've encountered would've been Sturmgeschutz ... also called Stug ... in various versions. The vehicle that they shoot at with the bazooka is a Stug, for instance. The main difference is that a tank has a revolving turrent, whereas the Stug was a so-called assault gun, with a gun on a fixed central mounting that meant the whole vehicle had to be turned to fire it. However, it also allowed for a much lower outline of the tank, making it far easier to hide, it allowed for thick armour as well. The Stug III was the most commonly produced piece of German armour during the entire war, and came in a variety of versions with different guns on it, for use in a multitude of roles from anti-tank to anti-infantry to infantry-support, to actual artillery and so on.
So ... the Tiger encounter in Fury COULD have happened, but it was quite, quite rare to find a Tiger on the western front. However, when they WERE encountered, they were absolutely horrendous to come up against for Sherman-crews, primarily for three reasons. Firstly, they were very, very heavily armoured, with 100 millimeters of armour on the front, making it impervious to the short-barrelled 75 mm gun on the Sherman at anything but point blank range. As in: you'd almost literally have to park the Sherman up against the Tiger and then fire in order to stand a chance of penetrating the armour in front (which is also why they try to get behind the Tiger in "Fury", the armour was noticably thinner there). And by 1944, the Sherman's gun was so underpowered that it was struggling mightily against German assault guns and up-armoured Panzer IV's as well. It was still a good tank to have in support for clearing out infantry, but against German armour, it was starting to have very real issues.
The second reason why the Sherman-crews had such trouble against Tigers was actually a universal problem for the tank, not just against that type of German armour, but against -all- of their tanks. The Sherman was TALL. Hiding them was next to impossible, even behind terrain features. They just stuck out like a sore thumb and made for easy targets for that reason. And while the Sherman's armour stood up reeeeasonably well against earlier versions of the Panzer IV, which typically also carried shorter guns with lower muzzle velocities, that was no longer the case by 1944. The Germans had two absolutely terrifying antitank-guns that they were mounting on their armour at this time ... the famed 88 millimeter gun which started life as an anti-aircraft artillery piece, until Rommel decided to use them to shoot at tanks in North Africa instead, and the less well known but almost equally deadly 75 mm gun that got mounted on their Panthers ... and later on other tanks too, for that matter. Both of those guns could peel open a Sherman like a banana at ranges that the Sherman simply couldn't HOPE to match.
The last of the three problems was that pretty much every tank ever built runs on a diesel engine. Diesel engines don't burst into explosive flames when they get hit. They may burn, sure, but they don't 'splode. Shermans ran on a gasoline engine and tended to go up like a damn Fourth of July-firework when hit. The Germans condescendingly called the tank "Tommie-cookers", because they saw so many British soldiers burn along with their tanks early on.
This didn't bother the American planners TOO badly. As mentioned, the Germans built a total of 1.600 Tigers. The Americans built 42.000 Shermans. Weight of numbers and all that.
But it DID bother the British who didn't feel like wasting manpower that they didn't exactly have enough of to begin with. So while the Sherman chassis was still a reasonably solid piece of equipment by 1944, if used intelligently, the main issue was that it was terribly undergunned.
Fortunately, the Brits had a solution for that. Y'see, they had this one really TERRIFYING anti-tank gun in their arsenal, called "the 17 pounder". Which refers to the weight of the shell it fired. Brits have, traditionally, named guns in that way. The 17 pounder was a long-barrelled monster of a gun which basically raspberried German tank-armour with such efficiency that even the Americans went "Hey, hoooold on! Just wait a moment ... those look fun! We'll have some of those!" and then THEY started operating Sherman Firefly-tanks too. As did the Canadians. German soldiers found it grossly unfair that an increasing number of Shermans suddenly carried guns that could actually harm their best tanks.
The tanks we see in the hedgerow scene in this episode are standard M4A3 Shermans, recognizable by the fact that there is an external Ma Deuce .50 cal machine gun on the turret.
The Germans could, PROBABLY, have taken them on. They may even have stood a chance of beating them BUT the Germans at that stage would have been trying to conserve their armour and not risk it needlessly, and what's more, their best anti-tank gun, the Stug, had already been knocked out by the American infantry with a bazooka.
I don't know if anyone else said it but George Luz (the guy you said reminds you of Sam Rockwell) is one of the radio men for Easy Company also Ronald Speirs is to this day known as one of the baddest soldiers in the history of the United States Army I learned about him when I enlisted he was what I believe the Army wishes every soldier was like. That man was the embodiment of a warrior.
The thing with Speirs and the POWs was probably true. There are records of many units being instructed not to take any prisoners and this is quite understandable due to the nature of their mission and the logistical factor.
To answer the question about Lt Spears. Spears wrote a statement about the 2nd episode. In which he stated "He had no trouble delivering capital punishment. To those enemy soldiers.
IIRC, in Fury , the tank was an M4A2E8, or Easy 8, armed with a 76mm; whereas those ones were M4s with 75mm.
Just keep in mind, these are real people with real stories. The group of men in this are real. The stories are real. Blithe had a good military career after ww2
The second half of the show is a bit darker and shows the reality the best they can which can be hard to watch. Have tissues on hand
I love that you're doing your character detective work from the intros.. and yes I will say it. Blithe Survived
P.S. Hitler was actually gassed in The Great War, that's why he couldn't see.
The German self-propelled guns that routed the companies on Easy Company's left flank were new unproven troops so panicked when E Company took one out & beat feet when the Shermans showed up.
Remember… this is a true story based upon real guys. They aren’t charactatures of groups. This is fairly accurate, but I won’t give you spoilers beyond … you must see the “11th” episode that tells more of their story. It is not part of the mini-series, but is in the box set (and on RUclips).
As to a tank giving retreat orders - - - no! As a former US Army infantry officer and all that entails, you hold the line no matter what the cost until told otherwise. You do it because your buddies’ lives depend upon you doing that as your life depends upon them holding their part of the line and protecting your back.
you're underestimating how much creative control is leveraged in stories based on real events. who you choose to focus on, when, and what aspect of their action to focus on all helps you weave a narrative with themes even if they're based on real people.
@@Diegesis you are correct that there is some editing, but this runs pretty true to Stephen Ambrose’s book, “Band of Brothers”, which was a compendium of the recollections of these men.
As you get further into the series, this becomes more apparent. I won’t give too many receipts to you now on my point as they would spoil what lies ahead of you in your own journey. But I am excited for you and for taking this journey with you - as a former Airborne Infantry officer, a former history professor, and now just an old viewer! 😀
Both Band Of Brothers and Fury portray Sherman tanks which were designed with speed and agility in mind so it had less armor, and a smaller gun than much of the other tanks in WWII. It was fairly matched against the Panzer & StuG III, but was out classed later in the war by Germanys new Tiger Tanks.
In Fury they had a fight with a Tiger Tank, Germany’s strongest tank in the war. They did a good job at showing that the USA did not have the best tanks. They didn’t have enough power to shoot through the thick armor on the front of the Tiger. Later on they also show how the Sherman could be penetrated with a Panzerfaust(German Bazooka)
The battle at Carantan was early in the war and the Germans had Panzer and StuG iii tanks which were much more of a fair fight. Band Of Brothers references it to be a Tiger tank, and it is a replica Tiger turret, welded on top of a T-34 chassis. I believe this is inaccurate to the real battle, however. Not many tanks exist anymore to film.
My late good friend William T. Wingett was wonderful friends with Albert Blithe, and trained under Sobel at Camp Taccoa. He was one of the last Easy Company men left. He fought alongside with Blithe through Normandy, and said the series portrayed him very wrong. Blithe was “100% reliable in combat. Very sharp and a ferocious warrior”. Wingett hated the fact that they showed these men wrongfully to fit a story line when they were not there themselves to tell the truth. Wingett (Bill) was friends with so many of these men, including William Dukeman, Donald Hoobler, Johnny Martin, Albert Blithe, Pat Christenson, Ej Gray, etc.
Blithe volunteered to go on that scouting mission when he was shot. The scene was showing how much he had evolved since D-Day.
yeah we were proud of him.
Awesome stuff can't wait for more, subbed
"Remember boys, flies spread disease, keep yours closed." 😏
There is a story that Herodotus retells about an Athenian soldier named Epizelus fighting in the battle of Marathon (490 BC). A Persian soldier was swinging an axe or sword towards Epizelus but struck the Athenian next to him. Although Epizelus was not hit, he went blind immediately and remained so for the rest of his life.
wow
Tipper said from his perspective, despite the damage to his leg, he felt no pain as he walked out of the building. But he was dazed
There's a couple of good YT channels with animated versions of the battle of Carentan and how important capturing and holding it was to the success of the Normandy landings. Definitely worth a watch.
Great job capturing the banter between the men about Spiers. Most reactors skip over it.
Thank you. It seemed important. without it, there's no real air of mystery as to whether or not its true. plus i knew later in the review we talked about our theories on him so that conversation needed visual context.
It's a testament to how good the casting was, that I don't think anyone ever has a problem figuring out which one of the gentlemen in the intros is Bill Guarnere. ;)
Tipper survived the guy who got blown up in the building he even lead a very physical life he skied into his 80s played 4 wall hand ball and taught for 35 years
19:21
the shermans has 75mm short gun, armed with HE (high explosive) for fight infantry
in fury the sherman of pitt has 76mm long gun with APCBC for fight against tanks, and some little improvements for armor
different roles
however shermans was butter in defence, rely on number, made for number superiority and less cost
USA delivered anti-tank tanks later in the war for fight heavy enemy tanks
Blithe's story is incorrect here. He actually lived and went on to serve in the Korean War and I believe got the silver star. This is revealed in a RUclips interview with Lt Winters.
Albert Blithe was shot in the collar bone, not the neck. Due to his wound, on October 1, 1944, he was sent home and never returned to the European Theater of Operations. As a result of his service in World War II and Korea, Blithe received the Silver Star, Bronze Star (with 2 oak leaf clusters). On December 10, 1967, while on active duty in Germany, Blithe felt nauseated when he returned from a weekend at Bastogne, Belgium, where he had taken part in the ceremonies commemorating the Battle of the Bulge. On December 11, 1967, Blithe was taken to the emergency room at Wiesbaden Hospital, Germany, where he was admitted with a diagnosis of a perforated ulcer. He died in the intensive care unit on December 17 after surgery, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full honors.
Awesome as usual reaction. I'm really looking forward to these! Speirs is one of my favorite characters...you'll see why later 👍🏼
The German machine guns (MG42) were vicious and fired twice as fast (or more) than the American machine guns (M1919 .30 cal). This series and SPR/Fury portray that pretty accurately. The Sherman's in Fury they portrayed were up against a Tiger vs in this episode they are fighting lighter German tanks. The Tiger was scary even though there weren't nearly as many of them produced as the allied tanks.
I had the blind thing happen to me once, I cut my finger then I started feeling a bit odd, than sick, went to go upstairs and suddenly the edges of my vision went black, than I was totally blind. I got to the bathroom and just sat there until it came back. I wasn’t scared, I just thought I was fighting passing out.
James Jones (From Here to Eternity) said almost exactly the same thing about war that Spiers imparted to Blithe during their encounter in the dark. Jones fought at Guadalcanal and New Georgia in the Solomans. Jones was unrelentingly honest about combat and his experiences during the war. His novel, The Thin Red Line, is based on his time fighting in the Guadalcanal campaign.
My 70 y-old father had a neighbor close friend whose American father was quiet and kinda uptight. This gentleman was in the airborne division (not in Easy company tho) paratrooper. He was in Bastogne and survived the war physically unscathed. But the good man had a severe case of PTSD. In fact, every time the celebratory fireworks for the Mexican independence started, he ran to his basement where he actually built a foxhole , put his helmet on and cried 😔
"...he was in the airborne division..."
Which one?
Oh the story of Lt Spiers is just beginning, wait until later episodes!!
Tipper survived that very injury. Served out the rest of the war. Blithe had what was called back then as hysterical blindness. Luz is their radio man. Look close at his back next through.
Dick Winters talks about the Ronald Speirs "rumors" - ruclips.net/video/W-V6OAtgr6c/видео.html
The guy that looks like Sam Rockwell is Rick Gomez. Also, Michael Fassbender is in this series.
From what I understand from an interview with Major Winters before this TV series was shot lieutenant Spears admitted to Major Winners that "yes" he really did shoot those prisoners.