BAND OF BROTHERS REACTION | PART 6 (Bastogne)
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- Опубліковано 27 вер 2024
- First time watching BAND OF BROTHERS in a SHOW reaction.
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Band of Brothers is an acclaimed 10-part television miniseries (first aired in 2001) about World War II, co-produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. Much of the action of the mini-series centers on the exploits of Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, U.S. 101st Airborne Division and one of its early platoon leaders, Richard Winters. It is based on the book of the same name written by historian and biographer Stephen Ambrose.
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The other nurse with renee is Augusta Chiwy. She survived and renee was killed. Both are known as the angels of Bastogne
Renee survived the initial bombing she died going back in to save others when apart of the building collapsed on her
The kid in Jurassic Park is in the next series, The Pacific. Plays Eugene Sledge, and his storyline is fucking HARROWING
Joseph Mazzello. Love The Pacific.
I never realized!!!
So damn good.
Band of Brothers captures how awful war is, even be if you're in the best unit of the overwhelming juggernaut of the western Europe invasion. The Pacific depicts being marooned on an island a thousand miles from civilization, and the absolute limits of human mental and physical endurance are tested
The book he wrote about his experience is brutally detailed. Eugene Sledge originally wrote it in a way of both telling his family about his experience and also coping with the trauma. His family actually convinced him to publish it. It's called "With The Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa"
Renee Lemaire is the name of the nurse who Doc Roe befriended. She was a real woman who was killed on Christmas Eve in a German air raid. She was a true hero: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9e_Lemaire
She was buried using a 101st parachute as her shroud in honor of her tireless service to the US soldiers in Bastonge during the Battle of the Bulge. Her grave is still there.
Currahee
thank you for that link Bob - God Bless her.
"her very presence among those wounded men seem to be an inspiration to those whose morale had declined from prolonged suffering."[5]
On December 24, 1944, around 8:30PM, Germans bombed the building where the aid station was located. According to a column in a Belgian newspaper, the aid station in the basement of the Sarma Store on rue de Neufchateau was demolished. Lemaire managed to evacuate six soldiers from the burning building, but died while attempting to save a seventh wounded.[6] Dr. Prior recovered her remains, and brought them back to her parents wrapped in a white parachute.[7]
@@luketimewalker I've watched Band if Brothers about 4 times over the years and I always wondered about that character. Eventually I was reading a book about the Battle of the Bulge and saw that she was a real person with a name, so off to Google I went to learn more. She sticks in my mind, for some reason. She's someone that every American should always remember. Someone who died helping them just because they needed help in a place that she didn't have to be.
"This feels like the most despair filled episode"
Me: *Sweats Nervously*
"Oh baby, you ain't seen nothing yet!"
They are in for an awakening... the next few episodes RUIN ppl.
@@Thefree_mandecker Yeah it's been pretty warm and fuzzy so far.
Just wait until they get to the Pacific. They thought Heartbreak Ridge was rough, that show has no chill at all.
No one must tell them...they need to see it for themselves...crying is probably guaranteed though...
@@MandoWookie Heartbreak? With Eastwood?
The sarcastic, "I'm real sorry, Frank!" Always gets a good-sized chuckle out of me, no matter how many times I have watched this series.
2:15 They were positioned as far as they was to keep Bastogne safe. The closer they would have positioned to Bastogne, the easier it would have been for the Germans to take it. Ground held - particularly given that they were cut off - is critical here.
4:35 Repositioning is ideal. That said, given that they were encircled, they really had nowhere else to go.
9:50 In WW2, medics were under the command of the company commander. Thus, the sergeant could only give Doc Roe a suggestion to stay back, rather than out-and-out order him to stay back.
Great reaction!
One of the officers in Easy Company, Lt. Foley, said that he recommended Doc Roe for the Silver Heart for his actions during the Battle of the Bulge - constantly checking up on the men, gathering supplies, all his usual medic duties and more on top.
you mean the silver star
@@dubfez_9256 As a civilian, I would have totally guessed a “Silver Heart” (if there was one) could have been awarded to a medic in recognition of their extraordinary efforts to preserve the lives of the men under their care. Kinda compliments the Purple Heart.
To me the thing with Buck in the theater was showing that he had the same thousand-yard stare that Winters had during his little PTSD flashback on the train in Paris. I felt like they used that episode to show those things back to back and that's a hint that Buck is going through something similar.
Yearh Buck was replying some scene in his head, his senses had shutdown.
16:56 my grandfather was in Bastogne. He was 509th gliders. He didn’t talk about the war much but he did tell us about hearing the tanks coming through the trees and how terrifying it was. He also said while in Bastogne they were told at one point to fire at will. My mother said if they ever complained about being cold he’d tell her and her siblings to put on some socks and be glad they had them and weren’t freezing to death in a fox hole. Apparently despite them always being on a tight budget my mom said he always made a point of taking them shopping for winter coats gloves hats etc that was one thing he always made damn sure they had new (important living in the snow belt in ny state). She only understood in later years why that probably was. Thank you for reacting to this. Everyone who does honors the memory of Easy company and the entire 101st. As an RN this episode is even more intense for me, I’ve had times where I haven’t had supplies etc to treat patients or have had patients suffering and in pain that I didn’t feel I was able to help adequately but I cannot imagine what they had to deal with. The nurses and medics… they had to have been hollow inside at the end. Also the other nurse was a very important person with just a tiny cameo her name was Augusta Chiwy, I think she was called Anna in Ambrose’s book. She was an immigrant from Burundi. She saved a lot of people and loved to be 94. Edit: adding this after you’re little bit about buck and long distance relationships at war… I said I’d never marry a soldier, met my husband through the Soldiers Angels program as his pen pal while he was on deployment in Iraq in ‘06, married 12 years this year lol. #life 😂
Thanks for your service . My Mom was a Nurse/Midwife during WW 2 while my Dad was in the Pacific as a medic.
Stephen Ambrose attended an Easy Company reunion in New Orleans, where he lived. He had been invited and in listening to the stories he took them to write "Band of Brothers". These stories are largely true...adapted or changed in some form to make it all work for a 10-episode season...and largely in chronological order. What makes these stories come to the fore is that Winters kept accurate records of the action plus Ambrose combining the various viewpoints of the soldiers to the same event to get the story accurate. Other Army units did amazing things in the war but this series is meant to be a representation to honor all of those men who fought.
MAGNIFICENT - thank u, never know about the inception of this masterpiece
Smokey, the guy who got shot through the shoulder and paralyzed, later recovered. He came back to Bastogne on a tour of the battlefield when he was older and climbed down into a foxhole. When he came back up, he had a canteen cup that he'd retrieved. It was the same cup he'd been drinking coffee from when he was shot, and that foxhole was once his. It's one of my favorite stories from this series haha
Loving these reactions!
He was also the guy who gave the Purple Heart.
This is where the series really starts to blossom. The next 4 episodes are simply masterpieces that everything up till now worked towards.
If you want another awesome war film, check out We We’re Soldiers….
Amazingly this whole episode was shot INSIDE a huge studio.
And interestingly, all the forest scenes were shot in a studio, where they brought in big cooling units and sprayed water vapor to create the snow, the freezing breath and the fog. All was indoors during filming.
Yup. It was Pinewood Studios in England, the largest movie studio in the world. LOTR, Star Wars, James Bond, any movies that require huge spaces with green screens are all shot there.
This episode shows how the Army determined they needed MASH units. Everything they discuss after the episode are factors that are answered by having mobile surgical hospitals.
I didn't know that, very interesting
Bastogne was at the junction of several major roadways. It had to be held to temporarily stop and slow the German offensive. The allies need the time to reorganize forces.
The gangrene could develop due to frostbite, so you were right about that.
Winter of 79 I'm 15 Shoveling snow to help my elderly neighbors. I got frostbite in my fingers and toes. I was lucky, they saved my digits. But I still have some residual damage that will always be with me. The pain was so intense I was nearly physically ill. Medics said if I had waited even 20/30 minutes more I would have lost 8 toes and 7 fingers. I make sure now to have the best stuff that I can afford to keep warm. Every time I see this episode it takes me back to 79. Been in worse winters since but now I am prepared.
You got to keep them little things warm and Dry. Thankfully, gloves and boots are better now than they were then. I can't even imagine what these brave men had to go through.
There were actually several nurses called the Angels of Bastogne. Two who worked with U.S. Army physician John Prior treating the wounded. Renée Lemaire, and Augusta Chiwy who was Congolese via her mother.
Accounts state Lemaire managed to evacuate six soldiers from the burning building, but died while attempting to save a seventh wounded from a building that was bombed.
Chiwy attended to civilian and military casualties with her uncle, a doctor, until 21 December, when she volunteered to serve as a nurse at the first-aid station of the 20th Armored Infantry Battalion. Chiwy worked at the aid station in the Rue Neufchateau, and even donned an Army uniform in order to go out into the field to collect the wounded while under fire.
Chiwy was in an adjacent building with Dr. Prior when the bomb struck and Lemaire died. Chiwy lived to be 94 and passed in 2015.
The US troops were completely taken by surprise and completely confused by Germany launching a winter offensive. None of the higher up brass thought this could happen.
More like they knew it could happen, but were convinced it wouldn't. Some of the higher ups had gotten complacent, relying on the fact that the Brits had broken German radio codes, so they got used to basically reading the german mail. But before Bastogne, Hitler had an extra bout of paranoia, and had all communications done by letters by hand, excluding commanders he thought were traitors, and not telling all the troops involved what was actually going on.
That plus the fact that the Allies estimated that the Germans didnt have the troops or fuel to launch a major offensive also made them relax.
That Germans didn't have the fuel to do it. They did it anyway. Of course they hadnt let that stop them in 1941 when they invaded the Soviet Union either.
German logistics seems to run on 'eh it will sort itself out, attack' . You dont wait for supplies before you attack, you attack and hope the supplies will arrive before you fail.
Also, the medical logistics were even so dire as the 101st's hospital battalion was one of the 1st units the Germans captured during the opening stages of their Ardennes offensive.
@@MandoWookie Well, more like you attack and steal the supplies you need from the enemy. The Germans had hoped they would be able to capture allied fuel dumps. This worked very well for them the first time they launched an offensive through the Ardennes in 1940, as the Maginot line was very well supplied. Unfortunately for them, and somewhat ironically, the Allies at this point were having a very hard time getting fuel and other supplies to the front, and there just wasn't that much available to be captured in the first place. What little was near the front mostly got destroyed by allied units before they retreated. The allies supply problem ironically wound up being very beneficial in stopping the German offensive.
This strategy was kind of a necessity for the Germans though. People like to marvel at the ahead-of-their-time weapons the Germans fielded during the war - heavy tanks, jet fighters, rockets, advanced submarines, even guided weapons. But for all that advanced tech, their army was woefully deficient behind the front lines. They had very few trucks. They relied on rail to move supplies in bulk, and then it was largely horse drawn wagons to move stuff beyond the end of the line. This is why we have that scene later on in Episode 9 with Webster going on his little tirade at the surrendering Germans. "Say hello to Ford, and General fuckin Motors, you had horses what were you thinking!?"
@@BigIronEnjoyer Yeah. Also the newest and 'best' German tanks had trouble with the terrain, and had reliability problems. Ironically the King Tiger was designed as a breakthrough tank for just such an offensive, but the tank commanders didnt want it, they were too unmanageable, but were overruled. So they stuck them at the rear so they wouldn't block the roads for the other units when they either broke down or ran out of fuel.
Similar to the situation the Allies had with their armor during Market Garden.
Except Patton.
The Kid from Jurassic park is in The Pacific when You guys get to it.
This is definitely my favourite episode. Shows how bad the medics had it, having to literally run from soldier to soldier and beg for their personal supplies because they had nothing. And how valued the medics were by everyone else, showing how pretty much everyone was worried about him and tried to keep him out of trouble. Doc Roe specifically, he's only mentioned briefly in the book, but Lt. Foley said about him that: "He was there when he was needed and how he got 'there' you often wondered. He never received recognition for his bravery, his heroic servicing of the wounded." And they portrayed that perfectly in this episode.
I've watched so many people react to this mini series. I gotta say I like ur reactions the best. Keep it up.
My great uncle bill lemieux fought in the battle of Bastogne. He was a radio man in the 101st. He was shot by a sniper in the right bicep running for a farm house. The bullet was wooden one because the Germans were running out of supplies too. It festered and ended his time in the war. After the war ended he spent the rest of his enlistment playing the trumpet in the army band. He was an amazing man and always had a smile on his face. I miss him dearly. RIP uncle bill.
Fassbender was firing the 30 caliber belt fed machine gun from on top of the logs and yelled "pull back" when Julian was shot in the neck
You're exactly right: Easy Company's experience reads like a list all of the key battles in the European theater: Overlord in Normandy, Market Garden in Holland, Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne... and it continues.
My 1 Uncle was shot out of the sky on D-Day but lived with a hole through his face , in the neck and out the cheek. Another one was manning a 75mm as they watched the shells bounce off the German Tanks.
The two nurses were real people. They are known as the Angels of Bastogne.
Renée Lemaire was a nurse who was visiting her parents in Bastogne for Christmas 1944. Her fiancé, a Jewish man, had been arrested by the gestapo in Brussels earlier in the year. When the German advance surrounded Bastogne, Renée volunteered at the US Army aid station. On Christmas Eve 1944, the Germans bombed the town of Bastogne. The building that the aid station was located in was hit by a bomb. Renée was not inside when the bomb hit. She managed to rescue 6 people from the building. She went back in to get more people, but the building collapsed, and she was killed. Her body was recovered, and the Airborne returned Renée to her parents wrapped in a parachute.
Augusta Chiwy (Anna) was also a trained nurse who was visiting her parents in Bastogne for Christmas 1944. She too volunteered at the American Aid station, and even went out into the field to tend wounded soldiers near the front lines. During the Christmas Eve bombing, Augusta was in the basement of the building adjacent to the aid station. She was knocked through a wall by the explosion, but survived with only minor injuries. She would continue to practice nursing after the war, married a Belgian soldier, had two children, and passed away in 2015. In 2011, Augusta was appointed Knight of the Order of the Crown by the Belgian Minister of Defence, and was awarded the Civilian Award for Humanitarian Services by the US Army.
There’s no formal record of Doc Roe ever meeting Augusta or Renée, but it’s possible they crossed paths during the siege of Bastogne.
Recently the actor for Doc Roe was interviewed on the HBO Band of Brothers podcast and he’s actually an English actor. He said you’ll notice his character never interacts with the other men and share their jokes, he also calls them by their real name so that he doesn’t get to know them as friends so that he can stay detached from them since he may have to treat them when they’re mortally wounded.
This episode, from the perspective of the medic and the nurse, hit me just as hard as the "Why We Fight" episode. As brutal and visceral as this episode is to watch it shows just how dedicated some people can be to just try and help put things back together, and it's really hard to watch both of them slowly breakdown throughout the course of it all. Everyone played a part and I feel the medics had to see it all. Amazing series.
I knew you were military the second you said, "suppressing fire." Glad to see you.
Just in case anyone might be interested, History professor Jared Frederick has a series on UA-cam called "Reel History." He did a review of The Band of Brothers, and The Pacific. Not only does he comment on the series, he also have a lot of background information about the people depicted in the series both before and after the war.
top notch channel. been subscribed for quite some time. love all his facts for all the series. I think he also recently released some Reel History merch too with some band of brothers merch.
The Nurse Renee Lemaire volunteered for US aid Station in Bastogne. Due to her saving life's the soldiers nicknamed her "Angel of Bastogne" She was killed during a German Air strike on 24.12.1944
Her body was recovered by several paratroopers and they honored her by wrapping her in a parachute and carried her on foot to her parents who lived nearby.
The other one that was of African decent, her dad was Belgian, augusta chiwy, was blown into the wall but survived. Supposedly, she had a crush on the American doctor. She also was said to have donned an American uniform to go closer to the front to treat the soldiers. She is known as the forgotten Angel of Bastogne. Some did call them the Angels, but most forgot the black one for some reason!
It's worth noting here that during those German armored pushes into their lines, in reality, the 101st had a few bazooka teams dispersed along the line to repel the German half-tracks, armored cars and panzers. These bazookas combined with mortar-fire and armor-piercing rounds from machine guns would have been just enough to repel these armored thrusts. They also had some 105mm artillery support with a daily ammunition limit and a few Sherman tanks plus M10 Tank Destroyers that were attached to Easy and the other companies from the supporting American armored divisions that were caught with them in the encirclement. These tanks were having to move all around the line constantly in order to meet the German armor as they appeared. The supporting tanks also had to be very careful with their ammunition. I'm guessing they could not show all of this in the series due to budget/logistics, plus they wanted to focus on the desperate situation that the infantry were facing.
Well done ! Answered on point !
Best conversation between the two of you of any reaction videos on UA-cam!
Renee Lemaire is the famous Belgian nurse in this episode. She was in Africa in the Congo treating sick people there when she went home to Belgium to see her family for Christmas and got trapped in Bastogne. Many nurses Ive spoken to that have seen this episode all say "I wonder if im that good of a nurse?" I know one actually did volunteer for war duty because if you want to know how good of a nurse you are... go to a battlefield"
Stephen Ambrose was actually neighbors with one of the Easy Co. guys. He was inspired by their conversations to decide to write Band of Brothers.
My favorite episode and one I'm always happy to see people reach. The story of a medic trying to do his best in this brutal winter wasteland is so interesting and cool.
Also you guys made a super interesting comment regarding Buck's mental state from sitting in the theater being related to his girlfriend/wife breaking things off with him, never thought about that before!
In the movie Fury, LeBeouf took his inspiration from the character he plays, though the name is changed. The cast was trained by a WWII tank crew that had served in the same tank in the war. The gunner in that crew was religious. During the training LeBeouf was converted.
"Its pissin that hurts!" Guess he shoulda skipped that trip to Lulu's
I’ve always just assumed he had a UTI because he probably wasn’t drinking much water in the cold and I don’t think they had the time at this point in the war to go out have a little fun, but I could be wrong.
@@lawrencezimmerman8769 im just kinda referencing the episode before this one where he asks them if he knows of a places called Lulu's and they all say no but you can kinda see Harry smirking in the background like its a little more than just a bar. so it could be a UTI or the other infections associated with that. or it could be Chlamydia. i think the show kinda set up the 2nd option. and i guess Bill even said there was things he wish the show didnt mention in regards to him
@@MrEd8846 Yeah I totally forgot about that being mentioned in an earlier episode. My bad, good call!
Please do the last 4 episodes soon. I really enjoy your reaction to this series and I really anticipate it.
I'm a civilian paramedic. This is one of my favorite depictions of what it's like emotionally to do this job.
There's a lot of truth in what the nurse says when she talking to the medic.
@13:33 @The Cold. I had two grandfathers and a member of my hunting club who were veterans of the Ardennes. All three could NOT stand the cold. My paternal grandfather and hunting buddy would keep the woodburning stove in our camp roaring during our stays at camp during the PA hunting season that we would have windows and doors open with temps in the teens and '20s outside. Neither wanted any of us to experience what it was like to sleep in the cold. I spoke to another vet of the Bulge who said that on the mornings each year when he would wake up to the first snowfall of the winter, he would get physically ill at the sight of it. If you were cold watching it, imagine what those poor bastards in the fox holes must have felt.
The documentary that is already mentioned is excellent and a great recommendation. I would also recommend watching the Making of band of brothers it will give you a great insight into how they filmed the episodes and this episode in particular. Great reaction and it's great you honour these veterans.
That was the key position where crossroads met so it was a very strategic town and not something you give up, or move back.
This segment is an example of the bravery of the young American soldiers. My heart goes out for these brave boys.
Been to Belgium (Ardennes) a few times, motorbike vacation. When we rode through Bastogne, I had to think about this TV show.
This is my favorite episode, and Doc Roe is my favorite character.
The way they filmed this episode is so cool.
They're in a big hangar. The snow is paper, and the trees that explode are like cork and foam.
There's a whole mini doc about it. Definitely worth a watch.
The ones at Bastogne were known as the"Bastards of Bastogne". My uncle was a machine gunner that was there. Never really talked about it. They went through hell.
I was helping my Uncle fix a roof and he just started to sweat and had a flashback. He had the stare and spewed out about 10 minutes of material. I don't think he knew I was there.
We never spoke of it again.
Did you guys notice when the combat patrol went out, the men were still under fire, but the first one back was the Lieutenant, who simply waited til his men got back, and then only showed interest in pulling back? This is the imfamous Lt Dike.
He was also the one in the previous episode who was merely whinging about the situation until Winters told him he should be organising and preparing for the deployment.
Patton's 3rd armored division changed course and fought north for 95 miles in a blizzard to relieve the troops at Bastogne.
the nurse is btw also historicly accurate, i forgot her name but she got a statue in the city and is revered as local hero who died carrying out patients out of a burning building, she managed to drag out 11 people before the building collapsed and killed her
This was Bastogne, during the Battle of the Bulge. There WAS NO place to fall back to. They were surrounded. They had to hold where they were, or be overrun. This was the 101st Airborne's finest hour.
"While it was unclear if Roe had met with the nurse, a nurse called Renee Bernadette Emilie Lemaire was indeed working in an aid station in Bastogne at the time. Lemaire volunteered her services at the battalion aid station on 21st December 1944. She helped tend to over 150 seriously wounded patients per day without adequate rest or food, and offered great assistance. Lemaire was killed during the Christmas Eve bombardment when a bomb made a direct hit on the aid station. She was wrapped in a parachute and buried in Bastogne by the soldiers.
According to Wikipedia, she managed to save six soldiers from the burning building but perished when she returned to try and save a seventh."
"I'm glad I'm not in Bastogne."
My maternal grandfather (long since deceased) was Finnish and served in the Winter War against the Soviet Union during WWII. When I was a kid and we would visit him and his family, I always such a hard time sleeping because he would have the heating cranked up to max, and he'd be wearing a full pyjamas, wool socks and a wool sweater in his bed. I never realized it at the time, but as I grew up - I think maybe it was this exact line in the show that made it click for me (I watched the show when it came out) - I understood his reasons. He never talked about it, but I think he had done his lifetime share of freezing, and decided never to be the least bit cold ever again.
The scene where the town is being bombed and there a jeep on fire passing by is a homage to actual footage from Bastogne…It’s wild.
This episode is hits kind of close to me. My grandfather was a Pharmacists First mate in the Coast Guard was part of the invasion on DDay and served most of his time in France. When deployed on a battlefield they can be medics, but they mostly help at aid stations and such. He never talked about the war to anyone in the family with the exception of my cousin (and even then it was a small amount of information), but being around those stations affected him so much that he always hated hospitals and refused to step foot in one. The only time he stepped foot in one was once after the war when my grandmother was really sick and was hospitalized. He later went on to use the GI bill to go to a better college and then became a teacher and then a principal for a number of years, but his experiences in the war always affected him I'm told.
I read somewhere that combat medics received less pay than regular combat troops because they don't carry a rifle. But that changed later in the war - '44 and '45 - they got a pay raise.
Renee Lemaire was one of two Belgian nurses who volunteered to work at the aid station during the siege. She was killed on Christmas Eve 1944 while trying to save men from the burning station. The other nurse was Augusta Chiwy who survived the war and lived to 94 years old.
The Battle of the Bulge. Probably the finest hour for the United States military in this or any war. It took incalculable courage to hold out for so many weeks without any hope of relief or resupply.
It’s funny that you mention that he looks like the kid from Jurassic Park, that kid actually was in The Pacific which you guys should watch next.
The US commander who came up with the caustic comment "NUTS" for the German commander was General Anthony McCauliffe - NUTS meaning "Go To Hell"
The author Stephen Ambrose wrote a European theatre history book from the US soldiers perspective, drawing on extensive interviews, the book was Citizen Soldiers. During the writing of this book Ambrose noted that one group of 101st Airborne veterans had seen a lot of unique circumstances and combat, with many veterans still alive, in contact with each other and willing to be interviewed, this was Easy Cpy 501st. As a result he took the extensive interview material and research he'd done on the wider project and narrowed it down into a follow-up book Band of Brothers: Easy Cpy 501st. During the preparation and filming into Saving Private Ryan Spielberg and Hanks drew extensively on Ambrose's historical works, he is one of the premier historians on the US soldiers lived experience during WW2. After completing Saving Private Ryan the movie makers also noted that a unique opportunity was presented to do a WW2 mini-series while many of the veterans were still alive to contribute and comment, naturally Band of Brothers and Easy Cpy presented a perfect framework for this. The then success of BoB leads to another mini-series, The Pacific, which covers the Pacific theatre and war against Japan, but this is drawn from different historical works and is more disjointed as it is harder to follow a "single" unit in the Pacific island hopping campaigns. Finally there is a third WW2 related mini-series due out in the next year to 18 months called Masters of the Air (I think is the final series name), this will cover the Air War of 1943-5 in Europe, basically a historically based (mainly off a book of the same name) mini-series which will have (at least) similar content and feel to the movie Memphis Belle.
there is a reason if i can recall correctly that they didnt shrink their perimeter . . they had a town at there back essentially that they were circled around. . they had to keep the perimeter line far enough out so the germans couldnt get close enough to start shelling and attacking the town. . which was also the closest thing they had to an aid station
oh that makes sense
Yeah the lines they were holding were the only defendable areas they had. If they fell back they would have been in worse positions, until they were in the town itself. They did have the slight benefit of the fact the Germans didnt have the resources to do an all out assault against multiple points in the line, because they lacked fuel. They had counted on capturing Bastogne the first day, but between the units already there and the 101st arriving as quick as they did, they got delayed. Essentially as soon as they didnt capture it, the German commanders knew they had already lost the offensive, but couldn't back down without Hitler accusing them of being 'defeatist' and basically traitors. So they kept throwing what attacks they could against the town when they could get the supplies together, hoping the Americans would break before a counterattack forced them back. Because if they got Bastogne, the Allies would have just as much trouble getting them out they had taking it. Much like the other critical town, Foy, that they did take, and will be shown in the next episode.
So, Fassbender was in this episode, for a brief moment. When the young guy, Julian, gets hit, he's the one on the MG that tells Sgt. Martin that they have to pull back.
Concerning the "Nuts"-thing ... the way I read it, years ago in various history books, it went something along the lines of this:
General McAuliffe received the demand for surrender, much as was described in this episode. He found the suggestion insulting, because much like his men, he never acknowledged that he was in a hopeless position. This was also why the 101st never accepted that they needed to be rescued, of course. The way they saw it, they could've held the line without Patton and his tanks helping them.
In any case, McAuliffe wasn't sure how to respond properly to such a German suggestion and he burst out "Aw, nuts!" in frustration. He then tried dictating a rejection letter to his aid-du-camp a few times, without much luck, each time having to scrap it, and he got more and more irritated, before finally bursting out with something along the lines of "dammit, what do I tell these people?" ... to which his Aid-du-camp rather laconically replied: "Well, as replies go, Sir, it's kinda hard to top your first outburst".
McAuliffe thought about it for about ten seconds, then told the aid-du-camp to send that back as a one-word reply.
Now, this is where things get funny.
The German commander's grasp of the English language was rather spotty, and like most mainland Europeans of the 1940's, his primary understanding of the language ... insofar as he had any ... was of BRITISH English, which of course has a vastly different slang-culture to American English, not to mention that slang was not something you used in the higher eschelons of society, such as those social circles where colonels and generals might find themselves.
Because of that, when the German commander got McAuliffe's reply, he had no idea whatsoever what it meant.
He was completely bewildered by it, and for a while thought that maybe McAuliffe had sent back a message in code, and that he'd need to get it decoded first as a result. He also didn't know if "Nuts" could be an American expression for "Yes", but he strongly suspected that it had to, because he simply couldn't fathom that a man commanding a SEVERELY outnumbered and desperately outgunned infantry-force without heavy weapons of any kind and without tank support would ever even consider NOT surrendering when given the choice, when surrounded by vastly superior forces that included artillery, tanks and much, much greater numbers of infantry.
He therefore spent several hours ... somewhere between two and three ... trying to get someone ... ANYONE ... in the German intelligence-system to confirm to him what "Nuts" meant, other than things you pick off trees and bushes to eat. Of course, eventually he did find someone who could give him at least a reasonably definitive answer that the one-word reply was not a code, and that it was in fact an insult. To say he got ... mildly offended ... would be an understatement.
But the 101st used those few hours ... as they used any pause in the fighting where they weren't shot at ... to strengthen their foxholes, bring up ammunition from the most recent air-drop, and bring wounded back into Bastogne itself. For some men, it meant the first couple of hours of sleep in days, and for others, it meant a chance to scoff down what little food they had in their kits.
Basically McAuliffe's terse and unconventional response bought them just a couple of hours that they made the best possible use of.
I'm long years from my French classes but I think Roe says "Je ne trouve pas". "I can't find it" ,meaning the artery.
Oh you're right. I was getting trouve "to find" mixed up with trevailler "to work"
Fassbender was in this one a few times. He was on the machine gun when the guy got shot in the neck. And he got wounded later in the episode.
Michael Fassbender plays Christenson in this episode. He's the machine gunner when the new replacement Julian was shot.
That’s Carwood Lipton in the beginning. Also. My grandfather was in Bastogne! And he used to say when he was younger about the winter. “It’s far better in Boston than Bastogne”! And the reason they stayed in the position they did. Was to let the enemy know they weren’t afraid and it was basically a show of strength. If they went farther away from the tree line, the enemy may have thought they retreated and entered the forrest. Our men were greatly outnumbered. So by staying in view of the enemy, it made the enemy believe their were far more men and equipment than there actually was. Point is. And some of you reading this will know what this means “Retreat!? Hell, we just got here!”
no spoilers
FYI, in the book they explain that smoky gets hit accross the long of his back passing through his spine, hints him not feeling his legs and being paralized. He survives the war being one of the last to leave germany in the 80's and becomes a lawer like his father. He goes on to fight for veteran rights in later life. A real hero. The book is worth reading.
"How quickly we forget the horrors of the 2nd world war" a real quote made in court by smoky about vietnam. BTW he left germany in the 60s, not 80s. My bad.
The restaurant I used to cater for several years ago hosted some of these men at the local American Legion for a chicken fry potluck type thing. I got to talk to and meet the Kansas chapter of survivors. One of my favorite experiences to this day
the "nuts" thing is actually real and caused some confusion among the germans, cause the translation "Nüsse" makes absolutely no sense in german, its like the germans replying "strawberry" - there is no context in which that makes sense, and the germans first thought the translator is crap so they approached the americans for clarification
I thought Babe Heffron looked like the kid from Jurassic park too! Fun fact though the actual actor who played the kid from Jurassic park played one of the main characters in The Pacific, the companion series to Band of Brothers
Always amazes me watching episode 6 and 7 thats it shot indoors. What an achievement.
6 and 8 are the most emotional for me personally. Bastogne hits hard every time. Doc Roe was also my favorite character for a long time too. Glad to see you’re enjoying the series :)
Sooo hilarious that he said he looked like the kid from Jurassic park while the kid from that played Sledgehammer in the Pacific.
The ultimate Memorial Day marathon: start BB, “Day of Days - then Saving private Ryan, BB, before Holland jump - a Bridge too far, BB Bastogne- black and white or Resistance “ 101st”, BB. And final patrol with Schindler’s list.
The chaplain in Episode 3 is played by the guy who voices Geralt in The Witcher series. I wanna say the real life name of him was Father Mahoney, but I might be mistaken.
I don’t recall all the details but in general the position was strategically important, if they pulled back from that position it would of jeopardized supply lines and push allied forces pretty far back prolonging the war.
The paralyzed guy later recovered mobility, he actually took the film crew directly to his foxhole and dug into it finding his cup he was drinking his coffee from when he got hit which the crew thought was so cool they decided to have that scene in the episode.
THANK YOU guys for your reaction and hard work. I appreciate this so much. One of the best movie reaction channels out there.
That barn fire comparison is spot on, great way to think of it for the medics, ty for the insight!
Funny you mention the kid from Jurassic Park because he is one of the main characters in The Pacific, which is Band of Brothers sister series about the Marines’ island campaign during WWII.
It is done by the same crew that created Band of Brothers. I highly suggest it.
While stationed in Germany with the Air Force I got to visit Bastogne on what they call "Nuts" weekend it's a festival held every year to honor the defenders of the town. I got to take a battlefield march around the town. You can still make out the fighting positions around the town. The Belgians are great hosts.
The Army at first refused to allow Smokey full disability, the Doctor who was treating him said nerve wounds were slow to heal, and he didn't want to lose a soldier of Smokey's caliber. Smokey's father was PISSED that the Army wouldn't allow him to go home on 100% disability, so he threatened to have some members of the US Congress he was close with to intervene. The Doctor finally gave in and Smokey was finally sent home.
To tell the truth, I mostly (solely?) watch these for Arianna. Its so good to see a young, beautiful woman who cares about our people. I appreciate her emotions. I lost two paratrooper brothers from my company in Panama.
This episode focuses on the 101st airborne being completely surrounded during the Battle of the bulge, the most decisive battle in world war II. Also the most u.s. casualties.
Uhh, I don't know about "most decisive." Even if things had gone totally the Nazis way and they had managed recapture Antwerp, it would only have paused the Allied advance in the West. Nothing was stopping the Soviet's inexorable march into the ruins of Berlin.
I have a book called the longest Winter I would recommend reading it
“Most decisive” is not even a remotely accurate description. I would argue that either Stalingrad or the battles outside Moscow were the most decisive, as after that, the Soviets began to push the Germans back. Once the Soviets gained the advantage over Germany, the Germans were going to fall.
Possibly most decisive on the Western Front, didn't know most US casualties occurred during Battle of the Bulge over others though
US took more casualties in the Battle of Normandy than in the Battle of the Bulge...almost 125k in Normandy topping just less than 90k in the Battle of the Bulge. 🖖💯✌
FYI THIS IS THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE , What the 101st went though in Bastogne was unbelievable
They did Easy company because the show is based on the history book, "Band of Brothers" by the renowned historian, Stephen Ambrose
sure but why did he do easy company then? still the same questions
This is my favorite episode of my favorite TV series ever. Powerful stuff.
Know in war there are so many untold stories and horrible things no one except the soldiers will ever know. Unimaginable things.
I'm a broken record, but I thoroughly enjoy your reactions. It makes me feel relieved and accompanied watching along with the 2 of you. Keep it up! Thank you... Next episode is gonna be good!
Actually as far as those bad wounds go. The freezing cold works for you. It helps to stop the bleeding faster. By freezing the wound.
interesting idea but id be concerned that blood loss in that environment would nearly guarantee hypothermia
The guy with the stomach wound isn’t an Easy member we’ve seen before but i always think he looks like Malcolm’s eldest brother in Malcolm in the Middle
Colonel: "Sir, General McAuliffe turned down the German demand for surrender. Know what he said?"
Patton: "What?"
Colonel: "He said "nuts."
Patton: (laughing) " Keep em moving Colonel. A man that eloquent HAS to be saved."
Patton (1970)
In Bastogne, they were surrounded by the German army . There was no where to retreat to. They were later saved by Patton
The 506th which the 101st were part of was nicknamed the five oh sink because of Colonel Sink who turned down 3 promotions to stay with his men.
Bastogne was a hell hole, freezing cold, they had no equipment suited for the cold. And they were up against 3 SS Panzer divisions (they were the elite soldiers of the Wehrmacht). So all in all, to hold out after all of that they really deserved the Presidential Unit Citation and the Belgian Croix de Guerre.
When I was on cruise in the Navy, 1980, (Nineteen F-ing Eighty!) We had to number our letters home, usually below the stamp (remember those?), so that our loved ones read them in the correct order.
I wrote over a hundred of those letters, over 7 1/2 months... didn't do me any good though...
Their chaplain John Moloney was awarded the distinguished service cross for his actions during the taking of Carentan; offering aid and comfort to wounded and dying men who had not been removed from the field of fire.
The lemon powder was, indeed for lemonade, but it didn’t taste good to most of the troopers. Most of the time, it was the soldiers’ only reliable source of vitamin c.
I really admire you two for exploring our military history. Most people no longer care.