For a more in depth look at Operation Market Garden, you should check out the film, A Bridge Too Far. Can't recommend it enough. Valiant men in the face of overwhelming odds.
Greetings from Hungary! At 17:26, "if the guy would have just shot that building"...probably nothing would happenned,aside from some destruction of property. If you are in a tank,you try to avoid destruction of property in a city fight(urban combat is the military term).The reason for that is the rubble can narrow a pathway for the tanks,or block it. It can also be a nice cover for the enemy to hide and then strike at given opportunity. That's the smaller problem. The bigger problem was the enemy tank itself. It was a Tiger. The Tiger tank in '44 was still a tough nut to crack,unless you hit one of the few weakspots in the front,which you can't do unless you see it. Even if you got a chance with one of it's weakspots,the probability to just tenporarily disable one is low. Also,the destruction of the building,unless it collapse directly on the tank,would do little to no harm to the tank.Although with the dust going into the air,it may blind the crew for a while,forcing them to move out or retreat from that position. And speaking of the crew of the Tiger. Heavy tank(i.e. Tiger and Tiger II) crews of the German armed forces were not simply professional soldiers, but always combat veterans. People who know the playbook,and were talented enough and lucky enough to exploit the strengths and cover the weaknesses of their vehicle even before they got a chance to be in a heavy tank. Also,as I am sure you've already seeen and read in some of the comments, the movie 'Bridge Too Far' is about Operation Market Garden,and Easy Company played a part of it. Probably one of the best war movies ever made, with some recognizeable, but much younger faces :) A Hungarian Armour Enthusiast
@@seanosborn3272 It was hollywooded somewhat, but it still shows how difficult the job can be and it shows it from the view of the medics being a target was my point
@@seanosborn3272 It wasn't as accurate as Band of Brothers that's for sure, but it for damn sure portrayed what Desmond Doss went through as well as you can on camera.
The scene with the little boy and the chocolate bar is one of my favorite moments in the series. It's a reminder that at this point in the war, the Netherlands had been under German occupation for more than 4 years. A child of 4 or 5 years old had never known a time without war.
It's a great scene, but one that my dad always chuckles at. Those were called "D-bars"; they were apparently, literally, hard as a rock (you had to melt them, often in your helmet), and somewhat bitter.
@@davefranklin4136 they were dark chocolate bars. Not as we know them today. No sugar and basically taste like the beans. But it was great sustenance. But even so, i bet it tasted delicious for someone who never had anything like it.
Such a great point! The war began in 1939. This was 1944. The war had been going on for FIVE years at that point. This little boy looked to be 4 or 5 years old. In addition to never having tasted chocolate (as bland as this particular bar might have been), this kid had never known what it was like to live without fear. For the residents of certain conquered nations, they experienced years of captivity, subjugation and intimidation from Nazi Germany. If your early years are the most vital in human development, then the Nazis robbed many children of the basic human right to simply being a child.
My father was born in the north-western part of the Netherlands (north of the rhine river) during the nazi occupation, and had to endure the "hunger winter" of 1944 into 1945, and barely made it out alive. Child mortality was way higher in those days, of course, even in the years right after the war. A lot of them died because of suffering complications after having been malnourished (and often downright starving) for most of the war. If you suffer from malnourishment and/or starvation in your earliest years, it can lead to a drop of several years on your life expectancy. That is (one of) the reasons why my dad died at the age that he did (he was only 61 years old when he died). The food drops that were organized by the allies during that winter may have been his (and many others) salvation at that time.
"I took 10,000 men into Arnhem. I've come out with less than 2,000. I don't feel much like sleeping."-Major General Roy Urquhart, 1 British Paratroop Division "A Bridge Too Far" (1977)
Jeremy Clarkson did a documentary on the history of the Victoria Cross and one of its recipients, Major Robert Cain, who held the infamous Bridge Too Far covering the British withdrawal during Market Garden. (NO SPOILERS)
This movie is legendary with an insane cast : Sean Connery, Robert Redford, Anthony Hopkins, Gene Hackman, Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, James Caan.... INSANE
More hitting is he says he came out with "less than 2" Obviously meaning 2000 but it hits harder when you imagine it being literally just him and one other Bridge Too Far is a fantastic movie
Dutch guy here. I won't claim it only happened in the Netherlands and it didn't in other countries, but the women you saw that were getting their heads shaven and swastika's painted on their foreheads and such, was a common phenomenon during the Dutch liberation. It was a vigilante thing regarding so called "moffenmeiden" (English literal translation would be something like "krautgirls") who were (allegedly) having relations with German occupying soldiers. This was seen as a form of collaboration and after 4-5 years of German occupation, tensions among the Dutch people were high. A lot of collaborators were undoubtedly in support of the Nazi cause, but some also did it merely in pursuit of their own safety. Difficult and complicated times.
Yeah I think that happened in other countries as well - especially France. Awful that the oppressed people did such a despicable and terrorizing thing to their own people - whether the woman had sex with a german or not. It certainly didn't mean they were Nazi sympathizers or collaborators. Loved that they included this in the series though.
Happened in Denmark too. Here, those women were referred to as "feltmadrasser". Field matresses. Their kids suffered greatly after the war ... the social stigma was overwhelming.
Its Because of " The House of Orange " Not because of the National Colour . Italy is " The House of Savoy" & why there Football/soccer team wear Savoy Blue Shirts .
@@Vaultboy-ke2jj Well Maybe you should have mentioned it in your original post ? That way People who didnt know would . Its not massively clear as the Dutch flag is Red White & Blue . I'm Just pointing out the lack of a full explanation to your unfinished post Have a good day
Knickers in a twist ? Who posted 1st on a you tube clip trying to explain why the orange banner Was hung out of the window . 🤣🤣🤣 You only had to do one thing right !! 😁
Audrey Hepburn was there when Holland was liberated. She was the same age as Anne Frank & lived nearby. Audrey wasn’t Jewish so wasn’t taken to concentration camp. But her family still had to live in the basement because of the Germans there. Audrey was 14 I think, and she did go out to ballet school, her grandfather was part of the Resistance and she would take messages to him- she was devastated when he was found out and executed. They had no heat and had a hard time finding food- eventually they had to dig up tulip bulbs to eat. After she became famous she rarely spoke about it, but a new book just came out “Dutch Girl “ that tells what she went through.
One of the little details they included is the scene where Winters and other officers when they entered Eindhoven raised their collars. They did that to hide their rank insignia in case there were enemy snipers who would target officers ahead of anyone else. That's also why in a combat situation officers are not saluted.
If you want to see more about "Operation Market Garden" you should watch "A Bridge Too Far". An All Star Cast in that one, Dirk Bogarde, James Caan, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Edward Fox, Elliott Gould, Anthony Hopkins, Gene Hackman, Hardy Krüger, Laurence Olivier, Ryan O'Neal, Robert Redford, Maximilian Schell, Liv Ullmann.
I was the Bn Intel NCO- we were out in the field in a GP medium tent- Bn Ops tent. Someone ripped a fart and I yelled "SPEAK UP LT!!! WE'LL FIND YOU!!" There was only 1 Lt in the tent- and he was an idiot. All the Cpt's and Majors were laughing their asses off and he couldn't get mad. Was EPIC lol.
That LT survived. He was lying on the ground and during the firefight that ensued, a few soldiers stopped to get him and then another soldier said “leave him. He’s not going to make it.” Eventually someone dragged the LT to cover and he was eventually treated. Once he recovered, He eventually came face to face with the soldiers who consciously decided to leave him to die
With the Memorial Day weekend upon us, some food for thought. Of the more than 16 MILLION who served the U.S. during WWII, there is only an approximate 500,000 of them left. They are passing at an alarming rate of 1000/day. Which means by Veteran's Day 2022, the Greatest Generation will be gone from this world. If you are luck enough to still know one of these Heroes, Cherish them.
@@EPICFAILKING1 the canadians liberated the biggest part of the netherlands and are probebly the most overlooked of all the allied forces. They are rememberd by (some) of the dutch people tho. Every year thousands of flowers are send to canada out of graditude.
A guy from Eindhoven here, parts of the town still looks the same, we still have that big church in the city to. Also the dutch speaking actors are from the Netherlands.
The show is based on the book, and the book is based on the personal memories and memoires of the soldiers involved. Albert Blithe was evacuated to a hospital after he was wounded, and never returned to Easy Company. Pretty much every other wounded man Easy suffered who recovered returned to the company, so the guys in Easy assumed he died. When Stephen Ambrose was writing the book that this show is based on, he asked them what happened to Albert Blithe and the men themselves said that he died. It was an assumption on their part, and Ambrose never bothered to follow up to make sure.,
Look at 11:45 where the soldier is saying "Sergeant Talbot" to the soldier with the woman on his lap. There is an old man directly to his left waving a flag. That is Edward "Babe" Heffron. He is one of the actual BOBs making a cameo. He is played in the series by actor. Robin Laing
In the Netherlands, near where I live is where they dropped down with the chutes for Market Garden. Every year they still have a memorial day for this where they fly over and drop soldiers down.
It is impossible to find words to describe what we're seeing indeed. I happen to live in the village of which the sign was shown in this episode: "Nuenen". It's very close to Eindhoven. I go jogging in a forest area around Nuenen a few times a week, where a plane got shot down. There is a memorial sign to mark the spot. Just a bunch of kids in their twenties. I always get very emotional when I pass it... Deepest respect to all.
As a Dutchie, I can tell you the American soldiers got an honorable grave. We first asked relatives where they wanted to bury their loved ones. A lot went State side. The others are buried at Margraten Cemetry. Every single grave has been 'adopted'. This means every American soldier who died has a Dutch family who takes care of the grave. When you ever visit The Netherlands, you should go there. The graves are in perfect shape, clean and most of the time decorated with flowers. Not on the grave itself but directly in front of it. We in The Netherlands will never ever forget what those men did for our freedom! They gave the ultimate sacrifice for a people they hardly new anything about. ❤❤
A little fun fact; As a 16 year old girl, Audrey Hepburn was a member of the Dutch Resistance... Imagine, when you watch an old Audrey Hepburn movie, that she was taking messages back and forth between resistance cells, on her bike, in front of German soldiers during the occupation. Also; the practice of shaming women who had "dated" German soldiers was practiced through a lot of Europe as Germany pulled back and the allies took over. It was more selective in some places (let's face it, in some situations the women weren't really given a CHOICE of "dating" the soldiers or not... but in others they were getting better food, etc, from the Germans for their "favors"...). In Russia, a lot of women who collaborated willingly were dragged out in the street and shot. The women in Holland got off much easier.
The real Albert Blithe didn’t have a southern accent. He was from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as was William J. “Wild Bill” Guarnere and Edward "Babe" Heffron.
@@gravitypronepart2201 Ah, now you've got me wondering if the only reason Blithe has that accent is because that's the only American accent Warren could do...
The Germans were actually pretty good about not shooting medics, and (for the most part) obeying the Geneva Conventions. The Japanese... well... not so much.
@@AverageArtz They actually were. Of course there were war crimes but there are two types of war crimes. Crimes against civilians and crimes against soldiers. They didn’t did not use weapons like flamethrowers, poison gas, and treated most POW very well. This is of course referring to the German army and not the SS. The SS and nazi state would have intervened when they were taken to camps and thats when war crimes started but not the army. But basically to sum it up the Germany army followed the codes very well and while there were many war crimes committed these were done by all sides. Most crimes committed by the Nazis were the SS and the Nazi state.
@@Aviator-Chicken Well.. first of all, the Waffen SS were very much part of the german war machine that took part in fighting along side the army. Second, I really recommend reading about the "myth of clean whermacht". With that you'll find just how much the army assisted the state with the holocaust and commited an insane amount of war crimes. So no, the german army did not follow the geneva convention. Not even a little.
Steven, "It's stuff that should never be forgotten and information that should be known, and learned." ❤️ My husband, and I, both read the history of WW2 in school growing up in America, but we never understood how important D-Day was until watching Band of Brothers with you. ❤️ This show is so iconic, we believe it should be shown in schools today (11th-12th). My husband is a high school Social Study's teacher, and we're both trying to figure out how to incorporate this show into his students curriculum.
I love your reactions guys. I am an 82 year old veteran whose served 3 tours in Vietnam. I appreciate you Nkki, what you said about the families. I think mothers, fathers, siblings, wives and children, of the men who serve should be honored for what they have to endure. My wife had a very hard time when I was gone. Waiting perhaps for the two men in uniform coming to the door and telling you your loved ones is dead or missing in action. Our first child was born when I was overseas. I was a Navy Hospital Corpsman (Medic), and saw a lot of young bodies torn apart. Trying to keep those young men alive tore at your soul. We worked hard during the day, some times 24 to 36 hours straight. but when we were not working we cried our selves to sleep. I can tell you what I saw and did, but there is no way I can tell you how it feels. The only way you can know how it feels is to experience it first hand. That is why a lot of combat veterans feel alienated from civilians. The experience is way more then they could ever understand. You need to watch The Band of Brothers Documentary. "We Stand Alone Together"
As a medic, I can tell you, part of our job is not to put ourselves in danger. But when danger is everywhere and you can't be safe, be useful. We are also taught that, despite the "rules of war", sometimes that medic tag is a bigger target than an officer's stars.
The MARKET GARDEN operation was probably one of the biggest disasters of the war for the Allies in Europe. If you're interesting in learning more about it, the movie _A Bridge Too Far_ encapsulates it pretty well. It was really interesting to watch it again after seeing _Band of Brothers,_ because the actions of the 101st Airborne in the movie have much more context.
@@richardsteiner8992 when you think about the grander scheme of things Operation Market Garden was the most logical action Holland still occupied and it provided a way clear way into Germany yeah the plan failed miserably hindsight its easy to blame a single person but there no doubt multiple things that cuased the Operation to fail not just the commanders at the top but the troops on the ground.
@@samuel10125 The troops fought well in difficult circumstances. The 101st and 82'd achieved their objectives of seizing bridges and clearing the roads for the British column. The British Airborne fought gallantly (and the Polish AB) at Arnhem. The greatest failures at the command level were the British reluctance to trust the Dutch resistance and to even second guess their own observations. Montgomery was a stubborn and pompous general who simply would never alter his plans no matter how much information to the contrary he was shown. His battle, his plan, his defeat.
I've watched this series from start to finish, more times than I can count. But it's always a pleasure to share the journey once again with people who appreciate the sheer quality of this show, and to once again become immersed in the experience. It really never gets old.
An amazing movIe that covers Operations Market Garden, is "A Bridge Too Far". You will see more of this part of the war. I highly recommend it. Another wonderful film is "The Longest Day" about D-Day.
Yes indeed. But if they really want to go into the deep end, and want to see more about the war in the Netherlands, i would recommend movies like "De Soldaat Van Oranje", or "The Soldier Of Orange" translated in english, starring Rutger Hauer, or the movie "Zwartboek", or "Black Book", starring Carice Van Houten, who also played the role of the red priestess in Game Of Thrones. Other recommended movies about WW II would be "Der Untergang", or "The Downfall, about the last days of Hitler, and the movie "Stalingrad", about pretty much the biggest defeat of the Germans fighting the Soviets on the eastern front.
Ambrose tells in the Band of Brothers book that few soldiers ran up to the Lt. and said "leave him, he's not gonna make it". Lt did not forget those words and made sure that when he returned to the company the soldiers who left him to die did not forget it
Unit decorations are indeed a unit decoration. The rule that Bull Randalman was upholding is related to honor: you do not call out someone in your unit for something that isnt wrong or embarrasses them. Its unseemly.
Dick Winters talked about that drop. He said the most dangerous thing about it was all the gear, helmets, rifles etc falling from the guys in the air. He got the heck out from under it as fast as he could.
Here is an explanation of the tank battle scene for better understanding. The german Tiger tank and the US-British M4 Sherman were different classes of tanks. The Tiger was a heavy tank that was built to fight other tanks = heavy armor and a very powerful cannon. The M4 Sherman was a medium-weight tank that was mainly intended to support infantry very quick as mobile artilery.
And that tank may not have been an actual "Tiger" Panzer Mark VI. The Germans only built 1,600 "Tiger I's" during the entire war and most of them were used on the Eastern Front. Many allied troops mistook the slightly older and smaller, but still very capable Panzer Mark IV for the Tigers, since they looked quite similar from the front and at a distance. In contrast, the U.S. built almost 50,000 M4 Sherman's during the war. (Yes, you read that number correctly. That one model accounted for more than the entire production of ALL tanks that Germany built during the whole war.) And the later models of German tanks would often be less than 50 percent combat capable, as they were plagued with design flaws and mechanical problems owing to having been rushed into service and often a lack of available fuel, since the Allies were persistently bombing every fuel source the Germans had available. When they worked, the German tanks were superior. But they were greatly hampered by circumstances and vastly outnumbered.
The beauty of this show is how human they made these people's story. They did attempt to portray them as flawed and shortsighted as everyone would be, but in the end we just perceive them as heroic because that's who they were. Love it
My dad went on a tour of Belgium, and to this day they have huge re-enactments, like we do here for the Civil War. It's a HUGE deal over there, and the people spend tons of money on authentic U.S. and British (and German) clothing and equipment. What our grandparents did for them is still very well remembered.
Contrary to the final message, Operation Market Garden was not a failure to the Allies strategy. Even if the Allies had captured the final bridge, they could not move into Germany without several months of resupply and refit. Remember they were still relying on the 'temporary' artificial port facilities at the D Day landing sites: French and Belgian coastla ports were either not captured or were severely damaged or just too small to use. The key to victory was Antwerp, the largest port north of Normandy. Although Antwerp was captured in September, the approaches through the Scheldt Estuary blocked Antwerp's use as a military port until 29 November. The capture of four of five main bridges over the Rhine River blocked any German attempts to attack Antwerp from the north and protected the port for build up to the drive to the Siegfried Line between November 1944 and February 1945. Also, the last major German offensive in the West - the Ardenne from 16 December 1944 to 15 January 1945 - aimed to cut Antwerp off from Allies and deny its use to build up the closure to the Rhine and the invasion of Germany.
One of the most iconic and lasting images to people helped by the American Military, is the American soldier giving a child a chocolate bar. I have heard it many times from those that have been freed and have immigrated to America and become US citizens, that that moment changed their lives.
My grandpa was a Replacement in the US 1st Infantry Division (The Big Red 1.) The guys in his company were hard on him at first, and figured he'd been killed when he was hit by an explosion, but when he got back up to the front lines, he was part of the team, and they welcomed him back like family.
Band of Brothers since it's release I re-watch it twice a year June 6th and November 11th as a semi annual tradition and moments still get me no matter how many times I've view it. It is their sacrifice that should never be forgotten.
The little boy who got chocolate from Webb was most likely born during the start of the war. Him eating and tasting it for the first time from when Webb gifts it to him is one of the most endearing moments in this series.
One of the things I think people always miss- a subtle line Is the Dad saying his little boy never tasted chocolate. A Dutch person, who never tasted chocolate. The German occupation in Holland, like every country they occupied, was horrendous for the citizens: they took everything from them along with their freedom.
When the Netherlands was occupied it was cut off from its sources of cocoa (and coffee) beans in its colonies. It isn't that the Germans were stealing it. There just wasn't any to be had.
jeff b I know. A Dutch child who hasn't tasted chocolate!!! My Dutch brother in law grew up during the occupation. In a nation of rather tall people he and his brother were perhaps 5'6". He grew up eating candle wax, tulip bulbs. He hated Germans for the rest of his life. He wouldn't even drive a German car.
The women who had their head shaved this happened all over occupied europe after the countries were liberated, women who had relations with germans were treated real badly after the war. In Norway one child of such a relationship had to leave Norway and she became a singer in the Swedish band ABBA (mama mia song).
That hits a special note. Because I'm wondering how many of the women felt that they had no other options? I don't know the full story but in all likelihood that scenario occurred.
@@andrewevers2420 Norway was a bit of a special case since we had our own nazi government during the occupation. A norwegian minister basicly declared himself as Norways new leader and instigated a coup while the King and the legtimate government was forced to flee to England. We even had 6000 norwegians who fought for the germans during the war. My grandfather was fighting for the british since he was young man studying in London when the war broke out. But he remembers after the war many of the women and the children of suchs pairing had their citizenships taken away and sent to germany after the war. The idea was you like Germany then go live in the ruins of it here you are no longer welcome and that lasted for almost 40 year after the war until the 1980's. The children being punished for it was something he said was not right but there was a lot of anger and many Norwegians had been tortured and shot by the germans during the war. It was just pure revenge and anger especially against Norwegian Nazis who were hated even more than the germans. And any Norwegian woman who had benefitted from the occupation by dating german soldiers while other women had seen their husbands and even sons shot by the germans was treated with outright disdain. In fact my grandfather saw a Norwegian woman beating her neighbour who had married a german officer her son was shot by the german secret police so she let her rage out on that woman.
As a person who was a WWII nerd as a kid. Both my grandfather's and great uncles were there. I made it a point to go to Normandy on the anniversary of D-Day.. I spent weeks, my older brother and I goin from DZ to every battle field. We met Vets all along the way all in their uniforms. They all told us it was the last time they would ever see Normandy again. Heart breaking
The chutes are controllable but it takes a lot of upper body strength. When I went through Airborne school in Fort Benning, there are pull up bars right in front of the chow hall and we have to do at least 10 before we go in and eat.
Remember, this was put out in 2001 where Ron Lewis (Nixon) was still riding his fame from "Office Space." His close miss gets everyone the first time they see it...
@@kirishima638 I mean, it was never a big box office smash; but for many I think who were the core audience for this series at the time, Office Space was also on their radar when the series was coming out. I was in middle school when this came out but remember watching it around the time (couldn't have been any later than 2002) and definitely recognizing Mike from Office Space; he was really the only actor I recognized other than being vaguely aware that the Sobel actor was in that Friends show I didn't watch. I gotta say by 2001/2002 it was pretty well known among my peers. Pretty sure Office Space was playing on Comedy Central around the same time as BOB, so a LOT of people were seeing the movie there.
@@scottwatrous It's one of my favorite movies but it's largely unknown. If anything it's more famous for featuring a young Jennifer Aniston just prior to her shot to fame in Friends.
The scene with the little kid and the father coming out of a shelter allways makes me tear up. I start to realise watching the kid that that's my grandparents generation.
This is a cool reminder about symbols in other nations and cultures. When I was learning propaganda, one big lesson is to learn a ton about the culture you are trying to affect because each culture has its own meaning for colors, symbols, and messages. Its too easy to put out a message and accidentally offend someone or even make it to where they don’t understand your meaning. In afghanistan we wanted the people to stop a specific action, but you couldnt use the stop sign (red octagon with white lettering spelling “stop”) because the people there never saw that symbol before and didn’t know what it meant. Same with the orange flags. It was clear what it meant for the people who were hanging them up but it was pure confusion to the Americans who where approaching the town. Anyways, just thought I would share an observation.
One of the things, one have to appreciate about BoB show, is the amount of minor detail the producers put into it. Like the unit markings on the British tanks is of 11th armoured division, which also participated in the Market Garden campaign, this division advanced on a parallel axis of the Guards Armored Division to cover their right flank of the main thrust, from any German counter attacks comming from the east in the Eindhoven area. The whole operation was very Multi-national co-op, besides British Armour/Para units and US Para units, it also contained elements, of Canadian, Polish, Dutch units etc... The attempt to drop some 35.000 airbourne troops into Holland in a single day is an amazing display of logistic by the allieds. But it also showed that despite their wast arsenal of transport planes and gliders, the allieds just pushed the envelope a bit to far of what they actually were capable of bringing in by Air, which of cause had disastrous consequences in the end.
Operation Market Garden was and still is the largest airborne invasion in human history. Ultimately it failed in its main objective (the capture of the bridges across the Rhine) however it did succeed in capturing towns and smaller bridges up and down the country, including Eindhoven (the place you seen with celebrating Dutch people) and Nijmegen. There is an awesome ensemble film from 1977 called a Bridge Too Far which details the failed attempt to take Arnhem. A lot of well known actors are in it including Sean Connery and Anthony Hopkins. I highly recommend it. I mean it takes some licenses (because you know Hollywood) but all in all its a great film.
My 85 year old Father in law who lived near the Suffolk coast at the time, remembers the sky going black with the amount of planes and gliders flying overhead.
A note about Private Cobb (the one being a jerk in the pub) " They also portray Cobb as being abrasive and bitter but in Private Webster's memoirs, he was described as being friendly. They also do him an injustice by never stating that he had fought in Operation Torch in Africa with the 1st Armored Division the year before joining Easy Company or that on his return from Africa, his troopship was sunk by a torpedo fired from a German submarine." There is so much they get right in this, but you can't fit everything into such a short time. Thank you guy for reacting to this.
8:30 "Nothing goes according to plan in these scenarios." If you want to know more about Operation: Market Garden, I recommend the fantastic war film "A Bridge Too Far" which is based on a brilliant book of the same name by Cornelius Ryan, who was a war journalist during the Second World War. The film takes some liberties with the facts (as they all do) but IMHO is one of the greatest war films ever made.
Stephen Ambrose wanted to write a book about the medics but never got around to it. I wish he had. While waiting in England prior to D- Day they took a lot of disrespect from other troops because they were non-combatants and looked on as being cowardly. In action though when others had taken cover under enemy fire it was the medics that ran through it to help the wounded. Ambrose said that during interviews the statement "The bravest man I ever saw..." usually ended up being the medic.
Something I heard someone say that really nailed what relationships in the military are like was that brotherhood is different from friendship. Brotherhood has nothing to do with how much you like each other, instead it is a mutual agreement within a group that you will put the wellbeing of the group ahead of yourself. It is saying, in essense, that you love the men next to you more than you love yourself.
Crossroads, Bastogne, and Breaking Point are next level. You will get to know the characters even more. Crossroads is Winters Bastogne is Doc Rowe Breaking Point is Lipton, Toye, Wild Bill, Buck Compton, Mularky, Luz, And Speirs, also Lt. Dyke.
I read somewhere were that young girl who witnessed that fight in the barn, is still alive today, well at least while the show was being filmed. No idea what she might have thought about that night. Only think I did read, was she was receptive to meeting him, when the HBO film crew came to study their town.
Operation Market Garden was a Cluster F. I remember watching the movie "A Bridge to Far" same battle and being really disappointed because the allies didn't win.
@@markluccioni9687Oh, Montgomery could definitely plan a battle well..El Alamein was a textbook methodical, rolling attack, preceded by great training and logistic work. Unfortunately, by this point in the war after the German retreats on the Eastern Front, the decimation of the Luftwaffe and the recent German Army disaster in the Falaise Pocket, Montgomery fell victim to the same hubris that many Americans felt: "One final push to get across the Rhine and the Germans will collapse like they did in 1918". Montgomery wanted that "push" to be in the British sector, to make up for the slow going around Calais right after Normandy. So he tried to put together an airborne assault too fast and with not enough proper intelligence support. A lot of "Victory Disease" going around and a lot of men died because of it.
There's a scene in this episode where the camera pans up to the troopers as they are parachuting down for the day drop in Holland. That scene isn't real. It was all done on an Windows 98 computer and MS Paint. Still looks great after all these years. Thanks for the upload!
@@genghisgalahad8465 I can’t tell if you’re being facetious, but regardless, the OP is discussing the fact that the scene with all the parachutes was made with computer effects that would have been difficult 20-21 years ago, and it still looks good to modern audiences. And I agree with him - this series looks as good as new considering how long ago it was filmed/edited/released.
Another epic episode. I still get misty eye when the little boy gets his first taste of chocolate. My grandfather said he and other GI loved giving kids the bars. There is a good film called A Bridge too Far that really goes into detail on the collapse of this mission. An oldie but a goodie with Sir Anthony Hopkins and Gene Hackman as well as Sean Connery this is a good watch
Your reactions are always heartfelt and as intense as the episodes / films you watch, which is why I follow your channel. I also appreciate your understanding of the reality of war, that Band Of Brothers depicts.
The cast all went through a mini-boot camp run by Dale Dye (a captain in the Marines firing Vietnam) that’s the same type that the Saving Private Ryan cast did. He plays Colonel Sink (spelling is wrong I’m sure) in this series and played a small role as General Marshall’s chief of staff in SPR. There’s a documentary that Ron Livingston (captain Nixon) did a vlog for before they were a thing, detailing what all this cast went through.
Operation Market Garden was made into a movie a long time ago called A Bridge Too Far. Big time actors like Sean Connery, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Michael Caine, Ryan O'Neil, James Caan, Robert Redford etc etc. Fabulous movie. I was fortunate enough to drive the entire Market Garden route with my cousin (from Holland)a long time ago while on leave from a UN deployment in the Middle East. My Grandparents farm in Holland was occupied by Germans during the war. My father never wanted to talk about it.
My grandpa’s B-24 was shot down returning to England over Holland in April 1944, just before Operation Market Garden. With help from the Dutch Underground and Canadian special forces, Grandpa evaded and escaped into liberated Paris in the summer of 1945. Our family continues to keep in touch with the family that protected my grandpa. Much love and respect to the De Bruins.
Beautiful, Ryan. My family - I'm French - is still in touch with the family of Lloyd, a Utah Beach veteran we met at the 40th D Day anniversary. Bless your grandpa and all his brethren - and people like the De Bruins. Also I recommend a Dutch film about the Dutch Resistance called Flame & Citron, with Mads Mikkelsen.
@@luketimewalker one of the surviving crew members and fellow evadees from grandpa's B-24 wrote a book about the ordeal with excerpts from the surviving crew members. The book is The Playboy Crew.
So I’m making a lot of comments and I’m sorry for that but Whenever in the movie you see someone tag a tag off a body, the reason that soldiers are issues two is so that you can take the tag off and return that one tag out of two to the chain of command. Sometimes that lone tag is all you have to tell the difference between an MIA/POW and a KIA. That second tag is on its own shorter loop which means the tags tend to rattle as you walk, which why you will sometimes see soldiers taping their tags together so they don’t rattle
The real Babe Heffron makes a cameo in the Holland party scene. The camera is briefly focused on him sitting at a table before panning to the main characters.
Being a veteran myself, I’ll tell you guys what it’s like in war. During the whole battle (one of many) it’s like time sits still. You think of so many things your head in a matter of seconds. You think about your family back home, you think how you’re going to try and survive, and you think that you can do this just overcome it. Then as your aiming at the enemy you think before you pull the trigger “this is wrong you shouldn’t do it” “kill him or you will die” “you’re a warrior and your trained to do this”. Basically you have to clear your mind as your going into battle and not think as you go through the battlefield. The first time I killed someone it was like a nightmare. A nightmare that you can’t wake up from. I still suffer nightmares of the first kill but I’ve learned to live with them. When I saw his dead eyes and his dead face, you could see the life or soul drain out of his body. I have so many other stories but I’ll spare you details unless you want to hear them. Life of being a war veteran is hard but we keep going. To all of those veterans out there, I know it’s hard to face your problems but you can get through war you can get through anything. This is Lieutenant Buzz from the United States Marine Corps saying “Hoorah fight hard brothers.”
I simply adore this show, it really does get better and better as you get more invested in the men of Easy company. And the interviews with the actual soldiers just adds so much.
Operation Market Garden was the personal plan of the British commander, general Montgomery. The idea was twofold: A. to isolate the German army in Western Netherlands to cut them off from resupplies and to stop the firing of missiles from there onto England. B. to claim the bridges over the Dutch rivers, so they could pass by the heavily defended Siegfried line along the German borders which spanned all the way from the Alps in the south to the Dutch rivers in the north. They were warned by Dutch resistance fighters that the German troops in eastern and southern Netherlands were in fact not just old men and children, but consisted of two full panzer (armored) divisions of the SS (German elite forces). Also several allied officers had shared their doubts about the suitability of the small Dutch sandy roads for a fast advance of the ground troops (operation Garden), as was needed to quickly connect them with the paratroopers at the bridges (operation Market). Nonetheless allied command decided to go through with it and the information above was not shared with the officers that had to carry out the operation. And thus Market Garden became the biggest failure of the allied forces in the European campaign. The paratroopers were unable to hold the bridges long enough against the unexpected and overwhelming force of the German panzer divisions. (The British 1st Airborne division at the most northern bridge in Arnhem took most of the heat and lost 8000 men. Pretty much wiping out the entire division. The division was never used again in the war due to these massive losses and thus the lack of remaining paratroopers.) And the ground forces were moving much, much slower than required over the small sandy roads. Hollywood film about Market Garden: A bridge too far.
Seeing it play out one TV is one thing. Being there first hand is an entire different experience... love you guys!🙏🏼 Much love and Respect to you both🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
It's easy to think that most soldiers died or were wounded from bullet wounds or being blown up, but when you read accounts it often wasn't the fire/explosion of the grenade or shell, but the flying pieces of metal (shrapnel,) that would cut through and kill - even from a distance away. What the farmer digs out of Bull's shoulder is a perfect example. Other soldiers were killed just from the shockwave of an exploding shell - they would be found without a scratch, but either the shockwave stopped their heart or caused catastrophic internal organ damage. In the series The Pacific (spoiler alert,) that is the kind of wound Robert Leckie receives on Peleliu.
It's funny you mention about Blythe's name always being with you. On the 10 interstate where California and Arizona meet, is a town called Blythe, and EVERYTIME I drive by it, I think of this soldier, and his trial by fire in Normandy.
I haven't scrolled down far enough to see if anyone else mentioned it but, at 11:45 into your video, the old man with the cap at the lower left corner is Edward "Babe" Heffron who was an actual replacement in Easy Company. You'll hear about Babe as the series goes on. Babe and Bill Guarnere (sp?) were visiting the set and were asked if they wanted to be extras in a scene. Babe jumped at it and played a citizen of Einhoven. Looking back I wish the producers had put more of the actual Easy Company men as extras in the series to preserve their presence forever.
The actors were trained by Dale Dye, who was in the military. They trained just like the military. There is a fantastic podcast done by HBO on band of brothers, the actors talk about the show and the characters they play. Ps- Dale Dye plays Colonel Sink. ☺️
The show didn't make mistake about Blith since it's based on the memoirs. So the E-company guys got it wrong probably rumors since they never saw him again and just assumed he died so everyone pls cut some slack about this one =) none the less the impact was same and it wasn't easy for em never seeing / knowing what happened and assuming He was dead
A Hershey Bar can be so little, but for a little boy it can change the whole world. I find this scene so strong because the little boy is innocence, that fragile, like peace. You pay attention to it, and for a little eternity the world is all right.
my family was on both sides in the war on my fathers side they worked with the germans his mothers got shaved in town on my mothers side they where resistence fighters my grandfather was sent to a concentration camp his uncles where exicuted by the germans two cousins died blowing up a bridge so its eazy to say the the families never liked each other
Hi Nikki & Stevens. You pointed out at 9.57 that they couldn't control their parachute. Despite what we saw they jumped (commonly call a static line jump) at a very low altitude (at 1312ft and sometimes below). So didn't have much time to orientate or to open the emergency parachute in case the primary one was malfunctioning...
In my country (Denmark) something similar happened with the women. We had a word for it called "Feltmadresser" which roughly translates to Field Mattresses.
Hersheys Chocolate became a household name (with NO advertisement) because it was part of every soldiers meal kits. This is why soldiers were so well liked by European children. They gave out a lot of chocolate.
Yay!! I've been watching you two react to my favorite show since you started. Something is so cool to me, watching others fall in love with Something I already love myself. Enjoy the rest of the series, and I'll be watching along with you.
Full watch-a-long reactions here: bit.ly/3vdS4yw
Hey you guys should watch American sniper. It’s sooo good, it’s a movie on Netflix
For a more in depth look at Operation Market Garden, you should check out the film, A Bridge Too Far. Can't recommend it enough. Valiant men in the face of overwhelming odds.
Greetings from Hungary!
At 17:26, "if the guy would have just shot that building"...probably nothing would happenned,aside from some destruction of property.
If you are in a tank,you try to avoid destruction of property in a city fight(urban combat is the military term).The reason for that is the rubble can narrow a pathway for the tanks,or block it. It can also be a nice cover for the enemy to hide and then strike at given opportunity. That's the smaller problem.
The bigger problem was the enemy tank itself. It was a Tiger. The Tiger tank in '44 was still a tough nut to crack,unless you hit one of the few weakspots in the front,which you can't do unless you see it. Even if you got a chance with one of it's weakspots,the probability to just tenporarily disable one is low. Also,the destruction of the building,unless it collapse directly on the tank,would do little to no harm to the tank.Although with the dust going into the air,it may blind the crew for a while,forcing them to move out or retreat from that position. And speaking of the crew of the Tiger. Heavy tank(i.e. Tiger and Tiger II) crews of the German armed forces were not simply professional soldiers, but always combat veterans. People who know the playbook,and were talented enough and lucky enough to exploit the strengths and cover the weaknesses of their vehicle even before they got a chance to be in a heavy tank.
Also,as I am sure you've already seeen and read in some of the comments, the movie 'Bridge Too Far' is about Operation Market Garden,and Easy Company played a part of it. Probably one of the best war movies ever made, with some recognizeable, but much younger faces :)
A Hungarian Armour Enthusiast
Please rush the episodes
Can you please react to kill bill ❤️❤️❤️
"Being a medic has to be so hard!"
You've got an episode to look forward to!
100% agreed!
Hacksaw Ridge takes that to a different level
@@SC457A that movie wasn’t super accurate. Band of brothers way better
@@seanosborn3272 It was hollywooded somewhat, but it still shows how difficult the job can be and it shows it from the view of the medics being a target was my point
@@seanosborn3272 It wasn't as accurate as Band of Brothers that's for sure, but it for damn sure portrayed what Desmond Doss went through as well as you can on camera.
The scene with the little boy and the chocolate bar is one of my favorite moments in the series. It's a reminder that at this point in the war, the Netherlands had been under German occupation for more than 4 years. A child of 4 or 5 years old had never known a time without war.
It's a great scene, but one that my dad always chuckles at. Those were called "D-bars"; they were apparently, literally, hard as a rock (you had to melt them, often in your helmet), and somewhat bitter.
@@davefranklin4136 they were dark chocolate bars. Not as we know them today. No sugar and basically taste like the beans. But it was great sustenance.
But even so, i bet it tasted delicious for someone who never had anything like it.
Such a great point! The war began in 1939. This was 1944. The war had been going on for FIVE years at that point. This little boy looked to be 4 or 5 years old. In addition to never having tasted chocolate (as bland as this particular bar might have been), this kid had never known what it was like to live without fear. For the residents of certain conquered nations, they experienced years of captivity, subjugation and intimidation from Nazi Germany. If your early years are the most vital in human development, then the Nazis robbed many children of the basic human right to simply being a child.
@@davefranklin4136 Still better than anything that little kid has ever had in his short life! Life is about perpective.
My father was born in the north-western part of the Netherlands (north of the rhine river) during the nazi occupation, and had to endure the "hunger winter" of 1944 into 1945, and barely made it out alive. Child mortality was way higher in those days, of course, even in the years right after the war. A lot of them died because of suffering complications after having been malnourished (and often downright starving) for most of the war. If you suffer from malnourishment and/or starvation in your earliest years, it can lead to a drop of several years on your life expectancy. That is (one of) the reasons why my dad died at the age that he did (he was only 61 years old when he died). The food drops that were organized by the allies during that winter may have been his (and many others) salvation at that time.
"I took 10,000 men into Arnhem. I've come out with less than 2,000. I don't feel much like sleeping."-Major General Roy Urquhart, 1 British Paratroop Division "A Bridge Too Far" (1977)
Jesus...
Jeremy Clarkson did a documentary on the history of the Victoria Cross and one of its recipients, Major Robert Cain, who held the infamous Bridge Too Far covering the British withdrawal during Market Garden. (NO SPOILERS)
This movie is legendary with an insane cast : Sean Connery, Robert Redford, Anthony Hopkins, Gene Hackman, Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, James Caan.... INSANE
More hitting is he says he came out with "less than 2"
Obviously meaning 2000 but it hits harder when you imagine it being literally just him and one other
Bridge Too Far is a fantastic movie
A Bridge Too Far is a great movie.
Dutch guy here. I won't claim it only happened in the Netherlands and it didn't in other countries, but the women you saw that were getting their heads shaven and swastika's painted on their foreheads and such, was a common phenomenon during the Dutch liberation. It was a vigilante thing regarding so called "moffenmeiden" (English literal translation would be something like "krautgirls") who were (allegedly) having relations with German occupying soldiers. This was seen as a form of collaboration and after 4-5 years of German occupation, tensions among the Dutch people were high. A lot of collaborators were undoubtedly in support of the Nazi cause, but some also did it merely in pursuit of their own safety. Difficult and complicated times.
Yeah I think that happened in other countries as well - especially France. Awful that the oppressed people did such a despicable and terrorizing thing to their own people - whether the woman had sex with a german or not. It certainly didn't mean they were Nazi sympathizers or collaborators. Loved that they included this in the series though.
@@sofiemorena7781 not a mention of the men being shot though I see.
@@dale897 we dont see the men being shot in the show lmao bring it up with the creators if you’re that upset
@@ibuprofriends It was mentioned, so it was in the show. Are you dumb?
Happened in Denmark too. Here, those women were referred to as "feltmadrasser".
Field matresses.
Their kids suffered greatly after the war ... the social stigma was overwhelming.
The orange banner from the window is because orange is the Dutch national colour.
Its Because of
" The House of Orange "
Not because of the National Colour .
Italy is " The House of Savoy" & why there Football/soccer team wear Savoy Blue Shirts .
@@pjtufty66 but it IS the National colour because of the house of orange.
@@Vaultboy-ke2jj
Well Maybe you should have mentioned it in your original post ?
That way People who didnt know would . Its not massively clear as the Dutch flag is Red White & Blue .
I'm Just pointing out the lack of a full explanation to your unfinished post
Have a good day
@@pjtufty66 you’re getting your knickers in a twist. Orange is the Dutch National colour.
Knickers in a twist ?
Who posted 1st on a you tube clip trying to explain why the orange banner Was hung out of the window .
🤣🤣🤣
You only had to do one thing right !!
😁
Audrey Hepburn was there when Holland was liberated. She was the same age as Anne Frank & lived nearby. Audrey wasn’t Jewish so wasn’t taken to concentration camp. But her family still had to live in the basement because of the Germans there. Audrey was 14 I think, and she did go out to ballet school, her grandfather was part of the Resistance and she would take messages to him- she was devastated when he was found out and executed. They had no heat and had a hard time finding food- eventually they had to dig up tulip bulbs to eat. After she became famous she rarely spoke about it, but a new book just came out “Dutch Girl “ that tells what she went through.
One of the little details they included is the scene where Winters and other officers when they entered Eindhoven raised their collars. They did that to hide their rank insignia in case there were enemy snipers who would target officers ahead of anyone else. That's also why in a combat situation officers are not saluted.
Yeah I remember Lt Dan in Forest Gump made that reference and it was true. Crazy times.
@@RebelGaming4U that one sucked because it was your home base.
Winters already proved his worth, and this is just a taste of what he’s capable of
If you want to see more about "Operation Market Garden" you should watch "A Bridge Too Far". An All Star Cast in that one, Dirk Bogarde, James Caan, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Edward Fox, Elliott Gould, Anthony Hopkins, Gene Hackman, Hardy Krüger, Laurence Olivier, Ryan O'Neal, Robert Redford, Maximilian Schell, Liv Ullmann.
"You think the LT would have known better" anyone with military experience will immediately die of laugher after hearing that
I was the Bn Intel NCO- we were out in the field in a GP medium tent- Bn Ops tent. Someone ripped a fart and I yelled "SPEAK UP LT!!! WE'LL FIND YOU!!" There was only 1 Lt in the tent- and he was an idiot. All the Cpt's and Majors were laughing their asses off and he couldn't get mad. Was EPIC lol.
That LT survived. He was lying on the ground and during the firefight that ensued, a few soldiers stopped to get him and then another soldier said “leave him. He’s not going to make it.” Eventually someone dragged the LT to cover and he was eventually treated. Once he recovered, He eventually came face to face with the soldiers who consciously decided to leave him to die
Can't even tie shoelaces most of them
I called 2nd LT’s shiny privates…Because that’s what they are experience wise.
This !!!!
When they first introduced Michael Cudlitz in The Walking Dead I was all like “Bull Randleman is back to kill some Walkers!”
Points in “ Leo DiCaprio gif!” Me: cannot wait for something!
Haha. So did I. 🐃
With the Memorial Day weekend upon us, some food for thought. Of the more than 16 MILLION who served the U.S. during WWII, there is only an approximate 500,000 of them left. They are passing at an alarming rate of 1000/day. Which means by Veteran's Day 2022, the Greatest Generation will be gone from this world. If you are luck enough to still know one of these Heroes, Cherish them.
This episode holds a special place in my heart. Both my maternal and paternal grandparents were liberated by the American military.
I'm sure us Brits were there too, we don't just get as much attention lol
@@EPICFAILKING1 the canadians liberated the biggest part of the netherlands and are probebly the most overlooked of all the allied forces. They are rememberd by (some) of the dutch people tho. Every year thousands of flowers are send to canada out of graditude.
@@ancovisser2424 Exactly my point, the British and Commonwealth perspective is often overlooked.
A guy from Eindhoven here, parts of the town still looks the same, we still have that big church in the city to.
Also the dutch speaking actors are from the Netherlands.
the dutch speaking actors are dutch? no kiddin...
@@lionhead123 hahaha :)
The show is based on the book, and the book is based on the personal memories and memoires of the soldiers involved. Albert Blithe was evacuated to a hospital after he was wounded, and never returned to Easy Company. Pretty much every other wounded man Easy suffered who recovered returned to the company, so the guys in Easy assumed he died. When Stephen Ambrose was writing the book that this show is based on, he asked them what happened to Albert Blithe and the men themselves said that he died. It was an assumption on their part, and Ambrose never bothered to follow up to make sure.,
This comment should be pinned. I think.
Yeah, which really shows what kind of "historian" Ambrose is
@@dapeach06 Seems obvious that you always miss the larger point of things and try to drag the mood down wherever you go.
And he actually made up a date on which he died
Look at 11:45 where the soldier is saying "Sergeant Talbot" to the soldier with the woman on his lap. There is an old man directly to his left waving a flag. That is Edward "Babe" Heffron. He is one of the actual BOBs making a cameo. He is played in the series by actor. Robin Laing
In the Netherlands, near where I live is where they dropped down with the chutes for Market Garden. Every year they still have a memorial day for this where they fly over and drop soldiers down.
It is impossible to find words to describe what we're seeing indeed. I happen to live in the village of which the sign was shown in this episode: "Nuenen". It's very close to Eindhoven. I go jogging in a forest area around Nuenen a few times a week, where a plane got shot down. There is a memorial sign to mark the spot. Just a bunch of kids in their twenties. I always get very emotional when I pass it... Deepest respect to all.
As a Dutchie, I can tell you the American soldiers got an honorable grave. We first asked relatives where they wanted to bury their loved ones. A lot went State side. The others are buried at Margraten Cemetry. Every single grave has been 'adopted'. This means every American soldier who died has a Dutch family who takes care of the grave. When you ever visit The Netherlands, you should go there. The graves are in perfect shape, clean and most of the time decorated with flowers. Not on the grave itself but directly in front of it. We in The Netherlands will never ever forget what those men did for our freedom! They gave the ultimate sacrifice for a people they hardly new anything about. ❤❤
A little fun fact; As a 16 year old girl, Audrey Hepburn was a member of the Dutch Resistance... Imagine, when you watch an old Audrey Hepburn movie, that she was taking messages back and forth between resistance cells, on her bike, in front of German soldiers during the occupation.
Also; the practice of shaming women who had "dated" German soldiers was practiced through a lot of Europe as Germany pulled back and the allies took over. It was more selective in some places (let's face it, in some situations the women weren't really given a CHOICE of "dating" the soldiers or not... but in others they were getting better food, etc, from the Germans for their "favors"...). In Russia, a lot of women who collaborated willingly were dragged out in the street and shot. The women in Holland got off much easier.
Cool that you were 'fooled' by Blythe's southern accent Marc Warren did a heck of a job (for someone from Northamptonshire).
They got that wrong too. Albert Blithe was from Philly.
The real Albert Blithe didn’t have a southern accent. He was from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as was William J. “Wild Bill” Guarnere and Edward "Babe" Heffron.
@@gravitypronepart2201 Ah, now you've got me wondering if the only reason Blithe has that accent is because that's the only American accent Warren could do...
How have i never noticed that painting behind Steven i fricking love that 😆
Lol, don't worry, you aren't blind...they just got it recently, they opened it up on one of their livestreams.
The Germans were actually pretty good about not shooting medics, and (for the most part) obeying the Geneva Conventions. The Japanese... well... not so much.
In Western Europe, like France and the Netherlands, yeah. In the Slavic countries, noooooooo.
Really? They where "pretty good at following the geneva convention"? Noooot so much.
@@AverageArtz They actually were. Of course there were war crimes but there are two types of war crimes. Crimes against civilians and crimes against soldiers. They didn’t did not use weapons like flamethrowers, poison gas, and treated most POW very well. This is of course referring to the German army and not the SS. The SS and nazi state would have intervened when they were taken to camps and thats when war crimes started but not the army. But basically to sum it up the Germany army followed the codes very well and while there were many war crimes committed these were done by all sides. Most crimes committed by the Nazis were the SS and the Nazi state.
@@Aviator-Chicken Well.. first of all, the Waffen SS were very much part of the german war machine that took part in fighting along side the army. Second, I really recommend reading about the "myth of clean whermacht". With that you'll find just how much the army assisted the state with the holocaust and commited an insane amount of war crimes. So no, the german army did not follow the geneva convention. Not even a little.
They were very good at following the Geneva Conventions at times and places where they knew they could or would be observed. Otherwise...not so much.
Steven, "It's stuff that should never be forgotten and information that should be known, and learned." ❤️ My husband, and I, both read the history of WW2 in school growing up in America, but we never understood how important D-Day was until watching Band of Brothers with you. ❤️ This show is so iconic, we believe it should be shown in schools today (11th-12th). My husband is a high school Social Study's teacher, and we're both trying to figure out how to incorporate this show into his students curriculum.
I love your reactions guys. I am an 82 year old veteran whose served 3 tours in Vietnam. I appreciate you Nkki, what you said about the families. I think mothers, fathers, siblings, wives and children, of the men who serve should be honored for what they have to endure. My wife had a very hard time when I was gone. Waiting perhaps for the two men in uniform coming to the door and telling you your loved ones is dead or missing in action. Our first child was born when I was overseas.
I was a Navy Hospital Corpsman (Medic), and saw a lot of young bodies torn apart. Trying to keep those young men alive tore at your soul. We worked hard during the day, some times 24 to 36 hours straight. but when we were not working we cried our selves to sleep. I can tell you what I saw and did, but there is no way I can tell you how it feels. The only way you can know how it feels is to experience it first hand. That is why a lot of combat veterans feel alienated from civilians. The experience is way more then they could ever understand. You need to watch The Band of Brothers Documentary. "We Stand Alone Together"
As a medic, I can tell you, part of our job is not to put ourselves in danger.
But when danger is everywhere and you can't be safe, be useful.
We are also taught that, despite the "rules of war", sometimes that medic tag is a bigger target than an officer's stars.
Y'all have to watch the documentary they made called "we stand alone together " after you finish the series.
Yeah, not as many people do reactions to it, but we all want it.
They already said they most likely would.
8:20 “...think the krauts are mostly kids and old men”
Steven, that FACE.
THIS MAN GETS IT.
The MARKET GARDEN operation was probably one of the biggest disasters of the war for the Allies in Europe. If you're interesting in learning more about it, the movie _A Bridge Too Far_ encapsulates it pretty well. It was really interesting to watch it again after seeing _Band of Brothers,_ because the actions of the 101st Airborne in the movie have much more context.
That's an interesting movie, and it has a pretty powerful cast of its own.
@@richardsteiner8992 when you think about the grander scheme of things Operation Market Garden was the most logical action Holland still occupied and it provided a way clear way into Germany yeah the plan failed miserably hindsight its easy to blame a single person but there no doubt multiple things that cuased the Operation to fail not just the commanders at the top but the troops on the ground.
@@samuel10125 The troops fought well in difficult circumstances. The 101st and 82'd achieved their objectives of seizing bridges and clearing the roads for the British column. The British Airborne fought gallantly (and the Polish AB) at Arnhem. The greatest failures at the command level were the British reluctance to trust the Dutch resistance and to even second guess their own observations. Montgomery was a stubborn and pompous general who simply would never alter his plans no matter how much information to the contrary he was shown. His battle, his plan, his defeat.
Really love how you two appreciate our servicemen - you really get it. Enjoying your reactions!
I've watched this series from start to finish, more times than I can count. But it's always a pleasure to share the journey once again with people who appreciate the sheer quality of this show, and to once again become immersed in the experience. It really never gets old.
An amazing movIe that covers Operations Market Garden, is "A Bridge Too Far". You will see more of this part of the war. I highly recommend it. Another wonderful film is "The Longest Day" about D-Day.
If you have the chance, read the books by Cornelius Ryan that both of the movies were based on. They were big best sellers when they came out.
Yes indeed. But if they really want to go into the deep end, and want to see more about the war in the Netherlands, i would recommend movies like "De Soldaat Van Oranje", or "The Soldier Of Orange" translated in english, starring Rutger Hauer, or the movie "Zwartboek", or "Black Book", starring Carice Van Houten, who also played the role of the red priestess in Game Of Thrones. Other recommended movies about WW II would be "Der Untergang", or "The Downfall, about the last days of Hitler, and the movie "Stalingrad", about pretty much the biggest defeat of the Germans fighting the Soviets on the eastern front.
The Lt. Was a replacement and didn't know any better.
Ambrose tells in the Band of Brothers book that few soldiers ran up to the Lt. and said "leave him, he's not gonna make it". Lt did not forget those words and made sure that when he returned to the company the soldiers who left him to die did not forget it
Unit decorations are indeed a unit decoration. The rule that Bull Randalman was upholding is related to honor: you do not call out someone in your unit for something that isnt wrong or embarrasses them. Its unseemly.
Dick Winters talked about that drop. He said the most dangerous thing about it was all the gear, helmets, rifles etc falling from the guys in the air. He got the heck out from under it as fast as he could.
Here is an explanation of the tank battle scene for better understanding. The german Tiger tank and the US-British M4 Sherman were different classes of tanks. The Tiger was a heavy tank that was built to fight other tanks = heavy armor and a very powerful cannon. The M4 Sherman was a medium-weight tank that was mainly intended to support infantry very quick as mobile artilery.
The best chance the M4 was to gun it and get around behind the Tiger and shoot its lesser armored rear, 80% of frontal shots would just bounce off.
And that tank may not have been an actual "Tiger" Panzer Mark VI. The Germans only built 1,600 "Tiger I's" during the entire war and most of them were used on the Eastern Front. Many allied troops mistook the slightly older and smaller, but still very capable Panzer Mark IV for the Tigers, since they looked quite similar from the front and at a distance.
In contrast, the U.S. built almost 50,000 M4 Sherman's during the war. (Yes, you read that number correctly. That one model accounted for more than the entire production of ALL tanks that Germany built during the whole war.)
And the later models of German tanks would often be less than 50 percent combat capable, as they were plagued with design flaws and mechanical problems owing to having been rushed into service and often a lack of available fuel, since the Allies were persistently bombing every fuel source the Germans had available.
When they worked, the German tanks were superior. But they were greatly hampered by circumstances and vastly outnumbered.
Tiger Taaaank!!!
The beauty of this show is how human they made these people's story. They did attempt to portray them as flawed and shortsighted as everyone would be, but in the end we just perceive them as heroic because that's who they were. Love it
My dad went on a tour of Belgium, and to this day they have huge re-enactments, like we do here for the Civil War. It's a HUGE deal over there, and the people spend tons of money on authentic U.S. and British (and German) clothing and equipment. What our grandparents did for them is still very well remembered.
Contrary to the final message, Operation Market Garden was not a failure to the Allies strategy. Even if the Allies had captured the final bridge, they could not move into Germany without several months of resupply and refit. Remember they were still relying on the 'temporary' artificial port facilities at the D Day landing sites: French and Belgian coastla ports were either not captured or were severely damaged or just too small to use.
The key to victory was Antwerp, the largest port north of Normandy. Although Antwerp was captured in September, the approaches through the Scheldt Estuary blocked Antwerp's use as a military port until 29 November. The capture of four of five main bridges over the Rhine River blocked any German attempts to attack Antwerp from the north and protected the port for build up to the drive to the Siegfried Line between November 1944 and February 1945. Also, the last major German offensive in the West - the Ardenne from 16 December 1944 to 15 January 1945 - aimed to cut Antwerp off from Allies and deny its use to build up the closure to the Rhine and the invasion of Germany.
One of the most iconic and lasting images to people helped by the American Military, is the American soldier giving a child a chocolate bar. I have heard it many times from those that have been freed and have immigrated to America and become US citizens, that that moment changed their lives.
My grandpa was a Replacement in the US 1st Infantry Division (The Big Red 1.) The guys in his company were hard on him at first, and figured he'd been killed when he was hit by an explosion, but when he got back up to the front lines, he was part of the team, and they welcomed him back like family.
Band of Brothers since it's release I re-watch it twice a year June 6th and November 11th as a semi annual tradition and moments still get me no matter how many times I've view it. It is their sacrifice that should never be forgotten.
The little boy who got chocolate from Webb was most likely born during the start of the war.
Him eating and tasting it for the first time from when Webb gifts it to him is one of the most endearing moments in this series.
One of the things I think people always miss- a subtle line Is the Dad saying his little boy never tasted chocolate. A Dutch person, who never tasted chocolate. The German occupation in Holland, like every country they occupied, was horrendous for the citizens: they took everything from them along with their freedom.
When the Netherlands was occupied it was cut off from its sources of cocoa (and coffee) beans in its colonies. It isn't that the Germans were stealing it. There just wasn't any to be had.
@@andrewcharles459 yes, because it was occupied by Germany.
well not having chocolate wasn't the worst thing that happened to them... there were other things that weigh a bit more.
jeff b I know. A Dutch child who hasn't tasted chocolate!!! My Dutch brother in law grew up during the occupation. In a nation of rather tall people he and his brother were perhaps 5'6". He grew up eating candle wax, tulip bulbs. He hated Germans for the rest of his life. He wouldn't even drive a German car.
Considering the kid would have been at most 4 he was born during the occupation and thus would never had the chance to
The women who had their head shaved this happened all over occupied europe after the countries were liberated, women who had relations with germans were treated real badly after the war.
In Norway one child of such a relationship had to leave Norway and she became a singer in the Swedish band ABBA (mama mia song).
That hits a special note. Because I'm wondering how many of the women felt that they had no other options? I don't know the full story but in all likelihood that scenario occurred.
@@andrewevers2420 the movie Black Book touches on that very point to some extent.
@@andrewevers2420 Norway was a bit of a special case since we had our own nazi government during the occupation.
A norwegian minister basicly declared himself as Norways new leader and instigated a coup while the King and the legtimate government was forced to flee to England.
We even had 6000 norwegians who fought for the germans during the war.
My grandfather was fighting for the british since he was young man studying in London when the war broke out.
But he remembers after the war many of the women and the children of suchs pairing had their citizenships taken away and sent to germany after the war.
The idea was you like Germany then go live in the ruins of it here you are no longer welcome and that lasted for almost 40 year after the war until the 1980's.
The children being punished for it was something he said was not right but there was a lot of anger and many Norwegians had been tortured and shot by the germans during the war.
It was just pure revenge and anger especially against Norwegian Nazis who were hated even more than the germans.
And any Norwegian woman who had benefitted from the occupation by dating german soldiers while other women had seen their husbands and even sons shot by the germans was treated with outright disdain.
In fact my grandfather saw a Norwegian woman beating her neighbour who had married a german officer her son was shot by the german secret police so she let her rage out on that woman.
@@spaulagain I was totally going to mention Black Book. The number of innocents murdered by cowards after the occupation will never be known.
@@spaulagain Yeah, didn't the main character in order to blend in with the Nazis dye her hair blond? Above AND below?
As a person who was a WWII nerd as a kid. Both my grandfather's and great uncles were there. I made it a point to go to Normandy on the anniversary of D-Day.. I spent weeks, my older brother and I goin from DZ to every battle field. We met Vets all along the way all in their uniforms. They all told us it was the last time they would ever see Normandy again. Heart breaking
The actor who plays Blithe "Marc Warren" lives just round the corner from me in Northampton.
He's really good in a 1999 adaptation of Oliver Twist (Masterpiece Classic version?).
A lot of UK talent in this, they did a reunion of the UK cast which is probably somewhere on youtube
The chutes are controllable but it takes a lot of upper body strength. When I went through Airborne school in Fort Benning, there are pull up bars right in front of the chow hall and we have to do at least 10 before we go in and eat.
Remember, this was put out in 2001 where Ron Lewis (Nixon) was still riding his fame from "Office Space." His close miss gets everyone the first time they see it...
He was probably the most recognizable American actor in that film at the time.
Office Space? Hardly. That movie was a quiet flop although it has since become a cult classic.
@@kirishima638 I mean, it was never a big box office smash; but for many I think who were the core audience for this series at the time, Office Space was also on their radar when the series was coming out.
I was in middle school when this came out but remember watching it around the time (couldn't have been any later than 2002) and definitely recognizing Mike from Office Space; he was really the only actor I recognized other than being vaguely aware that the Sobel actor was in that Friends show I didn't watch. I gotta say by 2001/2002 it was pretty well known among my peers. Pretty sure Office Space was playing on Comedy Central around the same time as BOB, so a LOT of people were seeing the movie there.
my cousin is a classmate of Ron and razed him about the near miss.
@@scottwatrous It's one of my favorite movies but it's largely unknown. If anything it's more famous for featuring a young Jennifer Aniston just prior to her shot to fame in Friends.
The scene with the little kid and the father coming out of a shelter allways makes me tear up. I start to realise watching the kid that that's my grandparents generation.
@11:03 - Orange is the national color representing Dutch people. They're signaling that they're on the American's side.
This is a cool reminder about symbols in other nations and cultures. When I was learning propaganda, one big lesson is to learn a ton about the culture you are trying to affect because each culture has its own meaning for colors, symbols, and messages. Its too easy to put out a message and accidentally offend someone or even make it to where they don’t understand your meaning. In afghanistan we wanted the people to stop a specific action, but you couldnt use the stop sign (red octagon with white lettering spelling “stop”) because the people there never saw that symbol before and didn’t know what it meant. Same with the orange flags. It was clear what it meant for the people who were hanging them up but it was pure confusion to the Americans who where approaching the town. Anyways, just thought I would share an observation.
That little kid eating chocolate is like one of the most adorable things I've ever seen
One of the things, one have to appreciate about BoB show, is the amount of minor detail the producers put into it.
Like the unit markings on the British tanks is of 11th armoured division, which also participated in the Market Garden campaign, this division advanced on a parallel axis of the Guards Armored Division to cover their right flank of the main thrust, from any German counter attacks comming from the east in the Eindhoven area.
The whole operation was very Multi-national co-op, besides British Armour/Para units and US Para units, it also contained elements, of Canadian, Polish, Dutch units etc...
The attempt to drop some 35.000 airbourne troops into Holland in a single day is an amazing display of logistic by the allieds.
But it also showed that despite their wast arsenal of transport planes and gliders, the allieds just pushed the envelope a bit to far of what they actually were capable of bringing in by Air, which of cause had disastrous consequences in the end.
Operation Market Garden was and still is the largest airborne invasion in human history. Ultimately it failed in its main objective (the capture of the bridges across the Rhine) however it did succeed in capturing towns and smaller bridges up and down the country, including Eindhoven (the place you seen with celebrating Dutch people) and Nijmegen. There is an awesome ensemble film from 1977 called a Bridge Too Far which details the failed attempt to take Arnhem. A lot of well known actors are in it including Sean Connery and Anthony Hopkins. I highly recommend it. I mean it takes some licenses (because you know Hollywood) but all in all its a great film.
My 85 year old Father in law who lived near the Suffolk coast at the time, remembers the sky going black with the amount of planes and gliders flying overhead.
A note about Private Cobb (the one being a jerk in the pub) " They also portray Cobb as being abrasive and bitter but in Private Webster's memoirs, he was described as being friendly. They also do him an injustice by never stating that he had fought in Operation Torch in Africa with the 1st Armored Division the year before joining Easy Company or that on his return from Africa, his troopship was sunk by a torpedo fired from a German submarine." There is so much they get right in this, but you can't fit everything into such a short time. Thank you guy for reacting to this.
8:30 "Nothing goes according to plan in these scenarios."
If you want to know more about Operation: Market Garden, I recommend the fantastic war film "A Bridge Too Far" which is based on a brilliant book of the same name by Cornelius Ryan, who was a war journalist during the Second World War. The film takes some liberties with the facts (as they all do) but IMHO is one of the greatest war films ever made.
If anyone's interested in more about Operation Market Garden, the film A Bridge Too Far is fantastic.
Brilliant film.
One of my favorite war movie, cast is insane
great film but its portrayal of the British is rather annoying
Stephen Ambrose wanted to write a book about the medics but never got around to it. I wish he had. While waiting in England prior to D- Day they took a lot of disrespect from other troops because they were non-combatants and looked on as being cowardly. In action though when others had taken cover under enemy fire it was the medics that ran through it to help the wounded. Ambrose said that during interviews the statement "The bravest man I ever saw..." usually ended up being the medic.
11:45 the old guy on the right with the paddy cap is one of the real vets from Easy Company, won't say who for fear of spoiling 😀
Something I heard someone say that really nailed what relationships in the military are like was that brotherhood is different from friendship. Brotherhood has nothing to do with how much you like each other, instead it is a mutual agreement within a group that you will put the wellbeing of the group ahead of yourself. It is saying, in essense, that you love the men next to you more than you love yourself.
"Winters is so awesome." Wait until 6 Crossroads and beyond.
Tell the Nazis that “Winters is coming.”
Crossroads, Bastogne, and Breaking Point are next level. You will get to know the characters even more.
Crossroads is Winters
Bastogne is Doc Rowe
Breaking Point is Lipton, Toye, Wild Bill, Buck Compton, Mularky, Luz, And Speirs, also Lt. Dyke.
I read somewhere were that young girl who witnessed that fight in the barn, is still alive today, well at least while the show was being filmed. No idea what she might have thought about that night. Only think I did read, was she was receptive to meeting him, when the HBO film crew came to study their town.
Operation Market Garden was a Cluster F. I remember watching the movie "A Bridge to Far" same battle and being really disappointed because the allies didn't win.
Of Course, Monty planned it.
@@markluccioni9687Oh, Montgomery could definitely plan a battle well..El Alamein was a textbook methodical, rolling attack, preceded by great training and logistic work.
Unfortunately, by this point in the war after the German retreats on the Eastern Front, the decimation of the Luftwaffe and the recent German Army disaster in the Falaise Pocket, Montgomery fell victim to the same hubris that many Americans felt: "One final push to get across the Rhine and the Germans will collapse like they did in 1918".
Montgomery wanted that "push" to be in the British sector, to make up for the slow going around Calais right after Normandy. So he tried to put together an airborne assault too fast and with not enough proper intelligence support.
A lot of "Victory Disease" going around and a lot of men died because of it.
that film is annoying in its portrayal of British soldiers and officers but the Americans are as usual portrayed as great officers and men
@@markluccioni9687 he came up with the idea but as you actual detailed plans he wasn’t involved
There is a great movie with Sean Connery called A Bridge Too Far, that's about Operation Market Garden. I highly recommend it.
There's a scene in this episode where the camera pans up to the troopers as they are parachuting down for the day drop in Holland. That scene isn't real. It was all done on an Windows 98 computer and MS Paint. Still looks great after all these years. Thanks for the upload!
I was thinking about that as I watched - what an absolutely incredible sequence!
LOTS of cut & paste on that one. 😁
Filmmakers with their studio budgets use tech that general audiences with minimal funds have easy access to. Right, okay. Sure.
@@genghisgalahad8465 Watch the behind the scenes for the production. They talk about it for a good 3-4 minutes.
@@genghisgalahad8465 I can’t tell if you’re being facetious, but regardless, the OP is discussing the fact that the scene with all the parachutes was made with computer effects that would have been difficult 20-21 years ago, and it still looks good to modern audiences. And I agree with him - this series looks as good as new considering how long ago it was filmed/edited/released.
Another epic episode. I still get misty eye when the little boy gets his first taste of chocolate. My grandfather said he and other GI loved giving kids the bars.
There is a good film called A Bridge too Far that really goes into detail on the collapse of this mission. An oldie but a goodie with Sir Anthony Hopkins and Gene Hackman as well as Sean Connery this is a good watch
Your reactions are always heartfelt and as intense as the episodes / films you watch, which is why I follow your channel.
I also appreciate your understanding of the reality of war, that Band Of Brothers depicts.
The cast all went through a mini-boot camp run by Dale Dye (a captain in the Marines firing Vietnam) that’s the same type that the Saving Private Ryan cast did. He plays Colonel Sink (spelling is wrong I’m sure) in this series and played a small role as General Marshall’s chief of staff in SPR. There’s a documentary that Ron Livingston (captain Nixon) did a vlog for before they were a thing, detailing what all this cast went through.
Operation Market Garden was made into a movie a long time ago called A Bridge Too Far. Big time actors like Sean Connery, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Michael Caine, Ryan O'Neil, James Caan, Robert Redford etc etc. Fabulous movie.
I was fortunate enough to drive the entire Market Garden route with my cousin (from Holland)a long time ago while on leave from a UN deployment in the Middle East.
My Grandparents farm in Holland was occupied by Germans during the war. My father never wanted to talk about it.
My grandpa’s B-24 was shot down returning to England over Holland in April 1944, just before Operation Market Garden. With help from the Dutch Underground and Canadian special forces, Grandpa evaded and escaped into liberated Paris in the summer of 1945. Our family continues to keep in touch with the family that protected my grandpa. Much love and respect to the De Bruins.
Amazing, i love that.
Beautiful, Ryan. My family - I'm French - is still in touch with the family of Lloyd, a Utah Beach veteran we met at the 40th D Day anniversary.
Bless your grandpa and all his brethren - and people like the De Bruins.
Also I recommend a Dutch film about the Dutch Resistance called Flame & Citron, with Mads Mikkelsen.
@@luketimewalker one of the surviving crew members and fellow evadees from grandpa's B-24 wrote a book about the ordeal with excerpts from the surviving crew members. The book is The Playboy Crew.
@@RyanHeafner thanks, will look it up !
Wow thank you for sharing!
So I’m making a lot of comments and I’m sorry for that but
Whenever in the movie you see someone tag a tag off a body, the reason that soldiers are issues two is so that you can take the tag off and return that one tag out of two to the chain of command. Sometimes that lone tag is all you have to tell the difference between an MIA/POW and a KIA. That second tag is on its own shorter loop which means the tags tend to rattle as you walk, which why you will sometimes see soldiers taping their tags together so they don’t rattle
The real Babe Heffron makes a cameo in the Holland party scene. The camera is briefly focused on him sitting at a table before panning to the main characters.
I did not know this!
Time stamp?
@@user-lp1rf7jh2h 11:40 the guy in the brown cap waving a flag in front of Sgt. Talbert and the woman in pink right before she gets led away.
Spoiler. Giving names of people who survive.
@@fester2306 lol shut up man, its a good bit of trivia/info.
Being a veteran myself, I’ll tell you guys what it’s like in war.
During the whole battle (one of many) it’s like time sits still. You think of so many things your head in a matter of seconds. You think about your family back home, you think how you’re going to try and survive, and you think that you can do this just overcome it. Then as your aiming at the enemy you think before you pull the trigger “this is wrong you shouldn’t do it” “kill him or you will die” “you’re a warrior and your trained to do this”. Basically you have to clear your mind as your going into battle and not think as you go through the battlefield. The first time I killed someone it was like a nightmare. A nightmare that you can’t wake up from. I still suffer nightmares of the first kill but I’ve learned to live with them. When I saw his dead eyes and his dead face, you could see the life or soul drain out of his body. I have so many other stories but I’ll spare you details unless you want to hear them. Life of being a war veteran is hard but we keep going.
To all of those veterans out there, I know it’s hard to face your problems but you can get through war you can get through anything. This is Lieutenant Buzz from the United States Marine Corps saying “Hoorah fight hard brothers.”
I simply adore this show, it really does get better and better as you get more invested in the men of Easy company. And the interviews with the actual soldiers just adds so much.
Operation Market Garden was the personal plan of the British commander, general Montgomery. The idea was twofold: A. to isolate the German army in Western Netherlands to cut them off from resupplies and to stop the firing of missiles from there onto England.
B. to claim the bridges over the Dutch rivers, so they could pass by the heavily defended Siegfried line along the German borders which spanned all the way from the Alps in the south to the Dutch rivers in the north.
They were warned by Dutch resistance fighters that the German troops in eastern and southern Netherlands were in fact not just old men and children, but consisted of two full panzer (armored) divisions of the SS (German elite forces). Also several allied officers had shared their doubts about the suitability of the small Dutch sandy roads for a fast advance of the ground troops (operation Garden), as was needed to quickly connect them with the paratroopers at the bridges (operation Market).
Nonetheless allied command decided to go through with it and the information above was not shared with the officers that had to carry out the operation.
And thus Market Garden became the biggest failure of the allied forces in the European campaign. The paratroopers were unable to hold the bridges long enough against the unexpected and overwhelming force of the German panzer divisions. (The British 1st Airborne division at the most northern bridge in Arnhem took most of the heat and lost 8000 men. Pretty much wiping out the entire division. The division was never used again in the war due to these massive losses and thus the lack of remaining paratroopers.)
And the ground forces were moving much, much slower than required over the small sandy roads.
Hollywood film about Market Garden: A bridge too far.
Seeing it play out one TV is one thing. Being there first hand is an entire different experience...
love you guys!🙏🏼 Much love and Respect to you both🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
So glad you guys are reacting to Band of Brothers. It’s been my favorite miniseries for nearly 20 years. Just finished rewatching it
It's easy to think that most soldiers died or were wounded from bullet wounds or being blown up, but when you read accounts it often wasn't the fire/explosion of the grenade or shell, but the flying pieces of metal (shrapnel,) that would cut through and kill - even from a distance away. What the farmer digs out of Bull's shoulder is a perfect example.
Other soldiers were killed just from the shockwave of an exploding shell - they would be found without a scratch, but either the shockwave stopped their heart or caused catastrophic internal organ damage. In the series The Pacific (spoiler alert,) that is the kind of wound Robert Leckie receives on Peleliu.
It's funny you mention about Blythe's name always being with you. On the 10 interstate where California and Arizona meet, is a town called Blythe, and EVERYTIME I drive by it, I think of this soldier, and his trial by fire in Normandy.
I haven't scrolled down far enough to see if anyone else mentioned it but, at 11:45 into your video, the old man with the cap at the lower left corner is Edward "Babe" Heffron who was an actual replacement in Easy Company. You'll hear about Babe as the series goes on. Babe and Bill Guarnere (sp?) were visiting the set and were asked if they wanted to be extras in a scene. Babe jumped at it and played a citizen of Einhoven. Looking back I wish the producers had put more of the actual Easy Company men as extras in the series to preserve their presence forever.
"You would have thought that that Lieutenant would know better..."
That line gets said a few million times a day around the world.
“Vincent Van Gogh was born in Nuenen!”
“Yep! So what.”
11:45
The old guy in the left corner with the hat waiving a flag, is real life Easy Soldier "Babe" Hefron.
The German saying was "One Tiger tank was worth 4 Sherman tanks, but the Americans always had 5"
The scene with the kid and chocolate always gets me 😎
The actors were trained by Dale Dye, who was in the military. They trained just like the military. There is a fantastic podcast done by HBO on band of brothers, the actors talk about the show and the characters they play.
Ps- Dale Dye plays Colonel Sink. ☺️
You guys should watch the companion series to 'Band of Brothers' after you finish this series, it's called 'The Pacifc'
The show didn't make mistake about Blith since it's based on the memoirs. So the E-company guys got it wrong probably rumors since they never saw him again and just assumed he died so everyone pls cut some slack about this one =) none the less the impact was same and it wasn't easy for em never seeing / knowing what happened and assuming He was dead
Yeah. The book got it wrong becaus after he was medevaced they never heard from him until it was already written.
I think everyone has moved past it, already.
It's a mistake because it was never fact checked.
What they are saying is...now that they know..they could fix the info at the end.
@@dirus3142 yeah but the show is based on the book based on the memoirs. Even tho it is factually incorrect. It stays true to the source material.
A Hershey Bar can be so little, but for a little boy it can change the whole world. I find this scene so strong because the little boy is innocence, that fragile, like peace. You pay attention to it, and for a little eternity the world is all right.
my family was on both sides in the war on my fathers side they worked with the germans his mothers got shaved in town on my mothers side they where resistence fighters my grandfather was sent to a concentration camp his uncles where exicuted by the germans two cousins died blowing up a bridge so its eazy to say the the families never liked each other
Hi Nikki & Stevens. You pointed out at 9.57 that they couldn't control their parachute. Despite what we saw they jumped (commonly call a static line jump) at a very low altitude (at 1312ft and sometimes below). So didn't have much time to orientate or to open the emergency parachute in case the primary one was malfunctioning...
Holy fuck I couldn't keep my eyes off the painting on the back right... awesome!!!
In my country (Denmark) something similar happened with the women. We had a word for it called "Feltmadresser" which roughly translates to Field Mattresses.
Glad you support Blithe so much. Played by British actor, Marc Warren.
Yup, you will see how hard bring a medic is soon.
Hersheys Chocolate became a household name (with NO advertisement) because it was part of every soldiers meal kits. This is why soldiers were so well liked by European children. They gave out a lot of chocolate.
The little Artistic Editing will never take away from the Core Story and Sentiment behind this series 🙏👌😎
Yay !
My favorite reacting couple!
Always looking out for your vidéos !
Thank you so much!!!
Yay!! I've been watching you two react to my favorite show since you started. Something is so cool to me, watching others fall in love with Something I already love myself. Enjoy the rest of the series, and I'll be watching along with you.