Easy Company Training Ground at Currahee | History Traveler Episode 100
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- Опубліковано 2 чер 2024
- It's not every day that you get to walk in the footsteps of heroes, but that's exactly what we are doing in this episode. We are in Toccoa, GA retracing the steps of the men of Easy Company who were popularized in the book Band of Brothers and HBO series of the same name. There nothing like experiencing history on the ground and what the men and women of Camp Toccoa at Currahee are doing to keep that history alive is nothing short of inspiring. This is one to watch from beginning to end. Enjoy!
Learn more about how you can visit and be involved at Camp Toccoa here: www.camptoccoaatcurrahee.org
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0:00 Retracing the steps of Easy Company up Currahee
8:10 Entering Camp Toccoa
15:28 Easy Company artifacts inside the Toccoa museum
22:05 Exploring inside a WWII C-47!!!!
28:25 Final thoughts and a cool artifact
If you've watched a few episodes and feel like I've earned it, be sure to subscribe so that you don't miss any new content when it comes out. Click here: ua-cam.com/users/thehistoryunderground
Thanks!
My family is from the area....we got moved into the City in the 1940s ....DOD and Engery Took the land and dispossessed a lot of Black Families
Is the camp open to visit the memorial. I have a reason for asking. I am a participant in the Tour of Honor, which is a nationwide Motorcycle Challenge to visit Visit Veteran memorials. These locations rotate from year to year. This would be an excellent location. We have to prove our visit by a photograph and personal flag of visit. I am in Franklin, NC often and this would also be a nice trip down. I do WWII reenactment and would love to visit.
@@wbfd508 yep!
THE GREEN CAN OF TUNA YOU PICKED UP ON THE MESS HALL TABLE WAS FROM A BOX OF C.RATIONS. DURING WORLD WAR TWO THE PARATROOPERS CARRIED K.RATIONS AND THE CANS WERE SMALLER THAN THE ONE IN THE PICTURE
So why have stopped making videos on consumer tech?
I am one of the volunteers at Camp Toccoa. As a quick follow up to this amazing video, we have attached the C-47 fuselage to the wing spar and have it on it's landing gear. November 8th, 2020, we rolled the plane from where it sat in this video to the parking lot where we will complete it's restoration.
Awesome! Thanks for the work that you all are doing there 🇺🇸👊🏻
Thank you for all the work you are doing at Camp Toccoa! Thanks for the update on Project C-47!
Any plans on selling the challenge coin embedded wood online?
AMAZING! I want to come visit. Im only in Acworth. Are yall open on the weekends for visitors right now?
Thank you sir for your continued efforts in preserving much needed history!
When I retired I moved to Toccoa. I wake up with my coffee and admire Currahee and the history of the men of Easy Company.
I am a 58 year old AIRBORNE veteran of the US Army. I was 1st of the 507th at Fort Benning and joined the 18th Airborne Corps in 1992. I had the honor of running Currahee twice in 2009 and 2012 and walked it in 2016.
Thank you for posting this!
You will probably not read this, but my Dad was in the Navy in the Pacific, and served on a Troop transport and a destroyer. I was so proud, and I am also a WWII fan of these hero's.
Very cool. Thank you for sharing that. 🇺🇸
Three miles up! Three miles down!
“Do not help that man!”
😅
and don’t drink water from your canteen, or you would repeat 1 more time!
What we do ?
We Srand Alone 💪!
HI-HO SILVER
I never understood the “Do not help that man!” comment. As soldiers, you do not exist alone, you work as a team and that means helping your teammates.
Had the honor of meeting “Wild Bill “ Guarnere at a gun show several years ago. He signed my copy of Stephen Ambrose’s “Band of Brothers”as well as my copy of the mini series.
Oh man. I would loved to have met him. I've heard nothing but great things.
loved his book, so funny in parts and so good . i loved the story about Bill sending 3 mortars on a German soilder who would give their line the finger every day, then on the 4th day of it , he waited for the German do his thing, just as he is about to give the finger, he sends over 3 mortars and blow him up, Bill says he aint going to use those fingers anymore! i remember reading that at a laundry mat, and laughing so hard, a older lady asked what was funny, so i said as such, he laughed and said well that will teach the German for being rude. hahaha i said very true madam , very true
Wow. Awesome.
Found out recently (Wikipedia) that I shared a birthday with Wild Bill.
We can never ever repay the debt that we owe these heroes...
So cool
I have hiked up Currahee a few times and each time, I can feel the spirit of those men who trained there 80 + years ago. I am glad that places like this are kept alive by videos such as this. Keep up the good work!
For a WW2 enthusiast, visiting there is the equivalent of a child going to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Brilliant video.
Exactly!
Rod Serling of The Twilight Zone fame was with the 511th and also trained at Taccoa.
I have to agree that the physical training Sobel put Easy through really did pay off - especially in Normandy and Holland - that 250 metre charge at the Crossroads. They were drawing on the strength that came from Currahee.
That doesn't change the fact that Sobel was an incompetent tactician who likely would have gotten more of Easy Company killed at Normandy if he had been left in command.
Well actually if he had been the C47 that Lt Meers was in, he would have been the one killed. But I take your point Sobel was a good back room soldier but hopeless, imho, in the field.
You should have eaten a bellyfull of spaghetti before starting up the hill.
Ha! Carrying that dang leather bag was bad enough.
Thats not spaghetti. Its army ketchup with noodles. Lol
Dang, beat me to it!
@@maccumhaill5534 😂...first thing that popped into my head when I read the 1st comment.
Lmao! Yes so true!
Soble deserves more credit than what he gets for shaping Easy Company into the legends they became.
Yes he does. I had a Drill Sergeant in Basic that was WAY tougher than any of the others. 35 years later, I know exactly the impact that he had on me and it is all good.
There are several passages by the men of Easy Company that have said several times that Herbert Sobel MADE Easy Company. That his training in the States saved many lives in Europe
@Randy Lahey18 why did he shoot himself?
A view from the Uk. May i mention that is all too easy to romanticise, even fictionalise not just history itself, but the people in it. Some of the "methods" employed by some drill instructors' border on psychopathic. From what i have seen here and read online, i am sorry to say but i think CPT Sobel has these tendencies. There is a reason for the methodology of training in general but training in the forces has one added dimension and that is you are training to kill or be killed and staying alive needs you to work much more as a team, as one. There were and still are many "Growlers", (drill instructors), that you never hear of. Those who trained professionally and expertly. As one 6ft 6in 18stone, broken nosed, scar faced instructor in the tank corps said to a worried recruit; " don't you worry son, i'm your mother now, i'll look after ya".
Every time I think about Sobel I am reminded of something a current member of the 101st told me several years ago. I have read the book Band of Brothers, but I have not read Dick Winter's book and it's possible this has already been covered. Back when Col Sink removed Sobel from command of Easy he was actually solving 2 problems. He needed a capable person to get these people jump-trained which would also be needed during the coming invasion. Sobel was perfect for that. As far as commanding Easy anybody that thinks Col Sink and even Gen Taylor were not read into Sobel's failures with things like map reading etc doesn't understand what being in command of a unit means. One more thing that I think also bothered Capt Sobel was the fact had he been in Command of Easy during the Normany drops he most likely would have been in the same aircraft Lt Meehan was in, we all know what happened that night. In my mind the only real shortcoming Capt Sobel had was he did not understand his weaknesses and strengths. Then this lead to me against the world thought patterns that finally ended in Col Sink removing him.
"If we're gonna do it we're gonna earn it!"
That's respect!
Cheers from Australia!
My father arrived at camp Toccoa August 1942 and trained there with “F” co. Fighting Fox.
I know that E co. receives most of the attention, but D, E, and F companies trained and fought together as part of the 506th PIR 2nd battalion.
I am grateful to see the locations you feature here on your site and for educating everyone about the paratroopers of WW2.
Every man swore by Soble being the person that helped them make it through the war and the training helped save many lives. After training at Toccoa they had to transfer to Fort Benning for jump school. Instead of taking the train to Fort Benning, they decided to march all the way to Atlanta in full gear including rifles, machine guns, mortar launchers, and everything they would have with them in combat. That march was 118 miles and they did it in 72 hours, a record that still stands today. This time and miles are taken from the Band of Brothers book by Stephen Ambrose as well as the many meetings man from the 506 was answering that were asked at colleges and the general public. The Japanese did something similar in a longer time is the reason it was done. After getting to Fort Benning they were put through additional training to make sure they were ready. The instructors were worn out while they were going through everything with ease. The instructors went to the CO and stated they were better trained than they were and to start the next step of jump school.
That bunch was something else. Tough!
Thank you for sharing this amazing information with me ! Take care , stay safe and healthy with whatever you maybe doing next ! Doing well here in Kansas .
In his book, Don Malarkey described that he permanently injured himself during that march while carrying the ground plate for the mortar
Initially they did not have a firing range at Toccoa and had to march to and from Clemson SC to use the range there.
The best part of any hike is lunch break. Those guys gave their hearts and souls and I wouldn't be surprised if part of them isn't still on that mountain.
'I like spaghetti'
Agreed.
Yeah, they vomit it on the ground 🤣
I took my basic training with the 506, L Co. in January 1956 and have always been very proud that I had even that small part of their legacy. This was excellent and to say that the people who support the camp, my best to all of you and many thanks.
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Thank you for your service. I would not be able to know what freedom is without the brave men like yourself who fought for it.
I wish that humanity would learn from the WW but I am seeing a very scary situation brewing.
Again thank you
Sage.
agora todo mundo treinou la😂
The Armistice halting the War to End All Wars was signed in Compiègne, France, at 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918 -hence the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. ... Today, that date is known as Remembrance Day throughout Canada and most of Europe and is still focused on the war's end. LEST WE FORGET. Thank you for sharing and we remember.
Amen. Thank you.
In Europe for few countries it means also an Independence Day ;).
Years ago my wife and I WALKED the very first Currahee Challenge. There weren’t that many competitors for that one. I finished dead last. They tore down the timing station after I passed. It was a tough trail and I wasn’t running it. Salute to the paratroopers who trained there.
Amazing episode for veterans day! My late father was in the Navy in WW2. Spent two years in Micronesia. The Marshall islands to be specific. I remember all his stories. All of his brothers except the youngest we're in the Navy, Sea Bees and the Merchant Marines. My brother was in the army during Vietnam and nephew in the Marines during Afghanistan. War history is fascinating and heartbreaking.
Yes it is. Thanks for sharing that.
Thank you to your family for serving our country ! I'm an Air Force veteran ! I had uncles in WWII , my dad Korea , cousins in Vietnam and Grenada , youngest stepson in Iraq and Afghanistan and I was in from April 1978 to 1986 ! Which we had the Iranian Crisis and a few other little events ! Take care , stay safe and healthy with whatever you maybe doing next ! Doing well here in Kansas .
@@steveclark4291 Thank you and your family for your service! And thank you for your kind words. My dad was very proud of his naval service and was genuinely fond of the people of Micronesia. Made friends of some of the Islanders.
@@cynthiacronin2794 you're very welcome !
I wanted to share something I think your viewers might like. I am a 24 year Army veteran (still serving) who served with the 101st in Afghanistan. I have been to Toccoa and run Currahee several times. The last time I was there was in 2014 after taking my wife to my Step-Son's graduation from boot camp at Ft. Stewart. While I was showing my wife the memorial in your video I could see about four gentlemen up the road at the buildings are you showed in your video. At that time the area was fenced off and no road went to those buildings. One of the gentlemen (I think George, but not positive anymore) drove out to my wife and I and asked us if we knew what we were looking at. He could tell I was in the military and was pleased I had run Currahee a few times. He asked if we would like to tour the building they were working on. We of course said yes! The man walked us to that building and showed us the very tables you saw from the dining facility. His crew was putting in a trench to run the electric to it at that time. We took photos and he spoke to us about his intentions for the old camp. After we got an amazing tour, the man may or may not have invited us to taste a local tradition of "Georgia Spring Water". If we did do that, it most certainly helped to to ease the pain as we ascended Currahee that day. How amazing to see how far they have come with the site. I most certainly will have to go back and run it again and also purchase my piece of wood and challenge coin. Thanks for the excellent video and history. Currahee!
I experienced bad leadership while I served my country. When I watched "Band of Brothers", it was easy for me to imagine, what it was like for Easy Company under the incompetent sadist named Sobel.
One if the best channels on all of You Tube.
Wow. Thank you. I appreciate that.
I love that you show us the history of band of brothers.
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Man, I'm passionate about history, especially about the second world war.
I really like your videos and how you tell the stories. Thank you very much for your time and dedication.
Thank you very much! So glad that you're enjoying the content.
The regiments that trained there all saw heavy combat during WWII. One of these days I shall go there to pay my respects. I used to belong to 1/508th Parachute Infantry Regiment when I was stationed in Panama from 89-90. Now it belongs to the 82nd AIRBORNE. My regiment was raised in Camp Blanding Florida in 1943. Great video.
I love your channel. I am a men from the present that loves to be around men of the past. Thank you brother for all of your videos
I appreciate that!
Seeing this place was one of the best places I have ever seen
Thank you sir for this video. As a disabled Army Infantryman, I loved this! God bless ALL vets (those with us and those not), all your viewers, YOU for doing these and USA!
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@@TheHistoryUnderground sir, if you ever want a guest whilst visiting a so-cal area....I’m your man. Ty again
“I legitimately feel like I left a part of my soul down there at the bottom”.....mine would have been left at the 1/2 mile mark in that heat. I wish our younger generations would realize and respect just how much these heroes fought and sacrificed for our country. Thank you to our veterans, military leaders and current service men and women for your dedication to ensure our country is safe and our freedom is protected this Veteran’s Day 2020.
Ha! That's funny. And the younger generation is exactly why I make these videos. Thanks!
You're very welcome ! I'm a disabled veteran ! The younger generations should be taught better in school than they're being taught now days !
@@TheHistoryUnderground thank you for doing these videos for the younger generations ! Another great UA-cam channel to watch is Voices of History ! He has traveled with veterans from different Wars and recorded they're experiences !
Thank you for keeping these Hero's in Memory these are the real men of the USA and many others but not sports figures not politicians the Men and Women that fought for this Country.
History underground my favorite new UA-cam channel
Awesome! Thank you! Feel free to share it out with someone who might enjoy it as well :)
@@TheHistoryUnderground definitely will. I appreciate you walking the battlegrounds in the fall instead of summer, without all the tree cover I can get a better look at the terrain.
Amazing watching you make you "man up" and complete that hike with a respect load and then regress to a young boy in the pilot seat of that plane. Fascinating place. Being a former Supervisor can understand why the man training them was so hard on them. He wasn't there to be there friend, he was there to give them the best chance of surviving what was coming. Wonderful video. Be safe and take care.
Thanks! Appreciate the kind words.
Very true about the people training our military especially in basic training ! They weren't there to be your friend , they were there to prepare you for whatever you might end up having to do and hopefully come home safe ! I'm speaking from experience as an Air Force veteran ! Take care , stay safe and healthy with whatever you maybe doing next ! Doing well here in Kansas .
That was interesting. I wasn't aware Camp Toccoa still existed. As far as climbing Currahee, you're a better man then I am Gunga Din. Thanks for the tour. It's nice to see people taking the time and effort to rebuild Toccoa. The men who trained there deserve to be honored.
Agreed. Pretty amazing what those people are doing to preserve the memory of those men.
@@TheHistoryUnderground Going there is a bucket list item for me. Maybe try for winter time and do Currahee in the snow? lol
Watched this video by chance a week or so before family headed up to N. Georgia and was surprised to find Camp Toccoa was less than 15 min. from where we were staying. Serendipity! Hiked up Curahee and visited the museum when we had some down time on 8/6/2023. I let the folks there know this video is how I found out about Toccoa and Curahee. JD has a lot of fans among the volunteers at the museum! Thanks for making the video.
Truly amazing, where my towns liberators all began. I live in a town called Ede, un Holland just 1 mile from the Ginkelse heide, the Drop zones of Operation Market Garden. Never Forget ❤️🇺🇸🇬🇧🇳🇱🇭🇲🇨🇦
Thank you for sharing this with me ! I had uncles that fought in WWII not sure where they all was at ! Take care , stay safe and healthy with whatever you maybe doing next ! Doing well here in Kansas .
When international travel opens again..I will fly over from Australia to walk in the footsteps of E Company! I made a promise when I was 15 and saw Band of Brothers that if Camp Toccoa was still around that I’d start a Journey to walk in the footsteps of men I consider heroes!
Plus I want that challenge coins/piece of history
Be sure to pack more water than I did :)
@@TheHistoryUnderground will do mate, as a military historian from Australia, I am loving the videos you post and look forward to one day visiting in person the places you’ve taken me through your videos
I hope that international travel will open up soon also ! As I would love be able to go to Europe and see some of the places that Easy Company had been to ! Also see places that one of my uncles had at during WWII fighting ! Take care , stay safe and healthy with whatever you maybe doing next ! Doing well here in Kansas .
I really love how you tried to make it hard on youself by carrying does weights to the top! You definitly earned it! And i love that you mentioned the factory workers who made all the war supply's! Really appreciate that! People often dont think about the millions of men and woman who did there part in the war by working in factorys, for the war effort. It really does me good to hear you say that!
And a history buff in a C-47 airplane? Is like a kid in the candy store! 😊
Sir, i am jealous of this experience you've got! Thank you for sharing! Gratz on 80k and the 100th video! Keep up the GREAT work! 🙏🦅
Ha! About halfway up, I was starting to think that I'd made a mistake. Glad that you enjoyed it!
And the rationing and ration books that everyone used on the Homefront! Also, the material drives hosted by the communities!
Thank you to all of those men. God bless them. I Love you guys are what you did for us.
That was quite the generation. Thanks for watching!
Where in North Georgia is this camp. I would love to visit and show my respect to this men
I am a son of one of the original Toccoa Trooper.While I haven't made it down there to Toccoa I will be going!
My dad was in the 101st/506th HQ Company not E company. There's an excellent book that I believe is still available that dad contributed to titled Tonight We Die as Men Ian Gardner and Ed Shames that is excellent .
He jumped on D-day made his objective (which one the 2 bridges at the Douve River just outside of Carentan). The book filled in all the blanks of went dad went through from camp to France and D-day.
I am simply in amazement of what those guys did . To say I am proud is an understatement. I've met a few a them and it always the same reply, we were just doing what we were trained to do.
And they did it oh so well.
Thanks to the people reconstructing the camp. You have a real piece of history there!
Oh wow. Thanks so much for sharing that. Those guys were really something else.
@@TheHistoryUnderground I love ALL your videos!
What an awesome video. Band of Brothers is one of my favorite shows! Thank you!
Mine too! Thanks!
Curaheeeeee! Been looking forward to this one
Ha! Awesome. Hope that you enjoyed it.
just watched your video you just released on carentan! fantastic video! thank you!
Ran and walked Currahee In 2016 when I lived in GA. My most memorable hike to date. Loved it
Thanks for the video. My younger brother was Airborne and I was a dog handler. My son is a Marine. My father was stationed at Schofield barracks when Japan attacked Hawaii. He ended up in Europe. He was one of the few people shot at by the Japanese and the Germans. He never spoke ill of either of them. I think he may have thought they were just doing their duty. Later he was stationed in both countries.
3 miles up, 3 miles down! Props to you for hiking that mountain in August! Next time you go, you should eat some spaghetti or as Perconte calls it, army noodles with ketchup, right before you make the climb LOL! Great job as always. Well worth the wait for episode 100. Looking forward to 101.
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What amazing place. I am big fan of The Band of Brothers it is nice to see someone restore the history of the camp. I was glad I went to Foy, Bastogne and saw the woods, St Mere Eglise and went into the church and the Eagles Nest. I will never forget the trip. Thank You
Pretty amazing places.
Thank you for this video - I drove from New Jersey to Toccoa in October to visit the camp, the museum in town, and of course to run Currahee. Planned my run to get to the top at sunrise and it was spectacular to see . . . I literally had the entire mountain to myself but never felt alone. As one of the Camp Toccoa volunteers asked and I confirmed, I could "hear the boots" while running the hill. Truly was a spiritual experience as strange as that sounds. So much respect for the men that came through the gates of Toccoa and gave so much for all of us today. Keep up the great content!!
Let me try to explain paratrooper training when i served. Post Vietnam, we have learned a lot about what it takes to be a paratrooper. We had instructors called "Black hats " as far as i was concerned these men were thrown off death row because they broke the electric chair. The 3 week course was only the beginning. When you get into the 82nd (the 101st wasn't airborne at that time) that when the training really started. Every day was a new hell. I loved every second of it. But I've been told I'm not normal at all.
I don't know if they still do long marches but my unit marched on the Appalachian trail from NC-GA. Fun times. It's really nice how your brain doesn't remember pain. Thank God for small miracles
Your enthusiasm, respect and concern for history is infectious. Today, I visited the museum, Camp Toccoa and Curahee mountain and watched both your videos before I arrived. They were enormously helpful and got me really psyched to go. Anybody who is in the area must visit. You will be so very glad you did. They are living history of a momentous time and people of our country.🇺🇲🇺🇲
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Love the video. I was honoured to learn about Easy Company through the series Band of Brothers, and still love to hear about their lives. We owe them so much. They and many like them literally saved us all from tyranny.
Thank you for this video. I just found my next vacation destination. My father and grandfather were both in Europe during WW2. Grandfather was an MP in Normandy and my father was a waist gunner in a Liberator in Southern Europe.
I was in the same Brigade at Fort Campbell KY I actually met the heroes they portrayed in Band of Brothers!..I'm glad I got to meet them God bless them all!
I said last episode was my favorite, this one is my new favorite. Fantastic episode for Veteran’s Day! Such an amazing experience to walk the grounds of the men that defended our freedom....and won! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 Thank you for this episode.
Ha! Thanks. Hope that you continue to enjoy the content.
Happy Veterans Day, 🇺🇸 Thank you for sharing this Vlog with us. Thank you for your service, sacrifice and courage to sustain freedom for many🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
My pleasure. Our veterans have done much for this country.
@@TheHistoryUnderground I agree 🇺🇸
Band Of Brothers is my all time favorite WWII film. Yes it’s a mini series but to me it’s just a very long movie. But it’s such a great piece of military history. You see the Normandy invasion and the run up to defeating the Germans from the personal perspective of the characters. Wonderful film with a fantastic cast.
Those guys were a different breed. Tough as nails and no excuses. this morning I thanked a Korean War vet for his service. Instead of him saying your welcome, he said “I honor it.” And I thought to myself what a humble selfless response. I have thanked countless veterans this was the first time I heard this. And I’ll never forget it.
My grandmother saved several local newspapers through the years with historical events that I ended up with. One of them is the surrender of Germany but it also has a story about Easy company taking Hitlers Eagles Nest.
Wow!
@@TheHistoryUnderground I've also got D-Day, the death of FDR and the assassination of JFK. My cousin ended with Japan's surrender.
Thank you for sharing this piece of history with me ! Take care , stay safe and healthy with whatever you maybe doing next ! Doing well here in Kansas .
Is there a possibility to scan these newspapers and make them publicly available to be read?
Would love to read such old pieces of history.
We always remember the tougher teachers because we remember what they taught us.
Thumbs up to the people who keep history alive !! Thanks for your video !
Glad you enjoyed it! Great work that they are doing there.
We had "currahee" put on my father's VA headstone. You won't see that anywhere else.
As a fellow history vlogger, I absolutely love your passion for and knowledge of history. You're the first channel I've ever signed up as a patron for. Keep on making incredible content!
Thanks! I appreciate that more than you know. I'll be checking out your channel as well.
That’s being airborne brother! It’s never easy, but it is the way.
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You earned it. I know it’s not the proper comment for this. But I can’t help it. It is a shame that kids and college students have no ideal what these brave young men did for us. Our freedoms and liberties rested on these young men that left home to fight for us. God rest their souls and they should have all the respect in the world.
I'm from and living in Illinois. I was stationed at FT Stewart, GA and lived in Hinesville, GA for over 6 years and I absolutely LOVE GA!!
There's also a military museum in taccoa that has the stables that the 506th stayed in in aldbourne England.
A a great tour of the area! Thank you for taking us along with you! Congratulations on episode 100! A great way to mark Veterans Day!
Thank you very much!
Back in 2004 went to Norfolk , Virginia for Easy Company reunion with my dad! Met a lot of men from E. Company will never forget. I done a drawing up for the men and their families they signed my original and I gave them my printed copy. Now I have my youngest boy starting jump school this Monday at Ft. Benning he’s very excited and my wife and I are very proud!! Thank you for sharing!!
Awesome! Thanks!
I ran this Mountain on Veterans Day 2017. It was a truly remarkable experience to run up, view the area around the mountain from the top, then run back down. I know you said it feels like you left a part of your soul at the bottom, but I honestly feel like after completing it I left a part of my soul at the top. I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything. I also saw the Camp Toccoa, as well as the Museum in town. Such a wonderful experience that I hope to do again, thank you for posting to jog my memories!
Thanks for watching! Glad that it could bring back some good memories for you.
Your videos continue to amaze. Such a great job and have learned so much. My grandmother was a Rosie the Rivetor, and my grand father was at the battle of the bulge, where he earned a Purple Heart.
That is awesome! Thanks for sharing that and for the kind words.
Wow ! I had an uncle who fought in The Battle of the Bulge ! Thank you for sharing this with me ! Take care , stay safe and healthy with whatever you maybe doing next ! Doing well here in Kansas .
Love these videos! My dad was a high school principal near hershey pennsylvania and they had Dick Winters come in to do a book signing and tell stories. It was by far the coolest thing i have experienced.
I always love a good DC 3/ C 47 story, so great to see one there and reminds me of ours after digging it out of the bush. The wing is attached with hundreds and hundreds of bolts, no spar! Our wings were pretty poor so we got another set from an R4D (navy C 47) built in 1944. Our airplane was a DC3, built in 1937. Those wings mated up perfectly with our center section! A testament to the 1940's mass production. I pity the person who has to install all those nuts and bolts, I've done it, then undid them to move the plane then reattached them again.
Ok bro.....this popped earlier..didnt watch it here in Chicago till now as i stopped by Portillo's...got me a Jumbo char-tdog (had them throw it on the grill...it takes a bit longer but worth it)...mustard and onion, large fry extra crispy and a large Coca-Cola got home then hit play. Happy Veterans day to all of our 2 and 4 legged warriors out there and although most family members did and are not serving.....their special sacrifice is not lost with me...I thank you all
Thanks! Sounds like you had an evening fit for a king. 🇺🇸
@@TheHistoryUnderground Innnnn-deed my friend. If we ever open up up here again...and you are in the area...lunch is on me for you and your wife.
"part of me thinks I should have done this in November or December."
I feel ya there. I went thru basic training at Benning in July. I had never experienced that kind of humidity.
Oh man. Brutal.
Went through basic in Benning from July-Oct, 2009. You’re right about the humidity. My back was covered in heat rash by the end from endless sweat.
At 10:20 you mentioned the 511th PIR and their rescue of the Los Banos interment camp in the Philippines. I encourage others watching this video to follow your advice and dig into that story. I had the honor of presenting this story to our wonderful veterans at the Warhawk Air Museum in Nampa, ID, last month. It is the most daring and successful raid that you've probably never heard of. We are lucky that a local man, featured in one of our displays, was one of the nine pilots who flew a C-47 that dropped Company B of the 511th into the camp. What an amazing group of soldiers they were! Thanks for your wonderful videos and for taking us along with you on these adventures through history!
Wow! That is amazing. When I was a kid, I had a doctor whose parents were missionaries. They were prisoners at Los Banos.
@@TheHistoryUnderground It always amazes me how certain events link people together all over the world. Keep up the fantastic work -love your videos!
At last year's Currahee Military Weekend our keynote speaker was Robert Wheeler. He and his family were prisoners at Los Banos when he was 8 years old. He was scheduled for execution the day of the Los Banos Raid. He watched his captors dig is grave the day before the 511th rescued them. He has the most incredible stories to tell of his time there. The History Channel did a story on the Los Banos Raid and Mr. Wheeler was featured in it. There are many books about this raid. It is well worth the time to learn this story.
@@keithhornick2577 I have seen that History Channel presentation and remember seeing Robert Wheeler in it. You are very fortunate to have heard him speak in person. The History Guy has a very good, short video on Los Banos as well. One of my favorite books on the Los Banos raid is "Rescue At Los Banos" by Bruce Henderson. He does a great job of alternating chapters between the internees and the soldiers of the 11th Airborne to weave their stories together.
@@garretvaughn7936 Robert Wheeler has written a book as well. It is titled "A Child's Life Interrupted". I was his handler for the event, so I spent four days with him from the time I picked him up at the airport to the time he boarded his flight to go home. What an incredible man.
Oh boy.... I am sucker for WW2 history and a huge Band of Brothers fan. Can truly feel your excitement, it just shines from your eyes and smile. What an experience it must have been!!! Love your videos.
Fantastic to see the C-47 being reconstructed. 20 years ago I worked for an avionics company as a skilled Sheet Metal Worker where I made replacements and spares for DC-3`s ,the civilian equivalent. The company we made them for was a cargo company in South America. Designed in 1935 it is, possibly, the most enduring aircraft ever. Most people do not realise how many different parts are needed to build an aeroplane. For example a modern 747 has over 1 million parts .
Congrats on Episode 100! We've watched every single one and enjoyed them all. Let's go for 200 now. Thank you for a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
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If you are ever near Denver, CO you’d love to see the army footlocker full of ww2 memorabilia my wife’s grandfather sent home after the war. It’s incredible.
Thank you for this TOCCOA Camp tour brother. Awesome to feel 506's spirit there. C-47 was iconic. Wow
Very cool thanks for sharing I appreciate it greatly.👍👍🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Thanks for watching!
Awesome! Thanks so much. I hear the sound of bucket lists being updated right now.
Ha! Awesome. Thanks!
Watching you do this makes me appreciate the boys of easy company even more. Cant imagine how many times they had to run this... in full or even partial gear
Agreed.
I trained at Ft Jackson SC, then Ft Belvior Va. Went straight to Germany after that in 1990. In 1994 I got to be on the ground as a 5th Corp attachment for power generation, distribution and maintenance for the 50th anniversary Normandy reenactment. We pulled into Ste Mere Eglise April of 94. We were mostly housed in the gym in town. We watched as a lot of the dirt roads got paved by Army engineers and I worked on the generators, trailers and several of the vehicles that covered that area with communications for the entire Normandy area. On June 6th, the C-47's flew in and I was on the ground crew of the DZ. I had the chance to meet several of the men who made that jump in 1944. That was the day I decided to join the 101st Abn! After reenlisting, I became part of E Co, 501st Sig Bn. 101st Airborne. I had a buddy in 502nd Inf who I trained with often and we both decided to go to Ranger training together.
My grandfather died in Normandy as a glider pilot. It really hit home seeing where he died and some of the history of it all. Today, I live in Mineral Wells Tx, right beside Ft Wolters where most of the US ARMY Infantry were trained for WW2. I'm kindof a history buff myself, so it's pretty cool to see in person where the solders were trained.
I just found this today July 26 2023, very good and informative. My Grandfather was station here when it was Camp Toombs and he took me up to the top of the mountain when I was 9 or 10 years old (I'm 67 now) He got out of the army before it changed to Camp Toccoa. He helped build the road to the top and when we went up the only tower I remember was the Forest service tower there were no radio towers at the time.
My mother was a telephone operator at the camp and told me she had gotten shocked by lighting storms several times while working the board.
I retired from Toccoa Police Department in 2020 with 43 years of Law Enforcement service. I had met many of the soldiers that trained here during the Band of Brothers reunion and had the Honor of driving Shifty Powers up to the top, he was a lot of fun to talk with and I was very saddened when he passed away. I know many of the people that are preserving the camp. They have one of the planes reconstructed and just recently received two motors and props to go on the plane. maybe you can come back and do another video as a lot more has changed on site. Good job! Lt. John Addis Retired TPD
Thank you for this amazing video! It makes me think of my late grandpa. I miss him so much. He was a tank gunner in WW2 and fought in the battle of the bulge. Captured by the Germans and liberated eventually. From all he went through, he was always in good spirits and made me laugh! I have so many funny stories when I lived with him and my parents during grad school. Good times!
At exactly 27:35, the joy on your face... Priceless. You're just like a little kid! You really do love your work dontcha? ;-) Thanx for the tour JD, I was smilin right along with ya.
Ha! Yeah, I really do enjoy seeing these places. Thanks.
Thanks for the tribute to the defense plant workers. My grandma was a rivet inspector on C47 wings for Curtis Wright at Firestone Defense Plant in Akron, Ohio.
What an amazing video. I also live in Georgia and have been there and as you have read you can truly feel the spirit of the men that trained there.
Really enjoyed this video, I find it incredible how anything involving this amazing group of men so moving, I am an Englishman and when possible I intend to fly over and visit this area. Although I never met these men I have so much respect for them and what they achieved. The freedoms I enjoy today were hard earned by them.
This was really cool to see. My great uncle was in 101st and jump (or came in by glider I can’t remember) on d-day. I’m assuming this is where he trained! I’m still gathering information about his time in ww2 but since his passing it’s been a little bit of a challenge, Thank you for sharing this.
I was stationed at Camp Greaves/Liberty Bell, in the Korean DMZ in 1987, 1/9 Inf., when the 506th was reactivated and we transitioned to 1/506 Inf. We didn't have a Currahee Mtn but did have the radar site. It was about 2 miles there and a mile to the top. Steep enough that to the best of my recollection NOBODY ever made it up double timing. A real scorcher on the quads and toes on the way down too. Between those regular runs, the typical 6 miles to Liberty Bell and back and all the 12 mile EIB/EFMB standards "Manchu Mile" rucks, we were a pretty fit bunch. The ambush and recon patrols in the cold are still uncomfortably memorable. Great reverence for the men of Easy Company. Currahee!
Following in the footsteps of the past ... the BEST thing ever !!!! Congratulations ... you deserve your "wings".
Thanks! Appreciate that. Felt pretty amazing to follow in their footsteps up that path.
Great 100th video 👍. I've heard the story of the barracks before. Amazing that it was all saved. Definitely a place worth visiting. Thanks for the tour.
As usual, your video was well put together. You should do an online video production course.
Thanks! Appreciate that. Pretty amazing work that they're doing there at Camp Toccoa.
I've been looking forward to this one....
Hope that you enjoyed it. Thanks!
Your willingness to go the extra mile (Including marching up and down Currahee in August) to make history live not only for your classes, but the rest of us, touches my heart. I am a third generation Army veteran and to watch the paths of those before me takes my breath away. Thanks.
Thank you!
To think of all the brave heroes that ran the hill, it’s gives me a lump on my throat.
I live in Madison County Ga about 40 mins from Toccoa, Stephens County Ga.
Great place. You might be interested in the video right after this one.
Awesome 100th video!!
Keep up the great work:)
Now I want to travel there, quite a journey from Germany I guess:)
Thanks! If anyone has the chance, I'd highly recommend it. Great place!
I flew the C47 back in 1980´s west coast of Mexico. I still remember 25000lbs/11400kgs of maximum take of weigth. I always remember the WWII flying. Great video thanks!!!!