It was my pleasure to have, as a friend, a mechanic (mid 1980s) who was a medic during The Battle of the Bulge. He explained the difficulties they had with giving reconstituted plasma to the wounded. They had to keep it warm, next to their bodies but when they hung the IV bottle, the plasma would freeze in the line. They had issues finding veins not only because the guys had lost so much blood, but also, they were dehydrated. He had nightmares, never thought he did enough, and had Masses for the dead who he could never forget. (PTSD)
There is only one ultimate determination of who can lead in combat. All armed forces train their leaders, but it is the immersion in the hell of combat itself that sorts out who can and who can’t.
Ambrose doesn’t ask any follow up questions about Dyke when interviewing Lipton. He just changed the subject! That’s a bit weird? Did he have doubts about Lipton’s account of Dyke? We don’t know unfortunately. And that episode in band of brothers was basically to show how great a combat leader Lipton was. I think the fact that winter’s doesn’t remember Lipton going to him about Dyke is pretty significant. You would think Winters would remember a NCO warning him that one of his officers was incompetent before a battle. Did Winters have selective memory about Dyke and that he didn’t want his career damaged. So best to forget the whole episode and not be accused of ignoring the concerns of one of men about one of his officers. Or Lipton did no such thing and wanted to make Dyke as bad as possible to Ambrose? Again this leaves more questions than answers.
I think Ambrose was looking at his watch and not wanting to miss his plane. The narration didn't pick up the mood but I think Guarnere and Ambrose were not the best of pals.
Most of the BOB controversy seems to come right from Ambrose himself. It is already known Ambrose would exaggerate, or outright lie, if that's what it took to SELL BOOKS. His questioning is very vague and almost random. Ambrose just wanted a grneralization of the story, then he would fill in the blanks himself. When you have an alleged "historian", that tells you what someone was THINKING 80 years ago,, that's a major red flag. Ambrose does that ALL the time. Theres no way he can ever possibly know that. He is ASSUMING things, to tell a more Interesting story, to make you think he knows more than you do. As far as the dike controversy. Winters seems to have a selective memory when it comes to fellow officers. Dike being wounded at Foy? Theres no proof. Nothing in after action reports, no purple heart issued, nothing. So ALL the speculations after that are just that. Pure speculation FURTHER, based on something that cannot be proven ever happened in the 1st place. THATS THE EXACT problem with most European WW2 historians and WHY we have such a skewered and biased history of WW2. They ASSUME b, c, d, e, f, & g,,,, based on an assumption of A, that never happened in the first place. I would agree with Lipton. Dike was relieved of command in the middle of an attack. We know that's fact. When it comes to facts about incompetent officers, they take care of the good ole boys club. I've seen it. One if the worst officers I ever served with was promoted just to get rid of him. The ONLY way to get rid of him, was to make him someone else's problem. Which was likely why Dike was sent to easy in the first place. 😂 but there it is, another assumption. 😊
Great work going through the interviews. I think Dyke was given to large of a role and responsibility for the battle. He isn't a coward, nobody hands out Bronze Stars for fun
Thank you W&T for this information. It seems to confirm that the episode "The Breaking Point" perspective of Lt Dike comes from Lipton, and the writers built up on it to convey a story. There is little there to put Dike in a more favorable light. My biggest issue with this is that an uniformed audience today, almost 25 years removed from the production, still views Dike as an incompetent coward without the context of the realities of the situation, or the realities of war. That relatively insignificant battle for Foy had a LOT of other problems going on besides Dike not moving Easy company forward. One has to ask that if Dike had no experience running a squad, a platoon, or anything else, why was he made a company commander? I would hold those in charge of this decision more than a bit responsible.
I'm pretty sure Dike would not have been put in that position if they'd had any inkling they would be fighting a defensive action at Bastogne. He came in at the end of the Holland campaign when they probably thought there wouldn't be too much happening for the remainder of the war. In saying that he already had plenty of experience in combat but that doesn't compare to being a company commander in a pressure situation like that.
After hearing all my grandads stories from WW2, it was never the experienced NCO that ever had reason to lie, just blunt honesty, especially about officers. Bad ones will get you killed, good ones will keep you alive. Really depended on who you got stuck with and what kind of unit you were in.
Ive come to admire you for the way you do the interviews showing faces at the same time so that I know who is taking. Loved the your interview with Eugene Roe's daughter, too. He is buried about 3 miles or less from where my lady friend lives. I should plan on going there soon and leave some flowers, and if he has a tombstone, I'll leave money on the top. However, I think he may be in a vault.
We all know 20 + years later that Lt. Dike was wounded in the shoulder at the attack on Foy & starting to shock out. He was a brave man, but unfortunately, he wasn't a good company commander. What a shame the producers portrayed him the way they did.
Unfortunate that episode in band of brothers is solely Lipton’s view of Dyke and we have take his word about what happened. And that he broke down in combat. More research was needed by Ambrose to support Lipton’s view of Dyke. But he seems he didn’t do that and 8:10 just took Lipton’s word. Makes me wonder if something else didn’t go down between the two men ? Did Lipton have a grudge against Dyke ? There are more questions here than answers.
It seems that episode is pretty much taken from the interview's Lipton did with Ambrose and very one sided. I haven't come across any other accounts as yet and Winters didn't want to talk about him it seems (probably because Dike ended up outranking him). Lipton was quite different to the smiling soft character he was portrayed as in the series. He was rather serious and had a very low tolerance (a good Sergeant in other words).
Aren’t the accounts true of Dike being mostly MIA, like in the series ? He did get relieved mid-assault so that should carry some weight towards Liptons truth despite the one-sidedness.
the derision for Dike is unfounded, we are now aware that Dike was injured in the shoulder during attack on Foy. Also he wasn't a Captain at this time, he was an Lt. Based on what we know now, Lt Norman Dike wasn't a coward or a poor leader or not a combat officer. He had already earned 2 bronze stars for previous actions "send a little boy to lead men" that is so disrespectful of Carwood Lipton to say. 08:04
They definitely went overboard on his portrayal, but there's a few things to consider. "we are now aware that Dike was injured in the shoulder during attack on Foy", this was stated by one soldier, this wound was also not in any reports, nor did he receive a purple heart for this supposed wound, so the facts actually go against that soldiers recollection. It maybe true, but there's just nothing to support it unfortunately, so you cannot definitively say it is true. He definitely wasnt a coward as portrayed as he had 2 bronze stars, but there needs to be context on those, was it due to leadership or bravery? They are 2 different things. But we really dont know how effective a combat leader he was in Easy, the facts are in terms of Easy company, that he was unpopular with the men for perceived poor leadership (and this was with many men including officers and noncoms) and regardless of being wounded or not during the attack on foy, was ineffective in that action. Often the truth is in the middle, and they should have taken that route and at least shown him to exibit at least some bravery and competency leading up to foy, and have what was known in foy to be shown so people could judge for themselves, to be fairer to him.
@@nickmitsialis I mean they called him "foxhole Norman", that pretty much means they were calling him a coward that hides in his foxhole and doesnt come out.
J. Muccia just got ALL the papers that were used in writing the series (The Bible) and all the paperwork that Maj Winters sent to the writes for the series he's still sorting through it all. (along with all the papers the Maj himself let him make copies of, as he spent alot of time with him and he interviewed the other Troopers) and he's working on a 4 book series on the complete history of E company
@@War_And_Truth Joe Muccia is the go to guy on Easy co.history- He knew all they troopers interviewed them , knows all the families runs "the Path of Easy Company Tour" and the podcast "We're not lost, Privet" plus he can just pick up the phone and call the guy who wrote the "bible" (he did a interview with him on his podcast already)
There has been a lot of comment that the series did Norman Dike wrong. But this was information from the men themselves. He was referred to as 'Foxhole Norman'. So I doubt the portrayal was too far off the truth. Some have also said that Dike was wounded during the attack on Foy, but I have also heard that the after action report lists no such wound. What is the truth about that?
I wanna hear more about Wild Bills' jet sighting to be honest lol There's probably nothing about it anywhere (and it seems like something that Steve didn't want to delve into) but yea; was it a V1, V2, or one of the jets the luftwaffe operated at the time? I wish Bill had described it in some greater detail...
@@IrishMcScottishI would say it might have been an artillery shell, hence the shrapnel in Toye's arm. Heard from people that it can sound like a jet engine, especially the german 88s due to it's high velocity.
I am just wondering, you keep saying this is part of a 1999 interview as preparation of the book Band of Brothers. But the book was published in '92. I would say the letters between lipton and Winters are from 1999 but the actual interview must have been much earlier? Anyway, I have been enjoying your content a lot.
Yeah what happened was this letter (and interview) was from 88-89 but when the series prep came along in 1999, Lipton typed a lot of the original handwritten letters so that the series writers could understand it. He accidently typed the current year - 1999 instead of the original date and I didn't think of it when I wrote the script.
I think either Ambrose was upset because he wasn't getting the answers he wanted or he brought up something about Bastogne which hit a nerve. Hopefully I will find out more as I go through more files. Its possible there is an individual interview with Guarnere prior to this one.
Excellent work regarding Lipton and Guarnere's memories, watching Series 7, Breaking Point, it gives a clear experience and events at that time of Easy Company.
![A Band of Brothers Interview - Lipton & Guarnere Talk About Captain Sobel [Part 2] Easy Company](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qPVaU3zcVtA/mqdefault.jpg)
![Lipton And Guarnere Talk To Ambrose About Meehan, Strayer And D-DAY - Band of Brothers [Part 3]](/img/n.gif)
These are great, I’m hanging on every word. I like the way you change the images so we know who is speaking. Very clever.
Thanks. Yeah I have played around with a few different methods but I thinks that's the least confusing. Thanks for letting me know.
@@War_And_TruthWorks great.👍 Thanks.
History is so important, as are the sacrifices of these brave men. Thank you.
God bless you for pouring over all of these documents and sharing them with us. Please never stop. You are a historian in the making.
You are too kind. Thank you.
Incredible stuff right here. This is what I love - words directly from these guys’ mouthes. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
It was my pleasure to have, as a friend, a mechanic (mid 1980s) who was a medic during The Battle of the Bulge. He explained the difficulties they had with giving reconstituted plasma to the wounded. They had to keep it warm, next to their bodies but when they hung the IV bottle, the plasma would freeze in the line. They had issues finding veins not only because the guys had lost so much blood, but also, they were dehydrated. He had nightmares, never thought he did enough, and had Masses for the dead who he could never forget. (PTSD)
Yes I remember hearing they used to keep them under their arms. What these guys (of any conflict) had to go through nobody will ever understand.
Thank you, once again, W&T! You are doing history a very big favor!
Thank you I appreciate that.
What an amazing interview. Thank you so much for sharing this. Guardian of History 💎
Thanks mate.
So great, I'm really enjoying this.
Thank You.
Thanks as always
Great to hear that series of interviews with those two guys, its better than than the tv series
Thank you
There is only one ultimate determination of who can lead in combat. All armed forces train their leaders, but it is the immersion in the hell of combat itself that sorts out who can and who can’t.
👍👍 Great series!
Ty for a great series on BoB.❤❤
Awesome work! Keep them coming.😁
Cheers
Excellent.
Ambrose doesn’t ask any follow up questions about Dyke when interviewing Lipton. He just changed the subject! That’s a bit weird? Did he have doubts about Lipton’s account of Dyke? We don’t know unfortunately. And that episode in band of brothers was basically to show how great a combat leader Lipton was. I think the fact that winter’s doesn’t remember Lipton going to him about Dyke is pretty significant. You would think Winters would remember a NCO warning him that one of his officers was incompetent before a battle. Did Winters have selective memory about Dyke and that he didn’t want his career damaged. So best to forget the whole episode and not be accused of ignoring the concerns of one of men about one of his officers. Or Lipton did no such thing and wanted to make Dyke as bad as possible to Ambrose? Again this leaves more questions than answers.
I think Ambrose was looking at his watch and not wanting to miss his plane. The narration didn't pick up the mood but I think Guarnere and Ambrose were not the best of pals.
Most of the BOB controversy seems to come right from Ambrose himself.
It is already known Ambrose would exaggerate, or outright lie, if that's what it took to SELL BOOKS.
His questioning is very vague and almost random. Ambrose just wanted a grneralization of the story, then he would fill in the blanks himself.
When you have an alleged "historian", that tells you what someone was THINKING 80 years ago,, that's a major red flag. Ambrose does that ALL the time. Theres no way he can ever possibly know that. He is ASSUMING things, to tell a more Interesting story, to make you think he knows more than you do.
As far as the dike controversy. Winters seems to have a selective memory when it comes to fellow officers.
Dike being wounded at Foy? Theres no proof. Nothing in after action reports, no purple heart issued, nothing.
So ALL the speculations after that are just that. Pure speculation FURTHER, based on something that cannot be proven ever happened in the 1st place.
THATS THE EXACT problem with most European WW2 historians and WHY we have such a skewered and biased history of WW2. They ASSUME b, c, d, e, f, & g,,,, based on an assumption of A, that never happened in the first place.
I would agree with Lipton. Dike was relieved of command in the middle of an attack. We know that's fact.
When it comes to facts about incompetent officers, they take care of the good ole boys club. I've seen it.
One if the worst officers I ever served with was promoted just to get rid of him. The ONLY way to get rid of him, was to make him someone else's problem.
Which was likely why Dike was sent to easy in the first place. 😂 but there it is, another assumption. 😊
Great work going through the interviews.
I think Dyke was given to large of a role and responsibility for the battle.
He isn't a coward, nobody hands out Bronze Stars for fun
I think Dike was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Compton fell apart at Bastogne too we have to remember.
great job!! loved this series
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you W&T for this information. It seems to confirm that the episode "The Breaking Point" perspective of Lt Dike comes from Lipton, and the writers built up on it to convey a story. There is little there to put Dike in a more favorable light. My biggest issue with this is that an uniformed audience today, almost 25 years removed from the production, still views Dike as an incompetent coward without the context of the realities of the situation, or the realities of war. That relatively insignificant battle for Foy had a LOT of other problems going on besides Dike not moving Easy company forward.
One has to ask that if Dike had no experience running a squad, a platoon, or anything else, why was he made a company commander? I would hold those in charge of this decision more than a bit responsible.
Dike had friends in higher places who thought he could use some combat experience before moving him up the ladder.
I'm pretty sure Dike would not have been put in that position if they'd had any inkling they would be fighting a defensive action at Bastogne. He came in at the end of the Holland campaign when they probably thought there wouldn't be too much happening for the remainder of the war. In saying that he already had plenty of experience in combat but that doesn't compare to being a company commander in a pressure situation like that.
Would like to know .ore about Doc Roe. He saved so many lives❤❤❤
I will be doing a bio and more on Doc Roe
@@War_And_Truth ty. Can't wait
After hearing all my grandads stories from WW2, it was never the experienced NCO that ever had reason to lie, just blunt honesty, especially about officers. Bad ones will get you killed, good ones will keep you alive. Really depended on who you got stuck with and what kind of unit you were in.
Yes that was really a luck of the draw kind of thing.
Ive come to admire you for the way you do the interviews showing faces at the same time so that I know who is taking. Loved the your interview with Eugene Roe's daughter, too. He is buried about 3 miles or less from where my lady friend lives. I should plan on going there soon and leave some flowers, and if he has a tombstone, I'll leave money on the top. However, I think he may be in a vault.
That will be a lovely gesture and please give him my regards. Thanks for the support too.
@@War_And_Truth I am going there tomorrow, Sunday November 3.
We all know 20 + years later that Lt. Dike was wounded in the shoulder at the attack on Foy & starting to shock out. He was a brave man, but unfortunately, he wasn't a good company commander. What a shame the producers portrayed him the way they did.
Dike was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Unfortunate that episode in band of brothers is solely Lipton’s view of Dyke and we have take his word about what happened. And that he broke down in combat. More research was needed by Ambrose to support Lipton’s view of Dyke. But he seems he didn’t do that and 8:10 just took Lipton’s word. Makes me wonder if something else didn’t go down between the two men ? Did Lipton have a grudge against Dyke ? There are more questions here than answers.
It seems that episode is pretty much taken from the interview's Lipton did with Ambrose and very one sided. I haven't come across any other accounts as yet and Winters didn't want to talk about him it seems (probably because Dike ended up outranking him). Lipton was quite different to the smiling soft character he was portrayed as in the series. He was rather serious and had a very low tolerance (a good Sergeant in other words).
Aren’t the accounts true of Dike being mostly MIA, like in the series ? He did get relieved mid-assault so that should carry some weight towards Liptons truth despite the one-sidedness.
the derision for Dike is unfounded, we are now aware that Dike was injured in the shoulder during attack on Foy. Also he wasn't a Captain at this time, he was an Lt. Based on what we know now, Lt Norman Dike wasn't a coward or a poor leader or not a combat officer. He had already earned 2 bronze stars for previous actions "send a little boy to lead men" that is so disrespectful of Carwood Lipton to say. 08:04
Guarnere calling him a Captain shows the separation most of these guys had with their CO's. They were also calling him 'Dykes' in the interview.
They definitely went overboard on his portrayal, but there's a few things to consider. "we are now aware that Dike was injured in the shoulder during attack on Foy", this was stated by one soldier, this wound was also not in any reports, nor did he receive a purple heart for this supposed wound, so the facts actually go against that soldiers recollection. It maybe true, but there's just nothing to support it unfortunately, so you cannot definitively say it is true. He definitely wasnt a coward as portrayed as he had 2 bronze stars, but there needs to be context on those, was it due to leadership or bravery? They are 2 different things. But we really dont know how effective a combat leader he was in Easy, the facts are in terms of Easy company, that he was unpopular with the men for perceived poor leadership (and this was with many men including officers and noncoms) and regardless of being wounded or not during the attack on foy, was ineffective in that action. Often the truth is in the middle, and they should have taken that route and at least shown him to exibit at least some bravery and competency leading up to foy, and have what was known in foy to be shown so people could judge for themselves, to be fairer to him.
@@NeoDragonKnight I don't think they said Dike was a coward, just that he indecisive and froze while under fire.
Sobel also got a star, so what? he could stand next to him or give the order - go ahead and he got a star. officers got them much easier
@@nickmitsialis I mean they called him "foxhole Norman", that pretty much means they were calling him a coward that hides in his foxhole and doesnt come out.
J. Muccia just got ALL the papers that were used in writing the series (The Bible) and all the paperwork that Maj Winters sent to the writes for the series he's still sorting through it all. (along with all the papers the Maj himself let him make copies of, as he spent alot of time with him and he interviewed the other Troopers) and he's working on a 4 book series on the complete history of E company
Who is J. Muccia? I already have all of that. The bibles are interesting but just the base 'story' before the veterans corrections were added.
@@War_And_Truth Joe Muccia is the go to guy on Easy co.history- He knew all they troopers interviewed them , knows all the families runs "the Path of Easy Company Tour" and the podcast "We're not lost, Privet" plus he can just pick up the phone and call the guy who wrote the "bible" (he did a interview with him on his podcast already)
Who is J.Muccia
Do you know who wrote the bible?
@@War_And_Truth The lead writer Jenderson,I think that's how you spell his name.
What do you think of Lipton's comments regarding Norman Dike?
There has been a lot of comment that the series did Norman Dike wrong. But this was information from the men themselves. He was referred to as 'Foxhole Norman'. So I doubt the portrayal was too far off the truth. Some have also said that Dike was wounded during the attack on Foy, but I have also heard that the after action report lists no such wound. What is the truth about that?
I wanna hear more about Wild Bills' jet sighting to be honest lol
There's probably nothing about it anywhere (and it seems like something that Steve didn't want to delve into) but yea; was it a V1, V2, or one of the jets the luftwaffe operated at the time?
I wish Bill had described it in some greater detail...
@@IrishMcScottish It could have been a jet. The German's introduced the use of jet fighters in mid-1944.
@@charlesgantz5865 and a jet bomber, too
@@IrishMcScottishI would say it might have been an artillery shell, hence the shrapnel in Toye's arm. Heard from people that it can sound like a jet engine, especially the german 88s due to it's high velocity.
👍👍👍
I am just wondering, you keep saying this is part of a 1999 interview as preparation of the book Band of Brothers. But the book was published in '92. I would say the letters between lipton and Winters are from 1999 but the actual interview must have been much earlier? Anyway, I have been enjoying your content a lot.
Yeah what happened was this letter (and interview) was from 88-89 but when the series prep came along in 1999, Lipton typed a lot of the original handwritten letters so that the series writers could understand it. He accidently typed the current year - 1999 instead of the original date and I didn't think of it when I wrote the script.
@War_And_Truth okay that makes sense. Thanks for the clarification.
Nor was eisenhower and many others not all are suited for combat!
I wonder what Guarnere got hot about.
I think either Ambrose was upset because he wasn't getting the answers he wanted or he brought up something about Bastogne which hit a nerve. Hopefully I will find out more as I go through more files. Its possible there is an individual interview with Guarnere prior to this one.
@@War_And_Truth Thank you for your excellent work.
@@War_And_Truth Hmmmm...Seems 'Wild Bill' was pretty feisty, even as a senor citizen.
Excellent work regarding Lipton and Guarnere's memories, watching Series 7, Breaking Point, it gives a clear experience and events at that time of Easy Company.