Toni you deal with your emotions in any way you see fit. I'm a 63 year old combat vet and I tear up a few times per episode watching this series, and I can't even remember how many times.
As a combat vet you should know her having this kind of strong emotions just by watching a serie or movie whilst not having any combat/war experience or trauma just isn't healthy. Despite your undoubtedly good intentions I don't think your advice is helping her other then expressing comforting words people like to hear, no offence. I would strongly advice her to seek for professional help in dealing with emotions like she is experiencing watching BoB.
In this episode I always wondered how Speirs didn't break his leg when he jumped from the plane. The weight of his balls would just overcome the parachute.
I really admire how Lip could tell that Malarkey needed to get away from the line or he might break, but because he understood that Malarkey didn't want to let his buddies down by taking a break, Lip made going back to the aid station about doing something that would mean a lot to Buck. It shows how intensely loyal Malarkey is and how well Lip understand his men's motivations and personalities and how he uses that understand to lead and take care of them.
I feel so deeply for certain guys. Especially Malarkey. The scene where they're finally able to get a hot shower, after Webster comes back.. he's got that thousand yard stare. He just looks absolutely numb.
@@BeardGuy-vz8tn You can see how tough and dedicated a soldier Malarkey is, but at the same time, you can see how hard the war is hitting him. It really gets to you.
They weren’t alone at Bastogne - they had some elements of the 10th armored division and a tank destroyer battalion with them. But, they were cut off from reinforcements because the area was mostly surrounded, and the weather was too poor to allow air support. Patton’s army was able to break the siege around this time, which is what they mentioned in this episode, and why they were able to go on the offensive
Bro imagine being in 10th Armored and never getting credit for being at Bastogne. And they were critical in holding out against the panzers especially at Noville
@@popculturallychallenged no problem! The entire scope of this war is almost incomprehensible, so there are always more details and stories about what happened. This is my favorite series and I’m enjoying your reactions to it.
Shifty powers saved the company one day in bastogne because he recognized a tree that was not there the day before. The germans had a bunker surrounded by artificial trees that otherwise would never have been seen but shifty noticed something was different and pointed it out to command. Had they advanced on that position it would have been a slaughter.
As rough as it is, this is one of my favorite episodes in the series. It gives a feeling of how random, chaotic and claustrophobic combat really feels, and it gives a good honest look into the vulnerability and the resilience of human nature. It also illustrates how their extraordinary shared hardship and crises have forged the exceptionally strong bonds that hold these men together.
The scene where Buck Compton finds Guarnere and Toye with their legs blown off? Buck Compton dropped his helmet on seeing them. Back in 1989 I completed an oral history with my dad regarding his experiences as an Army infantry company commander during World War II in New Guinea and the Philippines. Dad said---again, he told me this more than ten years before the Band of Brothers series was produced---that when a guy would "crack" mentally, he would often just stand there, immobile, and drop his helmet. He said that dropping a helmet was a curious thing, and a simple thing, but it happened. And every infantry soldier in the company was aware of that little gesture. He also said that every soldier had a breaking point, some could take the stress more or less than others. He likened it to bottles; some guys were just born with larger "bottles" than others for being able to carry the stress. When a guy did crack, no one bore him any ill will; no one considered him anything else than a brave and loyal comrade whose "time" had come just as surely as getting felled by a Japanese bullet or artillery fragment.. Anyway, I was amazed when, years after my dad's passing in 1992, I was watching Band of Brothers and saw Buck Compton.........stand immobile and drop his helmet. Little things like that make BoB such a compelling, realistic series.
so funny story during the 50th ann. for the Battle of the Bulge they had a big reenactment in PA. We had a bunch of E co. vets visiting. So we had a real EPIC Prop Blast Bash too. at some point as we were drinking & Singing 1 of our guys comes up to "Wild Bill" and says hey Bill i am going over to visit the area of the line you were in , is their anything you want me to bring back for you" Bill lowers his beer looks him straight in his eyes and says "Yeah, if you could find my leg that would be great" then he smiled and lifted his beer, we all laughed and cheered and toasted to Bill's leg. also toasted to Hinkel. those were some great time. Sadly that Scalawag passed away in 2014
I cry during every episode. I know it can be hard to watch but those men deserve to be remembered. We learn their story and pass it on. They must never be forgotten.
Ambrose explained that it signified the man wasn’t being a soldier any longer. You see this in episode 9 when many men stop being soldiers and just want to be human.
@@popculturallychallenged Dyke was done a little dirty in this episode. The men didn't like him, but he was a brave soldier, he earned many medals for rescuing others from under fire. He was wounded during the assault, which caused him to go into shock from blood loss and be unable to think clearly, but he was wearing too much clothing for anyone to see how much he was bleeding.
That shot of Speirs leaping through the debris of the exploded tank shell as he makes his way to lead Easy Company is one of my favorite shots in the whole series!
Not all ~80 lost were killed... It's an important thing to distinguish "casualties" from killed, casualties are a loss in fighting strength... Toye survived but lost his leg, thus he was out of the war after (casualty). Even being shot and out of the fighting for a few weeks technically makes you a casualty for that duration.
I think what’s remarkable about this are the details. Toye and Guarnere did, in fact, get blown to shreds. Dyke apparently DID freeze up (however it may have been due to an injury not mentioned in this series), Spiers DID make a whacky run (however it wasn’t EXACTLY as portrayed here-yet still remarkable) and Lipton DID put himself in harm’s way so Shifty could clip that sniper. It’s fun to look at YT videos about that shot. Lipton really only had to cover 20 feet or so… still crazy awesome. Some other equally amazing heroism happened that day that BoB couldn’t fit into a script. These boys were savages. God bless ‘em.
The buildings still stand in Foy where Shifty shot from, and where the sniper was. It was roughly a 75y headshot with iron sights (Lip and some others went to check on the sniper later, and they found him with a bullet hole between the eyes), under quite a bit of pressure, so some remarkable marksmanship from Shifty!
When they checked the sniper after Shifty shot him, they found that he had hit him between the eyes. I think most of the men agreed that Shifty was the best marksman they had.
There is a lot of controversy around lt Dike because prior to the battle of the Bulge he was considered a good soldier, he even won a Bronze Star in Holland and a second one in Bastogne for rescuing three men a couple of weeks before the attack on Foy. None of this is in the book or the series. All we learn about him in the book comes from Winters and Lipton and neither liked him. Here are some quotes: “Lipton came out of his foxhole. Lieutenant Dike called out to him. "I can still hear him with that deep voice of his," Lipton recalled. "He was about 25 yards away, without his helmet or a weapon. 'Sergeant Lipton,' he yelled to me, 'you get things organized here, and I'll go for help.' And with that he left."”. “As Winters put it, "I look at the junior officers and my company commanders and I grind my teeth. Basically, we had weak lieutenants. I didn't have faith in them. What the hell can I do about this?" He knew that if he were lucky enough to get some additional officers, they would be replacements just over from the States, after completing a hurry-up training program. As to the company commander, Winters stated flatly: "Dike was sent to us as a favorite protégé of somebody from division HQ, and our hands were tied."” “ Lipton expressed his concern about the company commander. He described Dike's actions, or lack of them, with damning detail. He ended by saying, "Lieutenant Dike is going to get a lot of E Company men killed."” Dike looked left and could not see his 1st platoon. His other two platoons were moving forward steadily. They were being fired on but had not taken any casualties. But Dike was naked on his left, or so he thought. He made a disastrous decision, the kind of decision that gets men killed. He signaled for the 2nd and 3rd platoons to join Company HQ section behind two haystacks. From Winters' point of view: "Suddenly the line stopped about 75 yards from the edge of the village. Everybody hunkered down in the snow behind those stacks and stayed there for no apparent reason. I could not get any response from Lieutenant Dike on the radio. The company was a bunch of sitting ducks out there in the snow." He worried about how long he could keep up the suppressing fire. First platoon caught up with the company, grouped behind the haystacks. Foley came to Dike for orders. Dike didn't know what to do. Foley insisted he had to do something; Lipton and the other sergeants supported him strongly. Dike came up with a plan. It consisted of sending 1st platoon on a wide flanking movement to the left, to circle the village and launch an attack from the far side. Meanwhile he would direct machine-gun and mortar fire from the haystacks. For that purpose, Dike said he was keeping the platoon's mortar and machine-gun men with him, to participate in the suppressing fire. So, eighteen riflemen of 1st platoon went out into the snow, to try to get into Foy from the far side. After the series, Winters again complaint about Dike in his autobiography, Guarnere and Heffron also spoke badly about him in their book.
As I see it, we get to see their torment for 1 hour at a time. They were in this for 100s of days. It's a blessing we only have that and none of the real consequences. All done to create a safer world for billions of people in their future.
The time that Buck spent in the hospital after being wounded in Holland would have had a profound affect on him. I recommend the book And If I Perish: Frontline US Army Nurses in WW II.
Suggestion: The Pacific is a good series, but it only problem is that its extremely accurate and realistic to how MUCH more brutal the Pacific side of the war was for us. Its definitely good for education and understanding, but i honestly wouldn't suggest it for you two. It takes a level of reservation and grit to get through and honestly not traumatize you. And, on a personal note....im kinda tired of reviewers just bashing on it because its not "enjoyable" or "entertaining"......its not ment to be in my opinion, its to make you understand things beyond your understanding unless youd actually been there. Its to take things we read in text books.....and bring them to reality.
I tend to agree...the educational value of The Pacific is quite high, but the brutality depicted in the series is so much greater than BoB, it may not be worth the trauma of watching it.
@iKvetch Yeah, I feel that the difference between the two shows is that BoB had an optimistic view of the war, and the bond between the soldiers. The Pacific lacks those qualities, and that makes it a bit of a chore to get through.
Aside from the greater brutality, no doubt accurate, I just didn't find any of the acting in The Pacific to be in the same league as Band of Brothers. Not really even close, imo (maybe especially the actor playing the 'main character', Eugene Sledge)
David is correct The Pacific is far more brutal the Band of Brothers, not for the faint of heart also the movie Hacksaw Ridge. Japanese were fanatics no surrender and an honor to die for the emperor.If you decide on those movies I'm buying stock in scott tissue company.
Artillery: While in the Bastogne pocket, they consolidated the 101st's 4 artillery battalions (collectively called "Division Artillery" or "DivArty") with the DivArty of the 82nd Airborne Division and the 10th Armored Division, which were both also in the pocket, so that they could provide coordinated fire for the whole pocket. General McAuliffe, who was temporarily in command of the 101st Division while they were in Bastogne (the Division Commander had been in London meeting with Eisenhower when they went to Bastogne and were cut off, this was mentioned at the end of Ep 5 as they arrived in Bastogne) had come up through his career as an artillery officer. He used this combine artillery very well to keep the pocket from being overrun. At the beginning of Ep6 there is a scene with Winters and Nixon having a meeting with 506th Regimental commander Col. Sink (played by Dale Dye) and a Major with a circle on his helmet with a small square at the 6 o'clock position. The circle was used by the 101st's DivArty. This major is one of the artillery battalion commanders.
Well, it's not just a clever name. That's all I can say. Dike is essentially what Sobel would have been if he made it to the battlefield. "The only hope you have is to accept the fact that you're already dead. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you'll be able to function as a soldier is supposed to function: without mercy, without compassion, without remorse. All war depends upon it.” -Lieutenant Speirs, was a man of his word
Dike was actually decorated, more than once, for bravery in combat. At least 2 Bronze stars, for running into enemy fire on different occasions to drag wounded men out, basically. And in his famous 'breakdown' scene in this episode, he had apparently already been shot in the chest/shoulder area, and had lost so much blood he was beginning to pass out (according to one of the Easy company men who took part in the attack on Foy). The series probably does take some creative liberties for dramatic effect. (Sobel's family have complained about how unsympathetically he was portrayed in this series. Some of the men in Easy company credited Sobel with saving some of their lives by being such a strict disciplinarian during training, though Winters despised him)
Michael Kamen is the composer for this and among other things 'Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves'. He didn't do much compared to other better known composers, but what he DID do was always magnificent.
These man gave there life for us so live a good life and take care of one another. Freedom is not cheap young men and women give everything for us ! I served in the USCG we all must do our part !
In the last few years, I’ve been working on my family history. Last month, I reached out to my 2nd cousin LD, whom I had never heard of before compiling the family tree. I had found his business email address and decided to see if he would be interested in seeing the photos of his immediate family that I’ve inherited from my grandmother. He contacted me on Friday and we talked on the phone for over an hour on Saturday. It was really wonderful to talk about family stories of people I have been seeing in pictures for two years. The saddest story was of LD’s uncle Elroy, who fought in WWII. When he was drafted and went to the enlistment center in Brooklyn Yards, he had the highest IQ recorded there. He ended up fighting in the Battle of the Bulge, and was never the same. He hadn’t been wounded, but suffered from severe PTSD for the rest of his life into the 1990s. LD told me about the time Elroy had come to their house for Sunday dinner, something he did about once a year, and when LD disagreed with him on some general fact of history, well, Elroy just lost it and started to physically threaten the teenaged LD. His parents got Elroy quickly distracted, but explained a bit about his uncle to LD afterwards. After our talk, I sent all of the relevant photos, newspaper articles, and even a few videos of our family to LD. He loved the one I had of his grandfather and teenage father in their swimsuits at Coney Island in 1928!
@@popculturallychallenged The thing is, I knew none of it before I started working on our genealogy! My dad’s parents had long ago lost contact with LD-his father was my grandmother’s first cousin, but lived on the East Coast where we lived in the Chicago suburbs and he died back in the 1960s at age 54. I have only inherited the family photos from my elderly father since I’ve become the family historian. The only photo I have of Elroy is of him and his brothers as kids, so hearing of his PTSD was a real jolt, picturing that child as a hardened soldier in the cold of Belgium. LD himself knew none of the stuff that I’ve discovered in my research, other than the one family story we had both been told all of our lives-that Alexander Hamilton had been a 6th great granduncle. I had to burst his bubble on that one, though-we do have an Alexander Hamilton in that spot of the family tree, but he’s not the famous one! (Ours was born in Pennsylvania and 20 years after the famous one.) He was so bummed when I told him.
So proud of Toni for holding it together so well, I guess she saved all her tears for Ep9 ;) ! Ep8 is actually pretty laid back compared to 6 and 7. After Ep10, you must watch "We Stand Alone Together" it's essentially Ep11, a documentary about Easy from which all the veteran interviews from the beginning of each episode are taken from. It gives you another great look into these fantastic men. It's available right here on RU-vid.
Great review. I really liked when Toni got excited and clapped when they use the mortar to take out the sniper in the building during the attacked. A couple of points about the episode and questions you had: First early on when they were in the woods being "bombed" it was their job to hold the line right there. If they were to move back that would have allowed the Germans to come forward from the town and regain the attack. Other units were on either side of easy company getting the same treatment. But they all had to keep their positions to keep the Germans bottled up. The second point you said it seemed like they were fighting alone. In a way they were. Easy company was the designated strike unit of the Regiment, they had received extra training on assaults. So they would always be the first company in, leading the assaults', other units would follow and support them on their flanks (sides) but they were almost always in the lead when the regiment attacked. Another thing i want discuss is what Spiers did during the attack. His run had a purpose. There was another unit i company was attacking from the other side of the village their attacks needed to be coordinated or they might wind up shooting at each other. During the battle they lost radio contact with i company. So Spiers took it upon himself to run through the German lines find i company tell them where E company was and using Spiers words (from his book)"Don't shot my men" He then run back through lines and rejoin Easy to finish the assault. An incredible act of bravery and selflessness. Also in the show the run looks like its a city blocks. In reality it was much further, he had to run nearly 3/4 of a mile through the town under fire to find i company, then ran back so 1.5 mile round trip and then still had to lead finishing the attack! At the ending scen when he says they are going out with 63 men. Not all of the men were killed, they were including the wounded men who had to be evacuated and where no longer there (inclining Toye, Guarrane, and Compton).
What Patton did was to break through and open up the supply lines so men and material could be brought in to resupply the 101st airborne. What was so amazing about it, 3rd army was already engaged in battle when he got the word that the airborne was surrounded and needed help, so he marched his men 100 miles to relieve the 101st
Without showes such as this most Americans would simply forget the sacrifices that our military personnel have made to guarantee us the rights that we take for granted today. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
80 people are not dead. Casualty means dead or wounded. Over the past few Episodes, you’ve quoted others who said 7 was lighter and 8 and 9 harsh. I kept wondering who told you that. Breaking Point is one of the toughest (along with 9 - Why We Fight). Ep. 8!is a bit of a respite. What you miss about artillery support is that just 1week earlier they were completely surrounded. Artillery was not nearby and the Bulge covered hundreds of miles in area. Also, though the siege had been broken, the Germans didn’t just disappear. There were still many more north and west of Bastogne (who were well equipped) and they needed to be dealt with also. That’s the bigger picture that is not revealed in the show.
In reality Dyke didn't just freeze up, he was wounded and went into shock. The men hated him cause he wasn't personable and routinely disappeared instead of speaking to his men and showing he gave a shit about them. Episode eight isn't that bad, Episode nine breaks people. After you finish be sure to watch "We Stand Alone Together" the documentary that accompanies the mini series.
When Buck Compton drops his weapon and helmet and screams for a medic... that is always MY breaking point. Great reaction again. Toni it is fine to be who you are and feel what you feel. Hang tough.
Do you like Elvis? The song the girls sing in the convent dates back to 1784. It is not a religious song but a love song. “Plaisir d’Amour” means the pleasure of love. A rough translation of the first verse might be “The joys of love of love only last a moment, the grief of love lasts the whole life long.” Fast forward almost 200 years, the song gets a key change, a new bridge, and some tweaking to accommodate English lyrics. “Falling in Love with You” is one of Elvis’s greatest hits.
Speirs did shoot one of his men. His group was lying in wait for a group of Germans. The guy was so drunk he wouldn't shut up with the B.S. Speirs ordered him to return to command but instead the guy called him a yellow-belly and spun around with his gun and pointed it at Speirs. Speirs shot in self defense. He had someone go to command and return with a captain. The captain interviewed the men and agreed it was self defense. The part about Speirs running through the Germans to contact the other group is absolutely true. His men couldn't believe he did that. And he did come back the same way. When he returned from the war he eventually wound up in Korea where the solder Blithe also served. He didn't die as the BoB book described. It was just hearsay that he died earlier. I believe he lived until 1967. In case you wonder about this knowledge. I read the biography of Speirs. He also worked in Laos and Cambodia before the Vietnam war where he did not go. As we say in Texas; y'all be safe.
You cant spoil the fact that Speirs survived just yet! lol. You also forgot to mention that Speirs admitted to killing the POWs and put it in a letter to save any legal trouble later on for his portrayal.
@@mestupkid211986 I don't know about any video. I just know that I read the biography about Spiers and it cleared up a lot of things. He was one hell of a warrior.
I just watched your reaction to The Sixth Sense before watching this, and I have a message for Toni: Never be ashamed for crying. Your empathy is a wonderful thing. I, too, am always in tears from movies and shows like this. Wear it proudly. I love both your reactions. What a great couple you make.
This area of the front was viewed as a recovery and re-fit area. The weren't remotely prepared to mount a defense. That is why the Germans attacked here. As such they wouldn't have artillery in place. Apparently there was no time to disengage artillery where it was and move it into this area before the Germans cut off Bastogne.
I served a long time ago…a lifetime it now seems. One thing I’ve not seen others realize: When Malarkey is saying goodbye to Buck…Buck salutes first. Buck is an officer. Malarkey is enlisted. In a “camp” setting like they’re depicting (ie, not on the line where you could make a target of your officers by saluting), enlisted are supposed to salute first and hold the salute and then the officer returns the salute. Given the circumstances, Buck is rendering about as high an honor as he can to Malarkey. A silent, amazing honor. Re: not watching the Pacific. It IS a tough watch. The Japanese were a brutal enemy. But if that generation can LIVE it, then subsequent generations can watch it. We owe it to them. It is important that every American knows, as best as they can, the price that was paid for them.
Thanks Mike B, thank you for your service. I didn’t realize and appreciate your help with this. We will watch the Pacific at some point, I just need to restore my heart a bit. - Toni
Toni - the documentary (and end of episode 10) is the salve you want. The documentary has lots of interviews with the vets - the men you come to know during the series - incl several you shed tears about in this episode. Shows their humor, their long lives postwar etc. it’s called “We Stand Alone Together.” There is no shooting or explosions. Just some archival photos and film.
I think you are viewing these battles through a lens of modern US military tech and capabilities and not what it was back then. Back then, all of the players were more evenly matched and things like air support or artillery support were much more difficult to provide "in the moment." Nowadays, we can have jets just lotering above a battlefield, ready to support a platoon in trouble at a moments notice but back then supporting aircraft would have had to deal with uncontested enemy flack guns, enemy fighters etc. while just trying to bring that support. Nowadays, the enemies we fight bench their best fighters and assets so we don't totally annihilate them. Back then they had more than a chance to visit equal harm on our fighters and artillery.
The men of Easy Company refused to talk about Buck's breakdown. They feared it would turn his reputation. Buck being the man he was. Simply said. "It happened, so telltale story" So only after Buck had told them its OK would they talk to Ambrose
You need to remember during WW2 there were no early warning systems. Aircraft were not all weather capable, and chasing enemy artillery was a hit and miss game.
Episode 10 will pay off, that said; witnessing, remembering, and having some poor measure of the sacrifices made are part and parcel of one's responsibilty and duty. If these men and others like them made these sacrifices then our honoring and remembering their sacrifices in the least we can do. So though it may be distressisng, thank you for watching and sharing.
Yeah, but there’s important context missing. If I recall correctly, the person whose spear shot on his own squad was drunk, refused a direct order and pulled a pistol. And it’s a pretty widely known fact that on D-Day, the airborne were given clear instructions, not to take prisoners because it would jeopardize the entire operation.
The 101st Airborne Division actually DID have artillery support from the 969th Field Artillery Battalion. It was one of the U.S. Army's segregated units of all black soldiers. So of course their story is going to be left out of the narrative. Because of its success and gallant support at Bastogne, the 969th received its Distinguished Unit Citation through Third Army on 7 February 1945, from Maj. Gen. Maxwell Taylor, commander of the 101st. This was the first Distinguished Unit Citation awarded to an African American combat unit.
@@popculturallychallenged Yes. He was the best marksman of the company. He saved a lot of guys when he recognized a tree. The tree was there one day, but gone the next. Turns out the Germans had moved and dug in hard in that position, I think with machine guns and lots of stuff, but Shifty recognized that single tree changed and informed Winters and the others saving lots of guys from being torn apart
The problem was that they were stuck in the woods so they couldn't fire any artillery or use armor. The weather was bad so air support was out. The Germans held the villages around the forests, turned them into fortified positions and had the entire area zeroed in for artillery. They used artillery shells designed to explode in the air just above the tree tops which turned the tree branches into missiles in their own right. They had no choice but to take the area with only infantry.
Lipton said “in order for someone to get Easy Company’s respect, they’d have to March off to Berlin and come back with Hitler’s mustache.” Turns out Speirs didn’t need to go that far.
I have to say screw you to Toni, because every time you cry I do too! Band of Brothers is definitely one of the most emotional shows I have watched, but I tear up a lot more watching you guys react to it. Haha.
Episode 10 is all about the end of the war in Europe. And it does end on a high note. But even that episode has some difficult spots. By far, the worst is episode 9 though. I hope you guys watch The Pacific. I agree that it's harder to watch and darker than Band of Brothers, particularly the episode on Okinawa. But it's every bit as good as Band of Brothers. I read somewhere that the war in Europe was like a heavyweight boxing match, while the war in the Pacific was like a knife fight in a dark alley. The two series definitely reflect that.
1Sgt Lipton probably had the hardest job in E Company, I can't imagine having to take care of people's morale while you're going through the same hell.
The Pacific is a good series. It's organized a little differently than Band of Brothers. It fallows 3 Marines specifically in different divisions. With their squad mates as prominent supporting cast. The Pacific was a totally different war. It was ugly, brutal, and dehumanizing. Holding on to your humanity, and the effects on war on the individual is one of the elements in the series. It's also an order of magnitude more violent than Band of Brothers. Seeing Toni have a difficult time watching this series, I would suggest the Pacific is not for her. You see children get killed, civilians used as bait, men commit suicide, and falling into rotting corpses.
Oh wow.. I think we'll watch it someday but after this series I want to give her a break for a bit. We'll see about The Pacific in the future though. 🙂
Toni would enjoy the accompanying HBO documentary “We Stand Alone Together,” as you see so many of the men - the surviving vets and their humor and lives after the war. Highly recommend you react to that after episode 10. All the names of the interviewees (incl guys not shown in the pre-episode interviews) are revealed and it’s so many of the names you come to know and admire during the miniseries. Lots more context of the events from the men themselves. Plus their lives postwar.
Yeah lost a friend in falluga lost my uncle 4 years ago. And lipton. Had a few master Sargent and gunny that were solid. . . Off topic I like the actor that plays malarkey. He's in the oriville Gordon and his wife paskey. Are great actors and comedians.
Toni is a trooper 💪🏻 in all fairness though people did warn you about this episode, I know I did. Anyway, episode 8 is no picnic but it’s a little break between 7 & 9 which are really rough.
Even though conditions sucked that contributed to keeping some of the men alive. Due to the cold they would lose blood much slower thus giving them a better chance of survival. The guy who shot himself with the luger hit his Femoral artery which would bleed out in a matter of seconds. 20 seconds he would lose consciousness and 45 to 1 min would be dead from blood loss. Due to the cold maybe slightly longer but that wound was fatal. Unless doc was right next to him when it happened he had no chance of surviving.. even then it would be slim.
They really couldnt shoot back. They had very little ammo, food, warm clothes, and the weather was so bad they couldnt get supplies to them or men. They were surrounded until Pattons first amy marched miles and miles on foot to rescue (or assist) them.
The problem concerning lack of support was the weather. It was awful, clouds & fog everywhere, freezing temps which can keep aircraft from flying. Moving artillery into position would have been detected early by the Germans while they were embedded in the towns. Admittedly the town of Foy was occupied repeatedly by both sides before the Americans took it for good. You're looking at the action here as outsiders with time to think about it whereas in these scenes the soldiers are reacting rapidly best they can with limited information as it happens. You hear a shot and you have to take time to figure out where it's coming from (as viewers, we already know). Snipers are meant to be hidden and hard to find until you can see a flash from their muzzle. I love your reaction to the series and it's okay that you aren't as well versed in the history as some of your fans may be. Trust me, at the end of this series you will be satisfied.
Leutnant Dyke is scared, that's the whole scope of it. The constant yawning and the repeating absence are clear signs of weak nerves and fear - fear from war, fear from incompetence in the face of the men.
The real Dike was decorated for bravery in combat, on multiple occasions (at least 2 Bronze Stars, for things like rushing into enemy fire to drag wounded men out). According to an Easy company witness, he 'broke down' in this episode because he had been shot in the upper chest/shoulder, and had lost so much blood, he was beginning to lose consciousness. Hollywood is known to take creative liberties, for dramatic effect.
I love your channel and reaction! it remind me this episode and my feeling before while i am watching this video. Great reactions! Hopefully your channel goes well day by day! best wishes!
8:31 That conversation was weird, but in leadership training, they say that "sociability" is one of the traits a leader should have. This seems like an example of someone trying to be sociable because he's been taught that he should but not really feeling it or just being very awkward and uncomfortable with it.
easy company didnt have any air support for a couple of days because of the bad weather. also tanks and artillery were stuck in the mud and they couldnt move. Thats why the were on their own for this period
There are very different statements about Dike. According to members of Easy Company, he was indeed a bad leader. But on the other hand, Dike was awarded a second Bronze Star for his action at Bastogne, in which "he personally removed from an exposed position, in full enemy view, three wounded members of his company, while under intense small arms fire" on 3 January 1945. I think, both statements could be true. You can be a good soldier, but also a bad, because overtaxed, leader. For the Easy, he was a bad leader, for the others, a brave man. In fact, that he was wounded during the battle, so he was replaced by Speirs.
Perhaps, but it is true that he suffered shell shock during the battle in this episode and had to be replaced. I suspect his accomplishments and promotions were a result of his connections with higher ups, and his individual actions as a soldier. By all accounts he was not cut out to be a leader.
@@Rocket1377 You're right. I personally believe the statements made by the Easy Company men, but there are other statements as well, perhaps due to his connections, so I want to be fair. We were not there, so we can not judge about Dike. You can see it in normal working life, in politics or in everyday life that a very good worker does not have to be a good leader. Leadership requires a special character to be successful.
As I've probably noted before I've watched a lot of reactions to this series (your's is excellent btw). Many many people (including myself in the past) have said Ep.9 is the hardest. But in retrospect I THINK this episode may be the hardest. Don't get me wrong...Ep.9 is VERY difficult, but it's difficult in a "big picture" kinda way. I believe Ep.7 may be the hardest because we are witnessing the systematic pain of so many men we've come to connect with...we "feel" specifically for what they are going through. I can't imagine why anyone would say Ep8 is more difficult than 7. I'm not even sure I'd put it in the top 5 hardest. So...2 of the next 3 aren't nearly so difficult (still tough parts...but nothing like 6/7). Ep.9 is Ep.9. Peace
I was thinking episode 7 was going to be easier than the others and it really wasn’t. I would love to get to the end soon. I think that will bring me some joy. - Toni 🥰
Supplies were still very limited at the time. They didnt have much artillery and limited ammo for them. All support had to be judiciously doled out to the most needed at the moment.
So there is a BIG debate about LT. Dike and the attack on Foy and him being wounded many go with the Clancy story who said that he noticed Dike being wounded but there is no mention of him being hit during the attack. so per the old CO E/506th living history unit who has copies of all the E co & 506th reports and spent alot of time with all the vets - "they hated him (Dike). The only thing they didn't like in the series is that it didn't show the absolutely massive foxhole he had the Co HQ guys dig for him. "It was as big as a hotel". (heard Wild Bill talking about that) so Dike wasn't hit during the assault on Foy. A lot of people think he was due to the miniseries and some comments Clancy Lyall made (even though he never saw Dike during the assault). There’s absolutely no record of him being hit or mention in the morning report copies." Also for Speirs run through Foy to make contact with Item Co. which was down too about 22 troopers and they were shooting into Easy's positions in town so he want to tell them to stop shooting.
Yes, there is a lot of confounding info re Dike. The Easy Co. men didn’t like him (understatement), but he also had been wounded, earned 2 bronze stars, served with distinction in Korea, and retired a LtCol.
@@alanholck7995 oh i know he had proven bravery before and after , and this eps didn't make him look good, but during the attack on Foy he just didn't do it. i know Wild Bill & Babe didn't say too many nice things about him the Maj. talked about him, but too be honest i can't recall what he said as Bill & Babe had been challenging me to out drink them & i was the taste tester for the prop blast early in the evening so things were fuzzy lol
Internet through an Ethernet cable in the UK is superfast about 500mb/s but because our houses have stone walls the Wi-Fi is around 30mb/s in a room far away it blocks the signal- or mobile phone coverage is rubbish here I’m lucky if I get a signal at all in my village
Good job getting through this one. You've made it through the most difficult ones, so you can go the distance now. Although episode 9 has it's own unique hell... I know you'll get through it - albeit with a few boxes of tissues. It's important to remember that the series is focused on Easy company, so they're often depicted a bit more alone than they really were during the real event. This is done mostly theatrically so the viewer doesn't lose focus of Easy company itself with a few million other different storylines & events from everything else that happened in the real world. Some other commenters have stated correctly that Easy had to hold that line, and they had other units on their left, right, and behind them. It was no walk in the park - but those 140 men weren't all by themselves in the war. Spiers' run really happened, but it was a bit longer than the show depicts. Supposedly he was taunting some of the Germans as he ran past them. I don't know if that part's true, but it's sure funny to think about. Dike had been an okay platoon leader somewhere else before being assigned as Easy company's new CO (commanding officer) after Moose Heyliger was shot. He was recognized, and decorated for personal bravery before coming to Easy. He also helped pull a few wounded men to safety at Bastogne. Personally, he was a strange, detached guy who never bonded with Easy or made much of an effort to try. He had a gigantic foxhole dug for him - which further alienated him from the Easy company guys. And he completely froze up during the assault on Foy. It was an active attack, and his freezing up cost many men their lives. An internet rumor has sprung up that Dike was wounded, suffering from blood loss, etc. This is completely untrue! He just froze up. None of Easy company's reports contain anything about Norman Dike being wounded. If he was just some guy in the unit, you could make an argument that maybe it was omitted in error. But the company commander being wounded would surely make it onto multiple reports. So, he was just in over his head. Look forward to your reactions to the last three episodes - as well as the unofficial "11th episode" - which is just interviews with Easy company veterans.
funfact: those stories about speirs ARE true. winters had to confirm those stories for the makeing of the series,and since those stories were going around for decades winters asked him directly if those were true or not,speirs confirmed ALL those stories were infact true
History there was no air support engines froze in the planes. It was 30 below 0. Even gasoline freezes. Only high altitude air drops sorta worked. And the sceen with spears. Actually happened
This is a story told oved 10 episodes and I think at the end you will like the total package. I think you both will love the ending of episode 10. It's just a tough journey getting through it. Not near as tough as the men that lived it.
Don’t forget to watch *Escape To Victory* for a refreshing WWII movie without any battles. Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Max Von Sydow and “King” Pelé, GREAT movie.
