Go to ground.news/mastersamwise to better understand the world. Subscribe through my link for 40% off unlimited access this month. Now go find a mountain to run up and down. Currahee!
I like Ground, but while they say they offer non-English articles, and supposedly articles in their original languages, they sure don't make it easy to find them.
It is also important to note that the actors in BoB are considerably aged up. Col. Sink was only 39, and Winters was just 26 or 27 when he was made a Major. For comparison it generally takes a commissioned officer 11 years to be made a Major today.
War movies always do that. For most of us, that's all we'll ever see of war, so it's easy to forget the men who win wars on the ground are really just young boys. I'm currently 24 and still consider myself a dumb kid, can't imagine being conscripted for the eastern front at 18.
In college i went on a month trip across Normandy, Belgium and Germany, roughly the same route Easy took throughout the war. From Normandy to Bastogne, to even Dachau and the Eagle's Nest. The foxholes from the Bulge are still there. It's a surreal feeling knowing you can stand at the same spot where men fought and suffered and died. I have immense respect and reverence for Captain Winters and Easy Company and I wish that if I ever have to serve my country I can do them proud. Currahee!
In the book Band of Brothers (I think), Ambrose mentions how he visited Foy with Winters and Winters' wife while he was in the process of writing the book. The ground there had been freshly tilled, and Mrs. Winters found a spent shell-casing in the fields from where Easy Company advanced toward the town. It's incredible how much of that history has been preserved.
I've been to Normandy. I went in 2019 during a student exchange program before my senior year of high school. We started the day driving to Point du Hoc and ended it at Villers-sur-Mer. It was such an amazing trip. The area is so peaceful and beautiful now. Looking at the bunkers and AA emplacement at Point du Hoc was an eye opener. Looking at a concrete bunker and seeing a chunk taken out of it, you knew shit went down their. Walking twords the sea, the younger brother of the host family i was staying with, ran down and up a crater. At first, my thoughts were "oh hes having fun. That's nice.. wait a second.. that hole wasn't there before june 6th. " Then, seeing the cliff themselves was crazy. To think those Rangers were able to land on the beach, deploy grapling hooks, then climb up a roap ladder in crummy weather with 100 lbs worth of gear and getting shot at. It's a heroic feat, i dont know if i could do it with the most perfect conditions. We went to the American cemetery there next. The layout is similar to Arlington national cemetery. It's a beautiful place. Lots of crosses their We ended it at a town called Villers-sur-Mer. We swam in the english channel their(which is really fucking gross dont do that it has so much junk in it). In that town there are still the temporary docks created by the British. After the day i was blown away that such a peacful area was once so full of violence and bloodshed
I wouldn't be the person I am without this man. Band of brothers changed me as a whole, after the first episode, 9/11 happened. I watch my dad leave home and many of his friends come home under flags, later on I watched my friends go through the same fate. Many of us latched on to this around this time, and men like Dick Winters was the tale told to us.
So many people love fantasy for its ability to take characters you love and take you along a journey of honor and perseverance. People say be brave and bold like Beowulf, Aragorn and Gimli, Hercules. We should strive to be as bold as these great men. They weren’t great men who accomplished things, they were men who accomplished great things. As we all can.❤
Dick Winters is truly a real hero. He's Iroh and Aragon rolled into one. Love the Republic Commando helmets. Would you talk about the games or the books, I'm currently reading the first book.
@@master_samwise Okay thanks. 👍 Ever thought about talking about the books, if you read them? Loved how you used the Republic Commando soundtrack at the end. I caught it.
Man you keep using Jupiter and it keeps making me cry. Despite expecting it like every time i watch one of your videos I'm still constantly amazed how much these principles line up with Stoicism (get that lowercase stoicism bs outta here) Great video. And mad respect to all the veterans. Lest we forget.
He’s absolutely a great leader. But the leader I really loved in the show was Lt. Spiers. It wasn’t just leading from the front, it’s was the understanding of war, the callousness of making decisions that can cost men their lives. The scene of him sprinting through an occupied village AND back still gives me goosebumps.
In the vein of celebrating men like Winters, I'd heartily recommend to Master Samwise and everyone to read up on battles that aren't afforded the spotlight of pop culture and something like BoB; actions that were far more desperate than anything the Airborne ever had to endure: Gloster Hill and Imjin, Dien Bien Phu, Taffy 3, Ortona, etc. The sheer fortitude and guts of many of those men involved (including leaders on the ground) and some of their insane feats beggars belief, and is just as, if not more deserving of praise. Even someone like Winters would've truly got the meaning of combat fatigue in the fighting in Dien Bien Phu, where men literally, suddenly died in their posts from sheer exhaustion. This isn't to throw shade at or discount their accomplishments at all, but I think it's reasonable to say that following D-Day, given the massive material advantage of the Allies and that the Germans were running on fumes (literally), there were scarcely any truly "do-or-die" moments for the Allied forces beyond local blunders like Arnhem or Hurtgen. Even Wacht-am-Rhein was never going to succeed, and in any case Elsenborn Ridge was far more important to its outcome than Bastogne.
Regarding the end of the video - It must make one wonder how other peoples must have felt under hard attack from german campaigns. Battle of the bulge was simply the only intense german campaign that the US was subjected to, and so it is talked about endlessly
@@master_samwisegiven your channel’s content and style, I can actually make a specific recommendation on the topic I think you might enjoy - Leningrad: Siege and Symphony by Brian Moynahan The true stories of starved and traumatized musicians pushing themselves to the brink of exhaustion to create the 7th symphony are particularly powerful. It’s a wonderful and harrowing and at times unbelievable true story.
How did you know I just watched Band of Brothers for the first time? Well, probably because it just came to Netflix but still. This show was absolutely wonderful. Everyone should watch it.
Loooovvvee that you followed up your original BoB video with what a lot of people requested in the comments of that video. I myself was yearning for a closer look at Major Winters because I don't think there's quite the man to match him in his specific leadership qualities. And Damien Lewis played him spectacularly!
I just finished Band of Brothers I'm a canadian and I wished they would tell our stories if you want to look into it read about the black watch in france and holland
@@master_samwise 7 days in hell it's a book about the scout platoon by David O'kefee and unforuntately very few canadain war stroies have ever been done on the big screen and the ones that are potray them poorly unlike the US our military has little respect amoungst our population so our stories are often left just in documents and historical writings
@@master_samwise this is about the black watch I'm a little biased about my love of the regiment because I'm part of canada's cadet progam and am in a highlander crops
26 years Navy . 13 active on submarines, 13 reserve as an EOD Diver. LPO of two Auxiliary divisions, lead Diver on 3 Submarines and a Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle. Did a tour as an RCC (Navy Drill Instructor). As a lead mechanic, leadership means knowing how to work on things and providing the support those below you need. I once had my Recruits challenge me to PT with them. I responded "Sure BUT..We will do Navy Diver PT!" Leading them through this brutal exercise earned their respect
The way I view Major Winters as a soldier that simply wanted to do is job and keep his men alive and finish the war so he could go home just like many others.
I started a rewatch of Band of Brothers on D Day's anniversary last week. It's an incredibly hard watch but I absolutely love it. These men have sacrificed much more than I ever could. And I have major respect for them. Fantastic video!
I love video game music as background music for my video essays. It's so much better than most of the other stuff you can use. I'm forever grateful to the industry as a whole for their generous attitude in the use of their products.
I think it's amazing that, even with the inaccuracies of the show that might paint certain characters in a more negative light, I have yet to meet a single person when talking about BoB who hasn't done their due diligence and learned about both the inaccuracies and the real men's lives. Everyone I've ever met treats these men's stories with respect.
Your point about Sobel is something I had not thought about but believe is likely true. Not sure if Easy would be who they are without him dragging their ass through the mud.
A man leads by example. Winters did all the same drills they did. He faced the same horrors all his men did. Together, they are a unit but they are a unit comprised of individuals. Winters bears the responsibility of knowing that when he commands his men to do something; they'll do it. And he'll never ask someone to do something he wouldn't do himself. Because it does mean that he will inadvertently command people to die, but it will never be out of maliciousness. He will do his best to get as many people out alive while still completing the assignment and making the tough decisions.
I appreciate that zoom in to the background on the Way of Kings and Words of Radiance books when discussing doing what's right because it's right regardless of who gets the credit.
I read Dike's story as an example of how easy it is for a person without the superhuman mental fortitude of someone like Winters to crack under the immense pressure of combat. For every war hero like Winters, there are a hundred Dikes. Ordinary men who were unfairly expected to rise to extraordinary heights of bravery and didn't quite make it.
Your essays are excellent, and this one particularly stands out as Winters is not a fictional character. I would suggest Master Sergeant Roy Benavidas for your consideration.
Winters has a point; how can I, just a working class guy with access to the internet, be in lesser physical condition than a guy in 1944 with food rationing and probably limited knowledge of muscle physics and nutrition, just the army's training regimen and his own instincts.
That everything was tracked and recorded and seconded by at least one other person makes Winters’ and E company’s story a great glimpse into that whole mess. We need to learn from both it and others, never shying away from what has happened before
It’s easy to say hold the line. But unimaginable when you are on the line. Battle of Bulge is he best example of that. Attrition can cause the best of the men to fumble
Playing Halo music over your description of Winters's physicality and being a paragon of a true soldier makes him sounf like Masterchief, and I'd agree.
lieutenant Spiers is another good character to analyse, take as example episode 7 during the attack on Foy he relieved lieutenant Dike and properly informed easy company about the objective on how to assault the town, he ran right through the town to link up with I company to keep the assault organised, not only did he run right through the town full of Germans but he also came back.
I think a big example of winter's amazing leadership not mentioned here, is the 2nd raid. When they sent a team over into german territory to capture prisoners and destroy the OP, resulting a great success. Command wanted them to do it again, but winter's understood the suicide mission and risked his, i would say life at most, for sure career and rank, to keep the men safe from un impractical mission
The choice to have Kratos' theme from the new God of War series to be the background music there for at least a little bit, was a 10/10 decision. Edit: It started when Winters went from Easy Company to Battalion command. A change that Winters has to deal with, and if that isn't one of the central themes of the new GoW I don't know what is. 15/10
That's the plan! Halo Reach in particular struck a chord, but I loved Halo 1-3 as well. Probably a good ways off, but definitely on the list of videos to make.
@master_samwise that's exciting news! Halo was my favorite franchise growing up, and with how much I've come to love the quality of your videos, I can't wait. On the topic of quality - I really have to say this video is also one of my favorites of yours. Yes, there is a huge part of that being due to my patriotic heart loving this video honoring an American hero. But there's no denying you make great videos in your own right - thank you for providing such enjoyable content!
Unfortunately if you look up Fort Benning you'll get Fort Moore because a select few of Americans didn't like that Fort Benning was originally named after a Confederate General.
Hey Master Samwise, if you havn't read it already I think you would love the book Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends. It's about the lives of William Wild Bill Guarnere and Edward Bade Heffron during and after the war, and how they became best friends. I hope you see this and give it a try, it's a great book.
What with the pan into the Brandon Sanderson books when you said, "Someone has to do what is right because it is right?" I have never heard of that author.
As in more about real men? THANK YOU. I knew that tune was used for another song. I know it best as the melody of Oh God Beyond All Praising, but the music was originally from the Jupiter movement of the Planets suite by Gustav Holst.
@@master_samwise Yes real men/women ( perhaps a spin off channel for that eh), William Coltman = British Desmond Doss and a real life Samwise Gamgee, Mad Jack Churchill and others like them, you do real life Bio's as well as your othe4s.
4:50 "that isn't saying a leader has to be able to do all that his subordinates can do" Yea, it's the difference between Goals and Actions, a commander is expected to be willing to fire a heavy machine gun if he expects his unit to do so, he may be terrible at it but he must be willing to do it if necessary, any leader who says "oh I can't fire that because the vibrations hurt my hands" will be mocked by his men unless he can earn their respect in other ways. The difference is easier to see when you have a IT team, if you ask one of your coders to stay late into the night to finish work for a fast approaching deadline, you aren't asking them to code anything, you are asking them to "stay late into the night to work on the project" which for them is coding, and as a manager you must be willing to "stay late into the night to work on the project" even if that doesn't mean coding which you may be terrible at you must just play your part. If you ask people to stay late but you clock off at five to five every day, get ready for your people to lack respect for you.
Hello, Master Samwise, This was an amazing video on Maj. Winters and Easy Company! I’m curious if you are or have ever considered doing videos on other exemplary military/historical leaders? One leader I’d choose to compare Winters to is Captain (then Lieutenant) Nathaniel Fick from “Generation Kill” who served during the war on terror in 1st recon of the USMC. I can’t wait to see your next video as they are always insightful and useful in my daily life! Much love, GrassesOn.
I'm loving the constant nods to Stormlight Archives in your videos. Are you going to wait until after book 5 to delve into that series with your videos?
Is this from hang tough? Which book specifically? Am I just dumb and missed the title mention? (Edit I think it’s beyond band of brothers that you showed after I made this comment)
Ive never been in official leadership positions, but I've always led, and I always acted and equally dispersed work. It's similar to what winters said, but now I have his lense to focus my baseball bag methids
3:40 uncle Iro does push-ups not with his palms but with his fists, earth bending in practice, but strengthening himself from the very ground the keeps him caged, caged in the sense he was not strong enough to retake the earth kingdom in the name of the white lotus, he was already strong enough in fire bending alone to break out of the cage but that would be selfish as he would be on the run growing weaker instead of being fed meals, (even if the guard threw it on the floor) and having a safe environment to grow strong enough to make a real impact and lead the white lotus to retake the earth kingdom
Could you tell me what music is playing at 28:50? I remember that I used to listen to it, but I’ve forgotten the name Edit: Found it, it’s Jupiter from Planet Suite
The biggest irony of BOB is, if nobody had done anything about Sobel, nothing would have changed. Mehan took his place and his plane went down anyways.
Possibly, but the removal of Sobel from Easy Company made it possible, IIRC, for Winters to return as XO. If they hadn't moved Sobel to the training school, Winters might never have jumped into Normandy.
The whole running around in front of a machine gun thing is more impressive when you think about the fact that machine gun is an Spandau (not German, don't know spellings) they may not have been effective ways of killing given their terrible accuracy, they are however PHENOMENAL suppressive weapons, because they sound TERRIFYING and that just the gun itself, let along 900 to 1200 round wailing past your head
