BoB Community... YOU ARE AWESOME!!! Thank you so much for your support!! I loved this episode and cannot wait to continue watching and sharing this journey with you!! This episode was shorter in length so I made sure to make my outro extra long to give you guys around the same length video you're used to!!! - Lite
I love your outros. That level of care for your craft is a rare thing to see, and we really appreciate it. We don’t just want to see your gut reaction during the episode, we want to hear your insights after the episode. That makes you one of the absolute best reactors on TH-cam in my opinion. Can’t wait to see the rest of your reaction to this show.
I know previously you mentioned you're a fellow Western New Yorker. If you travel to the small town of Genesseo NY about an hour east of Buffalo, you will find the National Warplanes Museum. Home of W7 more affectionately known as Whiskey 7. She was the lead ship C-47 in the second wave of paratroopers. Whiskey 7 is still air worthy and regularly flies the airshow circuits. Each July The National Warplanes Museum hosts the Greatest Show on Turf and you can visit this and many other historical aircraft up close ant personal
@@LiteWeightReacting Thanks to you for your hard work getting these videos together for us. It is my first time watching and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. Sometimes it breaks my heart to see you hurting watching the facts of war but as a veteran I’m glad to see people watch all the events that these veterans went through. I truly wish our nation had men like that today. No doubt we have them but those guys are a dying breed! Thank you so much
I consider this series as the crowning achievement of all television and my personal favorite. It’s extremely satisfying to watch a reactor have the knowledge and intelligence to understand the nuance and context of the situations and people presented in the show.
Also, the bit about Malarkey meeting that German POW is absolutely true with one major detail exception… they actually worked right across the street from one another! The producers changed it to 100 miles apart because they didn’t think the audience would believe the actual truth.
There's a few other things they changed. Malarkey met him a few days after D-Day, but the producers wanted it in the show and there was nowhere else to include it. Also, he wasn't in the group of prisoners that were allegedly executed by Spiers.
It's hard to believe a family today would return to a country for a reason like this. RIP to all the men that felt the need to fight a war due to their blood. A senseless reason, a senseless death.
As you asked, a little history on the scene where Lt Winters pulled a compass out of his pants (9:03). In WWII officers and select enlisted men where given what's known as a 'escape and evasion kit' that included a compass and a small razor blade or small hacksaw blade. Then depending on the theater they where going, it also contained: local currency (to either help bribe people or pay for things to help get you back to allied forces), a rubberized map (to help make it waterproof and so it didn't make noise when opening and closing) and a card with a list of local phrases to try and help communication. It was provided in a small bag that could be carried with you. But everyone who was issued one was strongly encouraged to take the items, such as the compass and hacksaw blade, and hide them on their bodies somewhere. That's why Winters is pulling the compass out of the zipper of his pants. He had a small pouch sewn into his zipper for it so he'd always know where it was in a pinch. He said he put the razor blade under the heel of his boot. But the movie doesn't get into that since he thankfully never had to use it. The money & everything else could just be stored in pockets.
Great reaction like always, 14:03 fun fact: Buck's handsignals to Malarkey and Guarnere were as such He signaled 1, 4, 2, and then 2, 5, with his fingers. Then a closed fist and pointed in the direction of the MG. Translated: "1 MG42, 25 Feet, throw grenades that way." An MG42 is a preferred machine gun that the German army used. The 25 feet was helpful for Malarkey and Guarnere to gauge how far they needed to throw the grenades. And yes earlier what Winter pull out of his pants was compass. I remember reading a book called "Geronimo" based on the Airborne troops of WW2, and it has a section from the German side of D-Day. It talk about how soldiers patrolling noticed an abnormal amount of frogs and crickets during the night. What they actually heard was the cheap toy clicker you see in Lt. Winters hand. It shows you how close some of these guys were to the enemy. The show actually underplayed the battle for the guns due to time and dramatic constraints. The fighting lasted about 3-4 hours and there were something like 50-100 German defenders. The paratroopers were at constant risk of being flanked and annihilated. Winter's tactics kept the enemy confused and dispersed and many feel that he should have received the Medal of Honor for his actions there rather than "just" the Distinguished Service Cross. We often forget how completely foreign the rest of the world was to this generation. In our modern times we have the internet and easy access to travel the world; back then travel was much less frequent and information was mainly supplied through newspapers and some tv news.... just crazy thought to consider these young kids traveling to completely strange lands to fight a virtually unknown enemy. Thanks to all vets out there, from back then to present day, thanks for your service! And dont worry we got your back we´re a Band Of Brothers when you ask us to help we do it and it was a pleasure! Keep up the good work.
Marco! good context! Oh, and still some radio 📻 addresses! In fact, mostly radio since television doesn't come around widely until toward the end of WWII, I believe?
Buck’s throwing the grenade at the German’s head so accurately demonstrated his baseball skills that he used on the college team he played on alongside Jackie Robinson. And, I read somewhere that Winters didn’t get the Medal of Honor because a member of the 101st already had one of those for their D-Day service, and the US military wanted to spread them around.
You have quickly become the best sister for the Band of Brothers! As always, love your commentary, especially the longer discussion afterward. No one does that better than you! I would have really enjoyed a history class taught by you!
@@LiteWeightReactingan extraordinary human being and an extraordinary leader!! And such a humble and gentle man!! Dick Winters is the definition of a true hero!!
You are absolutely right about Winter's on the ground, leading from the front leadership. The truck scene with him and Guarnere is masterful. Winters gets in there, explains he's going to be the leader and when Toy offers him a drink and Guarnere says no for him, Winters knows this is just one more than that separates him from the men he needs to lead. And not just him leading, he needs them to follow. So he takes that drink, which Guarnere knows its his first time, and then offers the bottle to Bill basically saying "We're good?" And Bill takes the bottle and drinks, confirming yeah "We're good". And then Winters does another brilliant move - he leaves. This is down time for the men. This is boys time, they need to decompress, eat some food, pass around a bottle and tell dirty jokes and laugh, and they can't do that with their commanding officer around. So he gives them the space they need. He quashed any beef with Guarnere, showed the men he could drink and be one of them, and then leaves so they can relax. Its a very great scene. The only real inaccurate part of this episode is the assault on the manor. The shows makes it seem like it was 20mins, when in reality it took a few hours, and there was a lot of patience and maneuvering and getting men in the right place before attacking. Great reaction! Have a subscribe and a like!
the part about Buck’s Thompson not working so he was throwing grenades was true. He was previously a catcher for UCLA so he had a great arm + accuracy.
I was active duty, 22 years old, in a special unit when this show debuted. It aired on Sunday nights. We watched the first episode. Then 9/11 happened the Tuesday the second week. We were deployed. Then later we got to watch the rest of it. My favorite show of all time, still to this day at 45 years old. I’ve seen it multiple times a year, every year, including the making of. Listened to the Roger Bennett (Men in Blazers) full 10 part podcast with actors on the 20 Anniversary. Seen the making of & reunions multiple times, including the Lt. Nixon diaries on the DVD. Even traveled to Hershey, Pennsylvania for a certain legends funeral. This show is revered in the military community, especially in small, close, special unit.
I appreciate your reaction versus others because you actually are educated on a lot that is going on during WW2, which gives you a better appreciation and understanding about what you hear in the show.
Survivors of Easy would talk about the fact that they'd done so much training at night that they could recognize one another simply by their silhouette.
The thing is, Winters was one of thousands of men that had that SAME mental attitude and SAME leadership skill. There's a reason why they were called the GREATEST GENERATION!!!
You're the only reactor I've seen that actually saw that Buck Compton didn't just drop the grenade on his own. Instead, he was shoulder checked as he was about to throw it. Buck Compton was a star pitcher for UCLA. He was so accurate that during this attack, he threw a grenade at a running German, and it blew up at the same moment it hit the man's helmet.
Yes. For some reason, audio was added post production that made it seem like a near miss of Germans bullets was what caused Compton to drop the grenade. Maybe the camera was so shaky that it was hard to tell why he dropped it?
I don't understand why so many people miss that. I noticed it plain as day the first time I watched it. Maybe people's situational awareness has taken a dive or something.
I watched this series first at 8 years old. I’m now a 24 year old Marine Corps Veteran. Watching your videos (especially military movies/shows) heals a lot for me. Thank you, can’t wait for the next episode!
i would say this is probably one of the best post episode analysis/wrap ups I have seen. I watch a lot of reactors that miss a lot of the finer details and unspoken actions between the men. I find that reactors with an appreciation and understanding of the history of WW2 pick up much more. I look forward to future episodes!
I love that people just comment facts about the current episode not about who she is going to love in the future or what episode is going to be the hardest to watch. Until now.
Concerning the use of grenades, the Americans and the Germans had two different theories from each other. The German theory was that a grenade was to be used as a percussive device to temporarily stun an enemy, so that a German soldier had enough time to close the distance and shoot the enemy with their guns. The German grenades were colloquially called "Potato Mashers" because it had a thin metal cannister on the end of a long stick. When the device exploded, it did not have enough metal in it's composition to create much shrapnel ..... But, it sure made a loud percussive BANG! American grenades were affectionately called "Pineapples." American grenades were made into palm-sized devices that were segmented. Upon detonation, these segments would break apart and be cast-off in all directions. This "flying-shrapnel" was very deadly and did a lot of damage to the human body. Whereas the German grenades (Stielhandgranate) were designed to primarily stun a soldier, the American grenades (Mk 2 grenade) were specifically designed to maim and kill.
Because BofB is one of my all-time favorite TV miniseries, I always like to watch new reactions. Yours is by far one of the best. Many reactors can't remember the names of the characters. You not only remember their names, but you have shown great insight into their character development. Many of the questions you raised will be answered in the coming episodes. I can't wait until your future reactions when you see how much foresight you had into the characters. To give you a more thorough understanding of the history of Easy Company, I recommend reactions by "A history professor reacts to B of B" I cites many other sources which fill in many of the significant facts which the series didn't have time to include. Keep up the good work.
You are the only reactor that actually spends a good amount talking about what you just saw❤ There is absolutely No idea in watching a stranger watch a movie and that’s it. Keep your style and your channel will blow up. Thank you for your reaction, I enjoy rewatching the series with you. Watched them when they aired and I was a raw recruit and then 9/11 happened, when the second episode hit, making the show even more relevant for us since we didn’t know if WW3 was about to start. ❤ from Denmark.
@@LiteWeightReactingKeep doing what you do, half of watching a reaction is to hear your experience and thoughts.. So far you are one of the few that has actually understood that :) Take care.
When you said "What in the baseball pitch was that?", you were pretty right. Buck Compton was an All-American catcher for UCLA , and was a teammate with Jackie Robinson.
@@LiteWeightReacting It was an almost completely accurate account. The only difference is they made it cleaner by hitting the guy in the back. He actually hit him in the back of the head.
Appreciate your reaction to this epic series. It's like I'm sharing it with my little sister, or a good friend, for the first time. Most of the younger reactors don't have much life experience, and they're definitely not schooled in history. You notice the little things that many miss. You're crushing it. Thank you. :)
When of the many blessings in my life was getting to know a WW2 veteran. Every day he would sit in a convenient store and watch people go in and out. Most of the time nobody would spend 1 minute of their time to even ask how he was doing. He was assigned to General Patton’s third Army and fought in the battle at Bastogne. My love for history kept me there many times in awe of the things he witnessed. It was very hard though when he went silent and had an empty stare on his face. Most times that’s when I would tell Mr. Thatcher I would see him tomorrow. Absolutely a legend. RIP MR. THATCHER.
The baseball throw of Compton was because he was a real jock athlete type of dude. He played football then transitioned to baseball. He was an All-American catcher and he played with Jackie Robinson
“We’re not lost private, we’re on the LiteWeight Reacting channel” Also this is one of my favorite episodes just for the fact that it highlights how serious this show is going to be and gives us a nice little taste of combat before the main course later on
Omigosh... you are nailing this. Dunno where to start... maybe the beginning? (duh) Your intro for this video had me rolling... I almost did a spit-take on the keyboard... you get a gold star for that. Alrighty... Speirs: 'crazy'. Yeah. But in the best way... ayup. All I'm gonna say about Speirs is... just wait. The comparison between Winters and Sobel... your hypotheticals are bang-on, I think. From what I've read about the guy, the portrayal in the series is a bit embellished and perhaps in some instances unfair. (the same could be said for another guy we'll see down the road... you'll know him when he makes his appearance) I've read a few accounts from some of Easy's Toccoa men who praised him for making them all as tough as they were. However... at the end of the day, sure, Sobel was a great trainer of men. But in the field, he was about as useful as a screen door on a submarine and very well could have spelled doom for Easy had he remained their CO. I do feel a bit for him as a person, though, and in the end... his life story is a sad one, unfortunately. I really love how you don't miss a thing. All the little, subtle moments, the humor... *especially* the humor. Also, some of what you touched on in your analysis... you're a bit of an accidental prophet, I think. A few things will pop up in the series later on that are quite relevant to some of your comments here... one good example would be your speculation on how our boys and the German... oh, excuse me... the Germaner soldiers were alike in many ways. They were all just regular Joes and Joschas, and may have had much in common as people, if not as soldiers. This is somewhat strange for me, watching your reactions, because I used to have a few friends with whom I'd discuss all this kinda stuff. All the things... everything you're hitting on, about this series and other series and flicks and such. Those friends, one way or another, are all gone now. But seeing you pick this apart the way you do... in a weird way, it's like they're all back, and we're having our bull sessions again... only there's no disparaging looks being tossed around the room, and nobody's calling anyone 'fat-head' or anything like that. Anyhoo, you simply connect the dots in ways that few reactors have done, and it's a true joy to see. I mightily look forward to your next installment of BoB. Oh, and at some point in the future, I would love to see you tackle 'Masters of the Air'... things with wings are my bread and butter, especially the birds of that era. So I'm curious to see what your insights may be on the subject of the air war over Europe. Also, i dunno if you're planning on doing any Star Wars schtuff or not, but I'm a fan and hope you do something there. But whatever you decide to do down the road, I shall be watching...
There is a story around, that during the WWII when the British were recruiting Gurkhas (Indian/Nepalese soldiers known for their valor) to their airborne units, they were pitching the idea to Gurkhas and the Brits told them that airborne units jump out of airplanes at 500 feet of altitude to fight and were asking for volunteers, only about 10 % volunteered. After a while some of the Gurkhas said that if they can jump from lower altitude of 200 feet they got about 30 % volunteers. The Brits were scratching their heads wondering why they weren't getting more volunteers and it actually took of them few hours to realize that the Gurkhas barely knew what airplanes were and none of them had ever even heard about a thing called a parachute. After that confusion had been cleared they got the excpected +90 % volunteer rate.
I’m glad you understood the prisoner bit. Lot of people just think it was a viscous war crime, but it makes sense. With no capacity to take prisoners, and not enough men to watch them, they had to execute them. Since letting them go was also not in the cards. They would reveal their position, how many, weaponry, etc etc. It’s an unfortunate reality of war.
Paratroops were dropped miles behind enemy lines with only what they could carry on them, and hold until relieved (which could be days). As a practical matter, they couldn't have taken prisoners even if they wanted to.
The grenade scene where Buck Compton threw a frag that hit a German soldier and exploded on impact did actually happen. However I heard that it actually hit the German in the head- not the back. Buck was a very good baseball player and he played in college if I remember right. In fact, one of the reasons the American GIs were so effective at using the grenades was because most of them grew up playing baseball.
"Follow Me" is still a call out of modern leaders today. In the military, every word has meaning and every meaning has intent and every intent is for the sake of the man standing beside you. ...and yes, Winters assault on Brécourt Manor is still taught today in the military. I passed that class, several times.
Almost all of the transport plane pilots were civilian pilots and has never seen anti aircraft fire, so many panicked and flew too fast and too low, which added to the scattering of the troops and lost equipment. This show is just exceptionally amazing. Everything is just on another level. Love the long post episode talk. Few do this, and it adds a lot to your videos
He also had it in the first episode and carried it on a jump when he wasn't supposed to. That's how they figured out they were going to Normandy before it was announced. "On our last jump, I had a compass."
Really enjoyed it again, it's only getting better too so counting down the days to the next one now! Loved the reaction of course but also the whole discussion after. It really shows that you're invested and paying attention to everything which just makes the whole thing that much better, I've said it before but I honestly could listen to you talk all day!
Thank you Roope! I knew this episode would be shorter so I really wanted to have a deep dive conversation about it so I could deliver you guys the same length video!! Thanks for listening to me talk! 🤣
Kudos on you're reaction. You're one of the few reactors I've seen that noticed that Compton gets bumped as he's throwing that grenade. Most get upset and say how could you drop that grenade. Then when he gets ready to use the next grenade they'll say better hold on to that one.
The reason Joe Toye could survive the German grenade was because they were less explosive than US grenades so they could be used as assault weapons, meaning they threw them and then ran in after them. US grenades were "fragmentation" grenades that threw metal shrapnel everywhere. The troops had a saying that when a German threw a grenade at you, you ducked, but when an American threw a grenade, everyone ducked.
So, a lot to put out here: First of all, many commenters talk about this series as if it's absolute and highly accurate truth. Easy Company did indeed exist, and we're about to follow events they experienced through the conclusion of the war. However, this series throughout all of the episodes presents the story with various degrees of accuracy & inaccuracy simultaneously to help tell the story in a way that the viewer can follow better. When they left England for D-day, there were 139 guys making up the company, and the company would shrink with casualties, and then beef back up with replacements throughout the war, so the neighborhood of "120-ish" is pretty much how many guys were in the company at any given time. Because of this, it would be logistically impossible to depict the experiences of every single guy in a ten episode series. So a lot of stories that happened to Easy company guys we're never introduced to were attributed to a small core of characters that we're going to be following. The paratrooper that landed near Winters that night wasn't Hall, but some supply Sgt from F company that Winters recognized right away. Then when he encountered Lipton (with that clicker), Lipton had twelve guys, not just two - although a few of the twelve were indeed stragglers with the 82nd. An interesting incident that's not depicted at all: when Winters stuck his knife in the ground and went under that poncho to look at the map, one of the group that was with Lipton swiped that knife. Winters was furious about it, but decided that it was neither the time or place to address the theft. In the night, several other Easy company guys latched on to the group, including Buck, Guarnere, and Malarkey. Winters, Lipton, Buck, and Guarnere had nothing but their knives - as all of their leg-bags had been torn away in the same manner. At about 3:00AM, they came across the Lieutenant Colonel of another unit, who had about fifty men with him. Winters and his men were headed in the same direction they were going, so they fell in with that group for a little bit. It was with this huge group that the Germans were ambushed. Several of the Lieutenant Colonel's men are the ones who opened fire prematurely, as Guarnere still hadn't obtained a replacement weapon yet. After that, Winters and Guarnere were finally armed - having taken pistols off the dead Germans. It's pretty much like that throughout the series. Actual events are changed up a bit & tweaked so it's all easier for the viewer to follow. Just like Malarkey and that German. In real life, Malarkey did come across an American who had come to Germany after Hitler's call for "all loyal Germans" to serve the Reich. It wasn't quite as depicted here though. He was a German Master Sergeant, in the company of about twenty other German POW's. He was from Portland, Oregon, and had worked at Schmitz Steel Company up until 1938. Malarkey worked at Monarch Forge and Machine Works in 1942. The two places were very very near to each other. Due to the year differences, Malarkey had never seen him before, and said he had no idea what happened to him afterwards. Speirs did execute a group of German POW's, but it likely wasn't that group. If I remember correctly, the Germans Spiers executed occurred earlier in the night before dawn. In the assault on Brecourt Manor, the assault is depicted as taking place in only a few minutes. In reality, the attack took about three hours. During which time Winters had to run back to the assembly area to get after them for not moving fast enough to help them out with fresh ammo and other assistance. The jeep driver Loraine is depicted as kinda a fifth wheel to the unit. In reality, he was very effective. When they were shooting the fleeing Germans while taking the first gun, Loraine is depicted as missing the guys while Guarnere takes them out. In real life it was actually the reverse. Guarnere missed the German he was shooting at, and Winters had to shoot him. All the while, the Germans that Loraine shot went right down. Later on, a German who was stunned by a grenade came out to surrender. Winters was trying to point him to leave the trench, but he had a hard time understanding. Loraine slipped on a pair of brass knuckles and belted the guy. Winters didn't care for treating prisoners that way, but it did the trick. The German suddenly understood to leave the trench to go surrender to someone else. The show depicts Joe Toye as using brass knuckles on a German, but he didn't have any during that attack. Your reactions to this show so far have been outstanding! Eagerly looking forward to you seeing the rest of the series.
The plan for the British and American paratroopers was for them to capture important roads, towns, and bridges to prevent the Germans from reinforcing the beach defenses and pave the way for the invasion force into France. While some units landed relatively intact near their targets the majority were scattered so badly they might as well have been dropped at random. What the scattered paratroopers did was team up with anyone they found that spoke English and set out to cause as much chaos as they could with those that recognized where they were leading them to specific targets. Captured German documents recorded commanders reporting that there were paratroopers waiting to ambush them at every intersection, bridge, and bend in the road throwing confusion over where was safe to move and where they should move to. Also Winters could have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor if someone hadn’t decided that only one person per regiment could be awarded a MoH for actions on D-Day.
Many people say what speirs did was a war crime and it was but people seem to forget that this happened on D day, allies did not have P.O.W camps set up, no HQ and no forward operating bases set up yet so instead of keeping the prisoners he shot them so he could continue is mission without the threat of having to watch enemy soldiers and was able to keep helping other units...
First thing, you are awesome. Don’t sell yourself short. As ex military, believe me, you will eat anything they put in front of you. I’m so glad you’re a history teacher too. I know I’m all over but mostly, I’m scared for you. I’ve seen this series at least 30 times and 2 of the episodes still rip my heart out.
During the intro one of the men mentioned losing ‘the infamous leg bag’. The Brits had supplied the U.S. troops with rifle bags that attached to the ankle with a tether while you jumped. But they didn’t tell the Americans to only put their rifles in it because the tether only had a 10 pound load limit. Guys stuffed everything they could fit inside so they could jump with extra equipment. When they opened their chutes, the tether snapped and half the guys landed unarmed.
Indeed, Winters was a superb leader. Perfect balance of sincere concern for the men he served with and accomplishing the missions for which he was responsible, not to mention his remarkable intelligence and competence in general. He also had no ego problem and clearly viewed his fellow soldiers, no matter their rank, as brothers doing their best and worthy of respect. And while we're at it, Spears...a package of focused ferocity charging straight in like a triggered pit bull. That's another approach, if you can survive it. BTW, I've heard that front line Allied assault troops during WWII would sometimes carry shackles so they could immobilize surrendering Germans they didn't have the time or resources to deal with. Follow on troops would then secure and process them as POW's. Airborne troops had no such support, hence a tough call.
You have given one of the best reactions/reviews... I'll say the best. You have a beautiful soul, a genuinely lovely character. Thank you.... thank you, for reading the citations out loud. That alone separates you from those who cannot recall the names of the men after 6-7 episodes.
Love your long take after the video... Interesting to hear the in depth thoughts ! You understand every scene so far, you're a smart woman and you have an uncanny way of understanding men!
You are absolutely right about the prisoners of war. The American troops were told they couldn't take any prisoners on the first day, D-Day. Because there would be no place to confine them. The Allied priority was winning the narrow edge of Normany in the D-Day battle. And the Allies couldn't let captured Germans go because of security reasons. So the order of the day was take no prisoners. Unfortunately sometimes that's just a necessary aspect of total war. I love your commentary and I look forward to following you through this series. Like many BoB fans I have watched this series more times then I can remember, from the initial showing in 2001 to this year.
Your keen eye for detail really impressed me, and your analysis of what was happening was spot on. So far, this is one of the finest reactions I have seen. Looking forward to your impressions as the series progresses.
You're extremely insightful, young lady. I really enjoyed this reaction. This series will inspire you and break your heart at times, but you'll end up watching it over and over again; like we all do. Massive respect for our greatest generation. Until the next one. CURRAHEE
In reference to you noticing Winters saying “follow me”…the memorial statue for the airborne bin Normandy is a statue of Winters that just says follow me
The BoB community is super strong and tight knit. We're so glad to have more people watch this series. I hold it to be the single best series ever made. Enjoy it and always have tissues!
This series is really close to my heart and I've seen it quite a few times, there's a lot of easter eggs in it, for instances when they board the planes you can see a group of men in the background with mohawks and face paint. Those were real and became "viral" when this occurred. That's Jake McNiece aka Jake McNasty and this group that got the nickname "Filthy Thirteen". If you want to read some truly unbelievable things you should read up about them, there are even some youtube videos about them, The Fat Electrician comes to mind. They show up in the background in a few more places throughout the series
Captain Sobal reminds me a lot of my HS football coach. He used to push us physically way beyond what was necessary. We never got winded during games but we didn't get into the intricacies of running plays, blocking assignments, and coverage packages. his play calling was dreadful., proving it doesn't matter how physically capable you are, you'll lose the game/war without true leadership, from the top down. B.O B. Is an extraordinary series 🙏❤️ for all your reactions
That entire coastline at Utah and Omaha beaches were zeroed in with mortars and canons so destroying the battery at brecourt manor probably saved hundreds of lives… Also, ‘Follow me’ is the unofficial motto of the infantry and it’s the motto of the infantry training brigade at fort benning when I was there …
First off, I have to say, I love your Currahee t-shirt! And I love your thorough observations and analysis of the episode in the outro. Some of your comments will be proven to be prophetic (I'm not saying which ones for now). Also, you are totally correct about the German POWs. At the time, the military higher ups could not afford to spare prisoners on the first day of invasion because everything was still chaotic. Some commenters on different review channels were complaining that this was a fabrication of events because it would constitute a violation of the Geneva convention but Winters verified in later interviews what Speirs did and Speirs confirmed it himself during a phone call with Winters. And lastly I have to point out that at 8:47 Winters did pull out a small button-sized compass from the inside front of his pants. Looking forward to your next reviews as we go through this journey.
The intros are great specifically because they’re the actual soldiers who fought in WW2. Can’t wait for you to finally see who they really are. When I first watched it I started to get clues. I was wrong in some I was right in others. I’ll let you have you’re own experience and try to figure it out.
Awesome reaction, great analysis as always. Made my Sunday morning when this dropped! Will now go back to episode 1 and re-like and comment for the algorithm. Looking forward to the next one 😊
I'm not sure where Winters was carrying that little compass but in my day we carried a large, very capable lensatic compass. I wouldn't have messed with a little compass like that given a choice. And credit to the producers of this series for realism, you cover yourself with a poncho while using red light to guard against being spotted by the enemy and to preserve your night vision, which white light destroys. Some, myself included (I served as a fire platoon leader in the Army), who are red-green color blind had considerable difficulty seeing some map details with a red light. I made sure I scrutinized maps carefully so none of the troops suffered any harm and we accomplished our missions as expected, or not...due to issues other than my weak color vision.
Germany in the 30s had a big campaign to encourage German emigrants to move back into Germany (as well as annexing border regions of neighboring countries that had large German populations). It was mostly directed at German communities in eastern Europe, but Germans from the Americas would have been welcomed in Germany just as well.
Love to see it! More than happy for you to post nothing but this series till it's over! And when it's done, there's a short video that shows the interviews with the soldiers that you see before the episode starts.
The flag you noticed behind the veteran is called a Guide On and its used in formations and for running in front of the company. When I was in the Army, the 101st as a matter of fact, in the 90s we had a platoon leader who reminds me of Sobel that was relieved of command for similar reasons i.e. he couldn't navigate and his tactical sense was not up to snuff. That's exactly the feelings you have about it, you don't feel that he is what you want in that situation and he overcompensates by being overbearing and irresponsible in his orders and command style. Great reactions, keep it up.
Hey Liteweight, hope you are well if you able to read this comment. This episode is a good ice breaker to the rest of the series, all I can say is get yourself a box of tissues. The series is historically pretty close but there are still a few artistic inaccuracies, you being a historian you'll be able to figure it out. In the last episode you asked about Guarnere's brother being in Italy not Africa, remember that after the Allies pushed the Germans and Italians out of Africa, Sicily and mainland Italy, he died near a monastery near Monte Cassino. You are right about the difference of leadership between Winters & Solbel, one is a great trainer the other knows how to use that training to affect. As for Speers' being reckless and cruel... just keep watching. I know this is going to be good series for to watch, can't wait for review after each episode. By the way looks like you enjoyed your trip to Universal Studios, I am glad you had fun. Take care and God Bless.
I’ve been watching war related media all my life, but never have I ever experienced a more surreal moment then the scene of Malarkey meeting an American, fighting for Nazi Germany. That scene and what happened after will always stick with me.
As someone who has a history degree myself, I’m loving your reactions to this series. You are picking up on things that are sometimes lost on other reactors. I especially love when you said that you had to look into Americans serving in the German army. Most people just accept that and move on, but your historical curiosity and willingness to self-learn is something that we share.
Great reaction!!!! I appreciate the respect you have for those brave men of E Company and for all who have served our country.Will be waiting anxiously for the coming episodes and wishing you much success with your channel.
It’s actually a pleasure to watch you react to this series. You’ve noticed a few things that I never did, even after multiple viewings. I look forward to watching your other videos.
I dont know if anyone else mentioned this detail, but about the german grenades not doing any actual damage there is a historical explanation. Simply put German grenades were send to the front lines in crates with out being fully active and separate crates carried the explosive part. During the early stages of the war those grenades would keep a sign "dont forget to arm" or something to that effect and the more experienced german soldiers knew it and would arm them properly. By the time of D-Day however the soldiers were mostly new and poorly trained recruits and the grenades no longer had the signs for reasons of speeding up the resuply process. As a result, many german soldiers would throw grenades at the US troops that were not able to properly explode and kill.
That little clicker device they had was a toy from back in the day. It was a really good idea to determine friend from foe without speaking. Here was the one drawback though. The German soldiers at the time were using bolt action rifles. So if you clicked once (the established call) and they cocked their rifle it would sound like two clicks (the established answer). I remember this because I was watching the movie “The Longest Day” with my dad when I was young and an American soldier gets shot by a German soldier and dies saying, “But I heard two clicks” I think this miniseries is just about as perfect as you can get. I have seen “Pacific” which was another Tom Hanks (and maybe Steven Spielberg) miniseries and it was OK. I saw some of “Masters of the Air” it didn’t even hold a candle to this one. Enjoying your reactions and making sure I don’t include any spoilers!
Great! Been looking forward to this reaction and you stepped up. Great episode. It's refreshing that you take the time to understand the subtle details (like Winters' carrying a compass). It makes the reaction so much more entertaining. You are really going to enjoy this series. Keep up the great work. Curahee!!!
Speirs actually did kill those prisoners. Winters confirmed it in an interview, and said that Speirs wrote a letter acknowledging he did it. He wrote the letter at the request of Winters just before the book was published, so that there was no potential legal ramification for that story being in the book. US paratroopers were outright told not to take prisoners as the nature of their job precludes them from leading around POWs. They were lightly armed and meant to be highly mobile so that they could cause chaos behind the scenes while simultaneously accomplishing objectives crucial to the amphibious landings that would be taking place a few hours later. Finding yourself on the “wrong side of the line” in war, including World War II, is more common than most people would ever imagine. In US the war evoked strong pro-American patriotic sentiments among German Americans, so very few actually moved to nazi Germany. Many Americans of German ancestry had top war jobs, including General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, and USAAF General Carl Andrew Spaatz. Btw. Adolf Hitler’s nephew William, whose mother was English, immigrated to the U.S. in 1939. He served as a Navy corpsman in World War II.
I'm loving your reactions to probably the best TV show ever. I respect that you already know a lot of the history of the show too. As an Army veteran, thank you for doing an outstanding job with this.
My favorite part of this episode was the end, when Winters makes his prayer and his promise to God about finding a piece of land and living the rest of his life in peace. Something I can really appreciate as a Veteran.
NO SPOILERS You’ll eventually figure out who each old gentlemen is, also if you watch the connected documentary afterwards, they include names at the bottom. Also….. the Speirs incident is heavily scrutinized in the history books, but winters believed he actually DID do it in his memoirs
You just did the most incredible reaction to this episode! This series is based on true events with Easy Company in the European Theater. I can't wait for your episode #3 Great job young lady!
I spent this past June at the 80th Anniversary of the Normandy Landings if France. I have so many beautiful photos and memories. I have Family that landed at Utah Beach, and flew over in the 8th. I work for the director of Military Ceremonies in Europe. We’re planning planning all of next years events. Normandy is a spiritual experience. You need to join us next year.
BoB Community... YOU ARE AWESOME!!! Thank you so much for your support!!
I loved this episode and cannot wait to continue watching and sharing this journey with you!!
This episode was shorter in length so I made sure to make my outro extra long to give you guys around the same length video you're used to!!!
- Lite
I love your outros. That level of care for your craft is a rare thing to see, and we really appreciate it. We don’t just want to see your gut reaction during the episode, we want to hear your insights after the episode. That makes you one of the absolute best reactors on TH-cam in my opinion. Can’t wait to see the rest of your reaction to this show.
I know previously you mentioned you're a fellow Western New Yorker. If you travel to the small town of Genesseo NY about an hour east of Buffalo, you will find the National Warplanes Museum. Home of W7 more affectionately known as Whiskey 7. She was the lead ship C-47 in the second wave of paratroopers. Whiskey 7 is still air worthy and regularly flies the airshow circuits. Each July The National Warplanes Museum hosts the Greatest Show on Turf and you can visit this and many other historical aircraft up close ant personal
@@LiteWeightReacting
Thanks to you for your hard work getting these videos together for us. It is my first time watching and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. Sometimes it breaks my heart to see you hurting watching the facts of war but as a veteran I’m glad to see people watch all the events that these veterans went through. I truly wish our nation had men like that today. No doubt we have them but those guys are a dying breed! Thank you so much
I consider this series as the crowning achievement of all television and my personal favorite. It’s extremely satisfying to watch a reactor have the knowledge and intelligence to understand the nuance and context of the situations and people presented in the show.
Also, the bit about Malarkey meeting that German POW is absolutely true with one major detail exception… they actually worked right across the street from one another! The producers changed it to 100 miles apart because they didn’t think the audience would believe the actual truth.
There's a few other things they changed. Malarkey met him a few days after D-Day, but the producers wanted it in the show and there was nowhere else to include it. Also, he wasn't in the group of prisoners that were allegedly executed by Spiers.
It's hard to believe a family today would return to a country for a reason like this. RIP to all the men that felt the need to fight a war due to their blood. A senseless reason, a senseless death.
@@benvsreality Spiers confirmed the rumors and put it in writing according to an interview with Winters btw
@@ThePrillmeister Yes, but the incident in question didn't include the guy from Oregon.
@@benvsreality I always heard with Spiers it wasn't a group of prisoners, it was just one and he was ordered to do it and it really upset him.
18:36: "I'm calling Spiers crazy, but in the best way." Yeah, just hold that thought.
😂😂😂
As you asked, a little history on the scene where Lt Winters pulled a compass out of his pants (9:03). In WWII officers and select enlisted men where given what's known as a 'escape and evasion kit' that included a compass and a small razor blade or small hacksaw blade. Then depending on the theater they where going, it also contained: local currency (to either help bribe people or pay for things to help get you back to allied forces), a rubberized map (to help make it waterproof and so it didn't make noise when opening and closing) and a card with a list of local phrases to try and help communication.
It was provided in a small bag that could be carried with you. But everyone who was issued one was strongly encouraged to take the items, such as the compass and hacksaw blade, and hide them on their bodies somewhere. That's why Winters is pulling the compass out of the zipper of his pants. He had a small pouch sewn into his zipper for it so he'd always know where it was in a pinch. He said he put the razor blade under the heel of his boot. But the movie doesn't get into that since he thankfully never had to use it. The money & everything else could just be stored in pockets.
I firmly believe this lady's reactions to B0B's are going to be the best I've ever seen. And I've seen most of them.
Agree 100%.
Great reaction like always, 14:03 fun fact: Buck's handsignals to Malarkey and Guarnere were as such He signaled 1, 4, 2, and then 2, 5, with his fingers. Then a closed fist and pointed in the direction of the MG.
Translated: "1 MG42, 25 Feet, throw grenades that way." An MG42 is a preferred machine gun that the German army used. The 25 feet was helpful for Malarkey and Guarnere to gauge how far they needed to throw the grenades.
And yes earlier what Winter pull out of his pants was compass.
I remember reading a book called "Geronimo" based on the Airborne troops of WW2, and it has a section from the German side of D-Day. It talk about how soldiers patrolling noticed an abnormal amount of frogs and crickets during the night. What they actually heard was the cheap toy clicker you see in Lt. Winters hand. It shows you how close some of these guys were to the enemy.
The show actually underplayed the battle for the guns due to time and dramatic constraints. The fighting lasted about 3-4 hours and there were something like 50-100 German defenders. The paratroopers were at constant risk of being flanked and annihilated. Winter's tactics kept the enemy confused and dispersed and many feel that he should have received the Medal of Honor for his actions there rather than "just" the Distinguished Service Cross.
We often forget how completely foreign the rest of the world was to this generation. In our modern times we have the internet and easy access to travel the world; back then travel was much less frequent and information was mainly supplied through newspapers and some tv news.... just crazy thought to consider these young kids traveling to completely strange lands to fight a virtually unknown enemy. Thanks to all vets out there, from back then to present day, thanks for your service!
And dont worry we got your back we´re a Band Of Brothers when you ask us to help we do it and it was a pleasure! Keep up the good work.
Marco! good context! Oh, and still some radio 📻 addresses! In fact, mostly radio since television doesn't come around widely until toward the end of WWII, I believe?
Buck’s throwing the grenade at the German’s head so accurately demonstrated his baseball skills that he used on the college team he played on alongside Jackie Robinson. And, I read somewhere that Winters didn’t get the Medal of Honor because a member of the 101st already had one of those for their D-Day service, and the US military wanted to spread them around.
@@kathyastrom1315 that is correct about Winters medal. :)
@@kathyastrom1315 holy moly! Hadn't occurred to me until now, Kathy! I love this community!
Marco you are a legend mate! Thanks for all the info.
You have quickly become the best sister for the Band of Brothers! As always, love your commentary, especially the longer discussion afterward. No one does that better than you! I would have really enjoyed a history class taught by you!
Privileged to be a sister of the Band!!!
And yes, I wanted to add a longer discussion since this episode was shorter!!!
Dude your horniness is showing lol.. if she were obese you wouldn't say this
“We’re not lost Private, we’re in Normandy.” I love Richard Winters.
I’d follow that man anywhere!!
As a student of history, he is honestly one of my favourite people I’ve ever had the pleasure of learning about.
@@LiteWeightReactingan extraordinary human being and an extraordinary leader!! And such a humble and gentle man!!
Dick Winters is the definition of a true hero!!
Your intro had me dying! It also shows you really understand the show!
Thanks for sharing this with us!!
That Intro sequence WILL NEVER be skipped on this channel!
You are absolutely right about Winter's on the ground, leading from the front leadership. The truck scene with him and Guarnere is masterful. Winters gets in there, explains he's going to be the leader and when Toy offers him a drink and Guarnere says no for him, Winters knows this is just one more than that separates him from the men he needs to lead. And not just him leading, he needs them to follow. So he takes that drink, which Guarnere knows its his first time, and then offers the bottle to Bill basically saying "We're good?" And Bill takes the bottle and drinks, confirming yeah "We're good". And then Winters does another brilliant move - he leaves. This is down time for the men. This is boys time, they need to decompress, eat some food, pass around a bottle and tell dirty jokes and laugh, and they can't do that with their commanding officer around. So he gives them the space they need. He quashed any beef with Guarnere, showed the men he could drink and be one of them, and then leaves so they can relax. Its a very great scene.
The only real inaccurate part of this episode is the assault on the manor. The shows makes it seem like it was 20mins, when in reality it took a few hours, and there was a lot of patience and maneuvering and getting men in the right place before attacking.
Great reaction! Have a subscribe and a like!
the part about Buck’s Thompson not working so he was throwing grenades was true. He was previously a catcher for UCLA so he had a great arm + accuracy.
I was active duty, 22 years old, in a special unit when this show debuted. It aired on Sunday nights. We watched the first episode. Then 9/11 happened the Tuesday the second week. We were deployed. Then later we got to watch the rest of it. My favorite show of all time, still to this day at 45 years old. I’ve seen it multiple times a year, every year, including the making of. Listened to the Roger Bennett (Men in Blazers) full 10 part podcast with actors on the 20 Anniversary. Seen the making of & reunions multiple times, including the Lt. Nixon diaries on the DVD. Even traveled to Hershey, Pennsylvania for a certain legends funeral.
This show is revered in the military community, especially in small, close, special unit.
it’s actually so crazy the first episode aired 2 days before 9/11
I appreciate your reaction versus others because you actually are educated on a lot that is going on during WW2, which gives you a better appreciation and understanding about what you hear in the show.
I’m just hoping I can keep doing justice to this great series!!
Survivors of Easy would talk about the fact that they'd done so much training at night that they could recognize one another simply by their silhouette.
Lt. Winters was only 26 years old in 1944. Imagine having those skills at that young age.
Training does a lot, but some people are just born to lead men in combat, and take tot naturally
The thing is, Winters was one of thousands of men that had that SAME mental attitude and SAME leadership skill.
There's a reason why they were called the GREATEST GENERATION!!!
You're the only reactor I've seen that actually saw that Buck Compton didn't just drop the grenade on his own. Instead, he was shoulder checked as he was about to throw it.
Buck Compton was a star pitcher for UCLA. He was so accurate that during this attack, he threw a grenade at a running German, and it blew up at the same moment it hit the man's helmet.
So cool to know he actually was a really good pitcher!!
@@LiteWeightReactinghe was a catcher
Yes. For some reason, audio was added post production that made it seem like a near miss of Germans bullets was what caused Compton to drop the grenade. Maybe the camera was so shaky that it was hard to tell why he dropped it?
I don't understand why so many people miss that. I noticed it plain as day the first time I watched it. Maybe people's situational awareness has taken a dive or something.
I watched this series first at 8 years old. I’m now a 24 year old Marine Corps Veteran. Watching your videos (especially military movies/shows) heals a lot for me. Thank you, can’t wait for the next episode!
You are definitely my new favorite reactor. Authenticity, intelligence and willingness to learn. Not to mention high interaction.
i would say this is probably one of the best post episode analysis/wrap ups I have seen. I watch a lot of reactors that miss a lot of the finer details and unspoken actions between the men. I find that reactors with an appreciation and understanding of the history of WW2 pick up much more. I look forward to future episodes!
This community is awesome.
A band of lightweights.
Let’s goooo! So happy to be a part of this community!
@@LiteWeightReacting Thanks to you. It's easy and refreshing to orbit around the positivity you've encouraged.
I love that people just comment facts about the current episode not about who she is going to love in the future or what episode is going to be the hardest to watch. Until now.
I've never seen someone so attentive to detail. You really have an amazing brain.
INSTANT click, I have been looking forward to this!! Thank you as always!!
Woo! Hope you enjoy it!!!
Concerning the use of grenades, the Americans and the Germans had two different theories from each other. The German theory was that a grenade was to be used as a percussive device to temporarily stun an enemy, so that a German soldier had enough time to close the distance and shoot the enemy with their guns. The German grenades were colloquially called "Potato Mashers" because it had a thin metal cannister on the end of a long stick. When the device exploded, it did not have enough metal in it's composition to create much shrapnel ..... But, it sure made a loud percussive BANG! American grenades were affectionately called "Pineapples." American grenades were made into palm-sized devices that were segmented. Upon detonation, these segments would break apart and be cast-off in all directions. This "flying-shrapnel" was very deadly and did a lot of damage to the human body. Whereas the German grenades (Stielhandgranate) were designed to primarily stun a soldier, the American grenades (Mk 2 grenade) were specifically designed to maim and kill.
Because BofB is one of my all-time favorite TV miniseries, I always like to watch new reactions. Yours is by far one of the best. Many reactors can't remember the names of the characters. You not only remember their names, but you have shown great insight into their character development. Many of the questions you raised will be answered in the coming episodes. I can't wait until your future reactions when you see how much foresight you had into the characters. To give you a more thorough understanding of the history of Easy Company, I recommend reactions by "A history professor reacts to B of B" I cites many other sources which fill in many of the significant facts which the series didn't have time to include. Keep up the good work.
You are the only reactor that actually spends a good amount talking about what you just saw❤
There is absolutely No idea in watching a stranger watch a movie and that’s it. Keep your style and your channel will blow up.
Thank you for your reaction, I enjoy rewatching the series with you.
Watched them when they aired and I was a raw recruit and then 9/11 happened, when the second episode hit, making the show even more relevant for us since we didn’t know if WW3 was about to start.
❤ from Denmark.
Greetings from NY! I’m thrilled you enjoy the talking about the reaction!! Sometimes I worry people won’t care so this reassuring!
@@LiteWeightReactingKeep doing what you do, half of watching a reaction is to hear your experience and thoughts.. So far you are one of the few that has actually understood that :)
Take care.
Best Band of Brothers reaction yet!!
When you said "What in the baseball pitch was that?", you were pretty right. Buck Compton was an All-American catcher for UCLA , and was a teammate with Jackie Robinson.
WHAT!!!! That’s so cool they included this then!!
@@LiteWeightReacting It was an almost completely accurate account. The only difference is they made it cleaner by hitting the guy in the back. He actually hit him in the back of the head.
Appreciate your reaction to this epic series. It's like I'm sharing it with my little sister, or a good friend, for the first time. Most of the younger reactors don't have much life experience, and they're definitely not schooled in history. You notice the little things that many miss. You're crushing it. Thank you. :)
When of the many blessings in my life was getting to know a WW2 veteran. Every day he would sit in a convenient store and watch people go in and out. Most of the time nobody would spend 1 minute of their time to even ask how he was doing. He was assigned to General Patton’s third Army and fought in the battle at Bastogne. My love for history kept me there many times in awe of the things he witnessed. It was very hard though when he went silent and had an empty stare on his face. Most times that’s when I would tell Mr. Thatcher I would see him tomorrow. Absolutely a legend. RIP MR. THATCHER.
RIP Mr Thatcher
From France with love
so many names right straightaway, you must’ve been a great teacher!…guarantee you gonna love Spiers soon 😊
The baseball throw of Compton was because he was a real jock athlete type of dude. He played football then transitioned to baseball. He was an All-American catcher and he played with Jackie Robinson
“We’re not lost private, we’re on the LiteWeight Reacting channel”
Also this is one of my favorite episodes just for the fact that it highlights how serious this show is going to be and gives us a nice little taste of combat before the main course later on
Omigosh... you are nailing this. Dunno where to start... maybe the beginning? (duh) Your intro for this video had me rolling... I almost did a spit-take on the keyboard... you get a gold star for that.
Alrighty... Speirs: 'crazy'. Yeah. But in the best way... ayup. All I'm gonna say about Speirs is... just wait.
The comparison between Winters and Sobel... your hypotheticals are bang-on, I think. From what I've read about the guy, the portrayal in the series is a bit embellished and perhaps in some instances unfair. (the same could be said for another guy we'll see down the road... you'll know him when he makes his appearance) I've read a few accounts from some of Easy's Toccoa men who praised him for making them all as tough as they were. However... at the end of the day, sure, Sobel was a great trainer of men. But in the field, he was about as useful as a screen door on a submarine and very well could have spelled doom for Easy had he remained their CO. I do feel a bit for him as a person, though, and in the end... his life story is a sad one, unfortunately.
I really love how you don't miss a thing. All the little, subtle moments, the humor... *especially* the humor. Also, some of what you touched on in your analysis... you're a bit of an accidental prophet, I think. A few things will pop up in the series later on that are quite relevant to some of your comments here... one good example would be your speculation on how our boys and the German... oh, excuse me... the Germaner soldiers were alike in many ways. They were all just regular Joes and Joschas, and may have had much in common as people, if not as soldiers.
This is somewhat strange for me, watching your reactions, because I used to have a few friends with whom I'd discuss all this kinda stuff. All the things... everything you're hitting on, about this series and other series and flicks and such. Those friends, one way or another, are all gone now. But seeing you pick this apart the way you do... in a weird way, it's like they're all back, and we're having our bull sessions again... only there's no disparaging looks being tossed around the room, and nobody's calling anyone 'fat-head' or anything like that.
Anyhoo, you simply connect the dots in ways that few reactors have done, and it's a true joy to see.
I mightily look forward to your next installment of BoB. Oh, and at some point in the future, I would love to see you tackle 'Masters of the Air'... things with wings are my bread and butter, especially the birds of that era. So I'm curious to see what your insights may be on the subject of the air war over Europe. Also, i dunno if you're planning on doing any Star Wars schtuff or not, but I'm a fan and hope you do something there. But whatever you decide to do down the road, I shall be watching...
There is a story around, that during the WWII when the British were recruiting Gurkhas (Indian/Nepalese soldiers known for their valor) to their airborne units, they were pitching the idea to Gurkhas and the Brits told them that airborne units jump out of airplanes at 500 feet of altitude to fight and were asking for volunteers, only about 10 % volunteered. After a while some of the Gurkhas said that if they can jump from lower altitude of 200 feet they got about 30 % volunteers. The Brits were scratching their heads wondering why they weren't getting more volunteers and it actually took of them few hours to realize that the Gurkhas barely knew what airplanes were and none of them had ever even heard about a thing called a parachute. After that confusion had been cleared they got the excpected +90 % volunteer rate.
I’m glad you understood the prisoner bit. Lot of people just think it was a viscous war crime, but it makes sense.
With no capacity to take prisoners, and not enough men to watch them, they had to execute them. Since letting them go was also not in the cards. They would reveal their position, how many, weaponry, etc etc.
It’s an unfortunate reality of war.
Paratroops were dropped miles behind enemy lines with only what they could carry on them, and hold until relieved (which could be days). As a practical matter, they couldn't have taken prisoners even if they wanted to.
The grenade scene where Buck Compton threw a frag that hit a German soldier and exploded on impact did actually happen. However I heard that it actually hit the German in the head- not the back. Buck was a very good baseball player and he played in college if I remember right. In fact, one of the reasons the American GIs were so effective at using the grenades was because most of them grew up playing baseball.
"Follow Me" is still a call out of modern leaders today. In the military, every word has meaning and every meaning has intent and every intent is for the sake of the man standing beside you.
...and yes, Winters assault on Brécourt Manor is still taught today in the military. I passed that class, several times.
Almost all of the transport plane pilots were civilian pilots and has never seen anti aircraft fire, so many panicked and flew too fast and too low, which added to the scattering of the troops and lost equipment.
This show is just exceptionally amazing. Everything is just on another level.
Love the long post episode talk. Few do this, and it adds a lot to your videos
Winters had a mini / button / small compass, hidden in his trousers, just in case he lost his equipment.
I always thought it was the zipper was somehow magnetized and removable. This makes more sense.
Or in case of capture, to have a compass if there's a chance to escape.
He also had it in the first episode and carried it on a jump when he wasn't supposed to. That's how they figured out they were going to Normandy before it was announced. "On our last jump, I had a compass."
Really enjoyed it again, it's only getting better too so counting down the days to the next one now!
Loved the reaction of course but also the whole discussion after. It really shows that you're invested and paying attention to everything which just makes the whole thing that much better, I've said it before but I honestly could listen to you talk all day!
Thank you Roope! I knew this episode would be shorter so I really wanted to have a deep dive conversation about it so I could deliver you guys the same length video!!
Thanks for listening to me talk! 🤣
Kudos on you're reaction. You're one of the few reactors I've seen that noticed that Compton gets bumped as he's throwing that grenade. Most get upset and say how could you drop that grenade. Then when he gets ready to use the next grenade they'll say better hold on to that one.
The reason Joe Toye could survive the German grenade was because they were less explosive than US grenades so they could be used as assault weapons, meaning they threw them and then ran in after them. US grenades were "fragmentation" grenades that threw metal shrapnel everywhere. The troops had a saying that when a German threw a grenade at you, you ducked, but when an American threw a grenade, everyone ducked.
Plus the sharp angles of the German trenchworks were so the explosive force would be focused up and out of the trench.
So, a lot to put out here: First of all, many commenters talk about this series as if it's absolute and highly accurate truth.
Easy Company did indeed exist, and we're about to follow events they experienced through the conclusion of the war. However, this series throughout all of the episodes presents the story with various degrees of accuracy & inaccuracy simultaneously to help tell the story in a way that the viewer can follow better.
When they left England for D-day, there were 139 guys making up the company, and the company would shrink with casualties, and then beef back up with replacements throughout the war, so the neighborhood of "120-ish" is pretty much how many guys were in the company at any given time.
Because of this, it would be logistically impossible to depict the experiences of every single guy in a ten episode series. So a lot of stories that happened to Easy company guys we're never introduced to were attributed to a small core of characters that we're going to be following.
The paratrooper that landed near Winters that night wasn't Hall, but some supply Sgt from F company that Winters recognized right away. Then when he encountered Lipton (with that clicker), Lipton had twelve guys, not just two - although a few of the twelve were indeed stragglers with the 82nd.
An interesting incident that's not depicted at all: when Winters stuck his knife in the ground and went under that poncho to look at the map, one of the group that was with Lipton swiped that knife. Winters was furious about it, but decided that it was neither the time or place to address the theft.
In the night, several other Easy company guys latched on to the group, including Buck, Guarnere, and Malarkey. Winters, Lipton, Buck, and Guarnere had nothing but their knives - as all of their leg-bags had been torn away in the same manner.
At about 3:00AM, they came across the Lieutenant Colonel of another unit, who had about fifty men with him. Winters and his men were headed in the same direction they were going, so they fell in with that group for a little bit. It was with this huge group that the Germans were ambushed. Several of the Lieutenant Colonel's men are the ones who opened fire prematurely, as Guarnere still hadn't obtained a replacement weapon yet. After that, Winters and Guarnere were finally armed - having taken pistols off the dead Germans.
It's pretty much like that throughout the series. Actual events are changed up a bit & tweaked so it's all easier for the viewer to follow.
Just like Malarkey and that German. In real life, Malarkey did come across an American who had come to Germany after Hitler's call for "all loyal Germans" to serve the Reich. It wasn't quite as depicted here though. He was a German Master Sergeant, in the company of about twenty other German POW's. He was from Portland, Oregon, and had worked at Schmitz Steel Company up until 1938. Malarkey worked at Monarch Forge and Machine Works in 1942. The two places were very very near to each other. Due to the year differences, Malarkey had never seen him before, and said he had no idea what happened to him afterwards.
Speirs did execute a group of German POW's, but it likely wasn't that group. If I remember correctly, the Germans Spiers executed occurred earlier in the night before dawn.
In the assault on Brecourt Manor, the assault is depicted as taking place in only a few minutes. In reality, the attack took about three hours. During which time Winters had to run back to the assembly area to get after them for not moving fast enough to help them out with fresh ammo and other assistance.
The jeep driver Loraine is depicted as kinda a fifth wheel to the unit. In reality, he was very effective. When they were shooting the fleeing Germans while taking the first gun, Loraine is depicted as missing the guys while Guarnere takes them out. In real life it was actually the reverse. Guarnere missed the German he was shooting at, and Winters had to shoot him. All the while, the Germans that Loraine shot went right down.
Later on, a German who was stunned by a grenade came out to surrender. Winters was trying to point him to leave the trench, but he had a hard time understanding. Loraine slipped on a pair of brass knuckles and belted the guy. Winters didn't care for treating prisoners that way, but it did the trick. The German suddenly understood to leave the trench to go surrender to someone else. The show depicts Joe Toye as using brass knuckles on a German, but he didn't have any during that attack.
Your reactions to this show so far have been outstanding! Eagerly looking forward to you seeing the rest of the series.
The plan for the British and American paratroopers was for them to capture important roads, towns, and bridges to prevent the Germans from reinforcing the beach defenses and pave the way for the invasion force into France. While some units landed relatively intact near their targets the majority were scattered so badly they might as well have been dropped at random.
What the scattered paratroopers did was team up with anyone they found that spoke English and set out to cause as much chaos as they could with those that recognized where they were leading them to specific targets. Captured German documents recorded commanders reporting that there were paratroopers waiting to ambush them at every intersection, bridge, and bend in the road throwing confusion over where was safe to move and where they should move to.
Also Winters could have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor if someone hadn’t decided that only one person per regiment could be awarded a MoH for actions on D-Day.
Many people say what speirs did was a war crime and it was but people seem to forget that this happened on D day, allies did not have P.O.W camps set up, no HQ and no forward operating bases set up yet so instead of keeping the prisoners he shot them so he could continue is mission without the threat of having to watch enemy soldiers and was able to keep helping other units...
13:34 the actor for Lipton - that's Donnie Wahlberg, Mark's brother, Ex "New Kids on the Block"
First thing, you are awesome. Don’t sell yourself short. As ex military, believe me, you will eat anything they put in front of you. I’m so glad you’re a history teacher too. I know I’m all over but mostly, I’m scared for you. I’ve seen this series at least 30 times and 2 of the episodes still rip my heart out.
During the intro one of the men mentioned losing ‘the infamous leg bag’. The Brits had supplied the U.S. troops with rifle bags that attached to the ankle with a tether while you jumped. But they didn’t tell the Americans to only put their rifles in it because the tether only had a 10 pound load limit. Guys stuffed everything they could fit inside so they could jump with extra equipment. When they opened their chutes, the tether snapped and half the guys landed unarmed.
Indeed, Winters was a superb leader. Perfect balance of sincere concern for the men he served with and accomplishing the missions for which he was responsible, not to mention his remarkable intelligence and competence in general. He also had no ego problem and clearly viewed his fellow soldiers, no matter their rank, as brothers doing their best and worthy of respect.
And while we're at it, Spears...a package of focused ferocity charging straight in like a triggered pit bull. That's another approach, if you can survive it. BTW, I've heard that front line Allied assault troops during WWII would sometimes carry shackles so they could immobilize surrendering Germans they didn't have the time or resources to deal with. Follow on troops would then secure and process them as POW's. Airborne troops had no such support, hence a tough call.
When we got lost in our tank, we used to say we were "lost but making good time"
You have given one of the best reactions/reviews... I'll say the best. You have a beautiful soul, a genuinely lovely character. Thank you.... thank you, for reading the citations out loud. That alone separates you from those who cannot recall the names of the men after 6-7 episodes.
Love your long take after the video... Interesting to hear the in depth thoughts !
You understand every scene so far, you're a smart woman and you have an uncanny way of understanding men!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
@@LiteWeightReacting yep , look forward to the rest of your reactions. Band of brothers is one of my favorites and think it was the best ever shows..
Buck Compton was an all star pitcher in college. That really was a baseball pitch
This is so cool they included a detail like this!
You are absolutely right about the prisoners of war. The American troops were told they couldn't take any prisoners on the first day, D-Day. Because there would be no place to confine them. The Allied priority was winning the narrow edge of Normany in the D-Day battle. And the Allies couldn't let captured Germans go because of security reasons. So the order of the day was take no prisoners. Unfortunately sometimes that's just a necessary aspect of total war. I love your commentary and I look forward to following you through this series. Like many BoB fans I have watched this series more times then I can remember, from the initial showing in 2001 to this year.
As the series progresses, you're going to get to know and love these men...and really feel the hurt when one is lost.
Your keen eye for detail really impressed me, and your analysis of what was happening was spot on. So far, this is one of the finest reactions I have seen. Looking forward to your impressions as the series progresses.
This means a lot! So happy you’re enjoying the reactions so far! Can’t wait to watch more! Glad to have you along for the ride!
You're extremely insightful, young lady. I really enjoyed this reaction. This series will inspire you and break your heart at times, but you'll end up watching it over and over again; like we all do. Massive respect for our greatest generation. Until the next one. CURRAHEE
Can’t wait to keep watching! Thanks for your comment 😊
In reference to you noticing Winters saying “follow me”…the memorial statue for the airborne bin Normandy is a statue of Winters that just says follow me
Guarnere didn't trust Winters at first because Winters didn't drink, smoke or curse.
"Spears is crazy in a best way." Good point. You don't even know how well you hit it. 😅
The BoB community is super strong and tight knit. We're so glad to have more people watch this series. I hold it to be the single best series ever made. Enjoy it and always have tissues!
This series is really close to my heart and I've seen it quite a few times, there's a lot of easter eggs in it, for instances when they board the planes you can see a group of men in the background with mohawks and face paint. Those were real and became "viral" when this occurred. That's Jake McNiece aka Jake McNasty and this group that got the nickname "Filthy Thirteen". If you want to read some truly unbelievable things you should read up about them, there are even some youtube videos about them, The Fat Electrician comes to mind. They show up in the background in a few more places throughout the series
Captain Sobal reminds me a lot of my HS football coach. He used to push us physically way beyond what was necessary. We never got winded during games but we didn't get into the intricacies of running plays, blocking assignments, and coverage packages. his play calling was dreadful., proving it doesn't matter how physically capable you are, you'll lose the game/war without true leadership, from the top down. B.O B. Is an extraordinary series 🙏❤️ for all your reactions
That’s a great comparison! Thank you for sharing this!
That entire coastline at Utah and Omaha beaches were zeroed in with mortars and canons so destroying the battery at brecourt manor probably saved hundreds of lives…
Also, ‘Follow me’ is the unofficial motto of the infantry and it’s the motto of the infantry training brigade at fort benning when I was there …
First off, I have to say, I love your Currahee t-shirt! And I love your thorough observations and analysis of the episode in the outro. Some of your comments will be proven to be prophetic (I'm not saying which ones for now). Also, you are totally correct about the German POWs. At the time, the military higher ups could not afford to spare prisoners on the first day of invasion because everything was still chaotic. Some commenters on different review channels were complaining that this was a fabrication of events because it would constitute a violation of the Geneva convention but Winters verified in later interviews what Speirs did and Speirs confirmed it himself during a phone call with Winters. And lastly I have to point out that at 8:47 Winters did pull out a small button-sized compass from the inside front of his pants. Looking forward to your next reviews as we go through this journey.
Enjoy your reaction! Come on people let’s get her to 100k subs!
The intros are great specifically because they’re the actual soldiers who fought in WW2. Can’t wait for you to finally see who they really are. When I first watched it I started to get clues. I was wrong in some I was right in others. I’ll let you have you’re own experience and try to figure it out.
0:05 -- Haha Well Done Liteweight Sobel! The Judges would also have accepted "Inconceivable!"
🤣🤣
Awesome reaction, great analysis as always. Made my Sunday morning when this dropped! Will now go back to episode 1 and re-like and comment for the algorithm. Looking forward to the next one 😊
I'm not sure where Winters was carrying that little compass but in my day we carried a large, very capable lensatic compass. I wouldn't have messed with a little compass like that given a choice. And credit to the producers of this series for realism, you cover yourself with a poncho while using red light to guard against being spotted by the enemy and to preserve your night vision, which white light destroys. Some, myself included (I served as a fire platoon leader in the Army), who are red-green color blind had considerable difficulty seeing some map details with a red light. I made sure I scrutinized maps carefully so none of the troops suffered any harm and we accomplished our missions as expected, or not...due to issues other than my weak color vision.
Thank you for you dedication and support love knowing people still care about the Veterans
Germany in the 30s had a big campaign to encourage German emigrants to move back into Germany (as well as annexing border regions of neighboring countries that had large German populations). It was mostly directed at German communities in eastern Europe, but Germans from the Americas would have been welcomed in Germany just as well.
In Spiers defense, They couldn't take prisoners, They were still behind enemy lines at that point.
Love to see it! More than happy for you to post nothing but this series till it's over!
And when it's done, there's a short video that shows the interviews with the soldiers that you see before the episode starts.
It absolutely makes my day when a new LiteWeight video shows up on my TY home page.
The flag you noticed behind the veteran is called a Guide On and its used in formations and for running in front of the company. When I was in the Army, the 101st as a matter of fact, in the 90s we had a platoon leader who reminds me of Sobel that was relieved of command for similar reasons i.e. he couldn't navigate and his tactical sense was not up to snuff. That's exactly the feelings you have about it, you don't feel that he is what you want in that situation and he overcompensates by being overbearing and irresponsible in his orders and command style. Great reactions, keep it up.
The proper term is "Guidon." A person who carries the guidon is known as a "Guidon Bearer."
I'm amazed at how perceptive and intelligent you are! I love your outros
The greatest single hour of television ever made
Hey Liteweight, hope you are well if you able to read this comment. This episode is a good ice breaker to the rest of the series, all I can say is get yourself a box of tissues. The series is historically pretty close but there are still a few artistic inaccuracies, you being a historian you'll be able to figure it out. In the last episode you asked about Guarnere's brother being in Italy not Africa, remember that after the Allies pushed the Germans and Italians out of Africa, Sicily and mainland Italy, he died near a monastery near Monte Cassino. You are right about the difference of leadership between Winters & Solbel, one is a great trainer the other knows how to use that training to affect. As for Speers' being reckless and cruel... just keep watching. I know this is going to be good series for to watch, can't wait for review after each episode. By the way looks like you enjoyed your trip to Universal Studios, I am glad you had fun. Take care and God Bless.
Thank you for reacting to to this series. Yes that was a compass. Good call.
Winter's attack on the guns was the second attempt to destroy them. Another squad attacked straight on and were repulsed earlier in the day.
I’ve been watching war related media all my life, but never have I ever experienced a more surreal moment then the scene of Malarkey meeting an American, fighting for Nazi Germany. That scene and what happened after will always stick with me.
As someone who has a history degree myself, I’m loving your reactions to this series. You are picking up on things that are sometimes lost on other reactors. I especially love when you said that you had to look into Americans serving in the German army. Most people just accept that and move on, but your historical curiosity and willingness to self-learn is something that we share.
Great reaction!!!! I appreciate the respect you have for those brave men of E Company and for all who have served our country.Will be waiting anxiously for the coming episodes and wishing you much success with your channel.
It’s actually a pleasure to watch you react to this series. You’ve noticed a few things that I never did, even after multiple viewings. I look forward to watching your other videos.
I dont know if anyone else mentioned this detail, but about the german grenades not doing any actual damage there is a historical explanation. Simply put German grenades were send to the front lines in crates with out being fully active and separate crates carried the explosive part. During the early stages of the war those grenades would keep a sign "dont forget to arm" or something to that effect and the more experienced german soldiers knew it and would arm them properly. By the time of D-Day however the soldiers were mostly new and poorly trained recruits and the grenades no longer had the signs for reasons of speeding up the resuply process. As a result, many german soldiers would throw grenades at the US troops that were not able to properly explode and kill.
That little clicker device they had was a toy from back in the day. It was a really good idea to determine friend from foe without speaking. Here was the one drawback though. The German soldiers at the time were using bolt action rifles. So if you clicked once (the established call) and they cocked their rifle it would sound like two clicks (the established answer). I remember this because I was watching the movie “The Longest Day” with my dad when I was young and an American soldier gets shot by a German soldier and dies saying, “But I heard two clicks”
I think this miniseries is just about as perfect as you can get. I have seen “Pacific” which was another Tom Hanks (and maybe Steven Spielberg) miniseries and it was OK. I saw some of “Masters of the Air” it didn’t even hold a candle to this one.
Enjoying your reactions and making sure I don’t include any spoilers!
Another fantasticly brilliant reaction Liteweight ❤❤🔥🔥.
Great! Been looking forward to this reaction and you stepped up. Great episode. It's refreshing that you take the time to understand the subtle details (like Winters' carrying a compass). It makes the reaction so much more entertaining. You are really going to enjoy this series. Keep up the great work. Curahee!!!
This has special meaning for me because my grandfather flew bombing raids from England over Germany in a B-17 bomber as a radio operator/navigator
Speirs actually did kill those prisoners. Winters confirmed it in an interview, and said that Speirs wrote a letter acknowledging he did it. He wrote the letter at the request of Winters just before the book was published, so that there was no potential legal ramification for that story being in the book.
US paratroopers were outright told not to take prisoners as the nature of their job precludes them from leading around POWs. They were lightly armed and meant to be highly mobile so that they could cause chaos behind the scenes while simultaneously accomplishing objectives crucial to the amphibious landings that would be taking place a few hours later.
Finding yourself on the “wrong side of the line” in war, including World War II, is more common than most people would ever imagine.
In US the war evoked strong pro-American patriotic sentiments among German Americans, so very few actually moved to nazi Germany.
Many Americans of German ancestry had top war jobs, including General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, and USAAF General Carl Andrew Spaatz.
Btw. Adolf Hitler’s nephew William, whose mother was English, immigrated to the U.S. in 1939.
He served as a Navy corpsman in World War II.
I'm loving your reactions to probably the best TV show ever. I respect that you already know a lot of the history of the show too. As an Army veteran, thank you for doing an outstanding job with this.
Buck Compton had a UCLA catcher's throwing arm. Glad you caught that.
My favorite part of this episode was the end, when Winters makes his prayer and his promise to God about finding a piece of land and living the rest of his life in peace. Something I can really appreciate as a Veteran.
Thank you for your service Christopher!! That last monologue was super impactful and I truly hope he gets what he prayed for!
NO SPOILERS
You’ll eventually figure out who each old gentlemen is, also if you watch the connected documentary afterwards, they include names at the bottom.
Also….. the Speirs incident is heavily scrutinized in the history books, but winters believed he actually DID do it in his memoirs
You are doing a great job with these, really great reactions!
You just did the most incredible reaction to this episode! This series is based on true events with Easy Company in the European Theater.
I can't wait for your episode #3
Great job young lady!
I spent this past June at the 80th Anniversary of the Normandy Landings if France.
I have so many beautiful photos and memories. I have Family that landed at Utah Beach, and flew over in the 8th.
I work for the director of Military Ceremonies in Europe. We’re planning planning all of next years events.
Normandy is a spiritual experience. You need to join us next year.