When I was in 6th grade, in 1989, I walked into my classroom & saw a HUGE nazi flag hanging on the wall. My sister and I were the only 2 black kids in our rural school & the only minorities, period. We knew all about WWII & nazi Germany from a great uncle & a great great uncle who we grew up around that both fought in the campaign. One of our uncles was a Buffalo soldier who fought in Africa & Italy mostly. Imagine to my surprise seeing that flag while all of my classmates sat there as if it was normal to see that flag. When my teacher, Mrs. Irwin came in she told us a story about where the flag came from. Our principal, Mr. Adams was a paratrooper who jumped on D-Day. When he jumped, a shell exploded near him, damaging his face. He was sent back to England to recover from his wounds. He went back & joined his unit after he was well enough to go on to fight until the end of the war. The flag was apparently on the back of a huge chair/throne that belonged to Hitler & he took it home with him. I assume it was at Eagles Nest. Mr. Adams was a great man who always looked out for me. He was even my moms principal when she was a part of his first class with black kids when segregation ended. He remembered my mom & always gave me slack when I got into fights due to racism from the other kids. I've tried my best to find more information on Mr. Adams, but I've been unable to. All I know is that when they built a new school that was closer to town, they renamed it in his honor. RIP Mr. Adams.
@@TheeTwanSolo I think this could be tough lead to track down. They don't have a history of the school. Since Mr. Adams jumped on D-Day, we know he would be either 82nd or 101st. I do know he was not in Easy Company because the complete roster is available on line. Looked up Fox Co. and they do not have a complete roster I can find.
@ChuckJansenII I appreciate you trying to locate any information about him. I love looking into military records for family & I'm into genealogy also. I've found very little on service records of my great-great uncle, Sterling Jack Denny (sometimes spelled Denney), who served in WWII & Korea. I'm not sure if I'm looking in the right places or not. I do know that my grandmother & her sisters said that he came back from WWII "crazier than a loon." When he came back to the States, he apparently drove back to Berea, Kentucky, in nothing but his underwear. He went on to volunteer in the Korean War, too. I never saw his crazier moments. My life around him he was a very calm & quiet man who sat at the general store daily. My sister & I would walk there to say hi to him & my great grandfather to get a dollar from them each for candy, lol.
Yeah Blithe didn't die till 1967 of kidney failure. Just an innocent mix up and missing knowledge from the actual accounts for the book. Those guys actually thought he was dead.
(Not a spoiler since he's never shown up/mentioned again in the show) Ed Tipper, the soldier who gets blown up in the drugstore and is nearly disfigured, is the gentleman with the pink shirt and big glasses in the beginning interview of this episode. He said he'd either get a quick death, or go through without a scratch, and he was quite wrong on both options. He lost his right eye, and had both legs broken, needing a cane the rest of his life, but still had a very long and successful life. He had a daughter when he was 62, she is a former member of the Colorado House of Reps, and now city attorney in Denver. Tipper passed away in 2017 at the age of 95.
Wow thank you so much for the info! It just puts things in perspective that you can’t anticipate what goes on in war. So many things are happening at once and you are either in the right spot or you’re not and even that has some randomness to it! It’s good to hear he was stick able to live a good life after all that happened to him.
My Uncle was in the 506th and knew every one of these guys, and made it all the way through. My Dad said he spoke very highly of Winters. He survived, but he seldom talked about his experience. He was a great guy...and was the most squared away, situationally aware guy i ever knew. Late in life he told me, if i wanted to know what it was really like, read the book this show was based on. I did, and this show is very very true to it. The series came out before he passed away, but he never watched it. He would be very happy that two young guys like ya'll would be watching BOB and really appreciating it. So, from my Uncle, Sgt Louis B Flores from Louisiana of the 101st AB 506th Easy Co....thanks!
14:44 What happened to Blithe was that he was so stressed and overstimulated from combat that his eyes “shut off”. Some people would shake, others would stutter, and some go blind temporarily when stressed. The Human body panics when dealing with large amounts of stress at once.
If you watcht the scene where he goes blind, he turned the corner that three other men had just run around. You hear an explosion and he saw what happened to them and slumps down back behind the corner. Hysterical blindness.
LT Meehan and some of his platoon went down on D-day in their plane. Blithe didn't die when they said he did. They lost contact with him and thought he died. However, his family came forward and explained that he continued with his army career and died in the 60's.
The story gets weirder. There was a Pvt. Albert Blithe that served with the 101st (not E Company) that did die in 1948, and two Easy Company members attended the funeral thinking it was the same Blithe. That’s where the confusion stems from, a simple misunderstanding.
That speech by Spears to Blithe about "accepting that you are already dead" stuck with me for years... many hard times, personal wars.. those words got me through. There is something about this universe, you have to let go, to get what you want.. or even to survive. These are wise.. and haunting words. I have been tested, I can think when scared. Sometimes I wish I hadn't been.
Winters sitting with Blithe and getting him to fire his weapon is such a great example of Winter’s leadership. He needed everyone on the line firing his weapon, and made sure Blithe overcame his fears to join the fight.
LT. Welsh had balls of steel. He was the first to move into the town while taking fire, rushed an MG42 with a grenade, and then stood out in the open in order to take out the German StuG. What a guy.
When Perconte and Luz are complaining on why Easy Co was always exposed by being the tip of the spear or on the flank was for a reason. Easy Co was the assault company of their Regiment and were therefore trained for heavier combat and had more heavy weapons as a result. Great reaction y'all keep up the great work.
I make it a habit of watching a lot of people react to this show, and you guys are and if the only ones to understand why Blithe was unable to see before it was explained. Really looking forward to the rest of your reactions!
18:29 - Lt. Spears' speech is still hair raising to this day. Also seeing him in a certain episode coming up, you'll see what a true badass soldier Spears was.
"Anyone who tells you that in the trenches they weren't scared, he's a damned liar. You were scared all the time." - Harry Patch (1898-2009), last surviving WWI combat veteran
I’ve seen this show dozens of times all the way through, but watching it with y’all is like getting to see it all again for the first time. Appreciate the content and glad y’all are enjoying!
He (blithe) was actually the reason everyone thought he was dead. When he recovered he wanted to be resigned to another company, and he couldn't deal with his PTSD AND be in contact with Easy Co. Members, so he never contacted them. There's an interview somewhere, where Major Winters sets the record straight about blithe being seen as a coward. He had a lot of respect for him. 😊
Yeah, Blithe stayed in the army and died in 68, I believe. Stephen A. Ambrose got his story wrong and one other minor mistake later in the show about Lt. Dyke.
The most amazing part of the battle for Carentan was that Winters 100% exposed himself like that on the road and kicked quite a few fannies to get the company moving again. How he didn't get shot doing that is unbelievable.
Best part of the video was seeing what I already knew confirmed, knew you guys were from philly with all the jawns you drop left and right lol. Cool to see you light up at that part. Guarnere and Babe Heffron were both from Philly, there's a statue of them in Herron Playground.
Blithe was reassigned to another unit in the 101st after he recovered from his wounds. He then served in Korea. This is why a lot of guys went AWOL from hospitals and replacement companies. They did not want to risk being sent to a different unit. They also wanted to get back to their buddies as soon as possible. Of course AWOL is AWOl and many got punished when caught before they could get back to their company. The little moments in the fight were true. The Irish Chaplain standing in the middle of cross fire giving last rights. Talbert being stabbed at night, along with the poem night of the bayonet. Easy holding the revers slope defense. Welsh and McGraff taking out that armor sitting in the middle of the field. They trained the actors well. You can see Welsh connecting the wires of the rocket to the nodes on the back of the bazooka. The thing had a battery in the handle that ignited the rocket.
Swah & Sheim: of all the people who have reacted to Band of Brothers, I find your reactions among the most insightful and heartfelt. Thanks for reviewing this!
The whole episode is meant to show the different mindsets of soldiers and how they all cope with fear. Perconte collects watches, the guy in the foxhole with Blithe pretends it's all a game, Spiers says you have to accept that you're already dead. None of these help to encourage Blithe out of his fear. The only one who manages to do that is Winters by being an example of compassion and bravery. He doesn't make Blithe feel bad about his fear but encourages him to get over it and we see it work.
The German soldier getting run over by the tank isn't CGI. They actually dug a narrow trench in which he fit himself, and the tracks went over him to create the illusion he was being smushed.
Another insightful reaction and summary. What a joy to see you comprehend all the nuance and detail of these very real events. Except for Blythe which was an error because it was reported incorrectly in the book, everything else depicted is spot on.
The confusion with the Spiers story is meant to illustrate how stories get passed down from soldier to soldier. It was true, but the details got mixed up as they got passed along.
Enjoying your guys reaction. The creative team for the series did a great job of conveying what war is like. One thing about war that is hard to convey is the smell of the battlefield. "The smell of acrid smoke and horses' breath." Having never experienced battle, it is the hardest part to imagine. Oh. Nice t-shirt.
There are videos online with Toye's son talking about his dad. He led a great life. Souvenirs in war are pretty common. The art theft by the Germans all over Europe was astronomical. When US Soldiers overran Nazi positions they too took some of the art. There was a unit that went in to search for the lost art hoping to recover it before the Soviets got there. A lot was recovered. Some wound up in the attics of US soldiers and is still being found today by kids and grandkids. There is a movie worth reacting to on Netflix, leaving on March 31st about the unit that went in.
Really loving you fellas reviews and the respect your showing to the series. As an added note, I promise you, PROMISE, that by the end of this series you will love LT Spiers.
We appreciate you & your support! It’s only right that we pay respect & give our full attention to anything we watch but especially historical/documentary shows/movies! The ending of Ep 7 slightly makes us agree to being able to see this!
The events of the battle against the tanks would be the basis for the video game Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30. It covers the first week leading to Carentan and tells a great emotional story.
Edelweiss ("the symbol of a true soldier") is a small flower that that grows high up in the MOUNTAINS, above the treeline. It is even today the symbol of the German mountain troops (Gebirgjager). It's not easy to find.
DAMN! LOL Y'all's "happy New Year" at the end threw me for a loop. Just goes to remind everyone how much work is put in to these reaction videos. I'd imagine y'all intended to have this series on your channel starting in late December, but shifted a few other reactions around. It's all good. Great react from you guys.
🤣 after editing it, it caught me off guard as well! There is SOOO much that goes into it but it’s well worth it getting to interact w/ you all. We upload to Patreon first keeping them around 6-12 weeks ahead so they got this in early January. We appreciate you, much love💙
22:02 This dialog is the reason behind the name of the TV show "The Walking Dead." Rick told a group of survivors, after they lost the prison, about his grandfather in WWII.
As far as what could cause Blithe going temporarily blind: shock. Emotional stress. It happens. Sometimes folks' brains react in weird ways to too much stress and too much fear. Plus, explosions create *shockwaves* that can and do mess with your brainmeat.
They didn't mean to get it wrong with Blithe, they thought he was dead. He served in Korea and got the bronze star and silver star! He ended up being a straight up badass! 🫡🇺🇸
edelweis (the white flower ) doesnt grow in trees but very high in the mountains it grows in the last vegetation before there are only rocks, some even grow within those rocks and you need to do real rock climing on a rope to get it
I've experienced something similar to Blithe. I was walking down some steps from a friend's house heading home and my vision got fuzzy not too unlike what you experience if you get up too quickly. I didn't really think anything of it as I had just gotten up from sitting down moments before leaving and kept walking through the parking lot. When I realized it wasn't going away I decided to sit down where I stood and hope that it goes away. I sat there for several minutes before my vision started to improve and eventually return to normal. I'd never experienced anything like that before or since, and it's scary as hell.
Grenades: German grenades relied more on concussive effect to stun or kill, whereas the most familiar American grenade (pineapple) was scored (2a) so as to produce shrapnel to wound or kill.
Hysterical Blindness is when your mind has an overload on the senses so if you hear to many loud things or see too much crazy stuff your brain will shut that sense off for a while. Even with stench
It's important to remember that "casualties" refers to a loss of fighting strength... Some might come back after medical rehab, others might be permanently out if the war but survive, and of course some might be dead.
Apart from sidearms I mentioned in previous episode pop brought back a german helmet, daggers, several medals, and numerous patches including Eidelweiss patches..no flag/banner lol
So you know Blythe actually survived, everybody in easy company when the movie was made thought he died but actually he stayed in the army for an additional 20 years and retired as a master sergeant. My understanding is that he popped up when the movie came out basically went to a reunion and said here I am I'm alive. He had a pretty storied career in the army.
Sadly he did not retire, nor did he recontact the vets of E Company. This is from his wiki page. *On December 10, 1967, while on active duty in Germany, Blithe felt nauseated when he returned from a weekend at Bastogne, Belgium, where he had taken part in the ceremonies commemorating the Battle of the Bulge. On December 11, 1967, Blithe was taken to the emergency department at Wiesbaden Hospital, Germany, where he was admitted with a diagnosis of a perforated ulcer. He died in the intensive care unit on December 17 after surgery, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full honors.*
I really feel for Blithe a lot in this episode, no one knows until there in that situation how they will truly respond to fear. Training is one thing but being in the real deal is entirely different. I also really feel for those that later got drafted into the war it's one thing to volunteer to fight for your country but another to be made to do so especially if you know you aren't cut out to be a soldier. It may have been necessary at the time but it doesn't make it less difficult. I can tell you I'm not even 1/10th as brave as Blithe, I wouldn't have made it past d-day not a chance.
Lieutenant Spiers was not wired. He did not smoke or drink. He did not talk much, and he was a loner-only a few people knew him well. Lieutenant Winters said "He was the cruelest man I ever knew," (meaning he could kill the enemy without a second thought) but Winters also said he was an excellent combat leader. I am reading a biography of Ronald Spiers now, and my information comes from that book.
"Just another day at the office..." The 2nd Armored were already veterans of the North Africa and Italy campaigns, so to them, the Normandy invasion absolutely was.
One thing to look out for is the marks on the uniforms on the German soldiers. Its near their collar on the left and right side, it will have SS mark of white lines. I dont know if they were the ones defending Carentan, but i do know the Waffen-SS were the ones counterattacking them outside of Carentan. Just thought id let yall know about that little detail and information moving forward in the Series. Love that yall are checking out this classic series. Extra information from me: This series got me into history, or more into military history. Im 19 now and i plan on becoming a History Teaher in High school after collage. I just gatta get enrolled first lol.
No. The Americans did not fight the SS in Normandy. They were on the left flank of the allied advance facing mostly the Canadians. The reason why they have SS coller tags it's because the story is being embellished by soldiers when we see the flashbacks.
When Second Armored showed up to help Easy Company, those tanks of theirs had to come up off the beach. The fact that they made it off the beach means that the 506th regiment, and the rest of the paratroopers did their job in making it possible for the armies that landed on the beach to come inland and continue the war.
As others said, one of the very few "mistakes" the show made in regards to real life is that they thought Blithe had died because the memebers of Easy company lost touch with him and they remembered him getting shot in the neck so they figured he died. In reality he got shot close to the neck but more in the shoulder, so he did make it. And he went on to serve in Korea and earn some medals. The part where Winters sits with him and reassures him while he's recovering from "histerical blindness" is all true and really happened.
@@BackwardTravisty Sure, nobody's saying that, you're being silly. This WAS a mistake because it wasn't an artistic choice... There are other scenes where they deliberately changed things or condensed things for the story. I have in-depth knowledge about BOB. I know what choices were made for what reason. This wasn't a creative choice. It was literally a mistake the producers only realized afterwards. They made a point to add the text at the end about Blithe because they thought that's what happened to him... that wasn't added as a creative choice but to let the audience know his fate IN REAL LIFE, not in the world of the show... and it turned out be wrong... now what would you call that...? You are arguing against a point nobody is making. Obviously they change some things, but this show is about as authentic to real events as any show could ever be for the most part, so people are pointing out where a character people love didn't actually die in real life
Blithe did survive, and went on to serve in the Korean war and died in 1967. For some reason they got this wrong when they made the show and said he died in 1948 which is not true
He (blithe) was actually the reason everyone thought he was dead. When he recovered he wanted to be resigned to another company, and he couldn't deal with his PTSD AND be in contact with Easy Co. Members, so he never contacted them. There's an interview somewhere, where Major Winters sets the record straight about blithe being seen as a coward. He had a lot of respect for him. 😊
Others have said it already but Blithe survived his wounds and went on to serve in Korea. Not only did he have a long career in the army but he was decorated several times for bravery for his service in Korea. It’s one of the few true mistakes the show actually made.
These accounts exist mostly because Easy was such a close knit group, Blithe in real life simply lost touch with easy company after the war, so they assumed he had died. In fact he survived the war and continued to serve in the Korean war. He died of natural causes in 1967.
A lot of people believe that it was the fact the airborne troopers were so scattered that helped make the invasion such a success. The Germans had no idea what was going on or what reports to believe. Just small groups of men doing what Paratroopers do, causing havoc. If you remember in the last episode when Winters met up with Hall they also met two troopers from the 82d. The 101st and the 82d should not have been in the same area. Also when Easy is advancing into Carentan one of the things that got them moving and out of those ditches was Winters. The sight of him on the road and him screaming and "swearing" was so out of character it shocked the unit into action.
Hey love the reaction, just a important ps tho . Blythe actually did survive the war. And went on to serve with distinction in Korea , before passing away in the late 50s i believe due to natural cuases while he was stationed in Germany. Winters later in a an interview which you can watch on TH-cam admits that the show did him a bit dirty, but winters admits during the time with easy company , he was a casualty. There was very little information on what actually happened to blythe when the show was made which is why it tells that he passed in 48.
We appreciate you & your support! We are happy he survived but it’s also understandable. There’s so much loss & information getting passed on that it is easy to make that mistake
Fellas, I’d like to point out that Albert Blithe was shot through the collarbone in real life, and he most definitely survived. The series for whatever reason claims that he never recovered and died in 1948, but in real life he recovered, stayed in the army, went on to fight in Korea, and he would’ve fought in Vietnam too but he died during surgery for stomach ulcers in 1967.
I think part of the confusion came from 2 Easy Co vets claiming they had attended his funerals, but it appears they were mistaken and it was another Blithe from another division.
Didn't the men from Easy Company say they didn't like how he was portrayed in the series & how he was way more than how he was depicted or something like that?
There were probably lots of Germans who could have been taken prisoner who were shot. The problem was more logistical. At that time in the invasion, the paratroopers were still extremely short of people and those they had were needed to take objectives. They couldn't spare people to babysit prisoners and had no facilities to hold them. It's brutal but until additional troops and support elements could arrive, they needed every shooter they had. There is a good video about Spiers on TH-cam and he did shoot one of his own men but the guy was drunk, refused to go on patrol and pulled a gun on him. This was witnessed by other members of the unit and reported to the commander who cleared the shoot. The solder who was shot was listed as KIA I guess for his families sake.
Concerning Pvt. Blythe’s hysterical blindness - there a book called On Killing by Lt. Dave Grossman. He talks about the psychological and physiological responses the body goes through when in traumatic shock during deadly force encounters. When your heart rate is elevated about 170bpm you start to lose fine motor skills and even your senses (as in combat, when one experiences “tunnel vision” or hearing loss or even blindness.) It is possible that Blythe’s nervous system reached its threshold and that is why he experienced blindness during shock.
It’s important to remember that while all of this is going on, the Marine Corps is in the Pacific fighting the Japanese, so part of the war material produced is going to them. We were able to fight a two front war because our nation is just that big.
I'm reading the book ," Band of Brothers" true account about the combat that Easy Company endured from the beginning to the end of their time during WW2, Written by Stephen E . Ambrose...
"That's a war crime, isn't it?" Yes, it is. We never knew for sure if Speirs did it or not, though. He was never charged for it. In the context of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy, the directive to not take prisoners was not a formal policy but rather an outcome of the operation's nature and the exigencies of the moment. The scale and objective of Operation Overlord-to establish a secure beachhead and then quickly break through German defenses-necessitated rapid advancement and minimal encumbrances. The operation's initial phase, known colloquially as D-Day, involved landing troops under heavy fire on fortified beaches, where the immediate priority was survival and securing a foothold in occupied Europe. In such a scenario, the capacity to take and manage prisoners was significantly constrained. The logistics of guarding, processing, and transporting prisoners could impede the momentum of the assault, potentially affecting its success. Furthermore, the intensity of the combat and the high stakes involved led to situations where, in the heat of the moment, decisions were made on the ground that reflected the brutal reality of warfare rather than the ideals of the laws of war.
Knowing more on the situation makes sense on why certain actions were taken. Especially when you put things into perspective, like there’s no way you could really manage prisoners while trying to survive in those circumstances, not knowing what can happen at any given moment. Thanks for all the amazing information!
When people's minds get overstimulated, like in combat, they can get squirelly. Worst fire I ever saw coming my way, mortars, machine guns and rifles, bouncing off the cab of my truck and waiting to eat a rocket (which defiinately wouldn't bounce off), after a while, it started sounding like rain to me.
The real Blithe did not die from that wound. His protrayal in the show didn't sit well with the real Winters who went on to describe something of the following. Blithe went on to serve in the pacific theater as well, and earned a medal if I'm not mistaken. Blithe underrated big time
Info on Blythe was incorrect . He did not die in 1948. He actually returned to action in Korean war in 1950's .Can't remember exac tly when he passed but he survived the neck wound!!!
They indeed do put the most capable units in the hardest spot in military. That's why Easy is always exposed. I'm a nerd so couple of corrections to the episode. You will be happy to hear this but Albert Blithe didn't die until 1967, he recovered from his wounds, served again in the airborne in Korean war and was decorated twice for gallantry. This episode doesn't really do justice for Albert Blithe. Also edelweiss is the mark of german Alpine jaeger, not exactly a true soldier. Not saying alpine jaeger wouldn't be but this man isn't one and shouldn't bear the edelweiss. Its kinda like a if marine put on jump boots and then went to show them off to paratroopers. It would probably have been a fist fight.
They tried to avoid civilian casualties as much as possible but it unfortunately was not always unavoidable. I think it was in some ways worse in the Pacific because at that time the Japanese would utilize the citizens against the Allied troops. I don't think they encountered that as much on the European front but sad no matter what.
Adrenaline is a vasoconstrictor. When your body is flooded with adrenaline the blood supply to your eyes can become so constricted that you literally go blind.
I'm sure people have said this already but watch the series The Pacific after this. It's the BoB version of the fighting against the Japanese. Shit is crazy. Also Saving Private Ryan and Platoon are #1 and #2 best war movies.
When I was in 6th grade, in 1989, I walked into my classroom & saw a HUGE nazi flag hanging on the wall. My sister and I were the only 2 black kids in our rural school & the only minorities, period. We knew all about WWII & nazi Germany from a great uncle & a great great uncle who we grew up around that both fought in the campaign. One of our uncles was a Buffalo soldier who fought in Africa & Italy mostly. Imagine to my surprise seeing that flag while all of my classmates sat there as if it was normal to see that flag. When my teacher, Mrs. Irwin came in she told us a story about where the flag came from. Our principal, Mr. Adams was a paratrooper who jumped on D-Day. When he jumped, a shell exploded near him, damaging his face. He was sent back to England to recover from his wounds. He went back & joined his unit after he was well enough to go on to fight until the end of the war. The flag was apparently on the back of a huge chair/throne that belonged to Hitler & he took it home with him. I assume it was at Eagles Nest. Mr. Adams was a great man who always looked out for me. He was even my moms principal when she was a part of his first class with black kids when segregation ended. He remembered my mom & always gave me slack when I got into fights due to racism from the other kids. I've tried my best to find more information on Mr. Adams, but I've been unable to. All I know is that when they built a new school that was closer to town, they renamed it in his honor. RIP Mr. Adams.
Really happy I read your comment. What is the name of the high school named after Mr. Adams? Where is the high school located?
@@ChuckJansenII it's actually an elementary school. It's Kirksville/John Adam's Elementary in Richmond Kentucky.
@@TheeTwanSolo I think this could be tough lead to track down. They don't have a history of the school. Since Mr. Adams jumped on D-Day, we know he would be either 82nd or 101st. I do know he was not in Easy Company because the complete roster is available on line. Looked up Fox Co. and they do not have a complete roster I can find.
@ChuckJansenII I appreciate you trying to locate any information about him. I love looking into military records for family & I'm into genealogy also. I've found very little on service records of my great-great uncle, Sterling Jack Denny (sometimes spelled Denney), who served in WWII & Korea. I'm not sure if I'm looking in the right places or not. I do know that my grandmother & her sisters said that he came back from WWII "crazier than a loon." When he came back to the States, he apparently drove back to Berea, Kentucky, in nothing but his underwear. He went on to volunteer in the Korean War, too. I never saw his crazier moments. My life around him he was a very calm & quiet man who sat at the general store daily. My sister & I would walk there to say hi to him & my great grandfather to get a dollar from them each for candy, lol.
@@TheeTwanSolo Great stories to read. 90th idpg original research organization may have some information.
Tipper and Blithe survived their wounds. Blithe served in Korea as well.
Yeah he’s one of the old men that speaks before the episodes.
At 2:00
Yeah Blithe didn't die till 1967 of kidney failure. Just an innocent mix up and missing knowledge from the actual accounts for the book. Those guys actually thought he was dead.
there were two Blithes in the company apparently and they mixed them up.@@rameynoodles152
(Not a spoiler since he's never shown up/mentioned again in the show)
Ed Tipper, the soldier who gets blown up in the drugstore and is nearly disfigured, is the gentleman with the pink shirt and big glasses in the beginning interview of this episode. He said he'd either get a quick death, or go through without a scratch, and he was quite wrong on both options. He lost his right eye, and had both legs broken, needing a cane the rest of his life, but still had a very long and successful life. He had a daughter when he was 62, she is a former member of the Colorado House of Reps, and now city attorney in Denver. Tipper passed away in 2017 at the age of 95.
Wow thank you so much for the info! It just puts things in perspective that you can’t anticipate what goes on in war. So many things are happening at once and you are either in the right spot or you’re not and even that has some randomness to it! It’s good to hear he was stick able to live a good life after all that happened to him.
My Uncle was in the 506th and knew every one of these guys, and made it all the way through. My Dad said he spoke very highly of Winters. He survived, but he seldom talked about his experience. He was a great guy...and was the most squared away, situationally aware guy i ever knew. Late in life he told me, if i wanted to know what it was really like, read the book this show was based on. I did, and this show is very very true to it. The series came out before he passed away, but he never watched it. He would be very happy that two young guys like ya'll would be watching BOB and really appreciating it. So, from my Uncle, Sgt Louis B Flores from Louisiana of the 101st AB 506th Easy Co....thanks!
14:44 What happened to Blithe was that he was so stressed and overstimulated from combat that his eyes “shut off”. Some people would shake, others would stutter, and some go blind temporarily when stressed. The Human body panics when dealing with large amounts of stress at once.
If you watcht the scene where he goes blind, he turned the corner that three other men had just run around. You hear an explosion and he saw what happened to them and slumps down back behind the corner. Hysterical blindness.
The respect you guys put on this reaction… I feel it. Thanks gentleman
I feel the same way when I watch it
It is only right that you do for all they sacrificed🙏🏾 we appreciate you💙
LT Meehan and some of his platoon went down on D-day in their plane. Blithe didn't die when they said he did. They lost contact with him and thought he died. However, his family came forward and explained that he continued with his army career and died in the 60's.
The story gets weirder. There was a Pvt. Albert Blithe that served with the 101st (not E Company) that did die in 1948, and two Easy Company members attended the funeral thinking it was the same Blithe. That’s where the confusion stems from, a simple misunderstanding.
That speech by Spears to Blithe about "accepting that you are already dead" stuck with me for years... many hard times, personal wars.. those words got me through. There is something about this universe, you have to let go, to get what you want.. or even to survive. These are wise.. and haunting words. I have been tested, I can think when scared. Sometimes I wish I hadn't been.
What’s insane is that private tipper survived
Winters sitting with Blithe and getting him to fire his weapon is such a great example of Winter’s leadership. He needed everyone on the line firing his weapon, and made sure Blithe overcame his fears to join the fight.
LT. Welsh had balls of steel. He was the first to move into the town while taking fire, rushed an MG42 with a grenade, and then stood out in the open in order to take out the German StuG. What a guy.
When Perconte and Luz are complaining on why Easy Co was always exposed by being the tip of the spear or on the flank was for a reason. Easy Co was the assault company of their Regiment and were therefore trained for heavier combat and had more heavy weapons as a result. Great reaction y'all keep up the great work.
I make it a habit of watching a lot of people react to this show, and you guys are and if the only ones to understand why Blithe was unable to see before it was explained. Really looking forward to the rest of your reactions!
We appreciate you & your support💙
18:29 - Lt. Spears' speech is still hair raising to this day. Also seeing him in a certain episode coming up, you'll see what a true badass soldier Spears was.
"Anyone who tells you that in the trenches they weren't scared, he's a damned liar. You were scared all the time." - Harry Patch (1898-2009), last surviving WWI combat veteran
I’ve seen this show dozens of times all the way through, but watching it with y’all is like getting to see it all again for the first time. Appreciate the content and glad y’all are enjoying!
@11:50 he was worried they blew his junk off
He (blithe) was actually the reason everyone thought he was dead.
When he recovered he wanted to be resigned to another company, and he couldn't deal with his PTSD AND be in contact with Easy Co. Members, so he never contacted them.
There's an interview somewhere, where Major Winters sets the record straight about blithe being seen as a coward.
He had a lot of respect for him.
😊
Yeah, Blithe stayed in the army and died in 68, I believe. Stephen A. Ambrose got his story wrong and one other minor mistake later in the show about Lt. Dyke.
Such a sick episode. Remember watching this when it came out with my boy back when we were like 10 or so. Good times
The most amazing part of the battle for Carentan was that Winters 100% exposed himself like that on the road and kicked quite a few fannies to get the company moving again. How he didn't get shot doing that is unbelievable.
Love your guys' input, thanks for sharing, had fun at lunch with yall. Take care
We appreciate you & glad you enjoyed our reaction! Happy to be part of your day as well💙
Best part of the video was seeing what I already knew confirmed, knew you guys were from philly with all the jawns you drop left and right lol. Cool to see you light up at that part. Guarnere and Babe Heffron were both from Philly, there's a statue of them in Herron Playground.
Once they confirmed it we definitely got excited🤣 Thats good to hear that they have statues of them in Philly!
Blithe was reassigned to another unit in the 101st after he recovered from his wounds. He then served in Korea. This is why a lot of guys went AWOL from hospitals and replacement companies. They did not want to risk being sent to a different unit. They also wanted to get back to their buddies as soon as possible. Of course AWOL is AWOl and many got punished when caught before they could get back to their company.
The little moments in the fight were true. The Irish Chaplain standing in the middle of cross fire giving last rights. Talbert being stabbed at night, along with the poem night of the bayonet. Easy holding the revers slope defense. Welsh and McGraff taking out that armor sitting in the middle of the field. They trained the actors well. You can see Welsh connecting the wires of the rocket to the nodes on the back of the bazooka. The thing had a battery in the handle that ignited the rocket.
Another great reaction gentlemen, glad a came across your channel 😊
We appreciate you & your support🙏🏾💙
Swah & Sheim: of all the people who have reacted to Band of Brothers, I find your reactions among the most insightful and heartfelt. Thanks for reviewing this!
We appreciate you, your support & grateful for this! This means a lot & we truly are heartfelt watching this! Much love💙
Such a good episode. I think Blithe is there to represent the mindset of most soldiers. That shit is terrifying.
The whole episode is meant to show the different mindsets of soldiers and how they all cope with fear. Perconte collects watches, the guy in the foxhole with Blithe pretends it's all a game, Spiers says you have to accept that you're already dead. None of these help to encourage Blithe out of his fear. The only one who manages to do that is Winters by being an example of compassion and bravery. He doesn't make Blithe feel bad about his fear but encourages him to get over it and we see it work.
15:44 Spiers didn't shoot the German soldier from Oregon. The scriptwriters merged a couple of events together.
The German soldier getting run over by the tank isn't CGI. They actually dug a narrow trench in which he fit himself, and the tracks went over him to create the illusion he was being smushed.
Takes some balls to do that.
@@audiogarden21 Well, we don't see the entire tank, they might have built some structure that just recreated the appearance of a tank.
@@FrenchieQc Well then I take back everything I said.
Really enjoy watching u guys how ur minds wrap around this as cinematic art but also the true historical story that this is .
Great job, gentlemen. Nice reaction. You guys pick up on stuff a lot of other reactors have missed. Looking forward to more with you.
Thank you we appreciate you & your support! Much love💙
Another insightful reaction and summary. What a joy to see you comprehend all the nuance and detail of these very real events. Except for Blythe which was an error because it was reported incorrectly in the book, everything else depicted is spot on.
Really happy I found your channel. You guys are doing great reactions and pick up on film language really well!
Thank you, we appreciate you & your support! Happy you’re enjoying our reactions & WELCOME💙 we try our best
The confusion with the Spiers story is meant to illustrate how stories get passed down from soldier to soldier. It was true, but the details got mixed up as they got passed along.
Enjoying your guys reaction. The creative team for the series did a great job of conveying what war is like. One thing about war that is hard to convey is the smell of the battlefield. "The smell of acrid smoke and horses' breath." Having never experienced battle, it is the hardest part to imagine.
Oh. Nice t-shirt.
The Blithe storyline is the only thing they got wrong. He actually did survived and lived, and even served, many more years.
There are videos online with Toye's son talking about his dad. He led a great life. Souvenirs in war are pretty common. The art theft by the Germans all over Europe was astronomical. When US Soldiers overran Nazi positions they too took some of the art. There was a unit that went in to search for the lost art hoping to recover it before the Soviets got there. A lot was recovered. Some wound up in the attics of US soldiers and is still being found today by kids and grandkids. There is a movie worth reacting to on Netflix, leaving on March 31st about the unit that went in.
I think you mean Toye. Tipper had a daughter, not a son.
@@joefera8947 I did. Thanks, that's what I get when post half asleep. I'll fix it.
@@rhiahlMT
I do that all the time. lol
Really loving you fellas reviews and the respect your showing to the series. As an added note, I promise you, PROMISE, that by the end of this series you will love LT Spiers.
We appreciate you & your support! It’s only right that we pay respect & give our full attention to anything we watch but especially historical/documentary shows/movies! The ending of Ep 7 slightly makes us agree to being able to see this!
Love your guys' vibe, reactions, personal insight, and intelligence. Subbed 👍
We appreciate you & your support💙 WELCOME!
The events of the battle against the tanks would be the basis for the video game Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30. It covers the first week leading to Carentan and tells a great emotional story.
Great reaction boys. Keep it rollin’. Can’t wait for the next one.
We appreciate you & your support! Next week🔥
Love how chill you dudes are, and your editing is really great too. Good channel, thanks for the content.
We appreciate you, this means a lot to us! Much love💙
Edelweiss ("the symbol of a true soldier") is a small flower that that grows high up in the MOUNTAINS, above the treeline. It is even today the symbol of the German mountain troops (Gebirgjager). It's not easy to find.
DAMN! LOL Y'all's "happy New Year" at the end threw me for a loop.
Just goes to remind everyone how much work is put in to these reaction videos. I'd imagine y'all intended to have this series on your channel starting in late December, but shifted a few other reactions around. It's all good.
Great react from you guys.
🤣 after editing it, it caught me off guard as well! There is SOOO much that goes into it but it’s well worth it getting to interact w/ you all. We upload to Patreon first keeping them around 6-12 weeks ahead so they got this in early January. We appreciate you, much love💙
22:02 This dialog is the reason behind the name of the TV show "The Walking Dead." Rick told a group of survivors, after they lost the prison, about his grandfather in WWII.
As far as what could cause Blithe going temporarily blind: shock. Emotional stress. It happens. Sometimes folks' brains react in weird ways to too much stress and too much fear. Plus, explosions create *shockwaves* that can and do mess with your brainmeat.
They didn't mean to get it wrong with Blithe, they thought he was dead.
He served in Korea and got the bronze star and silver star!
He ended up being a straight up badass!
🫡🇺🇸
100%! Happy to hear he survived!
edelweis (the white flower ) doesnt grow in trees but very high in the mountains it grows in the last vegetation before there are only rocks, some even grow within those rocks and you need to do real rock climing on a rope to get it
I've experienced something similar to Blithe. I was walking down some steps from a friend's house heading home and my vision got fuzzy not too unlike what you experience if you get up too quickly. I didn't really think anything of it as I had just gotten up from sitting down moments before leaving and kept walking through the parking lot. When I realized it wasn't going away I decided to sit down where I stood and hope that it goes away. I sat there for several minutes before my vision started to improve and eventually return to normal. I'd never experienced anything like that before or since, and it's scary as hell.
That’s definitely scary not knowing what is going on & the internal dialogue that would happen! Glad you’re ok & it hasn’t happened again🙏🏾
Grenades: German grenades relied more on concussive effect to stun or kill, whereas the most familiar American grenade (pineapple) was scored (2a) so as to produce shrapnel to wound or kill.
Hysterical Blindness is when your mind has an overload on the senses so if you hear to many loud things or see too much crazy stuff your brain will shut that sense off for a while. Even with stench
Blythe had hysterical blindness. Basically sudden PTSD and he lost vision temporarily.
Great reactions, guys! 🇺🇸
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It's important to remember that "casualties" refers to a loss of fighting strength... Some might come back after medical rehab, others might be permanently out if the war but survive, and of course some might be dead.
That’s very true!
Apart from sidearms I mentioned in previous episode pop brought back a german helmet, daggers, several medals, and numerous patches including Eidelweiss patches..no flag/banner lol
With all the good info in the chat.
Blythe lived fought in Korea died there. Thus why they though he died.
He didn’t die in Korea. He retired and lived into the mid-1960s
you guys are doing good. thanks for watching this
Thanks Men, enjoyed watching 😊👍✌️🇺🇸
Blithe actually survived and lived until 1967 though. But since no one in Easy Company ever heard from him; They thought he died earlier than that.
So you know Blythe actually survived, everybody in easy company when the movie was made thought he died but actually he stayed in the army for an additional 20 years and retired as a master sergeant. My understanding is that he popped up when the movie came out basically went to a reunion and said here I am I'm alive. He had a pretty storied career in the army.
Sadly he did not retire, nor did he recontact the vets of E Company. This is from his wiki page. *On December 10, 1967, while on active duty in Germany, Blithe felt nauseated when he returned from a weekend at Bastogne, Belgium, where he had taken part in the ceremonies commemorating the Battle of the Bulge. On December 11, 1967, Blithe was taken to the emergency department at Wiesbaden Hospital, Germany, where he was admitted with a diagnosis of a perforated ulcer. He died in the intensive care unit on December 17 after surgery, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full honors.*
Another great video! Love to see it
We appreciate you💙
There was awesome Harlem Brigade too
I really feel for Blithe a lot in this episode, no one knows until there in that situation how they will truly respond to fear. Training is one thing but being in the real deal is entirely different. I also really feel for those that later got drafted into the war it's one thing to volunteer to fight for your country but another to be made to do so especially if you know you aren't cut out to be a soldier. It may have been necessary at the time but it doesn't make it less difficult. I can tell you I'm not even 1/10th as brave as Blithe, I wouldn't have made it past d-day not a chance.
Lieutenant Spiers was not wired. He did not smoke or drink. He did not talk much, and he was a loner-only a few people knew him well. Lieutenant Winters said "He was the cruelest man I ever knew," (meaning he could kill the enemy without a second thought) but Winters also said he was an excellent combat leader. I am reading a biography of Ronald Spiers now, and my information comes from that book.
"Just another day at the office..." The 2nd Armored were already veterans of the North Africa and Italy campaigns, so to them, the Normandy invasion absolutely was.
One thing to look out for is the marks on the uniforms on the German soldiers. Its near their collar on the left and right side, it will have SS mark of white lines.
I dont know if they were the ones defending Carentan, but i do know the Waffen-SS were the ones counterattacking them outside of Carentan.
Just thought id let yall know about that little detail and information moving forward in the Series. Love that yall are checking out this classic series.
Extra information from me: This series got me into history, or more into military history. Im 19 now and i plan on becoming a History Teaher in High school after collage. I just gatta get enrolled first lol.
No. The Americans did not fight the SS in Normandy. They were on the left flank of the allied advance facing mostly the Canadians. The reason why they have SS coller tags it's because the story is being embellished by soldiers when we see the flashbacks.
@@Bullock0099 There was though, the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division. Look at The Operation Room's video on Carentan.
@@Bullock0099Cap. xD 17. SS Panzergrenadier division counter attacked Carentan. :)
@AngelOkie Its great man! History is a great choice.
Al Blythe lived into the late 1960s. he also served in Korea.
hysterical blindness was the name for it back in the day. it's a potential symptom of shell shock or what we now call PTSD.
When Second Armored showed up to help Easy Company, those tanks of theirs had to come up off the beach. The fact that they made it off the beach means that the 506th regiment, and the rest of the paratroopers did their job in making it possible for the armies that landed on the beach to come inland and continue the war.
Yoo reppin the maiden shirt, hell yeah keep it up fellas
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As others said, one of the very few "mistakes" the show made in regards to real life is that they thought Blithe had died because the memebers of Easy company lost touch with him and they remembered him getting shot in the neck so they figured he died. In reality he got shot close to the neck but more in the shoulder, so he did make it. And he went on to serve in Korea and earn some medals. The part where Winters sits with him and reassures him while he's recovering from "histerical blindness" is all true and really happened.
@@BackwardTravisty Sure, nobody's saying that, you're being silly. This WAS a mistake because it wasn't an artistic choice... There are other scenes where they deliberately changed things or condensed things for the story. I have in-depth knowledge about BOB. I know what choices were made for what reason. This wasn't a creative choice. It was literally a mistake the producers only realized afterwards. They made a point to add the text at the end about Blithe because they thought that's what happened to him... that wasn't added as a creative choice but to let the audience know his fate IN REAL LIFE, not in the world of the show... and it turned out be wrong... now what would you call that...? You are arguing against a point nobody is making. Obviously they change some things, but this show is about as authentic to real events as any show could ever be for the most part, so people are pointing out where a character people love didn't actually die in real life
Blithe did survive, and went on to serve in the Korean war and died in 1967. For some reason they got this wrong when they made the show and said he died in 1948 which is not true
He (blithe) was actually the reason everyone thought he was dead.
When he recovered he wanted to be resigned to another company, and he couldn't deal with his PTSD AND be in contact with Easy Co. Members, so he never contacted them.
There's an interview somewhere, where Major Winters sets the record straight about blithe being seen as a coward.
He had a lot of respect for him.
😊
When them 2nd Armored boys come rollin' in standing on top of the tanks manning those .50s... 💀
Others have said it already but Blithe survived his wounds and went on to serve in Korea. Not only did he have a long career in the army but he was decorated several times for bravery for his service in Korea. It’s one of the few true mistakes the show actually made.
Makes us happy to hear that he survived! It hit when they said he didn’t recover😢
These accounts exist mostly because Easy was such a close knit group, Blithe in real life simply lost touch with easy company after the war, so they assumed he had died. In fact he survived the war and continued to serve in the Korean war. He died of natural causes in 1967.
I think t read that two members of easy went to the funeral of Albert Blithe. However, it was a different Albert Blithe.
It keeps getting better, you guy’s are gone get attached to them,wait and see😊👍✌️🇺🇸
you guys gotta watch the pacific after this series. Love the reaction fellas!
We appreciate you & the support💙 That’s the plan!
A lot of people believe that it was the fact the airborne troopers were so scattered that helped make the invasion such a success. The Germans had no idea what was going on or what reports to believe. Just small groups of men doing what Paratroopers do, causing havoc. If you remember in the last episode when Winters met up with Hall they also met two troopers from the 82d. The 101st and the 82d should not have been in the same area. Also when Easy is advancing into Carentan one of the things that got them moving and out of those ditches was Winters. The sight of him on the road and him screaming and "swearing" was so out of character it shocked the unit into action.
Hey love the reaction, just a important ps tho .
Blythe actually did survive the war. And went on to serve with distinction in Korea , before passing away in the late 50s i believe due to natural cuases while he was stationed in Germany. Winters later in a an interview which you can watch on TH-cam admits that the show did him a bit dirty, but winters admits during the time with easy company , he was a casualty.
There was very little information on what actually happened to blythe when the show was made which is why it tells that he passed in 48.
We appreciate you & your support! We are happy he survived but it’s also understandable. There’s so much loss & information getting passed on that it is easy to make that mistake
Fellas, I’d like to point out that Albert Blithe was shot through the collarbone in real life, and he most definitely survived. The series for whatever reason claims that he never recovered and died in 1948, but in real life he recovered, stayed in the army, went on to fight in Korea, and he would’ve fought in Vietnam too but he died during surgery for stomach ulcers in 1967.
I think part of the confusion came from 2 Easy Co vets claiming they had attended his funerals, but it appears they were mistaken and it was another Blithe from another division.
Didn't the men from Easy Company say they didn't like how he was portrayed in the series & how he was way more than how he was depicted or something like that?
@@TheeTwanSolo I read a few accounts stating Blithe was actually kind of a badass.
@@TheeTwanSolonot really that I heard of, most of the vets were incredibly happy with the portrayal as a whole
@FrenchieQc I feel like I have too.
Love the Iron Maiden T! Up the irons!
There were probably lots of Germans who could have been taken prisoner who were shot. The problem was more logistical. At that time in the invasion, the paratroopers were still extremely short of people and those they had were needed to take objectives. They couldn't spare people to babysit prisoners and had no facilities to hold them. It's brutal but until additional troops and support elements could arrive, they needed every shooter they had. There is a good video about Spiers on TH-cam and he did shoot one of his own men but the guy was drunk, refused to go on patrol and pulled a gun on him. This was witnessed by other members of the unit and reported to the commander who cleared the shoot. The solder who was shot was listed as KIA I guess for his families sake.
Thanks for the reactions ! That Iron Maiden shirt !! Yeah kid !
We appreciate you & thank you that! We love the vintage stuff. Much love💙
I see Maiden, I comment
can you gents guess who the old veterans are, introing the episodes?
keep it up! cheers
Concerning Pvt. Blythe’s hysterical blindness - there a book called On Killing by Lt. Dave Grossman. He talks about the psychological and physiological responses the body goes through when in traumatic shock during deadly force encounters. When your heart rate is elevated about 170bpm you start to lose fine motor skills and even your senses (as in combat, when one experiences “tunnel vision” or hearing loss or even blindness.) It is possible that Blythe’s nervous system reached its threshold and that is why he experienced blindness during shock.
It’s important to remember that while all of this is going on, the Marine Corps is in the Pacific fighting the Japanese, so part of the war material produced is going to them. We were able to fight a two front war because our nation is just that big.
I see the mob of guys pointing out that Blythe lived have not shown up yet. :)
Oh they did🤣
Yall know the dude that plays Malarkey is Scott Grimes. He does the voice of Steve Smith on American Dad & boy can sang his ass off, too.
[Steve scream]
@@SwiftJustice Daddys Gone & That's my momma is my shit 🤣
He was also in “The Orville” and the new “Ted” series.
@joefera8947 I knew about The Orville but not about Ted.
I'm reading the book ," Band of Brothers" true account about the combat that Easy Company endured from the beginning to the end of their time during WW2, Written by Stephen E . Ambrose...
Apparently speirs and the few men with him did execute some prisoners but it was during the jump and they were getting attacked and couldnt hold
"That's a war crime, isn't it?"
Yes, it is. We never knew for sure if Speirs did it or not, though. He was never charged for it.
In the context of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy, the directive to not take prisoners was not a formal policy but rather an outcome of the operation's nature and the exigencies of the moment. The scale and objective of Operation Overlord-to establish a secure beachhead and then quickly break through German defenses-necessitated rapid advancement and minimal encumbrances. The operation's initial phase, known colloquially as D-Day, involved landing troops under heavy fire on fortified beaches, where the immediate priority was survival and securing a foothold in occupied Europe.
In such a scenario, the capacity to take and manage prisoners was significantly constrained. The logistics of guarding, processing, and transporting prisoners could impede the momentum of the assault, potentially affecting its success. Furthermore, the intensity of the combat and the high stakes involved led to situations where, in the heat of the moment, decisions were made on the ground that reflected the brutal reality of warfare rather than the ideals of the laws of war.
Knowing more on the situation makes sense on why certain actions were taken. Especially when you put things into perspective, like there’s no way you could really manage prisoners while trying to survive in those circumstances, not knowing what can happen at any given moment. Thanks for all the amazing information!
When people's minds get overstimulated, like in combat, they can get squirelly.
Worst fire I ever saw coming my way, mortars, machine guns and rifles, bouncing off the cab of my truck and waiting to eat a rocket (which defiinately wouldn't bounce off), after a while, it started sounding like rain to me.
The real Blithe did not die from that wound. His protrayal in the show didn't sit well with the real Winters who went on to describe something of the following. Blithe went on to serve in the pacific theater as well, and earned a medal if I'm not mistaken. Blithe underrated big time
Look at scene right after Spears is talking to Blithe. One guy asks the other, You want any of these candies ? Pep pills ?
Info on Blythe was incorrect . He did not die in 1948. He actually returned to action in Korean war in 1950's .Can't remember exac tly when he passed but he survived the neck wound!!!
Blythe actually lived until 1967. An episode 2 Mehan plane r shot down with all the soldiers as they never made it out of the airplane.
They indeed do put the most capable units in the hardest spot in military. That's why Easy is always exposed. I'm a nerd so couple of corrections to the episode. You will be happy to hear this but Albert Blithe didn't die until 1967, he recovered from his wounds, served again in the airborne in Korean war and was decorated twice for gallantry. This episode doesn't really do justice for Albert Blithe. Also edelweiss is the mark of german Alpine jaeger, not exactly a true soldier. Not saying alpine jaeger wouldn't be but this man isn't one and shouldn't bear the edelweiss. Its kinda like a if marine put on jump boots and then went to show them off to paratroopers. It would probably have been a fist fight.
They tried to avoid civilian casualties as much as possible but it unfortunately was not always unavoidable. I think it was in some ways worse in the Pacific because at that time the Japanese would utilize the citizens against the Allied troops. I don't think they encountered that as much on the European front but sad no matter what.
Adrenaline is a vasoconstrictor. When your body is flooded with adrenaline the blood supply to your eyes can become so constricted that you literally go blind.
I'm sure people have said this already but watch the series The Pacific after this. It's the BoB version of the fighting against the Japanese. Shit is crazy. Also Saving Private Ryan and Platoon are #1 and #2 best war movies.
The pacific will be coming & saving Private Ryan will be reacted to on Thursday next week!
@DaKidsReact Awesome. Yall are gonna love those.
Have people recommended "The Pacific" after this? Not sure if I can recommend it, it wasnt quite as good, but "Masters of Air" is amazing