Bastogne is the best episode in my opinion. Every episode is good but Bastogne stands out & the POV change in the episode to the medic Eugene “Doc” Roe was a genius move. It’s the most immersive, atmospheric & powerful episode. Also you meet other civilian characters like Nurse René who you start to care for which makes it even more emotional.
@@KenjiMapes definitely the perception shift was genius, Bastogne is tied heavily with loss and suffering so a medic perspective was perfect. I loved how irl the angel Renées remains were found and carried in a parachute that she had hoped she could turn into her wedding dress, whilst in the show they used her head scarf that Roe hoped to have as a keep sake of her and he had to tear it to help another. Really fitting.
@@KenjiMapes Probably my second favorite episode of the series, after the knock-out punch that is Episode 9 ("Why We Fight"). I love focus on Doc Roe, and I agree with everything you said about the episode!
Renée Lemaire (1914-1944) was a Belgian nurse who volunteered her service at an American military aid station during the Siege of Bastogne in December 1944. She was killed during a German air raid on Christmas Eve in 1944. She is also know as 'The angel of Bastogne'
If memory serves, during the air raid she had saved something like 7 soldiers from the bombed out church/aid station and died while trying to save another.
The character Jimmy Fallon plays is 2nd Lt. George C. Rice, a Supply Officer from the 10th Armored Division. His own unit badly mauled in the battles around Bastogne, he knew that the 101st airborne, coming to reinforce the line, was going to be short on supplies and would likely end up surrounded. He asked the officers of the 506th regiment (that Easy company was part of) what they needed most, and found that rocket launchers, mortars and all types of ammunition were the critical shortages. He then drove to the town of Foy, where the remaining supplies were, and loaded the jeep with cases of hand grenades and M1 ammunition. The jeep was turned around and the stuff was passed out to the paratroopers as they marched. On his next shuttle, Rice got back to the moving battalion with a jeep and a truck overloaded with weapons and ammunition. The materiel was put alongside the road in five separate piles so that the men could pick up the things they needed as they went by. Eventually he himself made eight supply runs to Foy, to bring the paratroopers ammunition, food, equipment, anything that could be useful, all while the Germans were closing in. His eighth and last run was actually made after the Germans had already encircled the 101st, meaning he could have been captured at any time. He only stopped because his own commanding officer ordered him to do so. He was awarded the Bronze Star for this. P.S Fun fact is that Jimmy Fallon couldn't drive the stick gear jeep, so there were actually crew members pushing the jeep in the driving scenes.
Fun fact about Winters mad dash across the field to the dike in episode 5. He didn’t actually have any kind of a head start. The platoon all started running at the same time but Winters just covered the ground so much faster than the rest of his men that he had time to empty two full clips and a grenade into the SS troops before they caught up with him. He was an absolute machine and he’s honestly one of my favourite people I’ve ever had the pleasure of learning about.
@@cliveklg7739 And they are buried close to each other in the Cemetery in Bastogne. True heroes who came home for Christmas, but ended up saying the lives of American soldiers and civilians.
Eugene “Doc” Roe went from D Day till the end of the war In Europe never firing a weapon but rather, treated and held the sick, wounded or dying men of Easy Company, a true healer like his grandma.
The rules of war at the time stated a medic couldn’t carry a weapon, that’s what “protected” them from being shot. The rule was for the most part respected in the European theatre but the Japanese specifically targeted medics so in the pacific a lot of medics started carrying weapons because of that.
@@Shutterbug5269 In the episode Renee says she would rather work in a butcher's shop than treat more wounded men. I think the writers conveyed this way very well the way many military doctors, medics and nurses felt in the war, Eugene probably felt similarly after Bastogne.
With them filming in the UK to get the tax credit for filming there a certain percentage of the cast had to be British actors, thats why you got so many young Brit actors like Tom Hardy, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Simon Pegg and Damian Lewis in this.
3:10 the people of the Netherlands really care about American soldiers. They’ve got an American military cemetery where some of our men (including people like General Patton, and some men of Easy company) are buried there now. They do this “adopt a grave program” where families of the city the military cemetery all “adopt a grave” of a fallen American soldier. They learn about the men who died, bring flowers on days like Memorial Day, and connect with the families who are here in the United States and they form a bond with them. It’s incredible for what the do for our fallen men. There’s a waiting list for people to adopt a grave, and some are passed down generations in families. There’s a video of an older women from that area who describes a story about an American who slept in there house, and they later found out the guy who slept in the house later died fighting. That family takes care of his grave. 5:41 as said the LT survived, but not every Easy company guy knew he survived. The LT who was shot later went on to work for the CIA later on in his life, and one easy company guys who saw him got shot but didn’t know he survived. Later on in life that guy who saw him got shot also saw him later on in the pentagon while the LT was working for the CIA. It really freaked him out because he didn’t know the LT survived lol. The guy Fallon is playing is Lt. George C. Rice. Rice knew that the 101st was going to be short on supplies and would likely end up surrounded, so he made eight supply runs to bring them ammunition, food, blankets, anything that could be useful, all while the Germans were closing in. His eighth and last run was actually made after the Germans had encircled the 101st, meaning he could have bee captured at any time. He only stopped because his own commanding officer ordered him to do so. He was nominated for the Medal of Honor for this.
I saw pictures of The Netherlands American Cemetery at Margraten, the Netherlands. It looks very beautiful. www.princegeorgevahistoricalsociety.org/w/netherland_adoption_program.pdf
I was a Marine Embassy Guard in the 80's. We had ceremony duties as well and I participated in the annual wreath laying at Flanders Field in Belgium. War dead from two World Wars are buried there. Part of the ceremony had children from a local school placing flowers and flags on each grave. I actually found a grave of an American soldier from the 37th "Buckeye" Division, my grandfather's division in WW I.
Both nurses were based on real life women. Renee Lemaire was home for christmas when the bulge broke out and couldn’t leave so she volunteered to treat wounded. Augusta Chiwy survived the bombing that night (got thrown through a wall if i remember correctly). She passed only about 10 years ago and is buried near Lemaire in Bastogne.
Do not watch 9 alone! Seriously, get a good friend to sit with you through it. Also, double/tripple/quadruple the tissues! Only an actual psycho could watch "Why We Fight" without blubbing.
Bastogne is one of my favorite episodes because it focuses on the medic. When the screen is black and you hear an explosion then the yell for medic is truly how it can feel at times. I was an army medic for 9 years during OEF. It truly does take a certain type of person to be able to handle the chaos of war and yet still be focused enough to care for a person in need. Side note I love your channel and watching you when you stream on twitch.
I love the mirroring of Doc caring for Babe, then Babe helping Doc when he was frozen with stress/fear, and then Doc helping Babe again right at the end. The chemistry between Doc and the men on screen is phenomenal.
Camouflaged chutes make sense for landing, not for the falling. The enemy are going to know you're jumping in, but it makes their search for you that little bit harder if you're not landing with a giant white flag in a field or forest.
Also for the point that a paratrooper in his chute in the air isn't a legal target. So not only is it better for after the landing use it is planning for them to make it to the ground and being able to use it after. Obviously this wasn't always followed by the enemy but that is the way it is supposed to work.
A paratrooper was definitely NOT an illegal target during WW2... It is still completely legal today to kill paratroopers. What changed after WW2 concerned things like ejected pilots. Troops deployed from airplanes are obviously legal targets, why wouldn't they be?!
@@Stubbies2003 That's incorrect. Under the Geneva Convention, a pilot or aircrew bailing out of a damaged aircraft is considered "out of the fight" and solely attempting to preserve their lives, so they are not supposed to be taken under fire. A paratrooper descending to a target area, armed and actually ENTERING combat is considered a legitimate target, even if they are still in the air - the same as a soldier in a helicopter, transport aircraft, truck or personnel carrier is a legal target even if they aren't shooting yet.
Just a comment on the "unnecessary destruction of property". James Holland a WW2 historian and has written an excellent book about the Sherwood Rangers who fought in Holland alongside their American colleagues at Eindhoven had this to say: "The absolute mantra of British tank men was to fire and fire and fire and keep firing... It is something that American writers just simply cannot resist. They have to be gung-ho, macho, square-jawed, with great teeth, and the British have to talk like this and say, ‘Well, I’m sorry old fruit, I can’t do that because I’m about to have my tea.’ And it’s just so annoying because British people weren’t like that. They were just like Americans. And I can absolutely guarantee that if an American had jumped on his tank and said, ‘You need to blast that thing,’ he’d have gone, ‘Roger, Wilco,' boom, boom, boom, and that would have been the end of that house. This is just, it’s a great scene this, but this dialogue is just so ridiculous that it’s not true " Even with this and some of the other "errors" to enable more coherent story telling, Band of Brothers is an absolute masterpiece and I take my hat off to everyone who fought and continues to fight against oppression and tyranny.
Except contemporary accounts, for example, from David Webster's memoirs, back up the claim that the British tanks were ordered no unnecessary property damage.
It's a case of there not being one-size-fits-all for anything regarding WW2. Holland was right that there were British tankmen who would have shelled a village without a second thought; but the opposite is also true. There were those who followed the rules of engagement to the letter of the law, those who executed soldiers surrendering on their knees, and everything in-between.
@@lyndoncmp5751 That may be true, and still isn't an argument against the scene being a bit stupid. Who in their right mind would drive a valuable tank around a corner, when a soldier tells you there is a tank hiding there. Running the whole column of tanks into a choke point, allowing the germans to take out someone further back, trapping the lead elements is utter madness. It's up there with the Rohirrim on horse back charging down a steep hill into pikes, but they at least had plot armor.
@@andersjohansson4734 And also, what is shelling a house going to achieve? The mediocre 75mm gun isn't going to go through a house and knock out a German tank frontally. 75mms failed point blank frontally against Tigers and Panthers without houses in the way. Secondly if he demolished the house it's just going to throw up a lot of smoke and dust, preventing him from seeing anything.
The scene where she never wanted to see another wounded man, and then the truck pulls in and she runs out to help really parallels with the last scene with the bandage in my mind. How he was going to put it away and then realize that she was all about helping people and she would have used it to help Babe. Very sad, but very beautiful.
The scene were Winters runs ahead of the company, isn’t exactly how was done. They all ran at the same time with winters of the such a great shape. He was actually able to out, run the entirety of his company, get to the ridge, and empty his weapon. He was actually reloading by the time the others caught up to him. That’s what the after action report actually says the film production thought that the scene was so unreal that no one audience would actually believe it. It turns out truth as much strange and affection. There’s a reason why these people he’s here. I stand out above all others and Wyomi films about them in the first place they do incredible things that we would never believe unless we actually saw it.
It's not the only instance of the showrunners "adapting" stuff they felt the audience wouldn't believe happened. There's also Spiers' run, and Shifty Powers vs the German sniper. Both were toned down in the show
@@pabloc8808they did make changes but every change they made from the real events were approved by the surviving members of Easy Company. The show runners had the respect to ask them first.
Malarkey and the American German soldier. Lived in the same home town, worked the exact same job in different plants. cant remember if they went to different high-schools or the same.
The movie “A bridge too far” is about operation Market Garden. It was made in the 70’s but had every major star in Hollywood at the time in it and it’s a pretty good representation of the events and covers multiple units of a British and American troops. Another good one is the documentary “What it takes to win a Victoria cross” by a Jeremy Clarkson that covers the British fight at Arnhem and how they ended up losing 8,000 men.
The Bridge at Arnham was the furthest in enemy lines. Their job was to hold the bridge for a maximum of 3 days with enough equipment for a maximum of 5 days against light reserve enemy. They held for 10 days... against various elite SS armour and troop divisions.
As a Brit, I loved this show. Yes it focused on this battalion but it does recognise the losses and fighting we did for 4 years prior to you guys arriving. The world would be a different place if you didn't. We are all brothers
I would love to see a documentary honoring the Brits and every other country who was in it for the long haul. So mluch happened that most over on this side of the pond know little about.
From a behind the scenes perspective, one of the most impressive things about episode 6 (and 7) is that almost all of the forest scenes were shot indoors on soundstages. There's a great short documentary on the DVD set showing how they constructed their fake forest. If I hadn't seen that I probably never would have thought that they weren't actually outdoors. This is an incredibly well written and acted series. But all of the technical work was impeccable, too.
This was enjoyable. Being as empathetic as I am watching others react to things is like I'm seeing it for the first time all over and your one of my Favrets. Seriously, Natalie, I think you for sharing such deep emotions. Funny little story with your reaction. My daughter who is retired USMC and was injured in Afghanistan was here for a day. As I was watching she was napping on the couch before having to go to the airport to go back home. Any way she woke up at some point and seen your reactions at the last part. She was crying so I went to hold her. She said she tried to watch Band Of Brothers but parts of it where just to real and she stopped, she called you brave for facing your emotions so well. :) My bunny, she is my hero. So that's some good praise. Bless and be well Natalie.
I love the way you are narrating your reaction to this series Natalie which BTW is my favorite WWII show of all time. You have very astute and analytical observation for someone who is watching this from a layman's perspective.
Renée Lemaire was the real life nurse from the "Bastogne" episode. She was killed in an air raid on Christmas Eve 1944. She worked alongside another nurse Augusta Marie Chiwy, who survived, and passed away in 2015. Both nurses were Belgian, and worked with John "Doc" Prior at the field hospital.
If I recall, Winters stated in an interview that he never forgot the face of the young German he shot in that action. It haunted him for the rest of his life.
@@Magooch86 The 9nes in the train, yes. But the face of that young German he stuck with him. Pr9bably because it was the only time he ever looked a man in the eye before killing him.
@@mvprime8 kinda what i meant by "haunting him", yeah. He looked the boy in the eye before he shot him, and that would have an effect on a guy like him. Not as bad as the guys shelled in Bastogne, mind you but I can understand why that stuck with him.
I think THE GREAT ESCAPE (1963) would be a fantastic companion piece to this. Looks at prisoners of war and a major escape attempt that occurred in real life.
I'm not sure I feel the same way about Great Escape since I watched Eddie Izzard talking about it. The English characters basically all went down the spout, and the Americans (most notably Steve McQueen) basically were bullet proof. All Eddie wanted to be was like Hilts, racing the motorcycle and jumping over obstacles, bouncing his ball and catching it with his baseball glove---cocky, irreverent, just a heroic brat. Some Brits here took a dim view of the portrayal of the stiff Brit tank commander whose hesitation to believe US troopers cost them tanks. So, in deference to our cousins, we need to keep in mind that they never catch much of a break with Hollywood. Sorry Tommies.
I can't remember who wrote about it, but one of the soldiers mentioned in his memoir that during their time at Bastogne they could tell the general state of affairs each day based on whether or not Winters shaved that morning. If Winters ever missed a shave they knew something serious was going on that day.
It also shows his view of self discipline and professionalism. I seriously think he would've shaved if he was just by himself. He respected the uniform and the rank and wanted to demonstrate that.
Winters was the best of the best, but I fail to see how a CO shaving would boost morale. I couldn’t have cared less if my commanders shaved while I was in.
My uncle Milo fought in the Battle of the Bulge near St. Vith. He was a heavy machine gunner (like Smokey, the soldier paralyzed in this ep). On December 16th he and his squad were cut off and evaded capture in the woods for days before returning to friendly lines, on Christmas Eve. As soon as he hooked up with a larger group of men (the same day, Christmas Eve), they turned around and went right back into the battle. He was eventually evac'd to the rear with trench foot and frost bitten feet, so bad he couldn't walk. He was awarded a bronze star for the battle. The Bastogne episode always wrecks me.
I'm not sure how many times I've watched this entire Series, and even knowing what's going to happen, there are still scenes that make me cry. I can't imagine anyone that has a heart would be immune to it...
When Winters drops the smoke grenade to signal everyone else to follow him was an invention of the show to help audiences with disbelief because in reality they all ran at the same time and Winters was in such good of shape he wound up way ahead of everyone else. Apparently they couldn't get that to not look unrealistic (even though that's what really happened) so they invented the smoke thing 🤣
one of the great boondoggles of WWII. it would really enhance her enjoyment and immersion of the episode to read up on it before her next watch through.
@@lyndoncmp5751 I read a British tanker's war memoir and he said they did a "reasonable portrayal" of General Horrock's briefing. OK, that was a single scene, and not a pivotal one.
@@rcrawford42 And that's my favourite scene in the whole film. Elsewhere though, it has accuracy issues. It even starts by saying the war was still going Hitler's way.....in 1944. The war hadn't been going Hitler way for years. Then the nonsense about Montgomery and the nonsense about ignoring German forces and Sosabowski being unhappy etc. The inaccuracies go on and on. And that's just the first half hour.
Bastogne has always been my favourite episode of this show, because we see it from Roe's perspective - he doesn't fight, doesn't even carry a weapon, but he's always on the move, checking in with people, making sure they're okay, then responding when they're wounded. Seeing him start to fall apart under that pressure is so powerful.
The episode Bastogne is so meaningful to me. My grandfather was a WWII army medic in the Pacific, on Mindanao. He was never willing to talk to any of his grandkids about his experiences there. This episode helped me get at least some perspective on what he went through.
keep it coming Natalie, what i really enjoy is seeing you enjoy for the first time, really good film and tv and such. it lets Me re-feel these flicks afresh......get ready for more of this series, its gonna need more tissues.
Renée was a brave, selfless, and beautiful soul. She worked tirelessly to save American soldier's lives. When the makeshift hospital was bombed, she managed to get 6 wounded soldiers out of the burning building, she died in that building while going back in it to try to rescue one more person. What a legendary human being
I have been waiting eagerly for the continuation of this series. It is an annual watch for myself because my Dad always watched it when I was growing up. Right as I finished the series I was visiting my Dad and he stated that it was time for him to watch it again for 2024.
Bastogne is such a landmark of achievement. The way the series juxtaposed the tragedy and the heroism, the sacrifice and the violence, the camaraderie and the brutality. The sight of Bull after killing the german soldier, Winters showing PTSD, the sheer violence in Bastogne... this series is a masterpiece.
In reality, the smoke didn't pop late. They all ran at the same time, but Winters was such an athlete that he gapped his man by a significant length to the point he was able to fire a clip from his M1 reload and then fire another clip before his men caught up with him.
Seeing Winters breaking through the ice to get water to shave always gets me. At first I thought “that’s such a Winters thing to do, leading by example.” But it’s not just about maintaining discipline. In combat it was considered important to be shaved in case you were wounded in the face. It made stitches easier. Seeing Bull Randalman getting the shell fragment removed from his shoulder in the first half reminded me of hearing about my own Dad being wounded in North Africa prior to D-Day. He got wounded in the legs and back by German mortar shells and walked to the aid station where he was evacuated to a hospital. They needed to do a skin graft on his left leg and got the skin from his back in what they called a “pinch graft”. Essentially they pinch skin, lift it as high as they can, and cut it off in little circles to attach to the wounded area. The anesthesia wasn’t working on him, and he didn’t want them to give him ether because it often makes you sick to your stomach. So he gripped the edge of the table in both hands, grit his teeth and finished it. It put him in shock, so for the first day or two in hospital my Dad was in the middle of the Morroccan desert under a thick pile of blankets shivering and freezing his butt off. They made ‘em tough back then.
The camo 'chutes were often cut up into scarves by both American paratroopers and the Germans. I have a piece of original WWII silk that I use for my Fallschirmjäger impression as a WWII reenactor. The show doesn't really touch on this, but during the Battle of the Bulge there was a fear of German infiltrators in Allied uniforms. An SS officer was captured in an American uniform and spilled about Operation Greif, which had English-speaking SS commandos infiltrate Allied lines to sabotage and sow confusion prior to the Panzer Armies' offensive. A lack of captured equipment and English-speaking volunteers who could pass as Americans led to the operation being called off, but the psychological effects did spook the Allies. The entire 101st Airborne Division, with scattered units from the 10th Armored Division, were cut off in Bastogne from December 18th to the 26th. The troops were surrounded, lacked proper winter gear, had little medical supplies, and had little more than small arms and light artillery to beat off the 5th Panzer Army. However, their stubborn defense of Bastogne kept the 5th Panzer Army occupied and unable to assist the 6th in their drive to the Allied port of Antwerp, Belgium, leading to the Ardennes offensive being a failure.
I LOVE BoB!!!! I love this episode, as well. I’m not sure how historical the bit about the ‘Unit Citation for what the unit did in Normandy.’ A unit citation is, like, an advertisement for the unit. If you’re in the unit, you wear the pin. Super simple.
I really love your reaction to this. You laugh at the shit that makes me laugh, and you cry at the stuff that makes me cry. Thank you . Looking forward to seeing you react to the emotional conclusion.
I love your perspective on the series and their perspectives. I watched through BoB when it aired and many time afterwards. It interesting to see reactions of someone with fresh eyes as well as a woman's POV too since most fan's of the series you run into are dudes. You're next part will start with my favorite episode of the series. Excited to see your take.
I uave a friend that was a corpsman and did two tours one in Afghanistan and Iraq, he had that quiet steadfast resolve about him. He did say that he saw more Marines for STDs than he did for combat wounds!
Winters shaving in the cold, u do whatever possible to keep in touch with ur humanity and some kind of normalization in this situation to help u get through it
2:24 I believe the purpose of the camo parachutes was too conceal them better when they stash them on the ground, so any enemy troops that pass the area later might not notice that was the landing zone. If they are close enough to see the troopers when they are falling midair, the roar of the plane's engines would give them away anyway
With the guy that you see shell shocked in the corner there is a detail I haven't seen anyone else notice. There were 4 or 5 guys hiding behind the wall next to him. You hear a whistling sound which is an incoming mortar. Everyone else hiding behind the wall runs away except for him as he is firing his weapon and doesn't see them running away. The the mortar hits and blows up the wall that all of his friends were just behind. All Cobb knows in that moment is everyone had just been hiding there and now there is just a smoking hole. I think all of the emotion is what you see when he is in the back of the truck.
I always interpret that when Eugene pulls out her bandana he’s hesitant to use it but realizes she would have done the same thing to help someone else. BOB always has and will always have a special place in my heart
I'm really glad you're doing Band of Brothers. I love this series. So much in fact I bought the boxed set of DVDs when it came out. That was back before streaming. You know, when dinosaurs were still alive. No spoilers, but really stock up on tissues for the rest.
Bastogne is an area that is well known in professional cycling since it's the home of one of the oldest cycling competitions in the world Liege-Bastogne-Liege. A fact that I always find remarkable is that after the Battle of the Bulge which ended in January 1945 it was only 7 months later that things were basically back to normal and a new edition of Liege-Bastogne-Liege could be organized, riding through the very areas that just 7 months earlier had been bombed to pieces.
I remember watching this episode in college and then remembering playing the Market Garden map on Battlefield 1942 when i was in 8th grade. Man, I loved that game.
Mannn I am NOT ready for part 3, because I know what comes. Throughout the series I definitely felt sad about what I saw, but one particular episode (Episode 9 I believe it was ) just had me sobbing.
you and me both man. honestly kinda wish natalie would skip episode 9 but at the same time i know it's required viewing for any student of film or history. tough to watch for a jewish person like natalie.
My grandfather was an infantryman in Patton's Third Army. He never stuck to the whole saving story, mostly said that they were just happy to be in one place for a bit, because Patton made his armies move so quickly.
in "replacements", that scene where Webster hands the young boy that chocolate bar is probably the best scene in the entire series...IMO Winter's reaction to the kid on the subway alluded to his first known experience to PTSD - which wasn't called that until the Vietnam War.
Episodes 6 & 7 are probably my two favourite episodes of any TV show ever. It's also bizarre to think most of the show was filmed in & around an old airfield a few minutes from where i lived at the time & even the forest setting was created (& blown to bits) in one of the huge hangers.
Get your tissues ready for your part 3. I have watched Band of Brothers once a year, every year for 20 years. To this day (based on how you run your channel with Eps.) you will have a emotional ride. As an Active Duty soldier, I am grateful you are helping spread awareness to the world on the cruelty of war, and why it shouldn't plague Humankind. Thank you again.
The character of the nurse, Renée, was inspired by the real life character Renée Lemaire, The American Troops called her the angel of Bastogne. Lemaire was from the Bastogne area, her parents owned a hardware store there, throughout much of the war, prior to this moment, she had been a nurse in Brussels, where she helped take care of the wounded. She just happened to be going home to see her parents in Bastogne for Christmas 1944, and little could she have realized that this battle would erupt in her front yard. He further states there's no evidence to suggest that she interacted with Doc Roe. Renée did lose her life during German bombing of Bastogne, but she was not in the Church basement, she was actually in a store basement that wasn't too far away. A building had caught fire, and she was taking part in an effort to evacuate men who had taken refuge in that building, an aid station in the basement of the Sarma Store. She was able to pull six men out of the fire and when she went back in to get a seventh, she lost her life. She was 30 years old. Her body was later delivered to her parents wrapped in a white parachute. Also the Congolese nurse, Auguste Chiwy, was also a real figure in Bastogne. She survived the war, and died in 2015. Keep up the good work.
1:44 I usually say this for other reactors, so I’ll say it again here. Presidential Unit Citations are awarded to the entire unit in perpetuity. For him to not wear the ribbon, that would’ve meant he was out of uniform. Theare members of the 506th infantry are required to wear that ribbon this day, on their Class A and Class B uniforms.
Everytime Nat says how much this is breaking her I think just wait for "Why We Fight" That is always the episode that hits the hardest. I also can't wait to see her reaction to the Speers episode. That was always my favorite.
Market Garden was a massive operation and it led to some fierce fights between the Germans and Allied forces. I mean they almost got into Germany. I remember watching "A Bridge Too Far" and that movie covered the British who participated in Market Garden. It showed the massive nature of that operation. Also watching Patton which was released a long time ago is great. That movie showed the life of Patton during the war and it covered "The Battle of the Bulge". A movie that really gave a great perspective of what the war was like up to that point. In Bastogne, Belgium the 101st Airborn has a whole museum for what they did and apparently, the people there always treated those soldiers who came back to visit with such high esteem and love. But saying all of that I would take being in Bastogne over being in the Pacific fighting the Japanese.
Our medic saved one of our guys who was hit in a BAD way. Truly heroic effort. When you see the laundry list of injuries that one guy had, and survived, it's incredible. no one thought he'd survive. We are forever grateful to him for everything, but to this day he's never been the same as before that day, even though he saved him.
I was in Germany in ‘87 for Reforger, driving through the streets in our jeeps kids were flipping us off, the older people saluted and appreciated us. Sometimes when we would eat at a restaurant older Germans would come to us and practice their English with us and we’d practice our German with them, at the end of our meal, more frequently than not, the Germans would pay for our meal. I’m German/Scottish, it was a great experience being able to be in places where so much of our shared history was made.
Related to what you were talking about at 21:01 , my father-in-law is retired US Army. He told me that when he took a trip to the French countryside (including Normandy), the locals showed him so much respect and gratitude for his service, and he didn’t even fight in WWII. So the respect for soldiers is strong in that area of France even to this day
2:35 They also started to use camouflaged parachutes in Normandy. The parachutes were not supposed to camouflage you against the sky. It was to be camoflaged against the ground. This to prevent that enemy (German) aircraft could take areal photographs of the dropzone and the Germans could count the amount of parachutes and estimate the amount of men who had dropped. Or count from high ground the amount of parachutes. 3:22 In Dutch thank you = Dank je (wel) sounds similar to German Danke in this case. 27:41 The soldier who got wounded survived. The German machinegunners picked him up and brought him to a hospital.
Natalie, i personally love your softness of heart and how you connect to each soldier presented. So im going to warn you. Its about to get very hard to watch at times. There's a couple of episodes that brings me to tears everytime i watch them. But youll also see some of the best acting ever. In Breaking point and Why We fight. Have tissues on the ready
"Smokey" Gordon, the guy who was paralyzed by the shot through the shoulders, eventually regained the use of his legs after the war, mostly out of pure spite towards his doctor. His doctor, who had worked with other Airborne soldiers and knew what type of men they typically were, was goading him about "goldbricking" (basically being a freeloader and faking the severity of his injury) not because he actually believed it but just to bring some fight out in Smokey and keep him from giving into depression over his injury, and it apparently worked...he regained the full use of his arms and legs, though he suffered from some pretty severe back pain for the rest of his life, not that you'd know it from how he acted at the Easy Co reunions.
4:47 that actor "webster" who gave the kid chocolate is in "From" on amazon prime. The show is great and its such a plus seeing a band of brothers actor again 😊 After seeing you react to himmy fallon: Michael Fassbender is in the series too)
I was born on the 5th of May, Dutch liberation day. I was born in Geldrop, lived in Son, Oosterbeek and Arnhem. All of these places have memorials to the US 101st and British 1st. I participated in the 50th remembrance of operation market garden, Queen Beatrix and Prince Charles attending. Where other kids would have jungle gyms, I had (decommissioned) M4 Shermans to climb on. I have been surrounded by WW2 all my life and that is the reason for my interest in history
it's not nearly as well known as Band of Brothers, but to anyone who enjoys BoB, I HIGHLY recommend Generation Kill. It's like the modern Band of Brothers (well set during the invasion of Baghdad after 9/11), and it's soooo good. It's about a Rolling Stone reporter that's embedded with the first Marine group entering the city, and the show is about his experiences living and traveling with them. It's fantastic.
I love they included the angel of Bastogne in this episode. Her kindness was legendary.
There were two Angels. One survived, one died.
Bastogne is the best episode in my opinion. Every episode is good but Bastogne stands out & the POV change in the episode to the medic Eugene “Doc” Roe was a genius move. It’s the most immersive, atmospheric & powerful episode. Also you meet other civilian characters like Nurse René who you start to care for which makes it even more emotional.
@@KenjiMapes definitely the perception shift was genius, Bastogne is tied heavily with loss and suffering so a medic perspective was perfect. I loved how irl the angel Renées remains were found and carried in a parachute that she had hoped she could turn into her wedding dress, whilst in the show they used her head scarf that Roe hoped to have as a keep sake of her and he had to tear it to help another. Really fitting.
I love that they included both of them.
@@KenjiMapes Probably my second favorite episode of the series, after the knock-out punch that is Episode 9 ("Why We Fight"). I love focus on Doc Roe, and I agree with everything you said about the episode!
Renée Lemaire (1914-1944) was a Belgian nurse who volunteered her service at an American military aid station during the Siege of Bastogne in December 1944. She was killed during a German air raid on Christmas Eve in 1944.
She is also know as 'The angel of Bastogne'
If memory serves, during the air raid she had saved something like 7 soldiers from the bombed out church/aid station and died while trying to save another.
The character Jimmy Fallon plays is 2nd Lt. George C. Rice, a Supply Officer from the 10th Armored Division. His own unit badly mauled in the battles around Bastogne, he knew that the 101st airborne, coming to reinforce the line, was going to be short on supplies and would likely end up surrounded. He asked the officers of the 506th regiment (that Easy company was part of) what they needed most, and found that rocket launchers, mortars and all types of ammunition were the critical shortages. He then drove to the town of Foy, where the remaining supplies were, and loaded the jeep with cases of hand grenades and M1 ammunition. The jeep was turned around and the stuff was passed out to the paratroopers as they marched. On his next shuttle, Rice got back to the moving battalion with a jeep and a truck overloaded with weapons and ammunition. The materiel was put alongside the road in five separate piles so that the men could pick up the things they needed as they went by. Eventually he himself made eight supply runs to Foy, to bring the paratroopers ammunition, food, equipment, anything that could be useful, all while the Germans were closing in. His eighth and last run was actually made after the Germans had already encircled the 101st, meaning he could have been captured at any time. He only stopped because his own commanding officer ordered him to do so. He was awarded the Bronze Star for this.
P.S
Fun fact is that Jimmy Fallon couldn't drive the stick gear jeep, so there were actually crew members pushing the jeep in the driving scenes.
sad thing is, it takes only a few hours to learn to drive stick. they could have taught him how.
fallon was related to him as well
Yeah, Rice was Fallon's great uncle, or grandfather, or something...blood kin, either way.
That fuckin hero deserves his own movie.
@@deBebbler That's an urban myth. They weren't related.
Fun fact about Winters mad dash across the field to the dike in episode 5. He didn’t actually have any kind of a head start. The platoon all started running at the same time but Winters just covered the ground so much faster than the rest of his men that he had time to empty two full clips and a grenade into the SS troops before they caught up with him. He was an absolute machine and he’s honestly one of my favourite people I’ve ever had the pleasure of learning about.
"I love the choice to have her in that, like angelic lighting"
Well, the two nurses were indeed known as the Angels of Bastogne.
Yup, Marie was killed, Augusta survived to be 94.
@@cliveklg7739 And they are buried close to each other in the Cemetery in Bastogne. True heroes who came home for Christmas, but ended up saying the lives of American soldiers and civilians.
Eugene “Doc” Roe went from D Day till the end of the war In Europe never firing a weapon but rather, treated and held the sick, wounded or dying men of Easy Company, a true healer like his grandma.
The rules of war at the time stated a medic couldn’t carry a weapon, that’s what “protected” them from being shot. The rule was for the most part respected in the European theatre but the Japanese specifically targeted medics so in the pacific a lot of medics started carrying weapons because of that.
So glad that doc roe got his own episode, favourite character, and the actor was absolutely amazing!
@@ryanhampson673 Not Desmond Doss.
Apparently he never went into medicine himself. Can't blame him if that's true because he'd likely seen enough.
@@Shutterbug5269 In the episode Renee says she would rather work in a butcher's shop than treat more wounded men. I think the writers conveyed this way very well the way many military doctors, medics and nurses felt in the war, Eugene probably felt similarly after Bastogne.
The use of her head wrap as a bandage at the end was beautiful. Even after death she was still saving lives.
1:25 Band of Brothers has a young EVERYBODY in it. The casting director really killed it, SO many phenomenal character actors as well as future stars!
With them filming in the UK to get the tax credit for filming there a certain percentage of the cast had to be British actors, thats why you got so many young Brit actors like Tom Hardy, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Simon Pegg and Damian Lewis in this.
pretty sure nat hasn't spotted a young fassbender yet even though he's in 9 of 10 episodes XD
It's true. If you see someone and say "I know him, he's famous now!" 90% of the time they're gonna die
3:10 the people of the Netherlands really care about American soldiers. They’ve got an American military cemetery where some of our men (including people like General Patton, and some men of Easy company) are buried there now. They do this “adopt a grave program” where families of the city the military cemetery all “adopt a grave” of a fallen American soldier. They learn about the men who died, bring flowers on days like Memorial Day, and connect with the families who are here in the United States and they form a bond with them. It’s incredible for what the do for our fallen men. There’s a waiting list for people to adopt a grave, and some are passed down generations in families. There’s a video of an older women from that area who describes a story about an American who slept in there house, and they later found out the guy who slept in the house later died fighting. That family takes care of his grave.
5:41 as said the LT survived, but not every Easy company guy knew he survived. The LT who was shot later went on to work for the CIA later on in his life, and one easy company guys who saw him got shot but didn’t know he survived. Later on in life that guy who saw him got shot also saw him later on in the pentagon while the LT was working for the CIA. It really freaked him out because he didn’t know the LT survived lol.
The guy Fallon is playing is Lt. George C. Rice. Rice knew that the 101st was going to be short on supplies and would likely end up surrounded, so he made eight supply runs to bring them ammunition, food, blankets, anything that could be useful, all while the Germans were closing in. His eighth and last run was actually made after the Germans had encircled the 101st, meaning he could have bee captured at any time. He only stopped because his own commanding officer ordered him to do so.
He was nominated for the Medal of Honor for this.
I saw pictures of The Netherlands American Cemetery at Margraten, the Netherlands. It looks very beautiful.
www.princegeorgevahistoricalsociety.org/w/netherland_adoption_program.pdf
Was looking for the George Rice mention. Dude was brave as hell.
Gen Patton is buried in the American Cemetery in Luxembourg
They also have a chocolate bar brand called “Yankee Bar” that originated from the Chocolate energy bars the soldiers had and handed out to civilians.
I was a Marine Embassy Guard in the 80's. We had ceremony duties as well and I participated in the annual wreath laying at Flanders Field in Belgium. War dead from two World Wars are buried there. Part of the ceremony had children from a local school placing flowers and flags on each grave. I actually found a grave of an American soldier from the 37th "Buckeye" Division, my grandfather's division in WW I.
Both nurses were based on real life women. Renee Lemaire was home for christmas when the bulge broke out and couldn’t leave so she volunteered to treat wounded. Augusta Chiwy survived the bombing that night (got thrown through a wall if i remember correctly). She passed only about 10 years ago and is buried near Lemaire in Bastogne.
Episode 7 is the toughest one from a combat standpoint. Episode 9 is the toughest from another. But it's worth it for Episode 10.
Oh man....episode 9 is going to be a rough watch.
Do not watch 9 alone! Seriously, get a good friend to sit with you through it. Also, double/tripple/quadruple the tissues! Only an actual psycho could watch "Why We Fight" without blubbing.
9 got me
They are not wrong. Episodes 7 and 9 are the ugliest of the series and you will never forget them.
@@elytron6758 ep 9 gets everybody. Evil exists in the world.
I appreciate how you use the 506ths Distinctive Unit Identifier to cover your curses. It’s a nice touch.
Bastogne is one of my favorite episodes because it focuses on the medic. When the screen is black and you hear an explosion then the yell for medic is truly how it can feel at times. I was an army medic for 9 years during OEF. It truly does take a certain type of person to be able to handle the chaos of war and yet still be focused enough to care for a person in need. Side note I love your channel and watching you when you stream on twitch.
I love the mirroring of Doc caring for Babe, then Babe helping Doc when he was frozen with stress/fear, and then Doc helping Babe again right at the end. The chemistry between Doc and the men on screen is phenomenal.
Camouflaged chutes make sense for landing, not for the falling.
The enemy are going to know you're jumping in, but it makes their search for you that little bit harder if you're not landing with a giant white flag in a field or forest.
And likely repurposed for other uses where camo would be obviously better than white
@@St.Maliki exactly, you can repurpose the camo chute as camouflage netting to cover vehicles and equipment.
Also for the point that a paratrooper in his chute in the air isn't a legal target. So not only is it better for after the landing use it is planning for them to make it to the ground and being able to use it after. Obviously this wasn't always followed by the enemy but that is the way it is supposed to work.
A paratrooper was definitely NOT an illegal target during WW2...
It is still completely legal today to kill paratroopers. What changed after WW2 concerned things like ejected pilots.
Troops deployed from airplanes are obviously legal targets, why wouldn't they be?!
@@Stubbies2003
That's incorrect.
Under the Geneva Convention, a pilot or aircrew bailing out of a damaged aircraft is considered "out of the fight" and solely attempting to preserve their lives, so they are not supposed to be taken under fire.
A paratrooper descending to a target area, armed and actually ENTERING combat is considered a legitimate target, even if they are still in the air - the same as a soldier in a helicopter, transport aircraft, truck or personnel carrier is a legal target even if they aren't shooting yet.
Just a comment on the "unnecessary destruction of property". James Holland a WW2 historian and has written an excellent book about the Sherwood Rangers who fought in Holland alongside their American colleagues at Eindhoven had this to say: "The absolute mantra of British tank men was to fire and fire and fire and keep firing... It is something that American writers just simply cannot resist. They have to be gung-ho, macho, square-jawed, with great teeth, and the British have to talk like this and say, ‘Well, I’m sorry old fruit, I can’t do that because I’m about to have my tea.’ And it’s just so annoying because British people weren’t like that. They were just like Americans. And I can absolutely guarantee that if an American had jumped on his tank and said, ‘You need to blast that thing,’ he’d have gone, ‘Roger, Wilco,' boom, boom, boom, and that would have been the end of that house. This is just, it’s a great scene this, but this dialogue is just so ridiculous that it’s not true "
Even with this and some of the other "errors" to enable more coherent story telling, Band of Brothers is an absolute masterpiece and I take my hat off to everyone who fought and continues to fight against oppression and tyranny.
Except contemporary accounts, for example, from David Webster's memoirs, back up the claim that the British tanks were ordered no unnecessary property damage.
@marcoburg8500
Webster and the rest of Easy are not the most reliable of sources when it comes to British armour.
It's a case of there not being one-size-fits-all for anything regarding WW2. Holland was right that there were British tankmen who would have shelled a village without a second thought; but the opposite is also true. There were those who followed the rules of engagement to the letter of the law, those who executed soldiers surrendering on their knees, and everything in-between.
@@lyndoncmp5751 That may be true, and still isn't an argument against the scene being a bit stupid. Who in their right mind would drive a valuable tank around a corner, when a soldier tells you there is a tank hiding there. Running the whole column of tanks into a choke point, allowing the germans to take out someone further back, trapping the lead elements is utter madness. It's up there with the Rohirrim on horse back charging down a steep hill into pikes, but they at least had plot armor.
@@andersjohansson4734
And also, what is shelling a house going to achieve? The mediocre 75mm gun isn't going to go through a house and knock out a German tank frontally. 75mms failed point blank frontally against Tigers and Panthers without houses in the way.
Secondly if he demolished the house it's just going to throw up a lot of smoke and dust, preventing him from seeing anything.
" Awe Skinny - you got blood all over my trousers!" Skinny: "I'm real sorry Frank!" The dialogue is priceless..
The scene where she never wanted to see another wounded man, and then the truck pulls in and she runs out to help really parallels with the last scene with the bandage in my mind. How he was going to put it away and then realize that she was all about helping people and she would have used it to help Babe. Very sad, but very beautiful.
The scene were Winters runs ahead of the company, isn’t exactly how was done. They all ran at the same time with winters of the such a great shape. He was actually able to out, run the entirety of his company, get to the ridge, and empty his weapon. He was actually reloading by the time the others caught up to him. That’s what the after action report actually says the film production thought that the scene was so unreal that no one audience would actually believe it. It turns out truth as much strange and affection. There’s a reason why these people he’s here. I stand out above all others and Wyomi films about them in the first place they do incredible things that we would never believe unless we actually saw it.
It's not the only instance of the showrunners "adapting" stuff they felt the audience wouldn't believe happened. There's also Spiers' run, and Shifty Powers vs the German sniper. Both were toned down in the show
Damn, beat me too to it. I was going to mention that. Glad I scrolled down in the comments so I would not post something someone else already did.
@@pabloc8808they did make changes but every change they made from the real events were approved by the surviving members of Easy Company. The show runners had the respect to ask them first.
Malarkey and the American German soldier. Lived in the same home town, worked the exact same job in different plants. cant remember if they went to different high-schools or the same.
@@dirus3142 yeah, they changed it in the TV show because they thought people would no believe it
The movie “A bridge too far” is about operation Market Garden. It was made in the 70’s but had every major star in Hollywood at the time in it and it’s a pretty good representation of the events and covers multiple units of a British and American troops. Another good one is the documentary “What it takes to win a Victoria cross” by a Jeremy Clarkson that covers the British fight at Arnhem and how they ended up losing 8,000 men.
Amazing movie.
The Bridge at Arnham was the furthest in enemy lines.
Their job was to hold the bridge for a maximum of 3 days with enough equipment for a maximum of 5 days against light reserve enemy.
They held for 10 days... against various elite SS armour and troop divisions.
@@babalonkie yup, absolute Chad’s
As a Brit, I loved this show. Yes it focused on this battalion but it does recognise the losses and fighting we did for 4 years prior to you guys arriving. The world would be a different place if you didn't. We are all brothers
I would love to see a documentary honoring the Brits and every other country who was in it for the long haul. So mluch happened that most over on this side of the pond know little about.
@songsayswhat there is some good stuff out there. The World at War, Dunkirk, Battle of Britain etc.
From a behind the scenes perspective, one of the most impressive things about episode 6 (and 7) is that almost all of the forest scenes were shot indoors on soundstages. There's a great short documentary on the DVD set showing how they constructed their fake forest. If I hadn't seen that I probably never would have thought that they weren't actually outdoors. This is an incredibly well written and acted series. But all of the technical work was impeccable, too.
This was enjoyable. Being as empathetic as I am watching others react to things is like I'm seeing it for the first time all over and your one of my Favrets. Seriously, Natalie, I think you for sharing such deep emotions. Funny little story with your reaction. My daughter who is retired USMC and was injured in Afghanistan was here for a day. As I was watching she was napping on the couch before having to go to the airport to go back home. Any way she woke up at some point and seen your reactions at the last part. She was crying so I went to hold her. She said she tried to watch Band Of Brothers but parts of it where just to real and she stopped, she called you brave for facing your emotions so well. :) My bunny, she is my hero. So that's some good praise. Bless and be well Natalie.
I love the way you are narrating your reaction to this series Natalie which BTW is my favorite WWII show of all time. You have very astute and analytical observation for someone who is watching this from a layman's perspective.
3:15 Winters folds his collar inside out to hide his rank insignia from snipers. They often targeted officers.
I honestly never noticed that before. That's a cool detail they put in.
Renée Lemaire was the real life nurse from the "Bastogne" episode. She was killed in an air raid on Christmas Eve 1944. She worked alongside another nurse Augusta Marie Chiwy, who survived, and passed away in 2015. Both nurses were Belgian, and worked with John "Doc" Prior at the field hospital.
I absolutely cannot wait for part 3 😭
If I recall, Winters stated in an interview that he never forgot the face of the young German he shot in that action.
It haunted him for the rest of his life.
He actually said the notion of him having flashbacks as shown in the show was complete BS, but I can see why they inserted it for dramatic effect.
@@Magooch86 The 9nes in the train, yes. But the face of that young German he stuck with him.
Pr9bably because it was the only time he ever looked a man in the eye before killing him.
It didn't haunt him. He just never forgot it, because the boy smiled at him right before he shot him.
@@mvprime8 kinda what i meant by "haunting him", yeah. He looked the boy in the eye before he shot him, and that would have an effect on a guy like him.
Not as bad as the guys shelled in Bastogne, mind you but I can understand why that stuck with him.
The scene with Winters on the train is perhaps one of the most hauntingly relatable depictions of PTSD ever put to film...
Not the kind of PTSD Actors get now days, from reading about their acting on twitter.
@@tilemacroWildly unnecessary and frankly disrespectful to use this as an excuse to jam your stupid political take somewhere it doesn't belong.
I think THE GREAT ESCAPE (1963) would be a fantastic companion piece to this. Looks at prisoners of war and a major escape attempt that occurred in real life.
cooler!
@@misterkite "Captain" Hills!
You're going to really enjoy the new series, Masters Of The Air. Part of it is set in Stalag Luft III, the setting of the Great Escape.
@@Tynovalik Hilts. not Hills.
I'm not sure I feel the same way about Great Escape since I watched Eddie Izzard talking about it. The English characters basically all went down the spout, and the Americans (most notably Steve McQueen) basically were bullet proof. All Eddie wanted to be was like Hilts, racing the motorcycle and jumping over obstacles, bouncing his ball and catching it with his baseball glove---cocky, irreverent, just a heroic brat. Some Brits here took a dim view of the portrayal of the stiff Brit tank commander whose hesitation to believe US troopers cost them tanks. So, in deference to our cousins, we need to keep in mind that they never catch much of a break with Hollywood. Sorry Tommies.
Winters was shaving in winter (pun intended) to keep up the morale of his men. He leads by example.
I can't remember who wrote about it, but one of the soldiers mentioned in his memoir that during their time at Bastogne they could tell the general state of affairs each day based on whether or not Winters shaved that morning. If Winters ever missed a shave they knew something serious was going on that day.
It also shows his view of self discipline and professionalism. I seriously think he would've shaved if he was just by himself. He respected the uniform and the rank and wanted to demonstrate that.
16:22 💀
world war 3 : Hello there !
Winters also washed. He would strip down to the waist and wash himself, no matter how cold it was. A level of discipline any leader should strive for.
Winters was the best of the best, but I fail to see how a CO shaving would boost morale. I couldn’t have cared less if my commanders shaved while I was in.
You edited out the best bit of the 5th episode! :(
"We're Paratroopers Lieutenant! We're supposed to be surrounded!"
My uncle Milo fought in the Battle of the Bulge near St. Vith. He was a heavy machine gunner (like Smokey, the soldier paralyzed in this ep). On December 16th he and his squad were cut off and evaded capture in the woods for days before returning to friendly lines, on Christmas Eve. As soon as he hooked up with a larger group of men (the same day, Christmas Eve), they turned around and went right back into the battle. He was eventually evac'd to the rear with trench foot and frost bitten feet, so bad he couldn't walk. He was awarded a bronze star for the battle. The Bastogne episode always wrecks me.
Such a realistic war series. I love it
16:22 ,
a possible world war 3 during our lifetime more horrible than anything in this series : well Hello there !
💀
I'm not sure how many times I've watched this entire Series, and even knowing what's going to happen, there are still scenes that make me cry.
I can't imagine anyone that has a heart would be immune to it...
When Winters drops the smoke grenade to signal everyone else to follow him was an invention of the show to help audiences with disbelief because in reality they all ran at the same time and Winters was in such good of shape he wound up way ahead of everyone else. Apparently they couldn't get that to not look unrealistic (even though that's what really happened) so they invented the smoke thing 🤣
the acting is so good, some of it so subtle that you only see it on subsequent viewings.
The kid tasting chocolate for the first time always wrecks me. Such a beautiful moment of innocence amidst a tragedy.
The film "A Bridge Too Far" tells the story of Operation Market Garden.
Somewhat inaccurately though. It created a lot of myths.
a bit too long for its own good too.
one of the great boondoggles of WWII. it would really enhance her enjoyment and immersion of the episode to read up on it before her next watch through.
@@lyndoncmp5751 I read a British tanker's war memoir and he said they did a "reasonable portrayal" of General Horrock's briefing. OK, that was a single scene, and not a pivotal one.
@@rcrawford42
And that's my favourite scene in the whole film. Elsewhere though, it has accuracy issues.
It even starts by saying the war was still going Hitler's way.....in 1944. The war hadn't been going Hitler way for years. Then the nonsense about Montgomery and the nonsense about ignoring German forces and Sosabowski being unhappy etc. The inaccuracies go on and on. And that's just the first half hour.
Bastogne has always been my favourite episode of this show, because we see it from Roe's perspective - he doesn't fight, doesn't even carry a weapon, but he's always on the move, checking in with people, making sure they're okay, then responding when they're wounded. Seeing him start to fall apart under that pressure is so powerful.
The episode Bastogne is so meaningful to me. My grandfather was a WWII army medic in the Pacific, on Mindanao. He was never willing to talk to any of his grandkids about his experiences there. This episode helped me get at least some perspective on what he went through.
keep it coming Natalie, what i really enjoy is seeing you enjoy for the first time, really good film and tv and such. it lets Me re-feel these flicks afresh......get ready for more of this series, its gonna need more tissues.
Renée was a brave, selfless, and beautiful soul. She worked tirelessly to save American soldier's lives. When the makeshift hospital was bombed, she managed to get 6 wounded soldiers out of the burning building, she died in that building while going back in it to try to rescue one more person. What a legendary human being
16:48 I don't know miss, paperwork sounds like the most glamorous part of war
Watching you react to this series takes me back to all the emotions I felt the first time. Amazing show. Thanks!
I'm so glad you're watching this series. I loved it since it first aired over 20 years ago. Shane Taylor as Doc Eugene Roe was fantastic.
I have been waiting eagerly for the continuation of this series. It is an annual watch for myself because my Dad always watched it when I was growing up. Right as I finished the series I was visiting my Dad and he stated that it was time for him to watch it again for 2024.
Bastogne is such a landmark of achievement. The way the series juxtaposed the tragedy and the heroism, the sacrifice and the violence, the camaraderie and the brutality. The sight of Bull after killing the german soldier, Winters showing PTSD, the sheer violence in Bastogne... this series is a masterpiece.
In reality, the smoke didn't pop late. They all ran at the same time, but Winters was such an athlete that he gapped his man by a significant length to the point he was able to fire a clip from his M1 reload and then fire another clip before his men caught up with him.
I have been waiting ages to for part 2, especially as I started rewatching the whole series at same time. Still one of best series ever
Having just watched the first part yesterday im so glad your reaction to this came out today
Seeing Winters breaking through the ice to get water to shave always gets me. At first I thought “that’s such a Winters thing to do, leading by example.” But it’s not just about maintaining discipline. In combat it was considered important to be shaved in case you were wounded in the face. It made stitches easier. Seeing Bull Randalman getting the shell fragment removed from his shoulder in the first half reminded me of hearing about my own Dad being wounded in North Africa prior to D-Day. He got wounded in the legs and back by German mortar shells and walked to the aid station where he was evacuated to a hospital. They needed to do a skin graft on his left leg and got the skin from his back in what they called a “pinch graft”. Essentially they pinch skin, lift it as high as they can, and cut it off in little circles to attach to the wounded area. The anesthesia wasn’t working on him, and he didn’t want them to give him ether because it often makes you sick to your stomach. So he gripped the edge of the table in both hands, grit his teeth and finished it. It put him in shock, so for the first day or two in hospital my Dad was in the middle of the Morroccan desert under a thick pile of blankets shivering and freezing his butt off. They made ‘em tough back then.
The scene with the burning jeep in the "Bastogne" episode was based on an actual combat film of a jeep, on fire, being driven just like in the series.
The camo 'chutes were often cut up into scarves by both American paratroopers and the Germans. I have a piece of original WWII silk that I use for my Fallschirmjäger impression as a WWII reenactor.
The show doesn't really touch on this, but during the Battle of the Bulge there was a fear of German infiltrators in Allied uniforms. An SS officer was captured in an American uniform and spilled about Operation Greif, which had English-speaking SS commandos infiltrate Allied lines to sabotage and sow confusion prior to the Panzer Armies' offensive. A lack of captured equipment and English-speaking volunteers who could pass as Americans led to the operation being called off, but the psychological effects did spook the Allies.
The entire 101st Airborne Division, with scattered units from the 10th Armored Division, were cut off in Bastogne from December 18th to the 26th. The troops were surrounded, lacked proper winter gear, had little medical supplies, and had little more than small arms and light artillery to beat off the 5th Panzer Army. However, their stubborn defense of Bastogne kept the 5th Panzer Army occupied and unable to assist the 6th in their drive to the Allied port of Antwerp, Belgium, leading to the Ardennes offensive being a failure.
I LOVE BoB!!!! I love this episode, as well. I’m not sure how historical the bit about the ‘Unit Citation for what the unit did in Normandy.’ A unit citation is, like, an advertisement for the unit. If you’re in the unit, you wear the pin. Super simple.
True. But for those that join that unit AFTER a Citation, there is a resentment, because those new people didn't "earn" it. Semper Fidelis.
I really love your reaction to this. You laugh at the shit that makes me laugh, and you cry at the stuff that makes me cry. Thank you . Looking forward to seeing you react to the emotional conclusion.
I love your perspective on the series and their perspectives. I watched through BoB when it aired and many time afterwards. It interesting to see reactions of someone with fresh eyes as well as a woman's POV too since most fan's of the series you run into are dudes. You're next part will start with my favorite episode of the series. Excited to see your take.
I uave a friend that was a corpsman and did two tours one in Afghanistan and Iraq, he had that quiet steadfast resolve about him.
He did say that he saw more Marines for STDs than he did for combat wounds!
Winters shaving in the cold, u do whatever possible to keep in touch with ur humanity and some kind of normalization in this situation to help u get through it
2:24 I believe the purpose of the camo parachutes was too conceal them better when they stash them on the ground, so any enemy troops that pass the area later might not notice that was the landing zone. If they are close enough to see the troopers when they are falling midair, the roar of the plane's engines would give them away anyway
Such an amazing series. True heroes.
God, what a series! Glad you're doing this!
Renée Lemaire was an actual Belgium nurse who died on the Christmas eve raid in Bastogne :(
Episode 6 and 9 were particularly tough for me. May we never forget.
i'm so glad more people are watching this show
With the guy that you see shell shocked in the corner there is a detail I haven't seen anyone else notice. There were 4 or 5 guys hiding behind the wall next to him. You hear a whistling sound which is an incoming mortar. Everyone else hiding behind the wall runs away except for him as he is firing his weapon and doesn't see them running away. The the mortar hits and blows up the wall that all of his friends were just behind. All Cobb knows in that moment is everyone had just been hiding there and now there is just a smoking hole. I think all of the emotion is what you see when he is in the back of the truck.
I always interpret that when Eugene pulls out her bandana he’s hesitant to use it but realizes she would have done the same thing to help someone else. BOB always has and will always have a special place in my heart
I love the doc, even in the way he move, agile, nimble always heads down
I'm really glad you're doing Band of Brothers. I love this series. So much in fact I bought the boxed set of DVDs when it came out. That was back before streaming. You know, when dinosaurs were still alive.
No spoilers, but really stock up on tissues for the rest.
Bastogne is an area that is well known in professional cycling since it's the home of one of the oldest cycling competitions in the world Liege-Bastogne-Liege. A fact that I always find remarkable is that after the Battle of the Bulge which ended in January 1945 it was only 7 months later that things were basically back to normal and a new edition of Liege-Bastogne-Liege could be organized, riding through the very areas that just 7 months earlier had been bombed to pieces.
I remember watching this episode in college and then remembering playing the Market Garden map on Battlefield 1942 when i was in 8th grade. Man, I loved that game.
Mannn I am NOT ready for part 3, because I know what comes. Throughout the series I definitely felt sad about what I saw, but one particular episode (Episode 9 I believe it was ) just had me sobbing.
you and me both man. honestly kinda wish natalie would skip episode 9 but at the same time i know it's required viewing for any student of film or history. tough to watch for a jewish person like natalie.
This is one of the most intense 10 episodes of television I think in existence. Your reactions of it have been awesome!
My grandfather was an infantryman in Patton's Third Army. He never stuck to the whole saving story, mostly said that they were just happy to be in one place for a bit, because Patton made his armies move so quickly.
in "replacements", that scene where Webster hands the young boy that chocolate bar is probably the best scene in the entire series...IMO
Winter's reaction to the kid on the subway alluded to his first known experience to PTSD - which wasn't called that until the Vietnam War.
Episodes 6 & 7 are probably my two favourite episodes of any TV show ever. It's also bizarre to think most of the show was filmed in & around an old airfield a few minutes from where i lived at the time & even the forest setting was created (& blown to bits) in one of the huge hangers.
I've been to bastogne I was about 9 at the time i remember seeing the blown out trees and foxholes left as they were. Very surreal
Get your tissues ready for your part 3. I have watched Band of Brothers once a year, every year for 20 years. To this day (based on how you run your channel with Eps.) you will have a emotional ride. As an Active Duty soldier, I am grateful you are helping spread awareness to the world on the cruelty of war, and why it shouldn't plague Humankind. Thank you again.
33:09 Its one of those rare moments in cinema when you laugh and cry at the same time.
Denver "Bull" Randleman was the guy who got separated in the ditch.
Love this series. Episode 7 is my favorite. I look forward to your reaction.
The character of the nurse, Renée, was inspired by the real life character Renée Lemaire, The American Troops called her the angel of Bastogne. Lemaire was from the Bastogne area, her parents owned a hardware store there, throughout much of the war, prior to this moment, she had been a nurse in Brussels, where she helped take care of the wounded. She just happened to be going home to see her parents in Bastogne for Christmas 1944, and little could she have realized that this battle would erupt in her front yard. He further states there's no evidence to suggest that she interacted with Doc Roe. Renée did lose her life during German bombing of Bastogne, but she was not in the Church basement, she was actually in a store basement that wasn't too far away. A building had caught fire, and she was taking part in an effort to evacuate men who had taken refuge in that building, an aid station in the basement of the Sarma Store. She was able to pull six men out of the fire and when she went back in to get a seventh, she lost her life. She was 30 years old. Her body was later delivered to her parents wrapped in a white parachute. Also the Congolese nurse, Auguste Chiwy, was also a real figure in Bastogne. She survived the war, and died in 2015. Keep up the good work.
1:44 I usually say this for other reactors, so I’ll say it again here. Presidential Unit Citations are awarded to the entire unit in perpetuity. For him to not wear the ribbon, that would’ve meant he was out of uniform. Theare members of the 506th infantry are required to wear that ribbon this day, on their Class A and Class B uniforms.
Like how the 2nd Marines all wear the Croix-de-Guerre on their Forest Greens for Bellou Wood.
Everytime Nat says how much this is breaking her I think just wait for "Why We Fight" That is always the episode that hits the hardest. I also can't wait to see her reaction to the Speers episode. That was always my favorite.
I had just watched her first part yesterday realizing it was recently posted and thought it’d be a while till we’d see the second part but it’s here!
Market Garden was a massive operation and it led to some fierce fights between the Germans and Allied forces. I mean they almost got into Germany. I remember watching "A Bridge Too Far" and that movie covered the British who participated in Market Garden. It showed the massive nature of that operation. Also watching Patton which was released a long time ago is great. That movie showed the life of Patton during the war and it covered "The Battle of the Bulge". A movie that really gave a great perspective of what the war was like up to that point.
In Bastogne, Belgium the 101st Airborn has a whole museum for what they did and apparently, the people there always treated those soldiers who came back to visit with such high esteem and love. But saying all of that I would take being in Bastogne over being in the Pacific fighting the Japanese.
Our medic saved one of our guys who was hit in a BAD way. Truly heroic effort. When you see the laundry list of injuries that one guy had, and survived, it's incredible. no one thought he'd survive. We are forever grateful to him for everything, but to this day he's never been the same as before that day, even though he saved him.
I was in Germany in ‘87 for Reforger, driving through the streets in our jeeps kids were flipping us off, the older people saluted and appreciated us. Sometimes when we would eat at a restaurant older Germans would come to us and practice their English with us and we’d practice our German with them, at the end of our meal, more frequently than not, the Germans would pay for our meal. I’m German/Scottish, it was a great experience being able to be in places where so much of our shared history was made.
19:04 I think everyone watching this for the first felt that way, film was great at showing that.
I appreciate you and thank you for making content.
Related to what you were talking about at 21:01 , my father-in-law is retired US Army. He told me that when he took a trip to the French countryside (including Normandy), the locals showed him so much respect and gratitude for his service, and he didn’t even fight in WWII. So the respect for soldiers is strong in that area of France even to this day
2:35 They also started to use camouflaged parachutes in Normandy. The parachutes were not supposed to camouflage you against the sky. It was to be camoflaged against the ground. This to prevent that enemy (German) aircraft could take areal photographs of the dropzone and the Germans could count the amount of parachutes and estimate the amount of men who had dropped. Or count from high ground the amount of parachutes. 3:22 In Dutch thank you = Dank je (wel) sounds similar to German Danke in this case. 27:41 The soldier who got wounded survived. The German machinegunners picked him up and brought him to a hospital.
Brand new subscriber, Natalie! Love your videos so much ❤
Natalie, i personally love your softness of heart and how you connect to each soldier presented. So im going to warn you. Its about to get very hard to watch at times. There's a couple of episodes that brings me to tears everytime i watch them. But youll also see some of the best acting ever. In Breaking point and Why We fight. Have tissues on the ready
"Smokey" Gordon, the guy who was paralyzed by the shot through the shoulders, eventually regained the use of his legs after the war, mostly out of pure spite towards his doctor. His doctor, who had worked with other Airborne soldiers and knew what type of men they typically were, was goading him about "goldbricking" (basically being a freeloader and faking the severity of his injury) not because he actually believed it but just to bring some fight out in Smokey and keep him from giving into depression over his injury, and it apparently worked...he regained the full use of his arms and legs, though he suffered from some pretty severe back pain for the rest of his life, not that you'd know it from how he acted at the Easy Co reunions.
4:47 that actor "webster" who gave the kid chocolate is in "From" on amazon prime. The show is great and its such a plus seeing a band of brothers actor again 😊 After seeing you react to himmy fallon: Michael Fassbender is in the series too)
I was born on the 5th of May, Dutch liberation day. I was born in Geldrop, lived in Son, Oosterbeek and Arnhem. All of these places have memorials to the US 101st and British 1st. I participated in the 50th remembrance of operation market garden, Queen Beatrix and Prince Charles attending. Where other kids would have jungle gyms, I had (decommissioned) M4 Shermans to climb on. I have been surrounded by WW2 all my life and that is the reason for my interest in history
I saw an interview with Winters right after the series originally premiered. He said the flashback sequence was bullshit. Love your reactions Nat!
Loving your reactions, editing also superb.
it's not nearly as well known as Band of Brothers, but to anyone who enjoys BoB, I HIGHLY recommend Generation Kill. It's like the modern Band of Brothers (well set during the invasion of Baghdad after 9/11), and it's soooo good. It's about a Rolling Stone reporter that's embedded with the first Marine group entering the city, and the show is about his experiences living and traveling with them. It's fantastic.