Band of Brothers

The husband insisted, for 3 years, that I watch Band of Brothers. I resisted. I am not quite sure why but the entire description of war and documentary did not sit too well with me. Then we found the entire 10 DVD set for a steal at Planet M and S had to pick it up. The rants of the stupid wife were not going to work today.

With the masterpiece on DVD I was forced to finally watch Band of Brothers. I am not quite sure whom to thank for it. Planet M or S. Maybe both.

Band of Brothers is an HBO original televisions series produced in collaboration by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. This came soon after the runaway success of Saving Private Ryan. Band of Brothers documents the true events and actions of American soldiers in their campaign across northern Europe to destroy Hitler's reign of terror. It tells the true-life story of the soldiers of Company E of the 506th Parachute Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. The fighters of Easy Company. The Company of Heroes.

The entire story lasts over 10 hours. It begins with the soldiers’ rigorous training at Camp Toccoa, Georgia and ends with their capture of Hitler’s lair – The Eagle’s Nest. Between this, we follow the heroes through D-Day landings behind enemy lines off Normany, into Holland, Belgium and finally onto Germany.



Each of the DVDs begins with excerpts from interviews with living members of the Easy Company recounting short memories of what was covered in that 1 hour. Each of these experiences anonymous, goading you to make the connect with who they might be. Lieutenant Dick Winters, who makes Captain before the Holland Campaign and Major after the Campaign in Hagenau or Sgt. Bull Randleman, who takes a shrapnel to his buttocks with dignity or Captain Nixon, Lt. Winters' friend.

The company faces deaths, hardships of all nature and many live to tell the tale. Some characters remain constant through the 10 episodes. Yet, each episode has been told from the viewpoint of different persons – one each time.

There are glorious details, gory scenes that can be described as part of this review. But that will not be doing justice to the story being told. Though it is only a story retold, Band of Brothers helps you relive their experiences. The characters paint the picture in front of you with emotion and with a truthfulness that most War movies lack. In most war movies it is difficult to discern the identities of the various soldiers, but not with Band of Brothers. It creates a personality for each soldier and it is hard not to cry when one of them dies or dance with joy when a campaign is successful. Band of Brothers brings about a greater amount of connect with the entire series by placing the true war heroes at the beginning of each episode. It lends a sense of realism to the entire viewing - if the living members chose to connect themselves with it, it must be true. Having them say in their words what actually happened, warrants a more serious outlook to what the Company of Heroes endured.

The final disc contains the final episode a documentary, We Stand Alone Together: The Men of Easy Company. It includes footage of Easy Company and interviews of the surviving members. In this it identifies the soldiers of easy company. The most moving but of the documentary was the visit by two Easy Company soldiers to the Ardennes forest on the outskirts of Foy, Belgium. This was where Easy Company had held the line against the Germans, in what later came to be known to military historians as The Battle of the Bulge.

From this day to the ending of the world,
we in it shall be remembered,
we band of brothers.

-William Shakespeare