Band of Brothers: They Helped Defeat Hitler (Episode 4: Replacements)

 NOTE: "Band of Brothers" is a highly realistic World War Two miniseries from HBO in 2001. Part of the "realism" is the profanity used; so, if you are sensitive to such language, the miniseries is definitely not for you. Also, there are numerous highly bloody scenes of killed or wounded soldiers, and scenes of people in a concentration camp, who have been the subject of horrendous treatment. So here too, if you are sensitive to these kinds of scenes, it is probably a good thing if you skip viewing the miniseries. As for this article and those I'll be doing about the miniseries, I have tried to keep things from being too blatant.

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This very realistic HBO series is based on the book "Band of Brothers" by historian Stephen Ambrose. Remember, this is NOT a documentary nor an actual reenactment, but rather a series with characters representing the actual men, with their real names, of East Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. The series does present events and actions that the men of Easy Company related to Stephen Ambrose, the historian who wrote the book. In the book's "Acknowledgements and Sources," Ambrose writes that he "circulated the manuscript of this book to the men of Easy Company." He goes on to say there were criticisms, corrections and suggestions offered by the men, and that Richard Winters and Carwood Lipton were heavily involved in reviewing the book, the original publication of which was in 1992, while the first airing of the miniseries was in 2001. 

 

As I write about this series, I'll likely use a man's army rank on occasion, but for the most part, I'll use last names, just as the men do. The cast of this series is so large, I decided not to list it, as it would have been overwhelming, although I did decide to list just a few names of the cast who portrayed the men most seen, most heard and most heard about in the stories presented in this series. Believe me, the whole cast is likely 8 or 10 times as large as those I list here, and everyone did a great job.

 

Partial Cast

 

Damian Lewis as Lieutenant, then Captain, then Major Richard Winters

Ron Livingston as Lieutenant, then Captain Lewis Nixon

Scott Grimes as Private, then Sergeant Donald Malarkey 

Shane Taylor as Medic Eugene "Doc" Roe

Donnie Wahlberg as Sergeant Carwood Lipton 

Michael Cudlitz as Sergeant Denver "Bull" Randleman

Frank John Hughes as Sergeant Bill "Wild Bill" Guarnere

Rick Gomez as Technician 4th Grade George Luz

Kirk Acevedo as Staff Sergeant Joe Toye

James Madio as Technician 4th Grade Frank Perconte

Eion Bailey as Private David Kenyon Webster

Dexter Fletcher as Sergeant John Martin

Ross McCall as Technician Fifth Grade Joseph Liebgott

Neal McDonough as Lieutenant Lynn "Buck" Compton

Nicholas Aaron as Private Robert "Popeye" Wynn 

David Schwimmer as Lieutenant> Captain Herbert Sobel 

Here is the link to the previous article on Episode 3 Carentan:

 

https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2023/08/band-of-brothers-they-helped-defeat_22.html 

 

Part (Episode) 4: Replacements 

 

This part opens with Easy Company back in England as the men drink beer, play darts and sit around talking. The stress of war has subsided at this time. Due to the company's previous casualties, replacements have been added. Private James Miller (played by James McAvoy), Private Antonio Garcia (played by Douglas Spain) and Private Lester Hashey (played by Mark Huberman) are all replacements in Bull Randleman's squad and the three are sitting together at a table when Sergeant Bill Guarnere comes over to talk with them a bit, as Randleman looks on from a few feet away. Guarnere tells the guys to always pay attention to Randleman, because he's the smartest man in the company. Private Roy Cobb (played by Craig Heaney) comes over to the replacements and asks Miller what he has pinned to his uniform. When Miller replies that it's a regimental citation badge for what the 506th Regiment did in Normandy, Cobb sarcastically tells Miller that he (Miller) didn't fight in Normandy. Miller doesn't know what to do, but he removes the badge and puts it on the table, then rises and walks away. Randleman now comes over to the table and reminds Cobb that he didn't fight in Normandy either (Cobb was wounded on the plane before he could jump into Normandy). Sergeant Lipton announces that the company is moving out and the men now know the "fun" is over. The men hear (now Captain) Winters explain the operation they will be participating in has them jumping into Holland and then taking and holding the city of Eindhoven, until British armored units can arrive. The hope is that the overall operation will get Allied forces into Germany and help to end the war by Christmas. The parachute drop will be in daylight, but the men are told that military intelligence believes most of the German forces in Holland are old men and kids, so they aren't expecting much opposition.            

As the men are getting ready to get into the transports to fly to Holland, the company's former commanding office, Captain Sobel, pulls up in a jeep followed by a truck. We learn he is now the regimental supply officer. Popeye Wynn gets out of the jeep, and he tells Randleman that he busted out of the hospital, because he didn't want to be transferred to another unit. To refresh your memory, Popeye got shot in the butt on D-Day; so, when asked if he can make the jump assigned to Easy Company, Popeye says, "Yes, I just can't sit." He's also asked if Sobel knew he left the hospital without permission to return to his unit, and he says that Sobel knew, but "maybe he'll court martial me later." Further, the motorcycle taken and ridden by Malarkey and More is in the truck, and Sobel calls Malarkey over and asks him where he found the motorcycle, but Malarkey plays dumb, and Sobel tells him the motorcycle is United States Army property. 

The men jump into Holland and everything seems fine, as there is no flak fire nor German infantry waiting for them, and they are able to get formed up into the proper platoons. Not long thereafter, they move into Eindhoven unopposed, where they are greeted as liberators by the Dutch. A member of the Dutch resistance, John van Kooijk (played by Hugo Metsers), offers to help Winters in any way he can, but when Winters sees that the man has kids giving him information on the British tanks being near, Winters is skeptical. Within a short time; however, here come the British tanks, and Winters now is much friendlier to van Kooijk. Meanwhile, the Dutch are busy rounding up collaborators, and we see the women collaborators having their heads shaved and sometimes swastikas are painted on their foreheads. 

 

Nightfall comes and three Easy Company men, Corporal Donald Hoobler, Private David Webster (played by Eion Bailey) and Private Robert van Klinken (played by Ezra Godden) approach a Dutch farm house. The basement doors open and a man comes out, and the man tells them it is an air raid shelter and that he and his family have been there because of all of the aircraft flying over. The Dutchman gives the men some food, and out of the shelter comes his little son. In a scene that will warm your heart, Webster goes to the boy and gives him a chocolate bar, which his father opens for him. The boy takes a bite and his face lights up. The boy's father says, "He's never tasted chocolate before." In the morning, the company sets out for the city of Nuenen, supported by some British tanks. As the company moves along the road, one of the women collaborators is standing with her baby along the side of the road. One of the paratroopers hands her some food (regardless of what she has done, you don't hurt the child). 

 

The company stops just outside the town and Lieutenant Robert Brewer (played by Brandon Firla) walks out a short distance from the main body of troops. Randleman calls out to him, but a sniper's bullet hits him in the neck and he falls to the ground. A German armored personnel carrier (also called armored half tracks, and the Germans called them Schützenpanzerwagen or SPW) speeds by on the column's left, but one of the British tanks fires and hits it, and it bursts into flames. Randleman runs to help Brewer and a medic also runs to his assistance, but he is shot in the thigh. The men get into town, and at first, the Germans are not to be seen, but they have a Tiger tank to the far side of a building, which puts it out of easy sight of the paratroopers and British tankers, and additionally, they have covered the tank in hay for camouflage. Randleman goes out in front and signals to Sergeant Martin about the Tiger tank. Martin goes to the lead British tank and tells the tank commander about the Tiger tank being just out of his view. Martin suggests that the British fire a couple of rounds into the building behind which the German tank is hidden, but the tank commander says he has orders not to cause undue property destruction. Martin is angry, but he gets down from the tank. Within a few seconds, the British tanks move up, and we see the German Tiger tank swing its turret around in readiness to fire. BOOM! The shell hits one of the British tanks and destroys it. The German tank comes out from hiding and this brings Randleman to yell for his men to fall back. (Note: The German Tiger I was a nasty opponent, and it could destroy any armored vehicle the Allies had. The good news is, they were expensive and complicated to make, and then to maintain; thus, the Germans didn't make them in huge numbers. The Tiger tank had a truly frightening reputation among Allied soldiers, and I recall reading that some Allied commanders were perplexed at times, as they said after the war, the tank's reputation was so fearsome, some Allied soldiers called just about every German tank a Tiger, and this created a problem, as it caused panic among the soldiers.) A German assault gun also appears and hits another of the British tanks, which bursts into flames, but keeps moving. Everywhere the paratroopers begin to fall back, and the Germans have a machine gun positioned atop a building which starts firing down on the men. Van Klinken is hit by gun fire and killed. Private Miller is killed by a shell as he fires on the enemy from a ditch. The Americans use a rifle grenade to take out the machine gun, but the Germans now have lots of infantry following up, and the American position becomes totally untenable for the paratroopers. In the heavy fighting, Bull Randleman is cut off from the rest of the company and he is wounded in the shoulder by shrapnel. He is able to crawl to safety for the time being. 

 

Buck Compton is wounded and the men take a door off of one of the houses to carry him to safety. The Americans fall back to some trucks waiting for them. Throughout the series, tense and serious situations are still used to produce a little chuckle, and such happens as Lewis Nixon begins talking with Winters, when a bullet hits his helmet, knocking him to the ground. Winters rushes over, and Nixon says, "I'm all right, I'm all right ... Am I all right?" Winters says, "Yeah, do you feel all right?" And Nixon says, "Yeah, quit looking at me like that." The paratroopers move out. 

 

Randleman hides in a barn and he hears various German forces passing. The farm owner comes into the barn and Randleman grabs him, but the Dutch farmer tries to get the shrapnel out of Randleman's left shoulder, with Randleman finally giving the man his knife to help dig it out. The man stuffs a cloth inside Randleman's uniform to cover the wound. The man's wife also comes into the barn and they hide with Randleman as German soldiers are checking barns and houses for any Americans. Four Germans enter the barn, but they look around briefly and three leave, with one stopping to take a leak. When he is leaving, he sees the bloody cloth that had been covering Bull's wound, but which had fallen out. Aircraft can be heard and the soldier starts to leave, but then he hears a small noise and he checks further. With the aircraft now almost directly overhead, Randleman tries to sneak up on the German, but the German turns and tries to fire, but his rifle jams. It becomes a battle of bayonets, and Randleman's size and strength prevail (hey, he's not called 'Bull' for nuthin'). When daylight comes, Randleman sees no Germans, so he leaves the barn. He finds Private Miller's body and seconds later a scout jeep pulls up and Randleman gets in.

 

Meanwhile, back with the rest of the men when it's still dark, Randleman's absence is on their minds and Hoobler decides he wants to go find Bull. At first, Guarnere says he'll go, but Hashey, Garcia and Webster tell Guarnere they'll go. Cobb says, "I'm not going back up there," but we then see him with the others in their search for Randleman. When it's daylight, the men hear a vehicle approaching and they hit the ground, but it's the jeep with Randleman in it. They return to the company where Guarnere sees Bull and says, "I don't know whether to slap you, kiss you or salute you ..." (He then points over to the men who went to find Bull) "These guys wanted to go on a suicide run to drag your ass back." Bull says, "Is that right? ... Never did like this company none." 

 

The company moves out again, and Nixon tells Winters they're likely going to face more German tanks, and Winters answers, "Well, as long as they're only manned by old men and kids" (a sarcastic remark regarding the military intelligence assessment prior to their jump into Holland). Then Winters says, "I don't like retreating," but Nixon answers, "First time for everything." When Winters asks Nixon how the other divisions further north are doing, Nixon answers, "We're going to have to find another way into Germany."         

 

Photo is of the HBO 2015 Blu-Ray Miniseries release ...

WORD HISTORY:

Tenable-This word is related to quite a number of words, including: "distend" and "tense" (stretched tightly, including figuratively), Latin-derived words borrowed by English from Latin, to "extend" and "tenacity" both Latin-derived words borrowed by English from French ("extend" is more precisely from the French spoken by the descendants of the Normans in England), to "tendon," a word borrowed from Latin, which had it from Greek, and it is distantly related to "thin," a word from the Germanic roots of English. "Tenable" goes back to the Indo European root "ten," which had the idea of "to stretch." This gave Latin the verb "tenere," which meant "to keep, to hold, to possess, to grasp, to maintain," and this gave Vulgar Latin "tenire," meaning "to hold, to possess," which passed into Old French as "tenir," with the same meaning. This produced the French adjective "tenable," meaning "capable of keeping or maintaining," and militarily, "capable of being defended or held against an enemy." English borrowed the word in the 1570s. My own experience in American usage is, we don't often read or hear "tenable,"  but we do hear or read the opposite form, "untenable" ('incapable of being defended'), somewhat more often, but the usage is by far in reference to "ideas and proposals" nowadays.