Band of Brothers: Episode 10/Final, Points

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.

 

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 wrote about this series, I used the mens' army rank on occasion, but for the most part, I used last names, just as the men did. 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, then Captain Herbert Sobel 

 

Here is the link to the previous article as Episode 9: Why We Fight

https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2023/10/band-of-brothers-episode-9-why-we-fight.html

 

The name of this episode, "Points," is in reference to a system of "points" used by the U.S. Army to demobilize (discharge and send home) enlisted men. When the war in Europe ended, men of a rank less than commissioned officers had to have 85 points in order to be able to be sent home. The calculation was determined this way: a soldier got one point for every month in the service, dating from September 1940; they got another point for every month they served overseas; they got five points for every combat decoration they received (for example, Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and others); and they received twelve points for dependent children under the age of 18, and limited to three such children. So for example, when Germany surrendered, Corporal John De Snickerdoodle had entered the service in May 1944, giving him 12 points. He was sent to Europe in September 1944, giving him 8 more points for a total of 20 points. He was wounded in November 1944 and received the Purple Heart, giving him 5 more points, now a total of 25 points. He has a 2 year old daughter at home, giving him 12 additional points and a final total of 37 points ... get used to occupation duty, Private, you're not going home. You may even be sent to the Pacific to fight the Japanese. This system of points is very impotant in the episode, because the men naturally calculated their points to see where they stood, and because as the war in Europe was ending, the talk about redeploying the 101st Airborne Division to the Pacific against Japan was commonly heard.

 

This episode opens in July 1945, as Major Winters prepares to take a morning swim in Lake Zell at the city of Zell am See, Austria (it is about 35 miles from Salzburg). Captain Nixon comes by and asks his friend Winters what he plans to do after the war ends (this is one of those scenes that starts in July, but then goes back to early May to present the events that had occurred; so, to set the situation, by July, Germany had surrendered, but the Allies were still at war with Japan). Winters tells Nixon that the regimental commander, Colonel Sink, had spoken to him about staying in the Army and making a career of it. He says he told the Colonel that he would think about it. So now Nixon, who is from a wealthy family, offers Winters a job at a family-owned business in New Jersey (Winters was from Pennsylvania). Winters thanks his friend and says he will think it over. Winters dives into the lake for his swim, and he narrates as the scene shifts back to early May, as the men of Easy Company want to capture Hitler's villa, known as the "Berghof," located in the mountains above the Bavarian town of Berchtesgaden. High above Hitler's villa is the "Kehlsteinhaus," known to many as simply the "Eagle's Nest," a kind of chalet that was completed as a gift to Hitler by the Nazi Party in 1938. Hitler seldom used the "Eagle's Nest," but it survived the war and still exists today; however, the "Berghof" villa was heavily bombed late in the war, and its remains were later demolished.

The Nazi SS had blocked the road up one side of the mountain to Hitler's "Eagle's Nest," and French forces also wanted to capture this Hitler possession, but Colonel Sink, the commander of Easy Company's regiment, the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, tells Winters to get there ahead of the French. So, Easy Company heads into the town of Berchtesgaden, where they take over the "Berchtesgadener Hof," an elaborate hotel used by guests of Hitler and other Nazi leaders who were visiting Hitler's villa (Britain's prime minister in 1938, Neville Chamberlain, stayed there when he went to see Hitler at his villa about the then crisis over Czechoslovakia). The hotel provides Winters, Welsh and Speirs the opportunity to take some Nazi souvenirs. Winters then tells Speirs to take Easy Company and go up the mountain and capture Hitler's Eagle's Nest, which they do. Later, Nixon, Welsh and Speirs are on the balcony of the "Eagle's Nest," when they are joined by Lipton and Winters. Winters tells them the news that Germany has surrendered, and he takes his friend Nixon by jeep to a huge wine cellar with thousands of bottles of expensive wine and liquor at the nearby vacation home of Nazi leader Hermann Göring. 

The war in Europe is over, but the 101st Airborne Division is assigned to occupation duty in Austria. A German colonel (played by Philip Rham) surrenders to Winters,  and the Colonel wonders what he and Winters will do "without war to occupy our time." He removes his pistol from its holster and offers it as a show of his personal surrender to Major Winters, so that he won't be forced to surrender to a person of lesser rank, but Winters tells the Colonel he can keep his pistol (Note: Actually, in real life, Winters accepted the pistol, but why such a thing was changed in the script, is beyond me, although things like 2+2 are also beyond me. Winters later said the pistol had never been fired by the Colonel, and that was how he too kept it for the rest of his life ... unfired.)

 

A number of troops from the 101st Airborne watch newsreels from the still ongoing war in the Pacific. Winters tells Speirs, Nixon, Lipton and Welsh that the divisional commander, General Maxwell Taylor, has said the 101st Airborne will be sent to the Pacific to fight the Japanese. Winters tells them that training has to be maintained to keep the men ready to fight. We then see several of the men cautiously walking through a forest, but they are hunting deer. When they finally come upon a male dear with a large rack of horns, Shifty Powers, the great sharpshooter, can't bring himself to pull the trigger, and the deer runs off (Shifty has had enough killing). We then find out that Shifty will be required to remain in the army, because he lacks adequate points to be discharged and sent home (he's from Virginia). Easy Company is assembled and Captain Speirs, the company commander, tells the men that General Taylor has authorized one man from every company in the division to be sent home, who otherwise lacked the points to go home. So, a drawing is held for Easy Company, and Harry Welsh draws a piece of paper from a helmet and hands it to Speirs, who reads out the man's serial number and name... Darryl "Shifty" Powers. We see the helmet had only contained Shifty's name and no others. The whole company is happy for Shifty, and we see him go to Major Winters to say goodbye. An emotional Shifty searches for the words he wants to say to Winters, but he can't get them out, although we can tell the high regard he has for Major Winters. Shifty tells the Major that he doesn't know how he will explain all of his experiences when he's back home in Virginia, but Winters tells Shifty, "You're a hell of a fine soldier, Shifty, there's nothing more to explain." Shifty salutes Winters, and the Major returns the salute, but he then reaches out to shake Shifty's hand. As Shifty leaves, he wipes away a tear. We go from being happy for Shifty, to then learning that the truck carrying Shifty and a couple other men was hit head on by a drunken soldier from another American unit, and Shifty spent months in the hospital recovering from a concussion, a broken pelvis and a broken arm. Life sometimes leaves us little time to celebrate.

Winters, Nixon and Welsh are together when Nixon tells Welsh that Winters has put in to be transferred to the 13th Airborne Division, which he believes will be deployed to the Pacific soon. Nixon tells Welsh he's going with him, jokingly adding, "Somebody's got to go with him, he (Winters) doesn't know where it is." Welsh wants to go home and marry his long time sweetheart, and he says to Winters, "You're leaving the men?" Winters replies, "They don't need me anymore." We then see Winters seated in front of Major General Elbridge Chapman (played by David Andrews), the commander of the 13th Airborne Division. Chapman goes over Winters' combat record, asking some questions or making comments at times, and at the General's mention of the various places Winters has served, the Major's mind flashes back to those locations and to the action he and his men saw there. The General then asks, "Why do you want to leave the men?" In the end, the General tells Winters he needs to stay with the 101st Airborne, and if that division is deployed to the Pacific, that Winters should be leading one of the battalions. The General says to him, "Let me tell you something son, you've done enough."

We next see Liebgott, Sisk (played by Philip Barantini) and Webster riding along a dirt road toward a small farmhouse. We find that Liebgott wants to see the man at the house, as some of the freed prisoners of a concentration camp said this is the man who was the camp commandant (Note: Speirs ordered this). Webster is hesitant, but they go inside and see a burly man who asks them in German what they want. Liebgott speaks in German to the man about the camp, and he then pulls his pistol and puts it to the man's head. As the heated exchange takes place, the reluctant Webster goes outside trembling, and he lights up a cigarette. Sisk comes out and says the guy is guilty, but then there is a shot, and the man runs from the house with a wound on his neck and with Liebgott following. Liebgott tries to fire, but the gun jams, and he yells "Shoot him!" Webster makes no move to fire, but Sisk shoots the man as he runs away.

Next, at a crossroad checkpoint, Janovec (played by Tom Hardy) is on duty, but Webster is his relief and Janovec tells him he has 75 points, and that makes him 10 points short to go home. Webster tells him that he has 81 points. Janovec gets into a jeep to go back to where the company is staying. The jeep sets off, but a barrel from a passing truck falls off the truck and Janovec is killed in the ensuing accident, but the actual accident is not shown. (Note: Ambrose's book says Janovec had been leaning on a door of a truck, when it flew open. Janovec hit the pavement fracturing his skull.) Just before Janovec's accident, a German soldier on crutches hands Webster a document. It's the man's discharge, and Webster looks around, then he goes over to a German field gendarme, who is being used to help control traffic and check identification information. He speaks English too. He has just checked the papers of a private citizen's car with a husband and wife and Webster asks him where the couple are going, and the gendarme says they are going to Munich. So, Webster asks the German soldier on crutches if he'd like to go to Munich, and he gladly accepts. Webster opens the back door, tosses a couple of suitcases to the side of the road, and lets the soldier get in; all as the couple protests (Note: I take the point to be that Webster feels much in common with the injured German soldier and he figures the civilians can make the sacrifice of a few personal belongings to give him a ride. In a previous episode, Webster wondered if American civilians realized how much their troops have sacrificed to win the war.)

Winters narrates that, with the war in Europe over, the men had plenty of three things: weapons, alcohol and time on their hands. One night, Sergeant Grant (played by Nolan Hemmings) has two troopers in a jeep he is driving. As they approach a checkpoint, they see a dead German officer lying in the road and an American soldier standing nearby with a pistol in hand. Grant tells the two men to stay in the jeep while he goes to see what is going on. When he approaches the man with the gun, it's obvious the guy is drunk and the guy cracks that the German officer wouldn't give him any gas. There is another jeep nearby (the jeep that had been driven by this American soldier), and then a dead British officer, and then that officer's jeep. Grant asks the soldier for his weapon, but the guy totally ignores Grant and says that he is going to take the British officer's jeep, and Grant steps forward and the guy fires the pistol in Grant's direction, and the bullet hits Grant in the head. The man takes off in the jeep.

The scene shifts to the aid station where an Army doctor tells Speirs and Doc Roe that Grant needs brain surgery, but that he doubts he will live. Speirs and Roe head out with Grant on a stretcher to find a German brain surgeon, and when they go to the home of a doctor, Speirs points his gun at the doctor and orders him to come along. The doctor briefly looks at Grant and he tells Speirs to put the gun away, and they leave for the hospital. The men of the company had gone out to find the shooter, and they get him, and then in a room at the headquarters they begin working him over. A visibly angry Speirs comes in, draws his pistol and asks the man where the weapon is that he used. When the man cockily says, "What weapon," Speirs uses his pistol to smack the man across the mouth, saying, "When you talk to an officer, you say 'sir.' " Speirs points the gun right at the guy (if you have followed these articles, you know the reputation Speirs has), the men move away out of caution, but Speirs doesn't pull the trigger. He orders them to get the MPs (military police) to "take care of this piece of s--t." Sergeant Talbert (played by Matthew Leitch) asks, "So Grant's dead?" Speirs tells them Grant is expected to live.

Everyone knew the points system wasn't perfect, so Winters and other officers try to get the long time veterans away for a while. Winters talks with Malarkey and sends him as an "advisor" to an airborne exhibition featuring Allied aircraft on display in Paris, where he will stay at a nice hotel. When Malarkey salutes; instead of returning the salute, Winters reaches out to shake his hand. Carwood Lipton is waiting to see Winters, who tells him that because the war is over, that the Army policy about battlefield commissions is to transfer the officer to another unit, and Lipton says he was expecting this. Winters says that he was given the job to reassign Lipton, and he thought he would move Lipton to the battalion headquarters; that is, Lipton is really not going anywhere, he just won't be with Easy Company on a continuous basis. This is really what happened with Winters back in Holland, he gave up total hands on control of Easy, but he was right in the battalion headquarters keeping his eye on the men. Winters tells Lipton his first assignment is to accept the surrender of a German general and his men, because the general doesn't want to surrender to Private Babe Heffron from South Philly (for those unaware, Philly is a common shortening of Philadelphia). So, Winters tells Lipton, "I figure 2nd Lieutenant Carwood Lipton of West Virginia will soothe the general's feelings."

Winters drives the jeep that takes Captain Nixon and Lipton to the surrender. When Winters stops the jeep, Captain Sobel and another soldier come walking by. The soldier salutes Major Winters, but Sobel turns his head. Winters calls Sobel out by saying, "We salute the rank, not the man," and Sobel stops and salutes, with Winters returning the salute. There is a large number of German prisoners and the General (General Theodor Tolsdorf, played by Wolf Kahler) comes to Major Winters, who motions for him to go to Lipton. He asks Lipton for permission to speak to his men, and Lipton agrees. The General walks to the front and speaks a few lines to his men, but the sentiment is the same as for the American troops. Liebgott translates for Winters and Nixon: "Men, it's been a long war, it's been a tough war. You have fought bravely and proudly for your fatherland. You are a special group, that has found a bond in one another, that can only develop in combat. We comrades have shared foxholes and have supported each other in terrible moments. We have seen death and suffered together. I am proud to have served with you. You all deserve a long and happy life in peace."

The scene shifts to a baseball game among the men, as Major Winters narrates a bit about the postwar lives of several of the men. This miniseries was filmed in 2000 (first shown in 2001), and a fair number of the men were still alive, but Winters' narration tells when some had passed away. Winters tells about his own life and how "there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of the men I served with who never got to enjoy the world without war."

 

 

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

WORD HISTORY: 

Shrapnel-This word is from the family name of Henry Shrapnel in 1806. He invented an explosive device that was filled with metal balls (commonly lead), which were then the "bullets" of the day. When it exploded, the "bullets" went in all directions, causing numerous injuries and deaths to those exposed to the blast. "Shrapnel" was a member of the British Royal Artillery. The name "Shrapnel" is thought to be from French "Charbonnel," the diminutive of "charbon," meaning "charcoal" (perhaps in reference to hair color), from Latin "carbo" (meaning "coal, charcoal"). It's origin is unclear, but it may be from the same Indo European form that gave English "hearth," a word from the Germanic roots of English.

Chinese Hot & Sour Soup

You are likely to find this soup on just about every menu in every Chinese restaurant in America. There are lots of variations in recipes, with some using chicken in the soup, and others using tofu, and still others using meaty tasting mushrooms, and I guess you could call it the "deluxe version" with all of these ingredients included.

 

For this, you use the white part of the green onions in the actual preparation of the soup, and you keep the green part for finishing the soup and as a garnish.

 

 

Ingredients (6 servings):

6 cups chicken broth

1/3 cup thinly cut carrot (matchsticks)

4 green onions, white part only, chopped

1 tablespoon grated ginger

1/3 cup sliced shiitaki mushrooms 

1/3 cup firm tofu cubes

3 cloves of minced garlic 

3 tablespoons Asian chili sauce

1 teaspoon ground white pepper

4 tablespoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons brown sugar 

1/4 cup rice vinegar (1/3 cup if you like a bit more tartness)

1 teaspoon sesame oil 

4 tablespoons cornstarch, mixed with equal amount of water

2 large eggs, well beaten

green part of 4 green onion, chopped

In a pan, add the chicken broth, carrot, white part of the green onions, ginger, minced garlic, chili sauce, white pepper, soy sauce and brown sugar. Let come to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to simply maintain a nice gentle, but steady simmer for 10 minutes. Add the sliced mushrooms and tofu, and simmer another 5 minutes, then stir in the rice vinegar and sesame oil. With the soup still simmering, stir in the cornstarch mixture and continue stirring until the soup thickens. Gradually add the beaten eggs, and then stir lightly after about 45 seconds. Add half of the green part of the onion and give it a quick stir. Remove the soup from the heat. Garnish each serving with a bit of the remaining green from the onions.

 

 

 

 

WORD HISTORY: 

Clerk (Clark/Cleric)-These words are related to "clergy." The ultimate origin of "clerk/clark/cleric" is uncertain, although Indo European "kleh," meaning "to cut down," is thought to be the ancestor by some. Ancient Greek had transliterated "kleros," which meant "a chip of wood used for casting lots," but then the expanded meaning of "something assigned by lots (land, farm, house, etc), inheritance,"^ which produced the transliterated Greek adjective "klerikos," meaning "of or about the clergy," as in religious usage in Greek, the word came to be applied to priests, who were seen as ordained by God's choice (lot). Latin borrowed the adjective as "clericus," meaning "of or about the priesthood, priestly," but it also used the word as a noun to mean "priest, member of the clergy." This was borrowed into Old English as "clerc," meaning "priest, clergyman." In those times, the clergy were some of the few in society who were educated; thus, they were used as record keepers of accounts and of other written documents. This idea of being able to read and write eventually superceded the meaning of "priest;" thus, those employed to keep records continued to be called "clerks," but without the "clergy" meaning at all. The idea of a "sales person" is from the latter part of the 1700s in American English. The verb form is from the noun in the mid 1500s and meaning "to provide the services of a clerk." "Clark" is from a spelling variant of "clerk" in the Middle Ages, which has remained as a popular family name dating from those times (also spelled "Clarke").

^ In this case, the idea of "inheritance" is seemingly from God, and this meaning connects the word to religion.

Scrambled Eggs & Smoked Salmon Wrap

There are various ways to scramble eggs; so, use your own method. Some people add water, some add milk, some add cream, and some see the addition of any of these liquids as heresy. Then, some people draw in the edges of the cooking eggs, some start in the middle and move them outward, some just start stirring. None of this will end civilization, unless we choose to make it the next silly thing we say we will fight to the death over. Four ounces of cream cheese is simply half of a typical "block" package of cream cheese. In the U.S., smoked salmon is more typically sold in flat small packages with one or more thin slices of smoked salmon per package, but you may also find it in pieces that you can slice yourself. I added the optional red chilies for chili pepper lovers, but if you love the taste of smoked salmon, you should probably leave the chilies out of the recipe, as they will likely overwhelm the other flavors. Finally, if you haven't worked with avocados, once you cut them open and remove the seed, you can the scoop out the flesh in one piece, with a large spoon, and then slice it, but you must squeeze some lemon juice over the avocado, or it will begin to darken.

Ingredients (4 wraps)

1/4 pound smoked salmon, cut or torn into bite size pieces

2 tablespoons butter (more if needed)

4 eggs

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt 

(Optional) 2 to 3 small red chilies, chopped

4 tablespoons evaporated (canned) milk

4 ounces cream cheese, cubed

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 avocado, sliced with some lemon juice squeezed over it

4 slices tomato, chopped (remove the seeds, if you'd like)

hot sauce to taste

4 flour tortillas (8 inch diameter size)

Crack the eggs into a bowl, add the evaporated milk, ground black pepper and salt; then, whisk the egg mixture well, until there is a little foaminess in the eggs, set aside briefly. You can heat the tortillas in the oven, but I run some water onto a paper towel, wring it out, then cover a tortilla with the paper towel on a microwave safe dish, then zap it for about 20 seconds; repeat individually for whatever number of tortillas you are using. In a large nonstick skillet, melt the butter over low heat. Whip the eggs again briefly, and the add the eggs to the skillet and, if using chilies, quickly scatter the chopped chilies around to prevent them from piling up in one or two locations, and creating a flamethrower for the person getting them (of course, if you or others love the heat, pile them on). Then spread around the salmon pieces and cream cheese cubes. While this has only been a few seconds, the eggs will be motoring right along; so, scramble the eggs by your own method, but I begin to draw the edges of the eggs in toward the middle, then keep moving them around (swirling motion, I guess is best to describe it). You can lift the skillet off of the heat while you're moving around the eggs, but if there isn't much "liquidy" egg to be seen, turn off the heat. Remember, the residual heat of the skillet will help cook any remnant of uncooked egg. When finished, divide the cooked eggs and place a portion that runs through the middle of each tortilla. Top the eggs with a little raw onion, a couple of slices of avocado and some chopped tomato. Sprinkle on a few drops of hot sauce (or more than a few, for those who like some sizzle). Fold the tortilla around the filling and you're ready to eat.

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Fawn (Fetus)-"Fawn" is the noun for a baby deer (the verb, often used with 'over,' in 'to fawn over,' is a different and unrelated word). "Fawn" is related to "female" and to "feminine," Latin-derived words borrowed by English from Latin-based French. "Fawn" goes back to Indo European "dhe(i)," which meant "to suck, to suckle." This gave Old Italic "fetos" (the Indo European form rendered as "f" in Italic), which gave Latin "fetus," meaning "an offspring, the production or fruit of a plant" (fruit in the general sense, not the specific classification). This gave Latin the noun "fetonem," with the meaning "young animal." This passed into Old French as "feon," meaning "a young animal," with more of a tendency to usage for "a young deer," and also with the spelling "faon." English borrowed the word in the mid 1300s, with the spellings "foun," "fowne," "fawne," before the modern form, and by which time the usage for deer type animals had become pretty much the exclusive meaning.

South African Yellow Rice

This is a dish taken to southern Africa by people from then Dutch controlled Indonesia and Malaysia, who were taken there as slaves in the 1600s and 1700s. In Afrikaans it is called "geelrys;" that is, "yellow rice" ("geel" is the relative of English "yellow"). Note: Afrikaans is the language that developed over time in southern Africa from Dutch settlers/colonists, and it was long seen as simply a Dutch dialect; although in the 1920s, Afrikaans was declared an official language of what was then called the Union of South Africa. 

 

This is used as a side dish. Be sure to cook the raisins right along with the rice and other ingredients, as the liquid will plump up the raisins and they will help flavor and sweeten the rice a bit.  

Ingredients (6 to 8 servings):

 

1 cup basmati rice

2 1/2 cups chicken broth 

2 teaspoons ground turmeric

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup dark raisins

2 tablespoons butter

 

Rinse the rice. Add all ingredients to a heavy bottomed sauce pan over high heat. Stir well to mix. When the water starts to boil, immediately lower the heat to low or very low, cover the pan and cook until the liquid is all absorbed. Fluff the rice before serving.

WORD HISTORY:

Cross-This word and its relatives are all of uncertain origin; but thereafter, "cross and relatives" are derived from Latin. The problem is, how and where Latin got the word. There is an interesting theory that would link "cross" and its Latin-derived relatives to English "ridge." Anyway, "cross" is closely related to "crusade," "crucify" and "crucial," words borrowed by English from French, to "crux" and "excruciate" (most commonly in the adjectival form "excruciating" in more modern times), words borrowed directly from Latin. "Cross" goes back to Latin "crux," which meant, "a wooden device of a vertical pole with one or more horizontal beams connected and used for punishing or executing criminals." Forms of the word were borrowed into Celtic, and it's thought that Old Norse, a Germanic language from the North Germanic branch, borrowed its form, "kross," from Old Irish "cros." Old English seemingly borrowed the word from Norse as "cros" in the mid 900s, with the meaning, "device used to execute Jesus Christ;" thus also, "sacred symbol of Christianity." The figurative use for "burden" is from circa 1200. The adjective use is from circa 1525, often as a shortening of "across," itself from "cross," but other meanings developed after that time; for instance, the use in "cross purposes;" that is, "opposite purposes." The verb dates from about 1200, used then to mean, "to make the sign of the cross for religious purposes," but with additions over time to mean "to cancel" ("cross through"), "to betray, to disrupt" ("cross up") and others. Many of the forms in the modern Germanic languages also came from Old Norse (Danish, Norwegian and Swedish all have "kors," with the 'o' and 'r' changing places, and Icelandic "kross"), Low German has "Krüüz," German has "Kreuz," West Frisian has "krús" and Dutch has "kruis," all seemingly directly from Latin "crux," brought by religious groups sent to "Christianize" various Germanic tribes in central Europe.

Band of Brothers: Episode 9, Why We Fight

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.

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, then Captain Herbert Sobel 

 

Here is the link to the previous article as Episode 8: The Last Patrol

https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2023/09/band-of-brothers-episode-8-last-patrol.html?m=1

 

This episode takes place in the waning days of World War II, from the latter part of March, through April and up to about May 1 or 2, 1945. We see some German musicians on the street playing Beethoven's solemn "String Quartet No. 14 in C Sharp Minor (Op. 131)." The town has been heavily damaged in the war, and German civilians are clearing debris and trying to put things back in order, a characteristic Germans are known for, but there can be a dark side to that characteristic, too. So, we have German work ethic and desire to bring order to their damaged city; and this, set to the music of one of the greatest composers in history, who was a German; but, why do Germans keeping fighting for Hitler, in a war that has long ago been lost? Some of Easy Company's men are beginning to wonder why they are still in Europe, away from their families, and still at war.

 

We see some events during the first part of the episode that will be contrasted to the second part of the episode (these aren't necessarily in the proper chronology). George Luz and Frank Perconte are searching for eggs in the hen house of a German farm. A woman comes in and Luz tries his luck at "showing her how friendly Americans can be," but she slaps him across the face. We also see Captain Speirs take a couple of silver trays and silver candle holders to the Army Post Office, where Private Vest takes care of the regiment's mail. Speirs gives Vest a couple of packs of cigarettes to take care of sending these "souvenirs" to the Captain's family in the United States. Speirs tells Vest, "Finders keepers." We see the alcohol dependent Captain Nixon out late at night looking for Scotch in a heavy rain, but he's oblivious to the weather, as he breaks the front window of a German shop selling liquor. The owner lives up over the shop and he shouts out the window at Nixon, but to no avail. Nixon doesn't find a liquor to his liking.

 

This episode focuses on Major Winters' close friend, Captain Lewis Nixon, who is also known as "Lew" and "Nix." We soon see Nixon looking very serious after he gets out of a jeep, and when he goes to his quarters, he takes a couple of drinks of whiskey, and then, Winters comes in. We now learn that Nixon was involved in a parachute jump with some men of the U.S. 17th Airborne Division, but that the plane he was on was hit by German anti-aircraft fire, and only Nixon and two others survived (one book on the subject says Nixon and three others survived). The commanding officer of those who died also perished, so Nixon has been ordered to write to the parents of the young men killed on the plane, and it's not a job he's looking forward to doing. (Note: The 17th Airborne Division was involved in a large scale paratroop drop in the latter part of March, 1945 called Operation Varsity. The drop has been controversial since it took place, because it risked the lives of so many personnel, American, British and Canadian, when ground operations were making significant progress, with "seemingly" fewer casualties.) Nixon talks with Winters about what he should say to the parents, and we see how Nixon's feelings have turned downward, as when Winters says to tell the parents that their sons died as heroes, Nixon asks if Winters still believes that (for the record, Winters says he does). Nixon has to look around his quarters to find a bottle that still has whiskey in it, but most are empty. Winters tells Nixon that Colonel Sink has demoted Nixon from serving with the regimental staff (apparently because of Nixon's heavy drinking). Nixon will again serve in the 2nd Battalion staff. When Winters asks Nixon if he heard him say that he's being demoted, Nixon casually replies, "Yeah, demoted, gotcha." The troubled Nixon then goes back to talking about the men killed earlier that day. It takes us back to the D-Day episode, where the jittery Private Hall has his fears calmed by Winters, which brings out the courage in Hall (whose real name was "Halls"), who helps to destroy the German artillery battery, but who loses his life doing so. Winters sees Hall's body and kneels for a moment, but then he must continue the fight. At the end of the day, the situation is reversed from this current episode, as then it's Nixon asking Winters what's bothering him, and Winters tells him about Hall being killed that day. Nixon tries to divert his friend's thoughts, but after a tough day of fighting and killing, Winters takes some more time to be human.

Frank Perconte and recent replacement Private Patrick O'Keefe (played by Matt Hickey) walk along to their shift for outpost duty. O'Keefe asks when Perconte thinks they'll "be jumping into Berlin and see some real action," which brings a swift and tough reply by Perconte about O'Keefe being a replacement. The two men relieve Hashey (played by Mark Huberman) and Garcia (played by Douglas Spain), but O'Keefe stays busy and checks the post machine gun, while humming a happy song, much to the annoyance of Perconte, who is trying to read a book, and who is still rankled by O'Keefe's desire to see action. Twice Perconte tells "O'Brien" (he gets his name wrong, with O'Keefe correcting him) to relax, but now Perconte really turns it on. He tells O'Keefe that he's like all of the replacements, desiring action and chomping at the bit to fight Germans, but that within a few days, they're lying there bleeding and with their guts hanging out, "screaming for a medic and begging for their godd---ed mothers." He continues that this is the best part of the war for him, because he's got "hot chow, hot showers, a warm bed ... I even got to wipe my a-- with real toilet paper today." Perconte finishes by telling the young man, who just left the U.S. two weeks before, "It's been two years since I seen home... This f---in' war!" 

The scene shifts to Winters and Speirs discussing plans in front of a wall map. Nixon steps into the room and says, "The president is dead." (Note: President Franklin Roosevelt died on the afternoon of April 12, 1945, from a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia. Because of time difference, it was nighttime in Germany.)

Nixon is still on a quest for Vat 69 whiskey, and he goes to Private Vest (played by Kiernan O'Brien), who takes care of the mail, but who is also something of a contact for other favors. Vest tells Nixon that now that they are in Germany, that brand of scotch whiskey will be hard to find, and that it will be very expensive if it is found. Nixon comes from a wealthy family, and he tells Vest to try to get him the whiskey, regardless of the cost. Vest gives Nixon a letter that has come for him, and Private Janovec (played by Tom Hardy) comes in and tells them that 300,000 Germans just surrendered, and that the unit is "moving out in one hour." (Note: The Germans who surrendered had been encircled in the German industrial area called "the Ruhr.") When Nixon reads his mail, he finds out that his wife is divorcing him and that "she's taking everything. She's taking the house, the kid, the dog ... It's not even her dog, it's MY DOG," he shouts as he throws his helmet. And no scotch to help him drown his sorrows (and anger). (In an earlier episode, Nixon talks about finding a "certain young lady," where they were stationed in England. He had been seeing her at that time, and I believe his wife may have gotten word of it. Understand, this information is not in the miniseries.)

The men get into trucks and DUKWs, commonly called "ducks," which were combined land and amphibious vehicles, that looked a good bit like landing craft. They are heading into Bavaria, in southern Germany, and as Webster says, "the birthplace of National Socialism" (Nazism). Captain Speirs tells them the Allied commanders feel the Nazis will try to form a resistance movement from Waffen SS troops in the mountains of Bavaria and Austria (the Alps). Perconte tells O'Keefe, "It looks like your gonna get your wish, O'Flannery (getting his name wrong again), those (Waffen SS) guys, they're f---in' crazy." O'Keefe simply replies, "It's O'Keefe." As the column moves along, the men sing the famous paratrooper song "Blood on the Risers" (also known as "Gory, Gory, What a Helluva Way to Die," as it is set to the music of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"). The men stop and takeover a German family's home for the night, before moving on again ("presumably" they took over other homes as accommodations for all the men.) Surrendered German troops are seen all along the highway (Autobahn), and Webster yells out to them, "You stupid fascist pigs... You ignorant, servile scum! What the f--- are we doing here?" A few seconds earlier, he told the other guys in the truck, "Dragging our a--es halfway around the world. Interrupting our lives. FOR WHAT?" As the column moves on, the men see two French soldiers bring three German soldiers out of a building, put them on their knees and shoot them in the back of their heads. O'Keefe is stunned and he turns to Perconte, who shrugs his shoulders.

The company comes upon a Nazi concentration camp near Landsberg am Lech in southern Bavaria, located about 40 miles west of Munich.(Note: The 101st Airborne Division did not actually discover the concentration camp, as is shown in the series, but rather the men of the 101st entered the camp the next day, after its discovery by the U.S. 10th Armored Division.) Landsberg is the city where Adolf Hitler served part of his sentence for the "Beer Hall Putsch" in the 1920s, and it was during that time that Hitler wrote his book "Mein Kampf" (My Struggle). If you've never seen "Band of Brothers," or at least this episode, it is something I hope you will see, because no written account can describe the horrendous conditions in the camp; you need to see it for yourselves. (Note: This was a subcamp of  the infamous Dachau concentration camp, not far from Munich. It was termed "Kaufering IV," as there were other subcamps of Dachau.) Major Winters has the men open the camp gate, and he and the men enter as prisoners come to even just touch the American troops. Liebgott translates for Winters, Nixon, Spiers and some of the men, as he talks with one of the inmates, who tells him that the guards fled in the morning, but that they first shot as many of the prisoners as they could, and that they also set fire to some of the barracks, with live prisoners still in them. The camp is full of Jews, their only "crime" being their ethnicity in Nazi eyes. He tells them there is a women's camp at the next train station. Many of the stunned paratroopers hold handkerchiefs over their noses to try to keep out the stench. Some of the guys enter the living areas and they find them packed with sick, starving men, too weak to stand up. (Earlier, in Landsberg itself, Nixon enters a house looking for whiskey, and he finds liquor, but not a type he wants. He sees a picture of an older German officer and he picks it up, looks at it and tosses it to the floor, breaking the glass. He also sees a picture of the officer's wife, who enters the room without a word, folds her arms and glares at Nixon, who looks at her, lays the picture down and walks to the door and leaves.)

Winters orders Nixon and Spiers to get food and water from the town to help the desperate camp inmates. They get cheese from one business and bread from a bake shop, the owner of which rants against the men (the baker is played by Hans-Georg Nenning). Webster tells the guy to shut up a couple of times, but when he continues yelling, Webster takes out his pistol, grabs the owner by the collar and shoves him onto a table; then, he puts the pistol right to the man's head and says, "Shut up you Nazi f--k!" The man says he's not a Nazi, which then brings Webster to say, "You fat f--king pr--k! ... How about a human being, are you one of those, or are you going to tell me you never smelled the f---ing stench?" Anyway, the men go back to the camp and start distributing the food and water. 

After a while Colonel Sink, the regimental commander, comes in and he has the regimental doctor (played by Corey Johnson) with him, who tells them that they have to stop giving the prisoners food, because it could actually kill them, and that the prisoners will have to be kept in the camp until proper accommodations can be found, where food and water can be given to them under medical supervision. The men are shocked to hear that they will have to lock the inmates up again, and translator Liebgott says "I can't tell them that, sir," but Winters tells him, "You have to, Joe." Liebgott tells the inmates in German that they have to remain in the camp for a short time. Later, back in Landsberg, Winters tells Nixon that 101st divisional headquarters passed along information that Allied troops have been discovering concentration camps all over the place, and that the Russians had found one ten times bigger than the one outside Landsberg, and that it had execution chambers and ovens to cremate the bodies. (Note: This is an obvious reference to the most infamous of all camps, Auschwitz.) THIS IS WHY WE FIGHT! It is bigger than any one person, or any group of people. HUMANITY. General Maxwell Taylor, the commander of the 101st Airborne Division, orders the citizens of Landsberg to bury the dead at the camp the next day. We see German civilians dragging bodies and shoveling dirt. Nixon spots the woman who glared at him earlier at her house, but now he glares at her, until see looks away.

The scene returns to where the episode began, with the musicians nearing the end of Beethoven's song. Nixon tells some of the men that Hitler's dead, and Randleman asks, "Is the war over, sir?" Nixon says "No," and he tells them they are moving out in one hour, destination ... Berchtesgaden. (For those unaware, Berchtesgaden was where Hitler's villa in the Alps was located, with Salzburg only about 25 miles away.)

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

WORD HISTORY:

Nasty-This word has an uncertain history; thus, relatives are lacking. One thing is certain; that is, "nasty" did not come from political cartoonist Thomas Nast in the 1800s, as "nasty" had been around well before Nast was born in Germany and emigrated to the United States with his family as a child; however, his later political views were often expressed in harsh cartoons, especially about Catholics and Irish immigrants. For critics, this made his family name fit in perfectly with "nasty" (Note: He was originally Catholic himself, having been baptized as such upon his birth in Germany, but he converted to Protestantism when in his early 20s in the United States). His connection with "nasty" undoubtedly made the word more common in the U.S. So, why do we have the word at all? Well, there are theories, but no conclusive proof. As far as I could find, the word appears in the late 1300s with the meaning "dirty, foul," and with spellings like "naxty," "nasky," "nasti" and "nasty." Some believe English borrowed the word from one of the North Germanic languages, as Swedish has "naskig" (meaning "nasty, messy") and Danish has "nasket" (dirty, filthy), and also possible is Dutch (which is, like English, West Germanic) "nestich," which became "nestig" (dirty, from the underlying meaning, "dirty as a bird's nest"), and there is always the possibility that it's from an Old English form, which was then reinforced by Old Norse. Whatever the case, the 1600s saw the "dirty" meaning expanded to morality; thus, "obscene." The meaning expanded further to include "mean, bad tempered, annoying, unpleasant."

Succotash

From what is known, succotash is a dish originally given to English settlers by the Native people of what became Massachusetts. Interestingly, while succotash came from New England, the dish found a devoted following in the southern part of the United States, although its cheap ingredients, and the availability of those ingredients, made succotash a "go to dish" in bad economic conditions all over the country, especially during the Great Depression. When I was a kid, succotash was pretty common, but that's not surprising, because those of us who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s were the children and grandchildren of those who survived the Great Depression and the rationing of World War Two; plus, we grew up with Warner Bros cartoon characters (Looney Tunes) saying, "Sufferin' succotash!"

 

Over the centuries, although especially before many foods were processed in ways to make them easier to prepare and consume, "msickquatash," the Algonquin from which English developed "succotash," was much more of a stew prepared by the Native and Colonial people with dried corn, dried beans and squash. Over time, Americans began to use lima beans, besides corn and other vegetables they had on hand, like "bell peppers" (red, yellow or green), and/or tomatoes (during the growing season). Preparation of this stew took more time to cook, but of course, when canned, and then frozen, vegetables became common, the preparation time dropped significantly. To me, from back when I was a kid, up until the time I began checking around about succotash, because I wanted to do an article about it, succotash was simply corn and lima beans. I wouldn't be surprised if other people have had the same belief. I must admit, I don't know of any special seasonings my mother or my grandmothers used, and I think they just used butter or margarine and some salt and pepper. Butter was something used for special occasions, if even then, by many people during the Great Depression; thus, margarine was likely used by average families, which certainly fit in with succotash being popular in hard times. Bacon, salt pork or ham hocks served as the meat part of a meal, as they were all cheap in those times.   

        

Succotash 

1 1/2 cups corn

1 cup dried cranberry beans

2 cups pumpkin, acorn squash or butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1 to 2 inch chunks

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons salt (divided use)

1 bay leaf

water

2 tablespoons olive oil + 2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

The evening before cooking: rinse the dried beans under cold water, then put the beans into a bowl or pan and cover with fresh cool water (add enough water to go about 1 inch or so over the beans). Pick out any beans that are bad. Cover the bowl/pan with plastic wrap or a lid and let the beans sit about 15 to 18 hours. The next day, drain the beans and put them into a pan with 4 to 4 1/2 cups of fresh water, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 bay leaf. Bring to beans to a boil, then adjust the heat to maintain a steady simmer and cook for 1 hour; check to determine that the beans are tender. For the pumpkin/squash: put the pumpkin/squash chunks into a pan and cover with fresh water; add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil and then adjust the heat to maintain a steady simmer; simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, until the pumpkin/squash are tender. Remove from the heat and drain.To a pan over medium heat, add the butter and oil. When the butter melts into the oil, add the garlic and let saute for about one minute, then add the corn, beans and pumpkin/squash. Season with pepper. Let cook 3 to 4 minutes, and serve.

 

Succotash and some cottage ham ...

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Thresh (thrash)-"Thresh" is related to "throw" and to "thread," both from the Germanic roots of English, and it is distantly related to "turn" and to "trauma," both words being of Greek origin, then borrowed by Latin, with "turn" borrowed by English from French, and "trauma" borrowed directly from Latin. "Thresh" goes back to Indo European "ter(e)," which had the meanings of "to rub, to twist, to turn." This gave Old Germanic "þreskanan" (þ=th), meaning "to separate seeds/grains from stalks/husks by beating or tramping on them." This gave Old English "þrescan/þerscan," by dialect, and the change of place of the "r" and "e, in the one version (this also happened in some other Germanic languages). These then became "thresshen," "threschen," "thrasschen," before "thresh" and the variant "thrash" (thrash is from the last quarter of the 1500s). The figurative use of the verb (as the "thrash" spelling) for "to beat someone severely," is from circa 1625, and the figurative noun use of "thrashing" for "a terrible beating" is from circa 1845. Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German has "dreschen," Low German "dröschen" and ", döschen," with the 'r' having died out, West Frisian "terskje," Dutch "dorsen" (once spelled "derschen"), Danish "tærske," Norwegian "treskja" and "treske," Swedish "tröska" and Icelandic "þreskja" (þ=th), all with the general meaning of "to thresh grains."