Band of Brothers E07 'The Breaking Point' - Vet Reaction!!!

We are over the half way mark and only have a few episodes left to watch. Each Episode is becoming more intense and I'm never knowing what to expect. The pressure in the episode was CRAZZYYY!! I almost through my screen because of how furious I was lmao.. You will see!!! The events are jaw dropped and you will see in my reaction. Are you excited to follow me on this journey? When did you first experience this groundbreaking limited series?
Remember this is not a substitute for watching the actual show.
If you haven't seen it, then please do so (available on HBO) and then come back to the video afterwards.
Don't Forget to Like, Share and comment..
Don't Forget to check out my Patreon @ / deving
Thanks for Watching and Hope you guys enjoy my reaction...

[@SHSNJROTC]

i met "Wild Bill" Guarnere when i was a young kid at a local WW2 air show, naively i asked him about his missing leg and sad i was sorry it happened to him..... without skipping a beat, looks down at both his hand crutches and says... "its okay kid, once i got back to philly with these... nobody ever beat me in a foot race again" (crutches gave him tremendous length in which to stride with his other leg) gave me his jump wings to me shortly after... i ball my eyes out thinking how kind he was to me after all he experienced in his life. RIP to all of our fallen combat veterans.

[@mezgo9224]

this anecdote is beautiful, i wish i ve had the chance to meet him

[@liamregan4975]

That’s amazing dude. It’s so sad knowing I’ll never get to meet these guys. They’ll all be gone very soon and they’re all real life superheroes.

[@CrazyLife2112]

Wow! Thank you for sharing this.

[@Whiskey696]

Damnit I wasn’t there

[@chuckt9us]

I had the opportunity to shake Sgt. Bill Guarnere's hand when he came to speak to us at Girard College. That was the most well behaved we ever were in an assembly. A bunch of early 90's kids at straight attention.

[@prollins6443]

The scene with Buck trying to scream "Medic!" always gets me. Absolutely powerful acting!

[@PsPmoddedOUT]

Yeah that's one of the hardest scenes to watch in the series

[@chriskelly3481]

@@PsPmoddedOUT Cos you can see his mind scattering in real time. 😥

[@jackburton3701]

The problem with having a big heart is theres more to get torn out

[@TheLanceUppercut]

"Speirs, get yourself over here!" is my favorite moment of the whole show.

[@afewsnakes]

Yeah for real. Speirs was a fuckin cut above the rest. You’d never believe any of this actually happened if the stories from the men who were there didn’t provide all the interviews & books. Unreal.

[@hazwanhashimhjibrahim4500]

Me too

[@chriskelly3481]

Oh, yeaaaah! Here. We. F***ing GOOOO! 🤘😆

[@jackburton3701]

America watching it premier on HBO collectively cheered

[@GeekFurious]

If there weren't about 80 testimonies to this happening, I wouldn't believe it.

[@joecoffee93]

My favorite part is that, when Winters is called back and reminded of his responsibility in command, he doesn't hesitate to call out Speirs to take his place. He knows that, himself aside, Speirs is the best one to get Easy through that battle and out of their stuck position. That just goes to show how absolutely competent Winters was. He had zero hesitation and knew exactly the man for the job.

[@drutalero2962]

Lmao that isn't why he chose him. Spiers was just the first officer he saw lol.

[@GeekFurious]

While that part is one of my favorite displays of command structure in the military (commander reprimands his subordinate for trying to enter the battle, who immediately reacts by turning around without feeling the need to acknowledge the reprimand & gives a righteous order to his subordinate), I believe Winters has said he chose Speirs because he was the first officer he saw.

[@Mr.Praetor]

I've found that this show hurts more when you start re-watching it. 1st watch there are so many people and names that its hard to remember. But on later watches you realize you are watching some of these people from bootcamp to grave and it hits hard. Esspecially when you start recognizing faces and names.

[@paulcochran1721]

Speirs must have really have believed he was dead already, like he told Blithe. He was fearless.

[@cognitivedisability9864]

I always think of that sentence when I watch him run in that scene lol.

[@davidbailey6397]

Spiers never attended reunions,as someone already stated,but when asked about the war,his response was “ which one?”

[@nickyarbrough8392]

Speirs is an interesting dude - he's one of the few who never went to any of the unit reunions and didn't really keep in touch with anyone for years after the war, only speaking with Winters via letter decades later. One of the only guys in Easy Company who made a career of the military, he ended up running a prison for German war criminals (including very high profile people like Rudolph Hess and Albert Speer, the latter of whom actually made a note in his memoirs of how much of a hard-ass Speirs was) after the war, jumped into combat again during the Korean War, and was active right up until the lead-in to Vietnam. He's also one of the most morally ambiguous of the Easy Company men. He shot an apparently drunk Sergeant either for insubordination or in self defense, depending on who you ask, and there was the incident with the POWs which may or may not have actually happened. Dick Winters himself noted in his book that while he was among the best combat officers he'd ever known Speirs would often openly kill just to kill, and that in other circumstances he would very likely have been charged with war crimes but they were in a war and the brass more or less unanimously decided that he was far too competent an officer to lose. Reading the real life history, you sort of get the impression that the miniseries toned him down a fair bit. The other paratroopers seemed to have a very different relationship with Ronald Speirs than with their other officers - they respected Winters and most of the rest of their chain of command, and certainly respected Speirs too, but they (who were themselves obviously extremely tough, incredibly brave men) were also absolutely shit-scared of him.

[@tSp289]

From what I've seen and read of him, he's a man you'd gladly follow into battle and avoid like hell at all other times. Sometimes having a screw loose can make you a more formidable warrior.

[@adarael]

All of this is what makes him such an interesting figure in history. I like that they were terrified of Spiers, because what a STRANGE relationship to have with one of your officers.

[@nickyarbrough8392]

@@adarael I think it's especially striking because these were men who volunteered for the job of jumping out of planes straight into machine gun and artillery fire, who by the end of the war would have seen close to a straight year of the most brutal high intensity conflict imaginable, frequently in the absolute worst of the fighting, and Speirs STILL scared the shit out of them.

[@adarael]

@@nickyarbrough8392 RIGHT? How much of a bastard was Spiers?!

[@dirus3142]

What I get from the book, and the series is that Speirs may have been a hard ass, and instilled a little fear in his men. However he was a sharp, aggressive, capable officer. He respected the capabilities of his men, and they him. He took care of them. Even if he may have used his reputation to keep a little edge with those he commanded, I don't think he was a tyrant. I think he was Winters equal in his ability to command Easy company. He of course did it his way.

[@Duganator]

The two men who lost their legs were Joe Toye, and Bill Guarnere. Both were staff sergeants and had been with Easy from the start. Toye had both a Silver Star and Bronze Star, Guarnere had the same. Both had been injured multiple times before, and come back each time. They're known to have been two of the toughest, deadliest soldiers to have served in Easy, which is why their loss hit the company so hard.

[@hawkthorn33]

As a vet, knew that was going to be hard to watch, nothing worse than a bad leader. Then the example of a man you would follow into a burning building.

[@rodneypayne4827]

@Necramonium artistic licence was taken on this and other episodes.

[@repeter]

@Necramonium so many people mention this, yet are conveniently silent about him constantly disappearing. In the military, sometimes people get promoted beyond their capabilities. Others not just Lip pointed out he was never there and never making calls. So, if he was wounded, it still didn't change his previous actions.

[@wanbawmcgraw3022]

The main difference that the men noticed with Buck after he was shot was that he'd lost a lot of his humour and was more of an intense presence among the men. It might not seen like a huge difference in his character, but it speaks to how friendly he was with his men that they really noticed a change in him.

[@ShamblesMD]

That was heartbreaking to me because of his optimistic demeanor that he brought early on slowly slipped away. I can't say I get it, but getting off the line was definitely the best course of action. He fought as hard as any commissioned officer, and constantly losing your men will push a human past their natural limits of guilt and sorrow.

[@deving9793]

Ohh gotcha gotcha

[@KnightYellow]

It is also why Winters (I think) pulls him up in an early episode when he is playing poker with his men and he tells him that he is too close to the men, others leaders were able to cope when some of their men understandably became casualties but because Buck was so tight with his men and indeed best friends with some of them, their deaths hit him like a truck. It's cold but sometimes necessary for leaders not to be too attached to their men when sooner or later at least some of them are going to be killed or grievously wounded. Then again the counter argument is that the men probably appreciate being led by someone who is not overly eager to throw them into situations chasing glory.

[@Skymarshal]

On a 2nd watch you really notice how different he was in the first few episodes.

[@trentrouse5991]

In an interview with a veteran of the German forces there told the interviewer that the German soldiers wouldnt go into the woods because they knew it was the 101st or the Eagle Heads as he called them and would disobey orders to go into the woods on patrol

[@4rings5cylinder6gear]

"We Stand Alone Together - Band Of Brothers" Documentary reaction would be nice

[@justinchristoph3725]

They were called the Greatest Generation for very good reasons.

[@Polymathically]

Now _this_ is the episode I was waiting for you to see. So many lows, but oh so many highs. When people are at their lowest, most dire point, you find out who they are. Also, the final scene in the church is my favorite part of the whole series.

[@da_pawz]

yeah, for me this episode is the big moment for Easy Company...

[@arthuresparza2617]

This is a good episode. I remember when I was younger being naive enough to open up a conversation with my grandfather who was an airman in the AirCorps in Europe about his experiences there. He flew over Normandy, did operations all over Germany and bombed Dresden into Germany's Hiroshima. It was a real can of worms. He saw some close friends get vaporized by flak guns. Lugers were carried condition one with one in the chamber, hammer back, safety on. The US Army carried 1911s in condition 3 with nothing in the chamber, hammer forward (you would need to rack the slide back). Its possible he retrieved the pistol with the safety already off and just wasn't familiar with the system which is pretty different from American pistols. Anyway, he wouldn't have been the first idiot to shoot himself tucking a gun in his pants.

[@pyro1047]

Unfortunately the circumstances around Hooblers death seems to be another case of Hollywood dramatization turned "Fact", from what I've read it seems while he was killed by his own sidearm in an accident(Possibly taken from a German, but not thought to be a Luger). He didn't shoot himself like shown in the miniseries, but the pistol snagged on a stray piece of barbed wire causing it to fire. Still sucks but less him being an idiot, and more just extremely unlucky. I don't know the specifics other than that. Unfortunately besides his family and Easy, he was just considered another casualty in a war with many. So most interest in this incident wasn't until the book 47 years or the miniseries 56 years after he died. And most sites just quote the show.

[@oai-ne8og]

The pistol Hoob had was actually a Belgian .32 (FN Model 1910/22) that he picked up at the crossroads in Holland (after their turkey shoot of the SS battalion). This pistol does not have a safety (or it has a grip safety). As Hoob was walking, he scraped a branch which got snow in his jacket. While shaking his clothes to get the snow off, the pistol went off.

[@ayoa1173]

Norman Dike, a graduate of Brown University, was a staff officer at division HQ exclusively before joining Easy Company. After being awarded a bronze star during Op Market Garden for bravery, the division sent him down to Easy to get command experience. Easy would see Dike again in March 1945 back at division HQ. For his time at Easy, Dike was awarded a second bronze star, a purple heart and promoted to Captain. I can only image what the company said being closed doors.

[@przemekkozlowski7835]

Dike was put in charge of Easy when the division was pulled out of combat after Market Garden and was not expected to see combat for a while. Instead they end up send to Bostogne. The guy lacked the leadership instinct and experience of people like Winters and Speirs and was not able to lead the company properly in such extreme combat situation. Foy might have been a chance to show if he could lead in an assault situation but he was wounded early on and went into shock. The soldiers in Easy thought he froze up.

[@BrettDel]

There’s something about luz trying to get to muck and pink then they get hit just tears me up

[@vorbis4860]

I think he had balls of steel too for never losing his sense of humor after seeing all that.

[@Rogue-7.62]

@@vorbis4860 That's how some of us deal with that kind of stress. So many dont understand that.

[@connororeally9119]

shows like this, a generation that defended our country, and saved and liberated others. Americans are still loved in those countries... I wish we all still had pride and loved to be an American, because I know a lot of us do

[@Mark_E_M]

The end scene in the church is one of my favorites of the entire series! It was so well done!

[@davididiart5934]

My grandpa couldn't watch this episode much. He was near where Easy Company fought (his unit provided the jeeps that picked them up at the end of one of these winter eps), and he told me that this part was too real. Reminded him too much of that shit.

[@ayoa1173]

I have always felt bad for the commanding officers of Easy Company. They were a literal revolving door from 1944-1945. In 12 months they went through 7 COs: 1. Captain Herbert Sobel - until spring 1944, reassigned. 2. Lieutenant Thomas Meehan - spring 1944 to D-Day, KIA. 3. Captain Richard Winters - D-Day to October 1944, promoted 4. Unnamed officer - 1-2 weeks, none of the vets interviewed for the book in the 80's remembered his name. 5. Lieutenant Thomas "Moose" Heyliger - October 1944, WIA. 6. Lieutenant Norman Dike - November 1944 - January 1945, WIA at Foy. Series does not include him getting hit, simply freezing. 7. Captain Ronald Speirs - January 1945 onwards.

[@RandomStuff-he7lu]

Dike also was awarded a Bronze Star at Bastogne for exposing himself to heavy enemy small arms fire and dragging multiple wounded members of Easy Company to safety. Lipton and Winters didn't like him though and guess who were interviewed a lot for the book and series?

[@steveaguirre7496]

He was actually award two bronze stars, one in Holland and the one in Bastogne. Hollywood did him dirty and made him look incompetent. Like you said he was wounded in Foy and it was the shoulder wound that stopped him not the incompetent coward they portrayed him as.

[@DonnaCPunk]

It's actually the one thing I hate about this series - the way they dragged Norman Dike's name though the mud. I never looked into it, but I really hope his family said something about it. If he were my relative, I sure as hell would've.

[@RandomStuff-he7lu]

@@DonnaCPunk They were apparently pretty pissed.

[@PhiladelphiaVICE]

bill guarnere lived in the same neighborhood as my parents in south philly. they used to march on new year’s day in the mummers day parade and their brigade was named after bill’s brother. They used to go to his house and give him and his wife roses before the parade. he’s buried in the same cemetery as my grandfather and anytime we’re there i always pay my respects

[@lalabrouhaha]

I've been waiting for this, it's 1 am, who needs sleep? Donnie Wahlberg is seriously underrated.

[@imnotyourfriendbuddy1883]

hes got the right stuff.

[@raymondgore3086]

@@imnotyourfriendbuddy1883 I see what you did there

[@lalabrouhaha]

@@imnotyourfriendbuddy1883 well played ..

[@dirus3142]

I think it's his best roll. It feels like he gave his whole heart to the the part, and respected Lipton.

[@lalabrouhaha]

@@dirus3142 it's such an honor to play someone like that and he took it completely serious. He nail it.

[@davidwoolbright3675]

The deaths Muck and Penkala hit me the hardest. Skip Muck was one of my favorites and both men were favorites of the entire company. It was a tough blow for all the men of the company. “I’m shivering so hard I feel like I’m dancin!” Penkala

[@joeychappelle8945]

They said that the field Spears ran across was actually bigger than what they showed in the show. I’d follow that man into war anytime any place.

[@basscheeks8545]

I just finished rewatching this series and man its fantastic. What's awesome about your videos, and the "react" format in general, is it's like I almost get to relive them vicariously as if they were new by someone who's just as passionate. If you posted your unedited reactions without the show futage, as to avoid copyright, I'd deadass cue the two next to eachother to watch along. The copyright system forces you to pick and choose what you keep in/leave out but seeing I geuss an "extended cut" of your reactions, especially from a military man, would be very interesting. Please consider it! Edit: I commented this because I just saw this video go up and I wanted to get in early but I'm not actually caught up yet. I just started your video on Bastonge and you mentioning KZbin giving you a raw deal about language and that your uncut would be on patreon. Totally get it if you posted anything I mentioned there instead of KZbin cuz man, KZbin doesn't care about regular creators at all and it's not right. Do what you gotta do bruh 👌

[@jamesdarnell8568]

You can see Devin's reactions to the entire episodes if you join his Patreon site.

[@Bulbman123]

One major thing this show messed up on is Lt. Dike, he was actually wounded at Foy, hit in the shoulder, that's why he was relieved. He was also awarded 2 bronze stars, one for rallying paratroopers and defending a road junction against overwhelming odds and surrounded, the other was for carrying 3 wounded men to safety while exposed and under fire. Supposedly Winter really didn't like him

[@coast2coast00]

He was only with them for a short time, so no one had any bond with him to write about in their memoirs (which this show is based on). The only remarkable thing he did with them was acting weird during battle, no one really realized he was injured at first, so they thought he froze up for no reason. These guys were an elite assault unit, they wouldn't put someone portrayed like in the show in charge.

[@pauledwards9493]

This is why Speirs was a critical part of 506th and eventually Easy Co. throughout the ETO, he was able to do things others could not, under the worst of circumstances.

[@alexlim864]

Winters, decades later, remarked that the atrocities attributed to Speirs had been committed by him in fact, adding that, had Speirs been in the modern army, he would have been up on charges. Speirs kept his commission only because the Army needed every last able combat leader they had, and Speirs was definitely a combat leader. Joe Toye ("What's a guy gotta do to get killed around here?") was the one who nearly got blown up by two grenades during the Brecourt Manor assault (episode 2; "Jesus Christ. F***ing twice."). And Shifty got the sniper literally right in the forehead. From a range of a few hundred yards. Now, that's good shootin'.

[@Yamato-tp2kf]

Everyone in Easy knew that Shifty was the best sniper of the Easy company

[@Johnny_Boy503]

Can’t remember his name but the officer at 16:35 who is portrayed as a coward, is actually brave leader. If I remember correctly he has 2 bronze stars for his actions in Normandy and Belgium.

[@iKvetch558]

Thanks Devin...this was another really genuine and honest reaction. Really enjoying experiencing this history along with you. One tiny thing I noticed...when you were talking about Dick Winters, and how he started to go out and lead Easy Company, you said it was a Sergeant Major that reminded him he was now battalion commander...it was actually Colonel Sink himself, the commander of the regiment...and he was ordering Dick Winters to stay at his post as battalion commander. I don't know if you just misspoke, or if you did not notice who it was that was yelling at Winters, but I just thought I would mention it. 🖖✌

[@jackson857]

Surely there's got to be a Generation Kill reaction coming soon.

[@ForgottenHonor0]

Spiers is legit, but Lipton is the best damn Sergeant I've ever seen!

[@Drumpro31]

Honestly all their sgts were badass dudes. They had the best ncos

[@marcoc7833]

Band of brothers, the pacific, and now they’re starting the pre production of a series about the Air Force. I cannot wait for that to come out. Rewatch these series at least once a year

[@502tomthebomb]

SPEIRS !

[@BigMikey1776]

Centurion Speirs

[@pauledwards9493]

I'm taking over.

[@Owlyross]

Captain America style

[@MrTech226]

Soldier who shot German sniper in the village of Foy is Darrell "Shifty" Powers. During a visit of Foy, Dale Dye, who portrayed Col. Robert Sink of Band of Brothers stated about Powers' shot. Powers lived to 86 in 2009.

[@andersb8625]

Lt. Dike was actually done dirty by this show. In real life he earned multiple medals in both Normandy and Market Garden, and the reason why he froze at Foy and was replaced by Spears was because, in real life, he was shot in the shoulder.

[@Daveyboy100880]

Agreed. I understand why he was written that way - for simplicity & storytelling purposes the character was written as a composite of all the bad/indifferent officers that Easy had, and the show is told from the mens' POV & I don't think any of them held Pike in any particular regard... but on balance I think it would've been better to rename the character. To malign someone for the purposes of drama is pretty harsh, and I can't help but imagine how members of Dike's family felt when they saw the show. It's one of my very few complaints about Band of Brothers!

[@PB-tr5ze]

Shifty Powers, the sharp shooter who kills that German Sniper had a natural talent for hunting and shooting. In one incident he reported a spotting a German gun position that wasn't there the day before. No one could else could see the gun, but shifty insisted it was there. They ended up shelling the spot shifty indicated and it destroyed a gun position. When they asked him how he knew the gun was there, shifty said he noticed a tree that wasn't there the night before. Turns out the gun had been camouflaged as a tree and Shifty was the only one who noticed a new tree.

[@alexjeffries5276]

Seems I always check my subscriptions shortly after you release these BoB reactions - 7, 8, and 9 are heavy. Love the reactions keep up the good work 💪🏼

[@franskamstra2728]

Was waiting for this episode. For me its the "best" of the whole series. The rollercoaster of emotions, the dispair, and also the relieve. It has it all

[@franskamstra2728]

Also spiers is a beast

[@2104dogface]

Funny story while having a Prop Blast Bash in the barrack's during the annual Battle of the Bulge reenactment in PA, 1 of our Troopers went up to Wild Bill and said he was going over on vacation to visit the locations were they had fought and asked if their was anything her could bring back for him. Wild Bill looks right at him and says "yeah, my leg'" we all bust out laughing. always was a great time with those Troopers

[@mattgillespie2848]

I enjoy watching these shows with a veteran. Love your pro-American enthusiasm! Support the troops! God bless our veterans! 👍🏻

[@TygerBlueEyes]

These were the men that made America great. We will never see men like that again. I talked to a lot ww2 vets growing up and they were tough as nails. Speirs must had a vision he would live thru the war or really didn’t give a shit. The dude ran around with two ‘nades strapped to his chest. My dad used to say they pissed nails and shit hand grenades.

[@TresTrefusis]

While I second the first part of this statement I have to disagree with the second. Our armed forces are just as capable, and just as ready today as they were then. Still a ton of country loving fearless sheep dogs standing guard.

[@TygerBlueEyes]

@@TresTrefusis TRue, but back then it was the norm...now it's a lot rarer

[@ultrashifty]

Im just commenting to help my boys algorithm

[@DonForceFeedback]

"im going to have to watch my profanity - otherwise i'm gunna have to edit this sh*t out" haha XD think you missed one there bud!

[@deving9793]

😂😂 My man this episode made that impossible..

[@merekgrimaldus1156]

Additionally after the series they have Band of Brothers documentary it’s about an hour or so. With the real winters, Marlakey, Popeye, etc it’s an emotional ride

[@mohanicus]

that's 100% fact about Ron spiers running through the German lines and making it back...absolutely fantastic bravery

[@Blueqoose]

My Grandfather was in Item Company. Watching your reactions to this series has really brought emotions out of me due to the fact that this series was the closest I can get to my grandfather besides the personal letters and photos I have of him... That's all that's left but through this miniseries what his Division had accomplished makes me feel closer to and very proud of him. Thanks Devin for the memories.

[@MrAdamloring1985]

The two men who where killed in the shelling, Penkala and Muck, had suffered a direct hit with an 88’ shell. George Luzz, the man who was crawling to them, and Babe Hefron, went searching for their foxhole after the shelling stopped. Luzz found the foxhole and came back to tell Hefron, “ I found them. There’s hardly anything left. I can’t make out who is who.” The explosion was so large, there where hardly any remains left to identify.

[@mistabrrrly]

I like that Speirs was only chosen to lead Easy was because he was the first officer Capt. Winters saw

[@tgreaner]

It's been too long since this reaction was posted so I doubt anyone will see this, but how can over 10k people view this and he only gets 850+ likes. Give him a like for the passion if nothing else. I'm a combat Vet and I can tell he's a Vet too. He never claims to have been in combat but I would have been proud to serve with him and I would have trusted him beside me. Show him the respect he deserves. The 7 dislikes, likely snowflakes who would wet their pants at the thought of being in combat.

[@deving9793]

Mannn your comment 🙌🙌🙌.. I truly truly appreciate it.. Vet to Vet thank you for your service my friend and I would definitely have your back. I can tell that you have the same love for our brother and sister's in arms as I do!

[@WARdROBEPlaysWWII]

Remember when Buck was watching the movie he was very distracted. And was starting to be impacted by all the war around him.

[@cleekmaker00]

Once Buck Compton was wounded, it changed his view of the War.

[@dirus3142]

@@cleekmaker00 being wounded, his men risking themselves for him, and then his wife divorcing him by mail wounded his heart.

[@edvfya9922]

I can't imagine how terrifying this must've been, but the suspense of knowing that they were doomed to fight through it with an incompetent leader like Lt. Dike? Thats messed up, I think they made him look more incompetent in the show though, thankfully, hopefully he wasn't this bad in real life. I've been looking forward to this episode the most. It has jaw dropping moments, sad moments, infuriating moments, followed by heroic moments and your reaction says it all. One of the best episodes of the series for sure.

[@puneetsinghpuri5052]

Dev if you ain't cussing you ain't enjoying... keep doing it man.. that's you. Thats how we like your reactions.

[@da_pawz]

Yeah I also think the same... It's just the part of him that I found really interesting :D

[@rossturpen495]

Such an amazing episode. Love re-watching this series through your reactions!

[@rebeccabailey527]

The funny part about bastogne and the breaking point, they were actually filmed in a giant Soundstage, indoors. The snow was 30,000 pounds of recycled paper. Looks totally like it was outdoors, but nope. The assault on foy was out doors, they actually used 1 town set about the size of 9 football fields for all the urban combat sequences.

[@bruhgus2557]

Im so glad I found your channel, such a kind soul, good stuff.

[@hellowhat890]

How badass was Speirs, running there and back with those big massive steel balls

[@jessebrae1514]

Veterans know whats up Ty for your service God bless big homie

[@dwightarmy]

I’ve been watching all your Band of Brothers series. I love this series so much and you have great insight! This episode especially is one of my favorites, it’s devastating and hopeful. I hope you’ll read the book after watching the series. ❤️

[@gowkie3940]

You're the man Devin, looking forward to watching this channel grow.

[@Rmlohner]

The actor David Niven was famously very reticent to talk about his experience in the war despite his usually witty and gregarious personality, which he credited to a visit to Bastogne after the battle. Upon seeing all the graves, he said to himself "Here are 20,000 good reasons not to say anything."

[@cleekmaker00]

If you want to watch an awesome David Niven film, look for "First of The Few", about the development of the Spitfire.

[@Rmlohner]

@@cleekmaker00 Also The Guns of Navarone, where he's clearly drawing on his real life experience.

[@TheBronzeTurkey]

Love your reactions bro, and thank you for your service.

[@854medic]

You reacted the same way that I did seeing Spears running down Main St in Foy. Love your reactions, man. Thanks for keeping it real.

[@jacencarter96]

Love the reaction to speirs running across the town

[@jamesm1]

WWII was such a gargantuan conflict that truly unbelievable moments were happening constantly. Over 16,000,000 Americans served in those 4 years, about 410,000 were killed. Stuff happened that would basically be statistically impossible in a war just the size of Iraq.

[@daddynitro199]

A design flaw of the Luger pistols was that if enough pressure is applied to a particular part of the gun (on the receiver near the trigger assembly) the gun would discharge. Since Hoobler had only handled one just before the jump into Normandy, he may have not known about that flaw when he ticked it into his belt.

[@jansenart0]

Spears' run was the most memorable part of the entire series.

[@graemegeddes5908]

Love your stuff Devin! Watching from Scotland, and I feel compelled to say that Spiers was born over here, in Edinburgh, before his family emigrated to the US! Such a bad man!

[@TheMightyKent]

Lugers have a unique action that makes them incredibly unsafe to handle. They were known for going off randomly. More than one person has died because the gun went off, severed the artery and the poor soul bled out. They look slick, but if you ever have one, for God’s sake, keep it unloaded.

[@BOBofGH]

They also have an insanely heavy trigger. Cool gun mechanically speaking, but a bit impractical.

[@TheMightyKent]

@@BOBofGH they’re quite sharp, aesthetically speaking, but to me, you just can’t beat the M1911

[@axelb152]

Your reactions to this series is great!!!

[@johnbigdaddyross2158]

This is an amazing episode...loving watching this with you!

[@WARdROBEPlaysWWII]

That constant pounding of artillery impacts the mind

[@GK-yi4xv]

It may be a significant cause of PTSD. Similar to multiple concussions in athletes, or 'punch-drunk' boxers.

[@handsomestik]

Lol, Devin was about too lose his shit

[@Matty_th]

Those artillery rounds were timed to explode about 15 in the air. These guys endured a living nightmare.

[@TheHumility101]

The way you get pump is crazy fun!

[@roccaclassico9028]

In combat Speirs was Captain America! Though, several of the men in Easy Co. who gave interviews said that they thought Joe Toye was the toughest man in the unit.

[@Drumpro31]

For anyone who might be confused. The guy who shot himself accidentally with the Luger hit himself in the femoral artery that’s he bled out so fast. That’s why Nixon correctly said it wouldn’t of mattered had he known because he literally could have been on the surgeons table and they probably wouldn’t be able to close it fast enough.

[@Reapster04]

Speirs actually did shoot his own man. The prisoners is unknown. There were a number of witnesses to the shooting of his own man, and Speirs CO looked into it and did not discipline him over it when he found he was justified as the Sgt was putting other men's lives at risk. Basically their platoon was given orders to halt and advance because regimental HQ was coordinating an artillery barrage the direction of their advance, when this order reach a drunk SGT. he refused the order and LT Speirs ordered him again and noticed he was drunk and told him to get back to the rear and he was in no condition to be on the line this drunk. The SGT refused again and then grabbed a rifle and Spiers warned him again, and the SGT then levelled the rifle at Speirs, at that point Speirs shot him. All of this is from a PFC that eye witnessed the whole thing (unlike the prisoners that never seemed to come from someone who saw it but only who talked to someone who said they saw it). Years later Speirs wrote about the Sgt "the sergeant, by the way, was a replacement. The platoon saw it happen without batting an eye.”

[@7bootzy]

Can we all respect Donnie Wahlberg's acting in this? How he was able to get across Lipton's distrust of - and frustration with - Lt. Dike while simultaneously portraying his need to maintain moral and keep the men focused? Dude came a long way from NKOTB.

[@bronsonstrange3827]

Just a heads up, if no one else has already told you, the one who stops Winters is Colonel Sink, who is in charge of the 506th Airborne Regiment. There isn't a Sergeant Major character here.

[@Aragorn195]

Dike yes. Really shown in a bad way here. And this is how Easy saw him, so it isnt exactly a improper depiction. Thing is, he was decorated for bravery twice. 2 Bronze Stars. First time for leading scattered paratoppers in a defense of a important road junction during Market Garden. Second time for removing 3 wounded soldiers from his company from the open while under heavy small arms fire. Clancy Lyall later said that Dike was hit in the shoulder and went into shock, thats why the halt was ordered. They did couldnt see that he was hit due to all the winter clothing. He survived and would even serve in the Korean War. So his portrayal here might be accurate in the eyes of Easy company, but possible not a proper portrayal of the man

[@Therealroman777]

“ Im really going to try to cut down on my profanity.. if not I’m going to just have to edit that shit out...”. Pure awesomeness

[@zaaz3898]

Man I'm just now watching the series ! I wish the reactions were longer!!

[@dougmoodie8713]

Dike wasn’t a complete failure, 2 bronze stars in Holland, he wasn’t the best obviously but he was still there and everyone has a breaking point. What isn’t shown in the attack on Foy, is that Dike was shot in the shoulder and in shock

[@jangofresh1019]

Major Winters *did* refer to Speirs as the "bravest, most brutal man" he had ever met.

[@oldman9843]

You asked ," How do you react to that ? " My best friend who was a Vietnam War Marine Recon told me . " You bury it down deep and you and your fellow soldiers tell each other " It doesn't mean nothing , nothing at all "

[@milosstankovic8961]

Hub jumped to get rid of snow he was covered,and thats when the luger fired and got him killed.Unbelivable

[@sharkhunter2018]

one of my favorite episodes. many of the areas these guys fought can be visited, including their foxholes, which are still there today) in the bois jacques wood (Jacks wood, as they called it). and you can go stand at the very corner where Shifty shot the sniper from. the show makes it appear that it was close when in reality the sniper was closer to 400 yards away

[@DomCombatVids]

My dad was an Officer, reached the rank of Major before he left, and I know a lot of his fellow officers and one of his Men who's effectively my uncle (he named his son after me) and all of them tell me that, essentially, my dad was like Cpt. Winterz and when I showed my dad Lt. Dyke, my dad got so pissed off he would have shot the TV

[@wyatt7426]

that old general looking guy @11:06 who was in the currahee episode and also in this episode is dale dye. He is a military advisor for.... almost all the war/action movies ever made. Check his IMDB

[@blandis93312]

The WWII move BATTLEGROUND is about the 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne. You would like it.

[@Matty_th]

From what I heard, the pistol that Hoobler had that killed him was not actually a Luger. It was a Swiss pistol, I think. One that wasn’t exactly designed to have safety in mind

[@apollohateshisdayjob9606]

Even if it was a luger, I wouldn't be surprised by that kind of accident happening. The safety lever is different, and there is no outside hammer on a Luger, so most US soldiers at the time probably wouldn't realize that it was chambered, cocked and locked, nor would they know the proper handling to safely clear it

[@Matty_th]

@@apollohateshisdayjob9606 yeah, Ive heard that about Lugers. They’re weird. I’ve handled a working replica. The action feels different. Feels like there’s a lot of internal moving pieces.

[@apollohateshisdayjob9606]

@@Matty_th I've never had the opportunity to handle one, but from what I've seen on cleaning/disassembly tutorials and the Forgotten Weapons channel, the definitely suffer from the over complexity of early semi automatics. It's a 1908 design that was expensive to manufacture and difficult to maintain. During WW2 it was being phased out for the Walther p38, which is a much more standard design, but even so the Luger was prized by German officers the same way American soldiers wanted them, as luxury status symbols more than as combat arms.

[@thomaseggle8886]

I honestly believe Spiers was as close to superhero that you could find. The man was a helluva soldier and leader!

[@ladycplum]

I've watched several reaction vids for this episode alone. Almost EVERY SINGLE PERSON has the same reaction during the foxhole scene with Muck and Penkala.

[@constantinevanghele9264]

You have to read the books! A few of the Easy guys wrote their own stories and it blows my mind. For the most part the movie is all true, but hearing the little things from the soldiers themselves is incredible. Buck Compton prosicuted Sirhan Sirhan, the guy who killed RFK!

[@tidge879]

You've got to read the book man, the unit was even more impressive than the series portrays

[@troymash8109]

Ronald Spiers was a beast. RIP

[@justdoddy2123]

Another great reaction. Great to see your opinions on the commanders and their choices.