Band of Brothers Episode 2 (Day of Days) | FIRST TIME WATCHING | TV Show reaction and commentary |

[@BissFlix]

Thank you for watching the video, It means a lot to me . I will leave this pinned message here to REMIND everyone that i do not have TELEGRAM and there is no GIVEAWAY. Those you see are bot scams . Keep yourself safe and know that I would not ask for your info. ❤ ❤

[@Rottooth]

Compton, who dropped the grenade by accident, actually played baseball in college for UCLA. It was mentioned in the book, and shown in the show, even though most people miss it, but he kills one of the Germans fleeing by tossing a grenade at his back. A straight pitch with no arc, hits a German soldier in the back, the grenade detonates and kills the soldier. So yea, Compton is pretty good with handling balls and grenades, but shit happens in war.

[@ChuckJansenII]

Great comment. ". . . but shit happens in war." Especially rookie mistakes. I like that they do show events like this. It shows these guys aren't perfect. Just like us, they are human.

[@donaldstewart8342]

He didn't drop the grenade,it was knocked out of his hand

[@jimstanley_49]

Knocked out of his hands and he has the presence of mind to just call out "grenade!" as if it was the enemy's. It feels like the natural response would be "aw crap i dropped it!" but he responds in a way to give maximum critical information to the men around him in minimum time.

[@ExUSSailor]

The Quakers are a pacifist religious order. The reason they were complaining about everything they had in their packs was, on average, they had to jump with about 70 lbs./35 kg of gear, IN ADDITION to their parachute gear. For officers, it could be up to 90-110 lbs./49-50 kg.

[@jimstanley_49]

And a lot of it was in a bag strapped to their ankle. Unfortunately, this bag wasn't tested very well leading up to D-Day. Many of them tore free on the jump and were lost. I believe that's how Winters landed without a weapon.

[@dallassukerkin6878]

@@jimstanley_49 Mainly the cause of this was that the combat drops, understandably, happened at too high a speed so the wind resistance was too much for what the fastenings had been designed for.

[@Masterfighterx]

90-110lbs/~41kg to ~50kg*

[@AlexKS1992]

It’s called The Society of Friends, never met a Quaker but from what I read they’re much nicer than most Protestants and they believe in tolerance and equality.

[@joecee6862]

@@AlexKS1992 that's what I hear too. They don't have a whole lot of "fun" or vices by modern standards, but they're good, hard-working people.

[@covertius4287]

Unironically, you are a great example of why the pass code for a good duration of D-day was "Thunder". The German dialect and the surrounding countries have a difficult time pronouncing the TH that was commonplace in the English language.

[@bujin1977]

I was just thinking that while watching - if she had responded like that, she'd have been shot! 😆

[@terenzo50]

Guarnere was angry because he'd just found out his brother had been killed in Italy at Monte Cassino.

[@joehoy9242]

And also, he found out because he picked up the wrong jacket at the worst possible time... He doesn't know when - or even if - his superiors were planning on telling him, which can't have helped his state of mind any.

[@ungenerationed9022]

"I did a lot of killing on D-Day."

[@Plastikdoom]

Oorah, just as intended, glad to see the USMC training g helped some. Though we trained regular army for amphibious operations, not so much the airborne. Though we shoulda, as we still had our own airborne then, and only woulda made them even better, haha.

[@johnwinterton963]

@@ungenerationed9022 "I guess that's why they called me Wild Bill. Because I did a lot of killing...because of my brother."

[@randallshuck2976]

The US GI nickname for the German hand grenade was potato masher because of its shape of a cylindrical charge attached to a long handle. They called their own grenades Pineapples because of the shape. The legal age for beer was 18 and 21 for hard liquor. Good reaction. You are getting them done quickly.

[@RlmorganInSC]

When men like that get choked up by a memory, I give them nothing but respect. My father was a ground pounder (infantryman) in WWII. Thank you for your reaction!

[@covertius4287]

When LT Spiers killed the POW's he was very likely ordered to do so prior to the invasion. You have to remember that the paratroopers have very limited supplies and manpower and are cut off from any of their friends and supplies. Escorting around POWs takes too much supplies and manpower away.

[@gravitypronepart2201]

He did, but Winters certainly knew of any such order. He took prisoners as did many other Airborne troops. In Spiers case, the prisoners outnumbered him and his men, who were due to meet up and had no way to safely guard or move them

[@pliny8308]

You don't know what you're talking about. Compton (the blonde) was a great soldier, and a champion baseball player to boot. It's not his fault if his rifle jammed, and anybody can fumble a grenade under pressure; his second throw was perfect. Guarnere also was one of the best soldiers in Easy Company, he just was suffering from knowing the Germans killed his brother. As time passed he developed a good relationship with Lt. Winters, once he realized he wasn't a pacifist or afraid to kill just bkz he was a Mennonite and he also realized he was a great tactician. He also had a great relationship with all the other Easy Company men.

[@johnhaberland2147]

American paratroops in WW2 were specially trained to operate behind enemy lines, and the planning you saw in England was critical. Even though they were scattered far and wide in Normandy on D day, they all knew their objectives and carried on, even in small groups, just like they were trained. This caused a lot of confusion with the Germans, who mistakenly thought they were dealing with a much larger force, and they couldn't identify the primary drop zones and objectives. The skill and training of the paratroops turned what could have been a disaster into a success.

[@richardwest6358]

Have you ever heard of paratroopers being trained to jump into their own territory !

[@kkjhn41]

He was talking about operating behind enemy lines which means you are basically surrounded from the get-go, not a situation that most troops would want to deliberately put themselves in. Paratroopers were a special breed.

[@saltifate]

@@kkjhn41 paratroopers are the first (lowest) tier of modern day special forces, they receive all the basic training of regular troops on top of extra related to their actual job. On average a paratrooper is a better prepared soldier than a regular infantryman. Back then, these guys were overprepared to whatever they would face in general

[@gravitypronepart2201]

​@@richardwest6358Silly gen-zer, the comment section is for grown-ups

[@kerryferguson2400]

You are the first reactor I've seen that tied together Joe Toye's brass knuckles with his comment in episode one. Well done!

[@tylersimplot13]

But couldnt tie Gonohreas attitude because he had just found out his brother died. So reallyy no bg deal she saw that

[@kkjhn41]

@@tylersimplot13 English is not her first language so keeping track of people's names along with their nicknames and all the unfamiliar military terms and slang from a different era (like chow which may be obvious to you but is completely unfamiliar to her) as well as a large cast of characters is understandably confusing. The fact that she did remember the throwaway line about brass knuckles to tie it to the use of brass knuckles later shows she is trying to understand all that's being thrown at her. Guarnere's bigotry and anti-Semitism are things she is reacting to quite separate from the death of his brother. He had a bad attitude before his brother died so his taking his anger over his brother's death out on those around him and defying a direct order while putting everyone else at risk while doing so is something she is right to point out. By the way it's Gonorrhea not Gonohrea.

[@tylersimplot13]

@@kkjhn41 Well there mister know it all actions are different then words. Way to write a paragraph to show dumb you are. Maybe your opinion wrong and mine is right. You are no just putting words in her mouth which shows how low class you really are!!!

[@edm240b9]

13:44 unfortunately, having POWs means you’ll need to have someone guard them and also interrogate them for intel. You have to remember that NONE of the Airborne units were at full strength when they landed and they were scattered all over the area. Pulling a couple men to guard/interrogate POWs reduces the overall fighting strength of the unit, at a time when the overall success of the invasion was still uncertain. There’s no morally right answer here. You could spare the POWs and have some of your men guard them. But, that means going into battle with less men than if there weren’t any POWs at all. Doing so could put your life and the lives of your fellow comrades at risk.

[@RickZackExploreOffroad]

It would also mean dragging enemy soldiers around with you. There was no frontline and hence no area in the rear to house them.

[@SmokeDogg11]

​@@RickZackExploreOffroadAnd also no food to feed them.

[@arqHHM]

Also, dragging around a bunch of enemy soldiers, when the entirety of your mission depends on speed and stealth... not a good idea.

[@Thegoat152]

This is exactly right. You can’t release them. You can’t risk them escaping with what they now know. You’re basically a handful of guys at this point, with your back against the ocean, and you’re up against the full might of the Nazi empire. Your position is just far too weak to take any additional risk. Armed or not, these guys were a threat to every soldier there.

[@rep4063]

Plus you are responsible for the food, medical care protection etc, even before e feeding your own, giving protection to your own or medical care to your own.

[@krisfrederick5001]

Well, this is when the sh*t gets real. "We're not lost Private, we're in Normandy." Shows subtly an unarmed Winter's ability to instill confidence in his men amongst the chaos, and he wasn't even from his company. Currahee ♠

[@sweepist]

Mortars: Behave somewhat like a grenade. Somewhat like artillery. Instead of being thrown they are dropped into a firing tube that fires it forward. It's a way of sending grenade-ish sized explosives much farther and can cover a much larger area . Modern armed groups still use versions of this . I believe they will show some examples of this during this series. Just look for some guys dropping grenades into tubes pointed up :)

[@gravitypronepart2201]

Good explanation.

[@rschroev]

If I'm not mistaken there was an example in episode 1, during the training in England I believe.

[@WaywardVet]

Good way of putting it. If I was still in service I'd describe it as they chuck a grenade the size of Howard's ass. They even got glowing ones that shine like Howard's ass. If you need to unleash Howard's ass, call the mortar platoon. Ours was Tomahawk. You request a specific Tomahawk to be thrown, those boys will chuck it your way. Just make sure you give them accurate coordinates.

[@ronlackey2689]

Mortars are also important in that their trajectory on impact is vertical, meaning you can hit troops using cover or foxholes to protect themselves from artillery which has a flatter trajectory and less than vertical impact. It is also compact and widely used by infantry to provide quick fire support without having to use a radio to call in an artillery strike.

[@paulosa8823]

@@rschroev I think Lt Winters shoots two germans attempting to set one up at 17:32

[@bunglechild]

'Not everyone who fought in the war wanted to be there', very true. There's a story of a 'German' soldier captured on D-day, he looked asian and they couldn't figure out his language. Eventually they found out who he was, he was a Korean forced to fight for the Japanese, captured by the Soviet Union during the undeclared war they had with Japan forced to fight for them then captured by the Germans and forced to fight for them too. Oddly the Americans decided not to force him to fight for their side.

[@zhorenlogg]

Yeah, there's a movie about him. My way (2011)

[@joshuafrahm8778]

Potato Masher was the nickname for German grenades. The grenade was attached to a wooden handle that allowed them to be thrown farther, this gave them a resemblance of the kitchen utensil.

[@roguehart]

Ironically the guy who dropped the grenade was Buck Compton, and he was one of the best men at handling grenades in the entire company.

[@adamwells9352]

Nixon's comment about the map is an attempt to remind Winters that they did some good, trying to keep him from getting too caught up in the loss. "D-Day" was just a general military term for the day something was supposed to happen (not specifically Doomsday). Radiomen carried radios that helped units and leaders communicate & the loss helps show how isolated the paratroopers were as they went about their missions.

[@krisfrederick5001]

"Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops," Eisenhower wrote. "My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone." -General Dwight D. Eisenhower's other speech...D-DAY was never a gauruntee...

[@manutgop]

Can anyone imagine tRump having that level of personal accountability? Has he ever accepted fault for anything? Eisenhower went on to become a great two-term President and then a respected statesman who always put his country above himself. The US could use that kind of selfless leadership today.

[@markschade6951]

@@manutgop Oh please. Where's the accountability for Obama/Clinton/Biden and their misadventures in Libya and Syria? If you want to talk politics. How many new wars did Trump start again?

[@manutgop]

@@markschade6951 the triggered tRump-sucker showed up! How's those three indictments on 75 felony charges sitting with you? 😂😂😂 That's the kind of selfless leadership that you like it seems.

[@barreloffun10]

​@@manutgopWhat is it with you clowns? It never fails, no matter the topic of the video, there's always some loser in the comments who brings up Trump! I've never seen such obsession! Trump is living in your head, rent-free.

[@KevinLyda]

​@@markschade6951your knowledge of recent history is flimsy.

[@brianmurphy8811]

"No crying, we got this, we're strong" - Stronger than me :) I cry every time I see this series, and I watch it yearly, at least. "They had a sound?" - They were tiny noisemakers called 'Crickets', and they were terribly constructed, many broke (you see a trooper playing with one on the plane, and it breaks).

[@docbearmb]

Paratroops existed in WW2 specifically to jump behind enemy lines. If where you’re going is not behind enemy lines, then you can just walk,run or ride in a truck to get there. As such, when they would drop from the sky, they would be surrounded by the Germans. As for the “reckless”lieutenant, he name was Spiers. He was a platoon leader from D (Dog) Company. He simply asked Winters if his group could also participate and go after the 4th cannon. He also was a good leader, knew what he was doing, and was successful in leading his people in destroying the fourth gun. So ease up on the criticism.

[@gravitypronepart2201]

Take it easy on her dog breath, she's a newb!

[@dudermcdudeface3674]

About the smoking...American troops in WW2 got cigarettes for free as part of their rations, so it was very easy for someone to start with that. It was one of the reasons half of people were smokers in the post-war US. Ash trays were everywhere, and were also usually on top of public trash cans around cities.

[@stephenweaver7631]

Yeah. After an especially bad shelling in France, my father, at the time a non-smoker, came out of a foxhole with a cigarette in his lips. Didn't stop smoking until 1985 (the year he died), when he found out he had cancer.

[@iKvetch558]

One resource I wanted to make you aware of is The Operations Room. It is a channel that specializes in detailed military analysis videos, and they use a top down view to provide maximum clarity to chaotic battles. They are a great resource for Band of Brothers because they make a series of videos that give that detailed coverage to many of the battles depicted in this show. They have one for the attack on the guns at Brecourt that Winters leads in this episode.

[@Zso-VIII]

Take them as prisoners where? They're in enemy territory. Edit: I also blamed Buck for fumbling the grenade when I saw it too, but watching it a second time, someone does bump into him in the combat and make him drop it, so it's not fully his fault.

[@lithium23]

The 101st was ordered to not take prisoners during the initial invasion. A war crime to be sure, but we also firebombed hundreds of thousands of civilians. Total war policy was largely universal.

[@WaywardVet]

Yeah, rough times. In Iraq one of my jobs was to take people alive and deliver them to the military police. So job skills... kidnapping. That joke always makes a room go quiet.

[@danharris5999]

It sounds cold and inhuman, but the reality was they didn't have enough soldiers ashore yet to act as guards, nor did they have the facilities to secure the prisoners.

[@davidgagne3569]

"It's not an easy watch." You are SO right. It's tough but very rewarding. The best mini series I've ever seen. And it's true. These were real people.

[@sannaolsson9106]

"Use him as a shield at this point" Remember that they are real people, not just characters. You'll warm up to Guarnere soon I think. Yes he had an attitude problem at first, but his brother did just die.

[@WaywardVet]

He is 💯% the guy I'd swear at then go drinking with

[@BSUSwim4Gold]

Yeah she needs to not pass judgment on the characters so soon.

[@jancipolak13]

@@WaywardVet I listened to some podcasts about the show and the actors told there, that the real soldiers would out drink them with ease, even in their 80ties :D I think Guarnere was mentioned by name

[@SuiLagadema]

Just in case you didn't know, there's a "part 11" sort of say where they just interview the paratroopers when they were alive in the early 2000s. I know it's not part of the miniseries but it's an AMAZING watch if you wish to get to know the different real life people the miniseries portrays.] Edit: Oh just you wait about Lt. Speirs. That's all I'm saying!

[@keithcharboneau3331]

They often cooked their food in ammo cans and sometimes even their helmets, remember when in combat and in the field, they can not take an oven or a stove with them, soldiers cook food however they can, and in whatever they have that will serve the purpose of a pot or pan. many sacrifices are hard to be seen by people who have never experienced it, but many other nice things are sacrificed in combat that most people will never know about or understand.

[@MrBryanwithay]

Camp Mackall, North Carolina, just outside what was then called Fort Bragg is one of the locations they are listed as training at. I am proud to say I also trained at Camp Mackall in the early 90s and was in a unit where we wore the "Glide Patch" (the same cap Major Winters is wearing in the screen shot). The patch shows a parachute and a glider, together. Pretty cool history. Airborne All The Way!!!

[@4325air]

What unit were you assigned to when you trained at Camp Mackall in the early 90s?

[@GodLovesComics]

15:36 "I feel like this guy, Gonorrhea, will f*** it up!" 😂 Yes, Gonorrhea has been messing it up for dudes for centuries.

[@alejandromartinez1766]

Great reaction as usual Miss Bisscute. Band of Brothers It's wonderfull .

[@dougiehowe802]

Biss, trust me on this, you will soon get to "know" & LOVE every character/member of EASY in no time. and when you get to the last episode where the survivors tell their own stories, you will need a box of tissues for your eyes. Especially Dick Winters closing statement. I won't spoil your enjoyment through your Easy Company journey, I have watched this series well over a hundred times and it still makes me cry during certain episodes.

[@gravitypronepart2201]

Thunder! That noise was a cricket. A clicker toy given to all the American paratroopers to ID each other when using their voice might give them away to the Germans.

[@dougfisher1266]

A Mortar is a steel tube, usually 60 or 80 mm diameter, a meter or so long, that you drop a small bomb into, and it launches out at a high angle so it can go over walls, into trenches. Its usually a 2-3 man team, and is a fantastic addition to a squad or platoon. Its like mini-artilery.

[@miked6761]

Buck Compton's Thompson submachine gun was acquired from a wounded paratrooper, as Buck lost his weapon on the jump. He didn't find out that the firing pin was broken until he tried to use it. You may notice multiple shots as the battle progresses of Buck trying to fix it.

[@NoelG702]

The reason they used the words flash and thunder to recognize each other is because German's have a hard time with the "th" sound in thunder. They were more likely to say "Tunder."

[@williewilliams6571]

"I don't like this guy (Lt. Speirs)". Trust me, you will like him.

[@fooddog45]

When you said that not everyone wanted to be there, that hit me deep because that's my grandpa's story. He fought in WWII in the German air force. He didn't want to fight but a gun was put to his head and would have been shot had he said no. He at some point in the war was captured by the American military (in France I think) while he and another guy were in a foxhole together. A grenade was thrown in the foxhole which blew off the other guy's head and my grandpa was captured. He spent the rest of the war in a POW camp in the US and after the war he was allowed to go back to Germany and found my grandma and they got married. They then immigrated to the US with my oldest aunt and my mother who was 2 years old in 1956. My grandpa died of a rare blood cancer in 2000 at the age of 83.

[@martinklaus2203]

Garnier is awesome!! He was fearless.

[@chainetest1]

13:28 .. So funny misunderstood foreshadowing😅✌️

[@19nzinga]

Gaunere was hurting from his brother’s death. He just wanted to destroy anything. The Germans just happened to be there for him to take his anger out.

[@Michaelgnizak]

By watching, we remember and honor the bravery and honor these men showed and the sacrifice they made. It does take a toll, but it gives us some perspective on war and why it’s so horrible and hopefully we don’t make the same mistakes again that led to this war again.

[@edm240b9]

20:27 the goal was to destroy the guns to make them unusable. Hall throws the TNT down the barrel, but they don’t have a way to set it off. Improvising, Winters takes German “potato masher” grenades (called that because of they way they look) to set off the TNT and disable the guns.

[@fubarghost13akawoz44]

Hi biss not sure if anyone has let you know answers to your questions yet ? But… potato masher was the name given to the German m15 m16 and m17 stick grenade it was given this name because it looked like a potato masher with the handle rather than the standard ball or egg shape grenades the Americans used 👍🏻 also I understand the shock at the beginning with eliminating the prisoners but it wasn’t their choice it was on direct orders from the joint chiefs of staff because they arrived the night before Dday “the day the men tanks etc on ships arrived” so obviously they did not have the men or resources to hold prisoners and to let them go would have ended up with information being passed on to German command the rule lasted for i believe 4 or 5 days after Dday when they had enough resources to set up prisoner ships back to friendly territory like the uk USA and Canada where they was kept in concentration camps until the end of the war “where they was treated very well and sometimes even married local women and/or stayed after the war” Iv been to one in the uk called Eden camp in Yorkshire that is now a museum 👌🏻 also I believe Quakers and menanites are forms of religion based in Christianity but are against any form of violence and live very basically nothing like alcohol or smoking “but I’m no expert in that I know far more about ww2 and other era’s of warfare” lol 👍🏻 hope that helps 🤙🏻

[@benschultz1784]

D-Day specifically refers to the date of an invasion, i.e. "make landfall on H-Hour, D-Day." While the popular use is for the Normandy invasion on June 6, 1944, there were dozens of "D-Days" throughout the war whenever ground troops hit the beach. The encounter between Malarkey and the German-American POW actually took place after D-Day (and he lived) and Malarkey actually recognized him since they worked together before the war. Spiers did execute those POWs, but it was out of necessity since the Airborne forces (and the first waves hitting the beaches) had no facilities, supplies, or manpower to hold them. And _Saving Private Ryan_ showed why letting them go is a bad idea. Mortars are a type of man-portable artillery between 50mm and 120mm caliber that consists of a tube that fires grenade-like projectiles at moderate ranges. You'll see them in action in the next episode. "Potato masher" is the Allied slang for the German _Steilhandgranate_ While the action at Brécourt takes up the majority of this episode, it only lasted about 8 minutes.

[@ugib8377]

All the comedy and calm of the boot episode goes flying right out the window. Time for the grit to start. Also back to back uploads. This is gonna be great.

[@johnydsmithson6834]

Every time that volunteer scene, the kid saying he from Astoria, OR gets me. My hometown of just 10,000; then the other kid says Eugene. Middle of nowherevilles country boys, both sides. Just hits me.

[@mr.osclasses5054]

I'm sure someone else covered this, but just in case... The guy who had the issue of dropping the grenade was Lt. Lynn "Buck" Compton. He was a hell of an officer and soldier, but there's a lot to his back story. He was an All-American catcher in baseball for UCLA (this is the most elite level a college/university player could attain). He knew how to not only handle a grenade, but before the part where he dropped it (more on that in a moment), there was another quick scene where he threw a grenade right at a German's back and hit him point blank just as the grenade exploded, that's how accurate he was as a catcher when he threw something. As for his fumbling/dropping the grenade, something happened that caused it. If you go back and watch, either someone bumped into him, an explosion happened close by that startled him, or a combination of factors. That being said, even the most elite of baseball players makes an error now and then. Was it the worst possible time during a war when it was with something explosive? Yes, which is bad, but sometimes it just happens. Thankfully, no one was wounded or killed by that. Also, the word "chow" means food, Quakers are a sect of Christianity that is largely pacifists but will fit if absolutely necessary...though many believe it is NEVER necessary. Mennonites are another sect of Christianity who live very simple lives with little-to-no electricity or technology. They are a step above full-blown Amish people, who definitely live without any technology or man-made materials, like nylon or polyester clothing. Potato Mashers was the nickname given to the German grenades. They looked like a long stick with something on the end to mash potatoes. Also, the veteran who mentioned losing the leg bag at the beginning of the episode was NOT the guy Hall who Winters landed next to and mentioned the leg bag, nor was Winters the guy at the beginning of the episode.

[@iiiDartsiii]

Mortar is a weapon that looks like a tube that sits on the ground and fires shells upwards

[@mikecarson9528]

I like how you equated peace, with sometimes, alone.

[@ghengriff3600]

There was no way to deal with enemy prisoners during the first day because the men were dropped behind enemy lines so the order was given; “take no prisoners”.

[@gravitypronepart2201]

Not true.

[@RickZackExploreOffroad]

@@gravitypronepart2201 Yes it is. Taking prisoners was a luxury not afforded to soldiers scattered behind enemy lines. Surrounded, out numbered, and outgunned is not the time to take prisoners. If an enemy surrendered there were only two choices, kill them or let them go. You could not drag them along with you.

[@gravitypronepart2201]

@RickZackExploreOffroad I'm not arguing practicality or necessity, I'm just stating the historic truth. No Order was given at division le el or higher. Speirs ordered two of his men to kill because the prisoners outnumbered them. He pretty much had to. The scene depicted in BOB never happened.

[@Thane36425]

"Chow" was slang for food. The lights mentioned in the interview were probably lights set by the pathfinders. These were small groups of paratroopers trained to drop in ahead of the main body in order to set up special light to guide in the pilots and also get wind direction and strength. Very dangerous work.

[@gtrous665]

I’m sure you’ve had this answered a million times already, but here goes: a potato masher was the American nickname for the German hand grenades, based on how they were shaped. A mortar is a small rocket grenade fired from a steel tube, not like a bazooka rocket launcher which fires horizontally, but planted against a steel plate on the ground, firing at a steep vertical angle to rain down upon the enemy. It’s like a small version of artillery. Quakers and Mennonites are religious orders with strict moral codes against Vice (gambling, drinking, sex) and violence. If you get a chance to see the sister series of Band of Brothers (The Pacific), the main character is in a mortar crew. Love your channel, love your work.

[@michaelstach5744]

If you want to learn about soldiers losing their souls you should watch The Pacific after this. Added bonus, you will learn about mortars.

[@emisat8970]

@20:20 Essentially, Hall had TNT but he didn't have a detonator. You know like in cartoons, they have the red box with the black handle you push down to blow something up? Basically that, but smaller. So, to make sure the artillery gun is unusable, Winters sticks a German grenade (nicknamed 'potato-mashers') down the gun's barrel which blows the explosive and makes the gun useless to the Germans.

[@thunderstruck5484]

Back then drinking was legal at 18 at least it was for myself in Texas in the 70s , the guy that got killed was probably 17 , a lot of those guys joined up at 16-17

[@Sir_AlexxTv]

The intro gets me every time, I can't stand watching the old man crying .... About Guarnere, you must understand that he jumped into action with the thought in his mind that his brother was killed just days before

[@blakewalker84120]

22:22 "What are mortars?" Mortars are like half bullet, half grenade. Make a tube, aim it up into the air but point it toward the enemy. Drop in a mortar shell which is twice as big as your fist. It falls into the tube, hits the bottom and a firing mechanism hits the bottom of it to explode a gunpowder charge the same way a rifle explodes a tiny change on a bullet to shoot it. Now the grenade flies out of the tube a bit like a big bullet, up into the sky, then falls on the enemy and explodes like a grenade. A mortar can fire an explosive grenade about 1800 meters. It can shoot over houses, trees, and hills.

[@andymiller6661]

They're not half bullets😊

[@blakewalker84120]

5:55 "What does a radioman do?" He carries a radio and uses it so his group of soldiers can talk to the officers and other soldiers on the radio. In WW2 radios were big. Really big. Whoever carried a radio didn't get as much ammunition, grenades, supplies. It would be too much for one guy to carry. Also, each squad had only one radio - those were expensive and awkward to carry around. Also, they were hard to use. It wasn't just like dialing a cell phone today. Quite a bit of training went into learning how to dial the right frequencies to reach the right headquarters, how to speak somewhat in code, and simply how to use the dang thing. Radiomen were very valuable and so were their radios. This guy has the training but no radio. One without the other is useless - they need to find him a radio.

[@kentbarnes1955]

Nice review. Earned you a sub. Looking forward to the next installment.

[@mikecarson9528]

I love how you added "Fire in the hole!" during the combat scene.

[@ronlackey2689]

They were given the green light to jump when the plane was traveling much too fast. The pilot panicked. That is why the troopers were talking about the shock of their parachutes opening ripping off their boots and tearing away their weapons and musette bags filled with grenades and other necessary equipment. Frankly, they were quite lucky their chutes even deployed and didn't get ripped to shreds due to the high speed at opening. Needless to say, paratroopers were scattered all over the countryside and had to initially fight solo or in pairs and small groups until they could muster hopefully at daylight. Brave, brave men.

[@Maxis1908yt]

A mortar is a type of short cannon that fires in a curved trajectory. It is primarily used to shoot at targets located behind obstacles. Mountain troops often utilize mortars due to their small size and ability to be transported on soldiers' shoulders when divided into three parts. This allows them to fire behind the crest of mountains and other obstacles. I used to be a member of the Alpini mountain troop unit and served in a mortar company.

[@edm240b9]

10:55 if you captured an enemy weapon on the battlefield, you could have it shipped home to keep. They were considered “war trophies” back then. It’s how a lot of foreign WWII guns actually arrived in the USA, guys brought them back home. Many guys brought back pistols and rifles, but some guys even snuck back machine guns. Today, a German Luger pistol with captured paper documents go for as much as $3,000. A German Kar98k with proper markings can reach $2,000. MP40 submachine guns go for $20,000 (no, that’s not a typo). FG42 battle rifles go for $400,000 (again, not a typo).

[@ungenerationed9022]

The gun batteries at Bretancourt (sp.?) Manor were shelling the beaches where the amphibious landing was occurring. By taking out those guns not only did they save lives, that allowed the invading force to gain a foothold on the beachhead.

[@stephenweaver7631]

You have to remember that Guarnere had just lost his brother in action agains the Germans in Italy. He was going through a very tough time personally, as well as being in the middle of the war. You'll see him shine. TNT is a high explosive, and was used to destroy captured equipment when necessary. The "potato masher" (German stick hand grenade was used to set off the TNT, as they had no detonators. Called field-improvisation, and was part of their training. Mennonites are a Christian religious sect that started in central Europe. They have pacifist leanings, and some, especially the Amish and Dunkard Brethren (off-shoots of the Mennonites) shun the use of modern things like electricity, phones, and automobiles. Since Winters was from Hershey Pennsylvania it was a guess that he might be Mennonite, as there is a large population there.

[@calemorgan3982]

"chow" is slang for food or going to eat food.. Also the guy whos weapon jammed and fumbled the grenade.. the reason his weapon didn't work was because he picked it up off a dead body and it was actually damaged but he didn't have time to test it yet. The grenade he dropped, Winters ran into his arm when he tried to run by and made him drop it haha..

[@blakewalker84120]

20:22 "Potato mashers? Am I hearing right? Yes. It was a US nickname for German grenades. US grenades looked like metal baseballs with grooves to separate the shrapnel. German grenades looked like a soup can on a stick. This gave it leverage to throw it farther. It looks like an old fashioned tool for smashing potatoes (to make mashed potatoes) so that's what our soldiers called them. If you look very closely you can see one on your screen at 17:11 but it's only visible for a few frames so don't blink. Since the US guys had used all their grenades, they were picking up German grenades and using those.

[@boki1693]

Legal age for drinking was changed to 21 in the 1980's. When I was 18 in 1978, I could drink legally. After 1981 because I could always legally drink. So Hall was probably 17. Lancaster Pennsylvania has a very big Amish community. Guarnere mentioned it in this episode when he called Winters a Mennonite after Winters said he wasn't a Quaker. Quakers, Mennonites and Amish all have similar strict religious values. I believe Winters was from near Lancaster but he wasn't any of those strict groups. I can't speak for the other two groups but the Amish live a simple life with no electricity or modern devices. Sort of like it was the 1850's. If you go to the Amish community in Lancaster PA, it's sort of a touristy thing to do, to visit the areas the Amish live in. They are mostly farmers and They drive around in horse and buggies and generally don't mind people visiting them. Some will even let you live and work on their farms for a weekend for a price. But don't take their pictures because they believe thats stealing part of their soul. it's a pretty cool place to visit. And Gettysburg is about an hour away. So is Hershey amusement Park.

[@timroebuck3458]

Nothing wrong with crying. It shows that you have a good heart. "Potato mashers" are what they're using to disable German guns.

[@stephenschaffner2387]

'Potato masher' is a nickname for German grenades, which had a handle for throwing them and which look kind of like potato mashers. They're using them to detonate the TNT.

[@Alte.Kameraden]

Fun part is they're closer to a Flash Bang than a Fragmentation Grenade. Which means surviving a Stick Grenade was pretty high. German logic was protecting their own soldiers using them. So the functioned like concussion Grenades to disorient the enemy while you rush the trench while minimizing possible Friendly Fire. This is why fragmentation Sleeves were added later. Which you could slide over the grenade.

[@tome2294]

Similar to Quakers, Mennonite were also a religious sect much like Amish, but not as strict. Winters was from Pennsylvania which had large populations of Quakers, Mennonite, and Amish. Mortars are similar to grenades, but are launched from a metal tube device.

[@penfold7455]

"It's not an easy watch, guys." Hoo boy; she doesn't know what she's in for with this, huh?

[@DanielRamosMilitaryWiz]

(3:50) If I’m not mistaken I believe that’s the paratrooper who screamed that he was hit. If he’s been too badly injured he might not have been able to make the jump. (8:57-9:21) Bill Guarnere “Gonorrhoea”might have an attitude, but you have to remember that in the previous episode he had just learned that his brother was killed in Italy before Easy Company’s jump into Normandy. That’s clearly weighing heavily on his mind. So while I don’t condone it, I can at least understand that he is acting the way he is out of pain and anger. He does prove himself to be a very good soldier as the series progresses. (9:13) Quakers are a pacifist religious order with deep roots in Christianity that was founded in the 17th Century. (13:11) Since paratroopers often found themselves surrounded, outnumbered, outgunned, and fighting behind enemy lines, they simply didn’t have the time or manpower to hold enemy prisoners. You could let them go, but that would risk giving away your position, and the they could rejoin their units to fight against you. It’s a difficult and unfortunate situation that really doesn’t have an easy answer. (18:03) It looks like another paratrooper accidentally bumped into Compton as he was about the throw the grenade. I wouldn’t blame Compton at all for that. He at least had the presence of mind to call out that a grenade was loose, allowing invaluable time for his comrades to move out of danger. Before the war, Buck Compton actually played football and baseball for his college at UCLA. So he was a great athlete and he definitely knew how to use grenades. In fact, at 16:55 you could see a German take a direct hit by a grenade perfectly thrown by Compton. As for his gun jamming, bad things like that can happen to anyone, even the best of soldiers, and Buck Compton consistently demonstrated that he was a good leader and soldier. (20:25) They are referring to the Stielhandgranate, which is the German term for “stick hand grenade.” They are distinguished by their long wooden handles and cylinder shaped warheads. This is why American and British troops nicknamed them “Potato Mashers” because of their distinctive design.

[@gravitypronepart2201]

Biscute, while the series tracks very close to actual events, the writers did combine events and characters at times. The period of time from D-Day to the end of the war had to be covered in just 10 episodes. One example is Lt. Speirs killing prisoners. It happened, just not as depicted. He and two men with him had to kill prisoners twice, once that night, and again on D-Day. In both cases, the prisoners outnumbered them. Its a popular myth that they were ordered to kill prisoners. Another is the attack on the Wagon bound Germans. Guarnere didn't jump the gun. He wasn't even armed at the time. And the attack was lead by a LtCol from another regiment, Col Cole, who later was awarded the Medal of Honor. Winters was put in for the Medal of Honor, but it was down graded to the Distinguished Service Cross.

[@gawainethefirst]

It wasn’t a myth, though it also wasn’t official orders. They were ‘encouraged’ to not take prisoners until the beachhead was established.

[@gravitypronepart2201]

@gawainethefirst Can't rule that out since there's one account I know of that General McAuliffe said it while addressing the Division. The problem is that out of all those men, only one said it. What's clear is that Lt. Winters never heard it, and he would have said so. Also, there's the fact that many Germans were taken prisoner on D-Day prior to the link up. There were small unit commanders, including Lt. Speirs who ordered men to kill prisoners, and undoubtedly, some were killed just out of spite, but nothing official.

[@chairmanofthebored6860]

I spent a number of years in 1/505 with the 82nd Airborne. Out motto is H-minus. H stands for H Hour, the time we were supposed to drop. The men had to jump early, hence the minus. The AA fire was so bad that they didn't wait for the green light. First in the fight. AATW

[@zh2184]

The scene at 18:03 confuses a lot of people when it appears that Lieutenant Compton drops a hand grenade. If you watch closely, he is preparing to throw when another soldier slams into him from behind by accident, causing the grenade to fly out of Compton's hand.

[@williamkerner3758]

German grenades had a short handle attached to them to make them easier to throw. But the handle made them look like an actual cooking utensil used to mash potatoes. So Americans called German grenades "potato mashers" It's just slang. A mortar is like a small canon that soldiers carried with them. It is more like a tube with a bipod stand and it would lob shells high in the air to land on the enemy a few hundred meters away. The larger mortars could fire farther.

[@danielhaynes2373]

Compton, the soldier who "dropped" his grenade, was actually bumped into hard by one of his own men just as he was preparing to throw it.

[@jeffsherk7056]

German hand grenades were an explosive device mounted on the end of a handle. The whole thing looked like a wooden kitchen tool housewives used to mash up boiled potatoes into mashed potatoes. Americans called German grenades "Potato Mashers" because they looked like the kitchen tool their mother's used. A "Mortar" is a metal tube that points almost straight up, and is used to launch bombs that fly almost straight up, and fall almost vertically on the enemy. Look up "US 81 mm mortar," and Mennonite, and Quaker.

[@joeykeiner5503]

Potatoe Mashers are what the Americans called the German gernades. Because of their shape, the looked like something youd mash potatoes with. And they were shoving them down the artillery's barrels to make those guns unusable.

[@kxd2591]

Oh, "CHOW" is US service slang for food. CHOW may be eaten in the field, or eaten in garrison in a "MESS HALL", or dining room.

[@amazingronaldo9656]

Not sure if it was said, but regarding spiking the guns at Brecourt Manor. One "spikes" enemy guns, so they cannot be used again on your troops, or spiking your own so the enemy can't use them. You do so nowadays by blowing the barrel like seen in the miniseries. Spiking comes from old cannons where they had an opening for a hot brand, or a match (lit rope), or some other method of setting off the powder in the cannon. You would spike guns by putting a nail or metal spike in that hole and breaking it off inside so it can never be used again. In the part in BoB, the TNT needs something to set it off, like a blasting cap inserted into the TNT. Which Lipton had on him. But he wasn't yet caught up to the rest of the company. He stopped to tend to Popeye's wounds and what not. The makeshift "detonator" was using the German grenades (what GIs affectionately called potato mashers) as an ignition source for the TNT they had stuffed in the gun barrels.

[@82ndAbnVet]

Winters was an outstanding leader. Spiers (the guy you don't like) was a great leader as well. Both looked after and cared for their men. You might not agree with Spiers shooting those POW's, but keep in mind, he was only a Lt at that time. There is no doubt in my mind that someone who outranked him, ordered him to do it because they were not in a position to look after POWs. Lt Compton's weapon didn't jam, it had a broken firing pin, that is why he was never able to fire a round. There's an interview of him talking about it in his later years.

[@yourthaiguy]

Bill Guarnere's "Attitude" in this episode? was due to him accidently finding out his brother was killed by Germans I think in Africa? So needless to say? He was ANGRY with the German Army..

[@alundavies1016]

Monte Cassino, Italy

[@dallassukerkin6878]

Dear lady, do not worry about crying whilst watching this series. We *all* do and anyone who does not is not a person you want to know! EDIT: On Spiers shooting the surrendered Germans ... it was a standing order for the operation *not* to take prisoners as there was no way the paratroop forces could deal with them according to the various conventions of war. The rumours about that event would follow Spiers through the war and we shall hear some further reference to it later on. Did it happen? Yes, it did. For the making of this series, if I recall correctly, because he didn't want anything to be shown that wasn't true, Winters asked Spiers outright if the rumours had anything to them and Spiers confirmed it. One thing, don't be too hard on judging people as you watch this. It is not a 'story', it is an accounting of what happened as best as the series makers could do; so people are people and they are not always paragons of virtue as you might get in fiction. Garnier, for example, was so aggressive and vengeful because he was the one who, the night before the drop, learned that his brother had been killed. On terminology I am sure others will say but a Potato Masher is a German Stick Grenade and a Mortar is an indirect fire squad weapon.

[@19nzinga]

“The measure of my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is early” 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@mikecarson9528]

"TNT" ACDC reference. You are very well versed in American pop culture. Love seeing this reaction.

[@arthurcamargo8416]

Thunder! Mortars are rocket propelled grenades that you drop into a chute then it gets fired into the target area. Quakers and Mennonites are sects of christianity that do not believe in violence or other "vices." 7 kilometres are almost 4 and a half miles. Potato Mashers are the nickname allied (english speaking) forces gave to German grenades, since their look was reminiscent of a mortar used to mash potatoes or avocadoes. No one will be angry with you or disappointed if you find it too difficult to keep watching. Knowing this is what and how things happened makes it that much harder. If they do, just remember the expression: Mal y soit qui mal y pense. Great reactions and really excellent commentary! Looking forward to the next one!

[@andymiller6661]

Mortars aren't rocket propelled

[@lancewolf2451]

The seen where Buck Compton machine gun jams...in his book, Buck said he picked up a British knock off of an American Thomson machine gun made by BSA. They were known for not being very reliable..he found that out the hard way during the attack on the 105 guns.

[@mikecarson9528]

I am really enjoying your reaction. Commented more on yours then on most. You will cry before its over.

[@alanmacification]

" Potato Masher" = A German stick grenade that looks like something you'd mash potatoes with. A Stielhandgranate. Both sides called it a potato masher. The American hand grenade looked like a pineapple and was called such.

[@JV-mw7gv]

Quaker and Mennonite essentially mean religious passive non-violent people who don’t have any vices and who certainly do not go to war.

[@belasius2895]

there was/is a large concentration of Mennonite & Pennsylvania Dutch (Quaker decent) living in Eastern Pennsylvania where Winters lived.

[@warriorpitbull1170]

Thunder!

[@TheKing-zl3bk]

3:40 Lieutenant mien died he was the original leader of easy company. 4:56 they had a challenge code. The challenge was flash and the response was thunder. Most men last their equipment in the jump. The 101st and 82nd airborne division lost about 50% of their number the first night. There were more missing than dead tho

[@andymiller6661]

Captain Sobel was the original Easy CO

[@RlmorganInSC]

It might be covered below but when the planes got close to their destination they were hit with flak, just think of a bomb going off and lots of chunks of metal shrapnel going everywhere. Jumping into that is something I find hard to even imagine.

[@williamkerner3758]

I appreciate that you keep reminding us that the German soldiers are human too. This movie is about Americans and we see our own guys as heroes. And in this war there is something to that belief. But when German soldiers died, they had families too, and their pain was real as well.

[@blakewalker84120]

19:18 "Can they not use the gun?" 20:20 "I need someone to explain this to me?" These artillery weigh a lot. They're too big to move. The Germans moved them with horses. They would need to bring in heavy equipment to tow the gun around to aim it toward the Germans. Maybe a dozen guys could wheel it around but that's hard to do with bullets flying everywhere - they can't haul the cannon around AND defend themselves. That will be hard because this gun is at the edge of battle with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of German soldiers nearby, This quick little attack worked because they ran in, surprised the Germans, fought for 3 or 4 minutes, then ran out. If they had to stay long enough to find a tractor and tow those 88s around to a new firing position, they would have had hundreds of German soldiers slaughter them. Also, German artillery needed German shells. I'm sure there's some lying around, but not a lot - they had been firing at the beach all day. So even if they did capture the artillery, they couldn't fire it very many times before they ran out of ammo. Much safer to just blow them up so the Germans can't use them anymore. It's not really a problem. The US army brought a whole bunch of their own, with lots of the right ammo for them.

[@patrickholt2270]

They were setting off the TNT explosive (tri-nitro-toluene, more stable and powerful than nitro-glycerin) with a German hand grenade - the "potato masher." The Germans made their grenades attached to a short wooden handle so they coud be thrown more accurately. Mortars, or rather Trench-Mortars were invented in WW1. It's a short fat tube with a spike at the bottom, that a bomb is dropped into, like a small artillery shell, so that when the bomb hits the spike, it sets off the launching charge to fire it up and out of the mortar at a high angle to drop behind the enemy. So the mortar shell travels through an arc like a letter "n" shape, for a short range to hit enemies that the infantry know are near them but out of sight. They can hit enemies hiding behind a building, or in a trench, or among trees or behind a ridge, where your own soldiers cannot shoot them with bullets. Mennonites are an Anabaptist sect, who were persecuted by both the Lutherans and the Catholics during the Reformation period. They are congregationalists, meaning that they reject a formal church organisation and hierarchy above the congregation, and they believe in adult baptism, not infant baptism, and that people who grow up and become believers, or are still believers from childhood, should then get baptised again when they understand what it is about. Their founder, Menno Simons, was martyred after saving the life of one his pursuers who had fallen into a frozen lake. There are Mennonite settlements all over the Americas, after Mennonites migrated to the English colonies to escape persecution in Europe. The Amish are a variant of Mennonites, who take a harder line against modern technology and war. Mennonites tend to be anti-capitalist in different ways, either by rejecting modern technology and trying to make all their own things, or by living in communes where the land and farm equipment and everything is common property not private property like the Hutterite variant of Mennonites. They're a good lot, I like them.