Carentan | Band of Brothers Episode 3 Reaction | First Time Watching

[@OhArchie]

Spiers' admonition to Blithe was about how to be an effective *soldier* not how to be a good human.

[@davecsa7286]

As an veteran I can tell you Lt Spiers is 100% correct, you cannot afford to be distracted in combat by worrying about if you going to live. You can only be effective as a soldier if you accept the fact that you are already dead and give it all you got.

[@LippsReacts]

Definitely agree that there is truth to that

[@ExUSSailor]

Blithe didn't die in '48. He survived the war, was reactivated to serve in Korea, then, elected to go career. He died, still in the Army, in 1967.

[@ImaCOTV]

The mistake was in Ambrose’s book. Two members of Easy Company told Ambrose that Blithe had died in 1948, and they attended his funeral. Apparently what happened was that there was another Albert Blithe who was a veteran and who had in fact died in 1948. The real Blithe’s family contacted Ambrose when the TV miniseries came out, and subsequently editions of the book included a correction. Subsequent airings of the miniseries and the DVD release never corrected the error.

[@ralphjacobson8815]

I was a tanker from 1977 to 2000. That German soldier is why we called the Infantry "crunchies".

[@wuthebest]

@@patrick-qs8gn Even the Germans called British Sherman tanks "Tommy Cookers" due to what happened to the crew.

[@MarcoMM1]

Great reaction like always. They really did Blithe dirty in this. I saw an interview with Winters and he was really angry about how the series depicted Blithe, in later research, after the series was made, they found out that Blythe lived. Albert Blythe in fact did recover and went on to have a very successful military career. Blithe went back into the Airborne and jumped behind enemy lines in Korea as a Master Seargent. He earned the bronze star with 2 oak leaf clusters and a silver star. He never left the military. He died in 1967 from complications from a perforated ulcer and was buried in Arlington National Cemetary with full honors. He had lost contact with all the men in Easy company There was an Albert Blithe who was also a veteran and from Pennsylvania who died in 1948. Heffron and Guarnere believed it was the same man from Easy Company and even went to the funeral. Ambrose and later the producers for the series took them at their word and didn’t research further. After BOB aired, it was found that Blythe did in fact survive. I really wish they had updated BoB to reflect what actually happened to Blithe. By the end of this journey you're going to remember all of their names. Every time I watch this series I get more and more attached to every one of these men. I can't explain it, but it's like they're family. One thing that you might have missed with Talbert being bayoneted by Pvt. Goerge Smith, he was wearing a German poncho that he had picked up as a souvenir. In the dark the other soldier thought he was a German from the outline. Earlier in the episode you see Talbert showing off the poncho, but it's easy to forget.

[@michaelstach5744]

The soldier who was hit with the mortar round in the pharmacy is Ed Tipper. He was the guy in episode 1 who had all the letters that got Sobel so upset in the barracks inspection. He also handed the map to Sobel when the barbed wire was cut. He survived and had a long career as a teacher.

[@marcoburg8500]

Early in the episode, they showed Talbert with a camouflage poncho that he had taken from a dead German. Like Perconte taking watches, the soldiers would take war trophies from the dead enemy they encountered. Tab took a poncho, and was wearing it when he woke up Smith in his foxhole. Smith saw a German poncho and bayonetted him. At the end of the episode you can hear some of the poem written to immortalize the event. Some of the soldiers did this frequently for various events. The poem recited for the series is not the original, but written by a series writer with input from the veterans. Gordon, who got 3 medals in the hospital, gave one to Talbert. Because Talbert was wounded by "friendly fire", he was not eligible for a Purple Heart. The Night of the Bayonet The night was filled with dark and cold, When Sergeant Talbert, the story’s told, Pulled on his poncho and headed out, To check the lines dressed like a Kraut. Upon a trooper, our hero came, Fast asleep, he called his name, Smith! Oh, Smith! Get up! It’s time To take your place out on the line. [And Private] Smith, so very weary, Cracked an eye all read and bleary, [Then] grabbed his gun [rifle], he did not tarry, Hearing Floyd but seeing Jerry. DON’T! cried Tab, IT’S ME!, and yet, Smith charged, tout suite, with bayonet. He lunged, he thrust, both high and low, And skewered the boy from Kokomo. And as they carried him [Floyd] away, Our punctured hero was heard to say, When in this war you venture out, Best never do it dressed as a Kraut! Written by Erik Jendresen from Band of Brothers based on the research from the Veterans of Easy Company

[@johannesvalterdivizzini1523]

For logical reasons wearing captured enemy uniform was forbidden. One reactor asked why the soldiers who were freezing at Bastogne didn't use the coats off the German dead--it's a tough call when you're literally freezing, but a figure in a German coat was a target.

[@2104dogface]

My buddy is friends with Erik Jendresen he sent him 4 boxes filled with all the BOB paperwork & interviews done for the series , plus he interviewed him on his podcast

[@dalj4362]

Spiers is actually Scottish, he moved to the U.S. when he was young.

[@ssross]

I’m loving your reaction to this series, but I can also tell how difficult it is for you. Thank you for enduring this. We’re right there with you. In the end I think you will have found the experience to be rewarding and even uplifting in some ways. To me it’s so important for us to learn about history and what these men went through for us. Thank you so much, Lipps!

[@EastPeakSlim]

"I didn't want to let anyone down." This was Blithe thinking more about his comrades than himself. This was the attitude of most of the men of Easy Company, if not the rest of The Greatest Generations. Curahee!

[@2003bigt]

This entire episode is about fear, it is each persons way to explain how they handle fear. I am a 21 year Army Retiree with several combat deployments. Please do not be so quick to judge, it is difficult to understand how each person deals with this, as it comes to fear. Just try to understand that each person has to deal with this in their own way. Thanks for the reactions keep it up!

[@elroysez8333]

Dark humor is how military members/veterans survive mentally. It is humor that often appalls those who have never served, but those same people cannot accurately judge it if they haven't actually lived through it.

[@krisfrederick5001]

Yes, Blithe survives. It's sad seeing everyone mourn him and then realize every time. One of the few mistakes Band of Brothers makes. They had the wrong guy. He then went on to serve with distinction in the Korean War proving he was a true soldier further. Beyond the edelweiss he earned from the German Paratrooper. "The only hope you have is to accept the fact that you're already dead. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you'll be able to function as a soldier is supposed to function: without mercy, without compassion, without remorse. All war depends upon it.” - Captain Ronald Speirs- Easier said than done. Not everyone can

[@frankmartin3600]

Ambrose made several errors in his book. He is such an arrogant prick, he was a real dick when they were brought to his attention.

[@edm240b9]

There’s tons of mistakes in Band of Brothers. Ambrose wrote the book based on veteran accounts without doing extra research to verify if the veteran claims were actually true. The YT channel War and Truth has several videos dedicated to debunking these BoB myths.

[@fast_richard]

My theory of Blithe's blindness is stress induced muscular tension that restricts blood flow to the eyes and brain, similar to the way a pilot can black out from pulling G in extreme maneuvers. Anything that would enable a little relaxation could lead to rapid return of vision.

[@craignickum6551]

There was no provision to take prisoners. Their orders were advance, destroy, and secure.

[@iamjbob]

Blith didn't die in 1948 he actually lived and served in Korea. They made a mistake in saying he died.

[@jeff-ni5cy]

Tipper was the guy blown up in the house. You may remember Tipper as the soldier who had all the love letters that made Soble mad. He not only survived his wounds ( did lose his eye) but had a child at nearly 70.

[@marcoburg8500]

Tipper is the veteran at the beginning saying he thought he'd die instantly or get through the whole war unscathed. So it was neither. The wounds sustained there in Carentan was his ticket home.

[@CurtisKerr-y6x]

Not a spear. It’s a bayonet

[@jeffsherk7056]

Lipps, I learned in a book called Citizen Soldiers, also by Stephen Ambrose, that the German army in 1944 resembled the German army of 1918, in that they relied heavily on horses and wagons to move equipment and transport wounded. The white horse is gorgeous, and he was also a piece of military equipment for the Germans. There is a new biography of Ronald Spiers called Fierce Valor. Jared Fredrick is one of the authors. It is worth reading. I tell you what, Lipps, another amazing thing about this series is that when you are drinking coffee, I am also drinking coffee at the same time.

[@rschroev]

When we think of the German army in WW II we tend to think of the Blitzkrieg, which makes us think more of airplanes, tanks, half-tracks etc and not of horses. Despite that, it's true (at least according to things I've read) that the German army relied heavily on horse-based transport. I read somewhere that some German officer was watching the steady stream of Allied supplies and vehicles coming in after the Normandy landings. When he realized all transport was mechanical and the Allies didn't use horses and wagons for transport, he knew the Germans were doomed.

[@EastPeakSlim]

Citizen Soldiers is one of my favorites by Ambrose.

[@keithsimpson6563]

Hey I'm loving your takes. You really need to watch the documentary " We stand alone together:The man of easy company. Band of brothers " it's SO amazing I enjoyed it even more then the show. It shows the real man telling their stories. It's a must see. It's like episode 11. ❤❤❤❤

[@ghengriff3600]

As for the men of East Co, none knew that Blythe lived and as a result, Blythes recovery was missed by Stephen Ambrose, the author of this book who relied on the recollections of these soldiers. And, so, Professor Ambrose did miss a little. But, not much. The life insurance policy for a soldier was ten thousand dollars which was enough to buy a farm; thus the old saying- “He bought the farm”!

[@chuckhilleshiem6596]

This is so cool . I can see you more and more becoming a part of Easy. You are doing good work. It's hard I know but we all know you can do it. God bless you

[@fast_richard]

They were brought back to England to train and reequip for further jumps to secure objectives ahead of the advancing ground troops. There were a couple of such jumps cancelled because the ground troops moved fast enough to overrun the proposed drop zones before the paratroops could jump.They didn't get back into actual combat until the events of episode four.

[@_--Reaper--_]

16:44 Speirs isn't just gonna shoot the man LMAO 😂 This isn't the wild west

[@daveenberg9075]

Although they made a mistake with the portrayal of Blythe the point was to show the different ways the men dealt with their fear. My Grandfather had been in WW1 and said he was sacred all the time and consider himself a bit of a coward. This from a man who had fought at Ypres, The Somme, Vimy Ridge, Arras, Amiens , The D.Q. line and was wounded four times. The point being he was able to suppress his fear and preform his duty when called to. He had the rest of his life to deal with the trauma of it all. Hang in there the payoff at the end of the series is worth it. Please watch the documentary "We Stand Alone Together" when your finished. It contains the interviews with the actual men of Easy.

[@r2streu]

Also, I'll be the first but by no means the last to mention: Blithe actually survived. He never went back to Easy, so they didn't know. They just assumed he must have died.

[@r2streu]

Couple of things to understand about Spiers. As far as his actions on D-Day, there IS some belief that he may have been specifically ordered to take no prisoners on D-Day. And really, regardless of whether he was ordered or not, the reality is, they didn't have the capacity to deal with prisoners at the time. Remember, these troops landed behind enemy lines with the directive to support the beach invasion. So, what do you do? You can't drag the enemy with you, you have no place to hold them. Your options are to let them go and have to deal with them another day or kill them now. It's not pretty and it's not mercy (or, maybe it is), but that's war. About Spiers' and Welsh's comments. These guys are in Hell and, honestly, they're trying to make sense of it in a way that allows them to continue to function. For Welsh, he thinks of it as a game. That lets him work out the reality he's dealing with in a way that allows him to lead his men. For Spiers, the thought of surviving the war and going home is crippling. To him, if you're out there hoping to make it out, you're being careful, you're keeping your head down. You're not doing what you need to do as a soldier, and certainly not as a leader. We have the luxury of viewing from, not just the sidelines, but the lens of history and modern sensibility. These men didn't have that luxury. They had to deal with what was in front of them and lead their men to do the same.

[@clayf3522]

Executing prisoners of war was a violation of The Geneva Convention (1929)

[@keithsimpson6563]

The edelweiss was not a flower they put on. It was a patch for a specific company. They just wanted to say something about it.

[@2104dogface]

it was used by German Mountain troops

[@boki1693]

Remember all you have said about Spears. You will get some clarification later. Don't you just want to scream every time someone reacts to this episode because we have to explain Blithe did not die then and died much later. One of the few mistakes of the series and boy do I wish it could be corrected.

[@alwaysdriveing]

If you watch The Pacific the trophy hunting will really make you uncomfortable. Oh the laundry scene really drives the point home on the loss. A brilliant piece of the show there.

[@iiiDartsiii]

might as well take the watches off the dead, they don't have to worry about time anymore . those vooom sounds you hear are just bullets bouncing off things or whizzing by, they aren't gun sounds.

[@stephenjones8885]

Spiers is a psychopath... but he's *our* psychopath.

[@buddystewart2020]

Spiers shooting the Sergeant: The controversy is recalled by Art DiMarzio, who witnessed it, and is also referenced in the book “Beyond Band of Brothers”. This tale involves the shooting dead of a platoon sergeant. PFC DiMarzio was an eyewitness to the event in which he says a sergeant disobeyed a direct order while in a combat situation - thereby risking the lives of the other soldiers in the company. According to DiMarzio, Speirs - commanding 2nd platoon, Dog Company - was given orders to halt their attack on Ste. Come-du-Mont and hold position while regimental headquarters coordinated a rolling barrage shelling fifteen targets in the vicinity of Ste. Come-du-Mont. DiMarzio, who was lying in a prone position next to the sergeant, says he remembers the sergeant being drunk. As the order to hold position was given and relayed down the line the sergeant refused to obey, wanting to rush forward and engage the Germans. Once again, Speirs gave him the order to hold his position. Speirs told the man that he was too drunk to perform his duties and that he should remove himself to the rear. The sergeant refused and began to reach for his rifle. Speirs again warned the sergeant - who now levelled his rifle at Speirs. Art DiMarzio says he then saw Speirs shoot the sergeant in self- defense. Many years later, Speirs himself would write, “the sergeant, by the way, was a replacement. The platoon saw it happen without batting an eye.” Lieutenant Speirs immediately reported the incident to his commanding officer, Captain Jerre S Gross. Eyewitness DiMarzio says that Captain Gross went to the scene of the shooting and after receiving all the information, deemed it justifiable self-defense. Captain Gross was killed in battle the next day, and the incident was never pursued. Spiers shooting German prisoners: Ronald Speirs was said to have shot German Prisoners of War on D Day, after the initial landings. An interview with Private Art DiMarzio, published on KZbin in 2012, describes how he, Speirs and a sergeant from his Dog Company platoon became lost and disorientated as a result of being landed away from their intended drop zone - before encountering three German soldiers. With no means of managing the prisoners and needing to reach their military objective, Speirs gave the order to shoot them. According to fellow Dog Company member, Art DiMarzio, each man shot a prisoner. A few hours later four more German soldiers were encountered and this time Speirs shot all of them himself. Many paratroopers in the early morning hours of 6th June were also alleged to have shot German prisoners of war. Herman Oyler - a member of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne - recollects in the book “D-Day battle for Normandy” by Anthony Beevor that a sergeant in the 101st, having been prevented from killing one group of prisoners, turned to his men and said, ‘Let’s go and find some Krauts to kill!. In some cases paratroopers shot prisoners captured by others. In the Eisenhower Centre Archive of The National World War II Museum in New Orleans, there are accounts of troopers receiving speeches from their commanders designed to induce incitement and strengthen morale, prior to leaving England. Parker A Alford of the 26th Field Artillery, 9th Infantry Division, who was attached to the 501st PIR says, ‘There was a great feeling in the air; the excitement of battle’ One commander, Colonel ‘Jump’ Johnson of 501st PIR gathered his men around him and gave a short speech to arouse their fighting spirit. After which, he bent down and pulled a large commando knife from his boot and brandishing it above his head he said, ‘before I see the dawn of another day, I want to stick this knife into the heart of the meanest, dirtiest, filthiest Nazi in all of Europe. This reportedly elicited the required reaction from the assembled paratroopers. General Maxwell Taylor, commander of the 101st Airborne instructed his paratroopers to ‘take no prisoners’ during the Normandy Invasion. One paratrooper - Don Malarkey, E Company, 506th PIR - said General Taylor told them that ‘if you were to take prisoners, they’d handicap our ability to perform our mission. We were going to have to dispose of prisoners as best we saw fit’. One 82nd Airborne trooper remembers being told ‘Take no prisoners because they will slow you down’. Historian Peter Lieb has found that many US units were ordered to not take enemy prisoners during the D-Day landings in Normandy. Paratroopers boarded their planes - riled by their commanders with fighting talk and directives of ‘take no prisoners’ fresh in their minds - and began their journey to the Carentan peninsula. The journey started uneventfully but quickly turned nightmarish. The National Archives in Maryland records that the landings in Normandy were confused and disordered - initially due to pilots encountering an unexpected low cloud bank which panicked them. This caused them to break formation but aircraft targeted by ack-ack fire and tracers meant the pilots were forced to make sudden violent maneuvers. Paratroopers who were standing were forcefully thrown back and struggled to regain their balance. Tracer bullets made popping noises as they pierced the skin of the aircraft creating holes in the fuselage. These actions resulted in many paratroopers missing their drop zones. Sergeant Gordon Carson, a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne recalls that most paratroopers just wanted to jump out of the plane as quickly as possible. As the paratroopers landed, some less fortunate found themselves caught in trees but as they struggled to free themselves, they were swiftly shot by the Germans. Hitler had issued a standing order - Kommandobefehl - which demanded that all special forces, such as paratroopers, be shot. As more paratroopers landed and began to make contact with other troopers, stories of dead American paratroopers whose bodies had been grossly mutilated by Germans soldiers spread. Coming upon such a scene, one 101st Captain - William Oatman - turned to his soldiers and said ‘don’t you guys dare take any prisoners! Shoot the bastards! These actions were at odds to the Third Geneva Convention which, in 1929, decreed that Prisoners of War were due special protection. The United States of America was one of forty-four countries which signed this document - which also included Germany. Provisions in treaties and other international agreements are given effect as law in domestic courts of the United States. An article published in the Boston Globe dated 7th February, 1946 states Lt Ronald Speirs was “awarded the Bronze Star for singlehandedly killing 13 Nazis after parachuting into Normandy on D-Day.”

[@jasonhager524]

You will cry a lot through this series....

[@_--Reaper--_]

Speirs eats Germans for breakfast...

[@williambranch4283]

My favorite episode

[@frankducky6130]

Happy holidays, beautiful lady!

[@justsmashing4628]

Spiers…you’re going to love him soon 😊

[@tomswift3482]

Comments alluding to a future thing, even a broad hint is somewhat spoilerish, and she even commented in this video how disappointing she finds them. Even just saying someone will be in a future episode is slightly ruining the tale for someone trying to experience it all for the First Time.

[@alanholck7995]

You will see Spiers get more intense as the series progresses.

[@jaybee2530]

🚬

[@tomswift3482]

Comments alluding to a future thing, even a broad hint is somewhat spoilerish, and she even commented in this video how disappointing she finds them. Even just saying someone will be in a future episode is slightly ruining the tale for someone trying to experience it all for the First Time.

[@MrYoup11]

I don't know why they aren't using the mole technique in the town like was used in the Italian campaign. There found it safer with the houses joined together, was to blow holes in the walls to get to next house, instead of being in the open in the streets.

[@muadibadder3345]

23:07 its pretty much gallows humour. One way dat soldiers deal or cope with the madness around dem

[@ekeifenheim]

"I hope nothing happens when they get their Lugar".... now if that isn't some premonition. Yeah, Welsch was known to drink a bit and it caused some issues that the series doesn't come straight out and say. One is towards the back half of episode 5 that I'll point out

[@tn_bayouwulf2949]

Good afternoon Miz L! So glad you are reacting to this epic journey.