What Really Happened to S/Sgt Grant in Band of Brothers / A Reel History Short

This segment from our full breakdown was so long that I decided it needed it's own video. It's a bit different from our usual style so let us know if you would like more videos on specific scenes that are left not fully explained by the film.
Reel History delves into historical films to separate fact from fiction. These engaging episodes explore, contextualize, and clarify stories related to the most famous historical movies. In contrast to the more prevalent "reaction" videos, these installments seek not only to entertain but to educate and inform.
For host Jared Frederick and video editor Andrew Collins, these Reel History episodes are a labor of love and a means of expressing passion for the past as well as cinema. Courteous viewer feedback is always welcomed. Contact information for the hosts is available on the homepage.
Original film "Band of Brothers, 2001, HBO.
*Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED. All rights belong to their respective owners.

[@ReelHistory]

Hi everyone, I've noticed that there seems to be a lot of controversy over the mention of Marijuana in this video. www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/pdf/Board-of-Review_Vol-62.pdf Any mention of it is taken straight from these court martial documents (page 329 to be exact) so the perception of its effects does sound old fashioned. There is no doubt that the alcohol was the major contributor to his actions. But the fact remains, he was under the influence on top of probably not being very mentally stable. Hope that softens the blow to this apparently touchy subject.

[@MrCharles26]

Softens the blow?! He is high and drunk, killed two officers one of which is an ally and almost killed a SNCO as well. What a disgrace to the uniform, this guy was lucky he wasn't hanged!

[@ReelHistory]

Yes he is, but man are people up in arms over mentioning he was high. Just trying to mitigate that a bit.

[@Absaalookemensch]

Marijuana can make a person psychotic and violent; however, he was probably someone mentally unfit to be in the military.

[@PJsCreed]

Yes, but when you refer to a "marijuana cigarette" instead of a more colloquial term such as "joint" you paint yourself as being more of a prude. I'm not trying to be an ass but rather just trying to help clarify the way a simple choice of phrasing can be perceived in a way that may not have been intended. Also, this was a court martial conducted in the 1940s. This was a time when the mainstream public was being told that marijuana use lead the user to sexual depravity and violence, neither of which are true if you check into actual studies of the effects of marijuana and disregard the propaganda against it.

[@PJsCreed]

@@Absaalookemensch "Marijuana can make a person psychotic and violent...". Clinical studies into the effects of marijuana on the brain and human behavior have shown this to be incorrect.

[@michaelhayden5264]

Given the severity of the charges I still find it difficult to believe that the man was not executed.

[@OrangPasien]

It is hard to believe, isn’t it? But consider that; drunkenness was a somewhat acceptable excuse for such things at that time, the ETO war was over, people had lost enough family members to death, and the soldiers themselves were just tired of killing people, it may be easier to understand. They had also recent discovered that the Germans had been exterminating the Jews et al; They were just sick of killing - enough. Some of them had to be thinking, for the past two or three years we’ve put aside humanity to get the job done (“Hang Tough”). Open season on mankind. If we ever hope to get ourselves back to humanity we need to stop the killing. Not everyone of course but certainly some had to see it this way. But what do I know and why are you listening to me?

[@frankmike9931]

Or released from prison…

[@georgesouthwick7000]

He certainly deserved it. Unfortunately for Eddie Slovak, the same quality of mercy did not apply. I wonder how the military justifies executing a soldier who caused no bodily harm to anyone, and allows a man who killed 3 of his brothers in arms to live?

[@nbk9372]

The narrator indicated he hasn't been able to get further information on the murderer. This (IMO) is indicative of him having a family member with some clout and perhaps political influence stateside, enough to bury other documents of record beyond his DD 201 file & DD 214. The other is sole survivor of siblings in a family where his brothers were all KIA and his UCMJ CM defense team used it to the fullest extent and compound that with the fog of war. Either way, someone saved his sorry ass and I don't think it was from the military side. Just an observation.

[@sgtstedanko7186]

@@georgesouthwick7000 friends in high places vs no friends 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@TedBronson1918]

He murdered an Allied officer and attempted to murder an NCO from his unit, but only grievously wounded him and left him permanently impaired/disabled. I'm not even going to call for accountability for the German he murdered. Too many excuses could be made Even IF the war was over, the bastard should have been hanged for the British Major's murder if for nothing else.

[@highonimmi]

Agreed. Wtf?

[@sctm81]

Wasnt he even a replacement only ?

[@notagovslave5614]

War is hell and does strange things to the mind. It makes some great people and it creates monsters of others.

[@Easy-Eight]

Believe it or not, post WWII is when the American legal system started to go haywire. Example, in one state a man is convicted of first degree murder. He's given "life" and does 20 years. After that he gets out and becomes a serial murder. A prosecutor in Alabama knows of at least a half dozen deaths attributed to this man in his state. That prosecutor in Alabama has absolutely *NO* use for the northern state that gave the initial 20 year sentence. Such is America.

[@samhavoc1066]

@@notagovslave5614 And some were monsters to start with. The draft didn't include mental profiling; it took the good with the psycho's. Getting drunk and stoned doesn't create the monster; but it can set one free of the fear of consequences.

[@nickybluechips7567]

Crazy to think that you can shoot & kill a surrendered German officer, a British Major & seriously wound an American Sergeant, escape prison end up being recaptured & serve only a few years of a life sentence ...

[@s51curtis]

The commentator says that he couldn't find what exactly did happen to the soldier. Using the words "...in all probability..." tells me that he's guessing.

[@rosered103]

He probably ended up a serial killer.

[@s51curtis]

With the greatest research tool ever invented at our fingertips, it didn't take long to find out that Craver was sentenced to life in prison and died in 1985.

[@Easy-Eight]

Sink was right.

[@Mark-pe2sh]

You may have missed the sentences for many Nazis and Japanese who committed atrocities with little penalty?

[@thead.7713]

From the book this is what happened ⬇️ The most senseless loss, though, occurred when Sergeant Charles E. Grant was shot by a drunken GI. Grant had been in a jeep with two privates, moving between roadblocks, when they stumbled across the man, waving a pistol. He had shot and killed two Germans. Two British soldiers, a major and a sergeant, had also been stopped by the gun-wielding man. In the melee that followed, both the British soldiers were killed and Grant had a bullet in his brain. The GI fled. An American doctor proclaimed Grant dead, but Captain Speirs, unwilling to quit, raced the injured man to another town and found a German surgeon, a specialist, who saved Grant’s life. “Bull shit,” said Speirs, who put Grant back on the stretcher and roared off again, this time for Saalfelden. Speirs had heard there were some German specialists there. One of them was a brain specialist from Berlin. He operated immediately and saved Grant’s life. Word of the shooting flashed through the billets. E Company went out en masse to find the culprit. He was found trying to rape an Austrian girl in Zell am See. He was a recent replacement in Company I. To the expressed disgust of many of the men, he was brought back to company HQ alive. He almost wished he hadn’t been. Half the company was milling around him, threatening, kicking, swearing vengeance. Before anything more serious happened, Captain Speirs came rushing in, straight from the hospital. “Where’s the weapon?” Speirs shouted at the prisoner. “What weapon?” Speirs pulled his pistol, reversed his grip to hold it by the barrel, and hit the man right in the temple with the butt. He started screaming, “When you talk to an officer, you say ‘Sir,’ ” and hit him again. The G.I. slumped into a chair, stunned. Pvt. Hack Hansen from Grant’s 2nd platoon, and close buddy, came running in. He whipped out his pistol. “You son of a bitch,” he cursed. “I’ve killed better men than you.” He put the pistol right in the man’s face. Four men grabbed Hansen from behind and tried to pull him away, shouting that death was too good for such a coward, but he pulled the trigger. The pistol misfired. “You ought to have seen the look of that guy,” Gordon Carson remarked. They beat him unconscious, then carried him to the regimental guardhouse and turned him over to the provost sergeant. When he revived, the provost sergeant beat him until the blood ran.But I wonder if there was not another factor at work. Speirs was not the only man who had a chance to shoot the coward. Grant had an opportunity in the initial encounter. The man who found the I Company drunk could have shot him on the spot, and nearly every man in the company interviewed by me said he wished it had been done. But many of them were at company HQ when he was brought in, wearing pistols, but only one of them actually tried to kill the man, and he was being held back by four others. Almost every man in that room had killed. Their blood was up. Their anger was deep and cold. But what stands out in the incident is not the pistol whipping and beatings, but the restraint. They had had enough of killing.

[@michaelshaff4095]

The TV show had Cravers shooting Grant with a .45, which almost certainly would have killed him. The court martial record shows that Cravers took the Luger off the German he killed and that is the weapon he reached for to shoot Grant. 115 grain 9x19 vs. 230 grain .45 ACP.

[@marinewillis1202]

Every branch has their ways to sort people out that are like that. In the Corps, when I was in, it was called treelining someone. You took them all the way out to the far side of a field where no one can see them and the forest and beat the ever loving shit out of them. In PI it was the often talked about blanket party. When I went through PI in 2002 it was still VERY much a thing. Guy in the rack next to me got several. I was on the top rack and he was on the bottom and they worked him over bad. He had been causing us to get our asses whipped as a platoon because, while he could do a ton of pull ups, crunches etc he couldnt hump for shit (he was a real short guy so the damn seabag was bigger than him. The second time they tried it in the same night he was ready and fought back like a cornered lion. I was sitting there thinking the DI on duty is going to wake up and all of us are going to get murdered lol. Ahhh....good times lol

[@Foomba]

@@marinewillis1202 I took basic at Ft Knox in Feb 1971 and remember at least two blanket parties. "I'm glad it is not me" I thought, and rolled over to go back to sleep. I never knew who the guy or guys were that got the blanket party.

[@johnarmstrong472]

​@@marinewillis1202hump?

[@marinewillis1202]

@@johnarmstrong472 long marches with 80 pounds or so on your back

[@chuchulainn9275]

"The enemy had surrendered. But somehow, men were still dying. Young men who wanted to be home with their families by now, who'd served with distinction since before Normandy, were stuck here because they didn't have the points. What they DID have plenty of were weapons, alcohol, and too much time on their hands." -Major Richard Winters, Battalion Commander, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne

[@johnmurphy1631]

kj

[@davidcarik1761]

Such a fiendishly evil bureaucratic thing to relegate whether a veteran has to stay in a war (that's officially over) or go home to a system of "points". Nothing you can do to fight the "point" system, right? I'll bet you a TON of guys in "high places" or who "had friends" magically had enough "points" to go home if they could maneuver through the "red tape". Bureaucracy can be maddeningly complicated and insurmountable or it can be one person in a position of power just opening a gate, letting someone on a ship, or simply signing some paperwork. Look at Kabul recently. Crazy.

[@miguelservetus9534]

@@davidcarik1761 Could you share what system should have been used? Not trolling, but curious. My dad was in the Pacific, Third Marines on Guam when the war ended. Due to his points he was sent to China as part of the force there.

[@tazman5722]

Same thing happened after the armistice in 1918. All the way into 1919 in England at least.

[@joelspringman7748]

@@tazman5722 Pretty sure we sent troops into Russia in 1919.

[@mlteyt]

The British officer was Martin Ralph Gartner Waktin (162713) born in London in 1913. He graduated from the Officer Cadet Training Unit in 1940, the same year he married his wife Ethel Joan Davies (b.1916), a probationary nurse in London. He was first posted on the 21st December 1940 as a 2nd Lieutenant. When he was shot in May of 1945, he had been promoted to Major (temp) in the Intelligence Corp. Ethel never remarried and passed away in 1994.

[@dragons123ism]

Thank you

[@MrPolicekarim]

On aa another clip from this episode, there is a comment from a descendent of his! I don't remember how exactly he was related though!

[@davecrupel2817]

Same year i was born.... Damn :(

[@davidbarr9343]

Pleased that you were able to give added info' on the Major! "Lest we forget".

[@drutalero2962]

That's so sad

[@allaboutthejourney488]

Got curious about Craver and researched him for a couple of days. Floyd Wilkinson Craver was born in Cabarrus County, North Carolina in August of 1921. He had a grammar school education and was an unskilled laborer in a textile mill when he enlisted at Fort Bragg on 17 July 1942. He had been in the National Guard for a few months when he enlisted. He was 5' 9" and 148 pounds when he joined. Sometime in next few months he married and had a son in September 1943. I have a copy of his court martial record and it shows that his trial was convened on 24 September 1945 at Auxerre, France and concluded in October. He received a dishonorable discharge and a life sentence, to be served at the US Penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. His wife divorced him in June 1946. I don't know exactly when he was released but the earliest I found him was living in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1958. He married again and had several more children. He died 6 July 1987 in Charlotte, North Carolina when a moped he was driving was broadsided by a creamery truck that ran a stop sign. His father died a year after Floyd was born. His father was doing a three year stretch on a chain gang. They were using explosives to blow a hole in a large rock and it went off prematurely. One of Floyd's half-brothers, Billy, was killed in 1968 when Billy's father-in-law shot him in the head on purpose.

[@Propwashpirate]

So he served 10-12 years off a life sentence? Wow!, talk about an injustice.

[@your_royal_highness]

Nice family

[@Cgopat]

Justice served on a moped at the age of 67. What a loser!

[@ralphdougherty1844]

Sounds like a winning family

[@coltruiz7126]

Maybe somebody from the easy company tip him off to Speirs and he finished the job by running that truck

[@seanmorgan1595]

After the war, Sgt. Grant owned a little tobacco shop on Market St. in San Francisco. The shop was still there in the early 2000’s, and I bought some pipe tobacco from whoever owned it at the time. The shop has since closed. Still have the bag, though.

[@NCWoodlandRoamer]

That’s really cool.

[@justinamerican8200]

I gotta say, I'm in agreement with Colonel Sink on this one.

[@kevinohalloran7164]

Absolutely not (imo); shooting him would've ended the son-of-a-bitch's suffering. Just hope he didn't kill or permanently injure anyone else. If he did, then as a practical matter (in a very serious way) Sink would be right.

[@samuel10125]

I agree.

[@noahellis3672]

If it had been me I would have "allowed" him to escape and let the local German authorities help capture him. I'm sure they would have returned him to the army but in what shape would have been anybodys guess.

[@kevinohalloran7164]

"Unfortunate. Shot while trying to escape."

[@JustinLaFleur1990]

Me too

[@daniellimb3950]

I have the opportunity to talk to a member of E Company named Don Bond, who served as Spears runner at the end if the war. He was the one who identified Cravers by name because they had been at jump school together. He said the man was a trouble maker. I also got a few opportunities to talk to Malarkey who said that Grant was a shadow of his former self after the war as a result of the wound.

[@tedzimmerly]

Thanks for the info.

[@rosered103]

Thank you for posting . I appreciate it.

[@stevt100]

you are very fortunate to have met these true heroes, I envy you

[@jduff59]

I was going to say that maybe Cravers had been an outstanding troop and may have won several medals - and for this reason he was not given his due punishment. But it sucks to hear he as an @sshole troublemaker, and now I just wish they killed him that night and made sure he was found with his service weapon in his hand, so no charges would be followed on the soldier(s) that would have shot him. No justice in this case.

[@bighands69]

@@jduff59 But it is war time and things do go wrong. If he was not in Germany he may never have went on the rampage.

[@AntiHamster500]

Something that's briefly overlooked is what happened to Warrant Officer Dodd, the passenger of Major Watkin's jeep, during the events of the shooting. So when Craver shot Sgt Grant in the head and then proceeded to turn his pistol towards his jeep. MAJ Watkins and WO Dodd ran and ducked into an alleyway as Craver shot at them. MAJ Watkins was shot and killed in the alleyway but WO Dodd survived and returned, after Craver drove off in their jeep, so as to aid the now severely wounded Sgt Grant. Also I remember during the same episode of Band of Brothers it was mentioned that Craver had apparently sexually assaulted a German girl that same night. But I can't remember if sexual assault occurred before or after the shooting incident.

[@ReelHistory]

We haven't been able to determine Dodd's first name. From what we understood, Watkins was shot and then stumbled into the alley, where he died. The story of Craver sexually assaulting a woman purportedly happened as the manhunt was on, although it is not described in the court martial records. Good questions.

[@demi0n]

It was after because when they found him he was trying to rape a austrian girl

[@johnlinville8671]

The only thing I killed while high was a bowl of ice cream.

[@Foralltosee1623]

That poor British Officer just trying to help out a lost Paratrooper.

[@krobarrides9028]

...no good deed goes.....

[@sartainja]

@@krobarrides9028 Amen. It plays to just be a bastard.

[@1pcfred]

No good deed goes unpunished.

[@jaybluff281]

The Major was Martin Ralph George "Gartner" Watkin, an Intelligence Corps officer in MI5 who was serving as a liason officer with the OSS, under US Army Colonel John William Votion, the Assitant Military Attache in London. Watkin had served with OSS since Operation Torch and had landed as part of the Eastern Task Force at Algiers. Later, he worked in SHAEF for Operation Overlord. Watkin, still working for Colonel Votion, was part of the team who had interrogated Göring after his capture at the end of April in Radstadt. Watkin was sent to retrieve documents Göring had squirreled away on a train at Berchtesgaden and succesfully recovered them. The Major was awarded a Mention in Dispatches for this mission. He never lived to receive it. A week later, Watkin went with his adjutant, Warrant Officer Peter Dodd, to Saalfelden to interrogate other senior Nazi officials being held there. They had been there only a few days when they had their fatal encounter with Floyd Craver. Dodd escaped by running up an alleyway. He returned to look for Watkin once Craver had fled and found the Major had been shot through the heart and died instantly. He then helped with Chuck Grant. OSS and the 506th arranged to have Watkin's body flown back to London, and Votion wrote a very heartfelt letter to Watkins parents, attending the cremation himself. Watkin's widow, known by her middle name of Joan, never remarried.

[@Mixboy2105]

The perpetrator was spared because Capt Speirs ran out of cigarettes at that moment

[@evangiles17]

No Speirs knew that if he had shot him he would have been court martialed - And this would have remained as stain on what was otherwise an exemplary service record - Col Sink was an idiot for telling Spier's he should have shot him

[@sfjp1]

@@evangiles17 I think it was a joke in regards to him giving bthe prisoners a cigarette before executing them, Speirs actually confessed to Winters and signed a legal disclaimer before it was published.

[@eunectes2007]

@@evangiles17 Should watch the YT clip on how Major Winters speaks about Speirs. Speirs did not give, a flying F about his service record. He admitted to exeecuting POW's. Trust me, in situation like this, even if Speirs executed the guy, the brass would chulk it up as a freak accident, a weapon misfire or plain suicide of the guy.

[@evangiles17]

I doubt that because the pom's didn't like Paton striking a man in a hospital bed and they certainly would have wanted a full enquiry on this only to ensure that a thourough record was kept It is and has been for over 100 years an offence for an officer to strike an enlisted man and it would have resulted in Spier's also being put before a firing squad himself - Hence why killing SS officer's while not allowed was simply ignored Montgomery himself simply allowed his field commander's to deal with it as they saw fit because he simply didn't have the time to deal with it

[@joemckim1183]

@@eunectes2007 You could probably get away with it easier while your unit was actively in major combat but not as much after VE Day when you were basically just a police force for Germany at that point.

[@BamaFanUSMC]

At the Ronald Speirs museum they have Grants dogtag. Speirs actually kept it from that night, all those years

[@TheFreshTrumpet]

i love how much you show the scenes throughout your explanation it keeps it really engaging. loooooove that you do these, thank you for em

[@signat8661]

As a Brit, i’m curious what the British and German authorities thought on the matter? I can’t imagine they were too happy the man was spared the death penalty never mind a life sentence

[@mlteyt]

Possibly never extradited for a British court martial. The US Army does tend to look after its own in such cases. I guess with the German officer, things were just too much of a mess at the time and Craver had been whisked out of the country by the time the dust had settled.

[@evangiles17]

You couldn't give him the death sentence because you have to prove criminal intent beyond reasonable doubt - hence forth any body drunk or on drugs can never ever be charged with murder it would always be manslaughter

[@tireachan6178]

@@mlteyt true. The immediate post war period in the former Reich was an absolute disaster in terms of the centralised authorities. The officer killed may well have been Austrian making his unlawful killing outside new German jurisdiction and inside that of the reforming Austrian State which was rather unwilling to associate with the responsibility of identifying with it's previous position within the union of the Austro-Germanic peoples under Nazi Germany.

[@RushfanUK]

@@evangiles17 The legal requirements in front of a Court Martial are rather different to that of a civil court, it would be interesting to know what actually happened as regards this case, there may well be an argument that even in an intoxicated state a soldier raising a weapon and pointing it at another person would show intent to cause significant harm having been rigorously trained in the safe handling of weapons. In the episode all the anger is focused on what happened to Grant and it appears that there was very little concern for either the German or British Officer who was killed, it may be that he was only dealt with by the American Military on the basis of what happened to Grant hence why Craver only received a relatively light sentence.

[@dek123]

If a British soldier had committed these crimes he would have be tried for murder and if found guilty he would have been executed. I suppose as no American died, these crimes weren’t considered that serious.

[@coryboyd7958]

My father knew Spiers very well and served with him. He said you never wanted to cross him.

[@ark7395]

After hearing the full, historical details of this incident, I really wished anyone should have just put down that SOAB

[@bighands69]

He may have been a soldier who had a mental break down for numerous reasons. Killing him after the event may have been worse than the event itself.

[@harvickfan100]

@Ark usually it’s just SOB. You don’t initialize an “a”.

[@PianoKwanMan]

@@harvickfan100 SOB = Souls On Board. He's not worthy of "a" Soul

[@chitalian22]

“Marijuana cigarettes” 😂

[@jeffzcubfan]

Craver did not die in prison, but ended up with quite a criminal record in North Carolina. Not surprisingly quite a few of those arrests involve drunken driving.

[@StockyDude]

Actually, that is “surprisingly”. Nobody is used to seeing an idiot that cannot figure out that he is not suited for drinking after so many alcohol-related incidents.

[@davecrupel2817]

@@StockyDude I see it all the time. All you have to do is live near, or in, a city. Or a prison. You'll see plenty of insistent drink-drivers. They might figure it out. But what you fail to consider is that they simply *don't Care.*

[@compaq2441]

Is there any information you have about where he ended up living or when he died? Curious what records of him are out there.

[@wavavoom]

Yeah you can look up his criminal record and I think he is the proud father of children which also followed in his footsteps.

[@MrSneaksful]

@@StockyDude Right. and yet the narrator seems to leave out the alcohol and blames it on "marijuana cigarettes "

[@melmo5218]

Two murders and an attempted murder and he avoids the rope. Mitigation? Beyond belief. They shot a typist after the battle of the Bulge for being a typist in the face of the enemy.

[@johngaither9263]

Eddie Slovik was the only GI executed for cowardice in the face of the enemy in the European field of operations. He was in the Third Army and Patton refused to stay his execution. A number of men were executed for criminal offenses such as rape and murder.

[@wiretamer5710]

War is an inconsistant cluster F%$K

[@insideout97]

I am glad someone is sharing the context around this series. These hero’s experiences were crazier in real life than they were in their Hollywood portrayal. Their memories will never die!

[@leemondez]

I love how you emphasise he was "high on marajuana" and not the fact he was pissed drunk on cognac 😂

[@creecree4983]

I know, in the show it shows the guy was really drunk. Don't remember marajuana being mentioned

[@ReelHistory]

There's quite a bit this series leaves out. This is the stuff you come across after hundreds of hours of research.

[@kyestevens]

Marijuana cigarettes 😂

[@getmeoutofsanfrancisco9917]

@@kyestevens MaRiHuAnA cIgArEtTeS

[@wmascolin]

Reefer madness vibes lol

[@christopherorozco1021]

When you speak to an officer you say *SIR*

[@redhotchilipapa5388]

This whole story of Easy Company will never cease to amaze me, I’ve always loved the history behind the series but hearing these accounts as well as reading Winters’ book really opens up your eyes to the truth of what happened.

[@RW4X4X3006]

And just one company. Imagine the combined accounts of an entire army of over 6 million.

[@dismemberedlamb9104]

Couldn’t have said it better

[@rosered103]

Well put.

[@shanecaldwell8995]

5th rangers and 505th 82nd have crazy history too.

[@richardlouro5603]

that was an excellent recapture of history. I always wondered what happened after that shooting. Thank you so much

[@jacobflynn9939]

Despite what they went through, and in fact because of it, it makes sense that Capt. Speirs wouldn't want to see his men suffer more death, no matter the circumstances. Great video!

[@SteinsChoice]

Videos that go deeper into specific things like this would be great to see. I enjoyed the material from this series very much, thanks for sharing with us.

[@ReeseMacalma]

Would love to have more of these short videos focusing on specific people if you would consider that - especially with Band of Brothers or The Pacific. Great work on this!

[@fukemnukem1525]

This was absolutely amazing..... Fantastic story... Thank you so much for sharing this.

[@codypk5111]

And the actor, Matthew settle, went from Supreme badass to loving father in gossip girl. A very talented actor

[@covertcuttlefish2023]

More content like this would be a real treat. I'm really enjoying this content, thanks for creating it.

[@jima1878]

I was just researching this not long ago and read there had been accusations against Craver that he was caught in the act of raping a local woman when he was originally captured after the shootings. Also, as for his post-war life, I found an obituary for a man with the same name and appropriate age, along with some ancillary correlating info which MAY be the same man. He died at the age of 67 as a free man. Still more to research on that angle though… Great episode-well-done.

[@ReelHistory]

Yes, we found that as well but could not currently confirm so it got left out as to not spread potentially false information.

[@hisdivineshadow8263]

@@ReelHistory any update? I am sure im not the only one who would like to know the ultimate fate of this guy. Hard to believe a triple murderer was ever released from prison. And people say that we have the best legal system in the world. Its evidently always been flawed, just gets more attention these days.

[@rosered103]

He probably ended up being a serial killer or got himself murdered.

[@SalemElloit]

@@ReelHistory I believe that is the floyd craver from this incident. Everything comes right back to the name, who died in 1987. And if it, he was struck by a truck while riding his moped.

[@Taistelukalkkuna]

@@SalemElloit Kind of Karmic if you think about it.

[@Ben-xj6su]

I doubt 1940s German Marijuana had anything to do with his behavior. The alcohol was probably more of a contributing factor.

[@chipchipperson12]

Thanks for take

[@ariochiv]

"Craver"... what a Dickensian name for a villain. I think Speirs was being very sensible here... he was willing to kill to maintain discipline in a combat situation, but with the war in Europe over, there was no real benefit to drumhead justice.

[@francischambless5919]

I agree. Although I don't know Speirs from anything other than how he's portrayed and other accounts of him, one thing I ascertained is that he was of level thinking all the time. Pretty sure he was at a point that with the war being over and unit cohesiveness not being necessary towards enemy combatants, the military tribunal was the proper authority. Executing a fellow soldier (even if he was a POS) post combat I think wouldn't have gone over too well even if he had deserved it.

[@curtiskretzer8898]

Seems that Speirs may have surmised that Craven could've been remanded to the Brits for the murder of their officer.

[@ColumbiaB]

“Craver”, not “Craven”; ends with an “R”, not an “N”.

[@bigwoody4704]

Too many witnesses or Spiers prolly would have whacked him

[@eriknervik9003]

I mean the confirmed killing by Spiers was of a sergeant who turned a weapon on him. Speirs killed him in self defense, and he killed Germans during the war. However killing Craver would’ve been murder. Speirs doesn’t strike me as a murderer, when he killed people there was moral justification for it

[@ereini0n]

This is so interesting! I love this scene, and the episode entire.

[@michaelrs8010]

That was very interesting. Thank you for your efforts in this regard.

[@frankkinley6272]

This was a fascinating bit of history. I hope you dig deeper and find out as much as you can about this guy. For example, his behavior inside prison. Family members and their take on the whole affair and what happened after his release from prison. Great story.

[@JeffTY77450]

Interesting, thanks for sharing. I find the completely needless deaths that occurred in the immediate aftermath of the ending of the war, like these, to be the most tragic of all.

[@philgiglio7922]

The deaths to be really lamented are those in training, although these are equally as egregious

[@macleunin]

I assumed that guy had been sentenced to death via firing squad, can’t believe he only went away for a few years..

[@thenextbondvillainklaussch3266]

Same here? He murdered 2 people in cold blood , one being a god Damn Major ! of an allied country !!!! ..... How the hell did that turd avoid the firing squad?

[@donovanc.2163]

He died in 1987.

[@bighands69]

There is a chance that the guy may have had a mental breakdown while on service. We just do not know the details and only have the TV show to go by.

[@scout3058]

"...a huge station area." "...high on marijuana cigarettes." I'm glad to know that my ultra Catholic grandfather's spirit lives on in this guy.

[@apastafarian5051]

Lmfao

[@oliviertostevin2144]

And then gives us the classics war on drugs line “a man high in marijuana murdered 3 them” I’m pretty sure it was the copious amounts of alcohol that severely impairs judgement and that the small amount of dirt weed that makes you giddy. A true ultra catholic with no experience outside of his small town and Christian university. Makes good content tho

[@miguelservetus9534]

Could you expand on your comment? Not familiar with ultra Catholic culture.

[@David-cr6fb]

Ya pretty ridiculous the emphasis he puts on the “marijuana cigarette”. Pretty sure the horrors of war and booze had a bigger part to play in here.. Good video but this guy obviously lives a very sheltered life 😂

[@oliviertostevin2144]

@@miguelservetus9534 I’m basically saying he lives a very sheltered life, the use of the term “marijuana cigarette” gives me strong D.A.R.E vibes and like someone who has never come into contact with any drugs or anything out of his sheltered suburban life. The real world is a lot different.

[@JonSkinner1944]

Thank you for the information, going into more detail about those unfortunate events. Also, thank you providing the back story of the German officer and British officer.

[@brian177]

Let's just be clear - the pot was not the issue here, the liquor was.

[@m4_sherman]

Yeah, very bizarre for someone on marijuana to act like this, unless he had pre psychotic symptoms.

[@dean-543]

It was a factor

[@shmentz]

@@dean-543 Sure it was, he could've shot the other soldiers in the jeep if he was only drunk, the weed probably slowed him down enough to "only" shot Grant.

[@sampat10]

Combination of both? You druggies sure are loud about defending Marijuana.. it's a drug that alters your brain, you cannot say it had nothing to do with this 😂

[@deadarmd]

​@m4_sherman so its rare but not completely uncommon. Look up the percentages of people with pre existing stuff who go crazy with paranoia. People try to pretend Marijuana is completely innocent. It's just not true.

[@darthslackus499]

I know it's easy to say having not been there. But had this happened to one of my brothers in arms, Craver would not have made it back to America. Some sort of freak "accident" would have befell him. Fuck due process.

[@bighands69]

And what if Craver had a breakdown? Too many people are assuming that he just did it for fun. Spears must have had doubts for a reason and many of the men who were involved in capturing him said he looked like a mad man.

[@darthslackus499]

@@bighands69 So you think a mental breakdown is excusable for murdering 3 innocent lives?

[@bighands69]

@@darthslackus499 I think you read my comment again you will that it has no relationship to what you just stated. Where did I say excusable? I stated that Spears had doubts for a reason.

[@michaelcudby787]

couldnt have put it better,sir

[@michaelcudby787]

about having an "accident"

[@Thecohostobviouzx]

For those wondering, Floyd Craver went on after release from Prison to be a paint contractor. He died in 1987 at 65 years old. He had 1 son and 4 daughters. His wife died only the month before him. He died when the moped he was riding on was struck by a truck.

[@ReelHistory]

What's the source for this, I'm genuinely interested because we found similar information but the source material was sketchy enough to not include it. Although some of what you included wasn't what we found.

[@lesa.4903]

@@ReelHistory The July 8, 1987 Charlotte Observer has the following article which I have copied word for word except for the name of the truck driver : MOPED RIDER KILLED Floyd Wilkinson Craver, 65, of Concord was killed after the moped he was riding was hit broadside by a truck at Cabarrus Avenue and Powder Street at 2:15 p.m. Monday, Concord police said. Craver was taken to Charlotte Memorial Hospital, where he died at 5 p.m., police said. Rxxxxx Lxxxxx Hxxxxx, 43, of Concord, who was driving a Cabarrus Creamery truck, was charged with a stop sign violation.

[@georgiamule]

Impressive research and excellent presentation. Thank you.

[@dwightadams3853]

Floyd Wilkinson Craver 1921-1987 from North Carolina was supposed to be incarcerated for life but somehow was released. There is a transcript of his court marshal describing the events in detail as shown in this video. Unlike those he murdered, he married and had children. It is unknown if the family is aware of his crimes.

[@dons1932]

Woah crazy!

[@seththomas9105]

@@dons1932 Died at a reletively young age. Too bad he got to come home from Germany when a British officer didn't get that chance.

[@markmatousek9427]

Find a grave indicates he was hit and killed by a truck in 1987 at age 65

[@ProvisionalPatrioticAlliance]

​@@markmatousek9427 riding a moped lol. So at least he died on the most embarrassing conveyance possible.

[@demi0n]

​@@markmatousek9427 i hope he suffered :)

[@sfjp1]

Didn't know the background to this, very interesting. However it's another example of the truth being more interesting and dramatic than the dramatisation of the event.

[@bugalaman]

Fantastic story. Thank you for sharing. It's been a while since i've watched Band of Brothers and it is time for a rewatch. Sad how none of them area around anymore. Truly the greatest generation.

[@Narnian77]

So well done. Great video, and shows you put a lot into it. Thanks and keep up the good work👍

[@ReelHistory]

It's nice to get some encouraging words every once in awhile, thanks!

[@Narnian77]

@@ReelHistory A sincere compliment, Jared. Looking forward to watching all of your BOB's series. I'm a fellow lover of history, especially WW2. My dad was a civilian survivor of Pearl Harbor, joined the Navy after that, and served on two Clemson class destroyers in the Pacific, both of which were hit by kamikazes. He had some pretty hairy stories to tell! Keep up the good work! Blessings to you and yours.

[@gabrielrousseau958]

What I enjoyed more than your amazing detailed and gripping video, are the comments that reveal even more details. So awesome.

[@stephensluznis3899]

So where can someone obtain a “Spears Last Stop Smoke Shop” T-shirt?

[@ReelHistory]

The t-shirt shop called Ranger Up.

[@guidorrmc7618]

I’ll take one, but I want his name spelled correctly on mine.

[@drewwagner4802]

great info, thanks man, I've always wondered what happened.

[@CtrlAltDelite]

Excellent back-history lesson. Thank you

[@fuyu5979]

Found ur comments interesting n informative beyond the movie. New subscriber because of this vid. Kudos for ur upload. Looking forward to ur next one

[@ReelHistory]

Should be out in a week or so

[@thomastheeck5519]

Thank you. I've watched the series several times and I've always wondered what happened to the shooter.

[@pararigger64]

Thank you for this incredible research.

[@N0M0RENAME]

This is such a good example of how a great leader can set a competent team on a task while he locate a doc for your downed man. Legendary indeed.

[@swivelhips586]

Honestly, as horrific as the crimes are, perhaps naively, I was stunned to hear about the handful of Marijuana cigarettes. In all my life and studies of WW2, Marijuana use was one subject I had never run across. Unless you count Donald Sutherland in "Kelly's Heroes."

[@MrSneaksful]

because it was so minimal and had ZERO to do with this person shooting people. That was the defenses approach to getting this criminal off.

[@johns1039]

@@MrSneaksful Being impaired by drugs (and alcohol) had nothing to do with his judgement? B.S.

[@gaoxiaen1]

@@johns1039 Alcohol (and drugs). After a few drinks, cannabis has hardly any effect that isn't completely overwhelmed by alcohol. By the way, alcohol IS a drug.

[@johns1039]

Yes, alcohol is a drug, but you are completely wrong that the effects of cannabis are overwhelmed by alcohol. There are independent effects, and there are synergistic effects. I am a court recognized expert in this subject. I suggest that you obtain more education on the topic.@@gaoxiaen1

[@n1nj4sp4rt4n]

i think it's clear that in this case the marijuana joint set off his violent tendencies... crazy that this poison is now legal in this current world

[@stevenesparza2003]

Thanks for clearing up the rest of this story.

[@stevenesparza2003]

What happened to sgt Grant after the war?

[@davecordova7211]

Thank you for this video. Very informative!

[@raymondswift9332]

Excellent I've often wondered about that situation much appreciated cheers for the excellent videos

[@ReelHistory]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@tycobb8974]

I would love to see a breakdown on video of several key scenes in the movie. Obviously they couldn't pack everything in but it'd be nice to know more. Thx on video and we'll done.

[@steveparello913]

Floyd Craver was riding a moped on July 6 1987 in Concord NC when a truck ran a stop sign and hit him broadside. He died 3 hours later at the hospital.

[@manfrey1]

geez, this video was suggested and it happens that tomorrow will be the anniversary of this sad story, I got goosebumps!

[@snook279]

Thank you for sharing the information. It is a sad story but I am glad to know more about it.

[@ReelHistory]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@flintcityhc1524]

“Oh man he was high on mArIjUaNa!!!” Considering weed in the 40s is an absolute joke compared to today and nobody seems to be pulling off mass murders after having a joint the fact that you stress that point is clownishly appropriate for the reefer madness times they lived in

[@ReelHistory]

Thanks for visiting and boosting our algorithm!

[@johnmarschalk1977]

Malarky's account in later video, was that they were near a hospital to treat Luftwaffe pilots that had head injuries. Doctor was already at hospital and said Grant would die during surgery. Some one else pulled gun and said operate or die. Think video is from Smithfinn (?) Burr Smith's daughter. Only 4 videos, but he recounts story that Spears had a banquet to honor the doctor. Pretty clear on his recollection of events

[@prospero7849]

Thank you for this informative and fascinating video :)

[@ReelHistory]

Thank you for tuning in!

[@petroc62]

Thank you for taking the time to fill in details to the story. While sometimes things like this seem frivolous, this is a case where the finer details are imperative to understanding the emotions and thought processes that were going on in the larger picture. There are so many facets to that war, that I'm afraid much of the smaller details of history are lost to time, gone with the men who lived them.

[@philnotley5138]

It’s hard to believe someone charged with two murders one of a British officer and the attempted murder of an American NCO escaped a death penalty

[@msbhicks8358]

Not to mention the British officer was a staff officer

[@banquo60615]

Potheads seem to get awfully touchy when their favorite thing in the world gets implicated in a violent crime 76 years ago. I thought you guys were chill.

[@deuces_shoeless]

Because it seemed like they were trying to demonize pot as the reason Craver did what he did. Not the alcohol they were feeding them all at the end of the war or the atrocities he had to bottle up.

[@prettyokandy230]

guess it feels the same as people ripping on the 2nd amendment

[@banquo60615]

@@prettyokandy230 Unfortunately for potheads, there's no constitutional right to get high.

[@banquo60615]

@@deuces_shoeless Hundreds of thousands of Americans saw combat; all of them had access to alcohol; it just so happens that the one of few who got his hands on some weed (and used it) ends up randomly murdering two people and severely brain-damaging a third. What are the odds?

[@banquo60615]

@@prettyokandy230 The only reason cannabis causes fewer countable deaths than alcohol at this point in history is that a lot fewer people use it than alcohol. Also, researchers have found that long-term habitual use of cannabis correlates with depression, psychopathy, and suicide. That being said, I'm not for criminalizing cannabis, or even against legalizing it. It's readily available in most of the US now and most people seem to be able to handle it. I'm just pointing out that weed-lovers always go nuts at any suggestion that its use may carry negative side effects.

[@gladyserrickson9592]

I love our history and love band of brother’s thank you for showing this veido

[@johnasti5239]

Its my favorite series and after watching many war films, Band of Brothers is the most realistic. Thank you for the unravelling the story. Love the story within the story. Great post!!!

[@michaelwelch1980]

This showed that Speers cared about his men.

[@BeedrillYanyan]

This is one of the most frustrating things I learned from Band of Brothers. Everything that happened was so unnecessary and the motherfucker dodges serious punishment?!?!?!

[@harryzimmerman7991]

He might've dodged the full punishment he deserved, but he certainly didn't dodge the full wrath beatdown of Easy Co, read a little bit into this, they beat the livin' dogshit outta that scumbag, who was found in the process of trying to rape a local Austrian girl, they whooped his ass far more than even in the show, dumped off at the MP station unconscious like a bag of garbage! So he didn't get full justice from the law but Easy Company certainly got their payback for shooting one their guys!!

[@andrewheller8597]

“High on marijuana cigarettes.” Lol

[@formulajuan6038]

Weed? Come on man! When your blazed you just want pizza. Most likely was the combo of PTSD and booze.

[@leodoro8877]

Nice presentation, I also agree with Colonel Sink.

[@johnharris6655]

Winters said that Speirs and Guarnere were the best killers in the the Army. He meant that as a compliment, there was no hesitation when it came to killing the enemy. But even I don't think Speirs would kill a man tied to a chair.

[@kenduffy5397]

As a fellow historian, I know how much time & energy it took to do all the research & to get all of the details & facts correct about this one particular incident. Most people think because “we’re” historian’s that we have all of these details memorized; we don’t! Yes, we were taught & most of us know that the 101st Airborne was stationed in Austria. However, without researching this particular event? We wouldn’t be able to enjoy your content. This is just one incident out of thousands during WWII. So it takes work to make a video like this happen & you did a great job!

[@ReelHistory]

Thank you very much!

[@rockslide4802]

Excellent episode. Very informative and extremely well done.

[@alasarcher400]

Dude probably didn't even try to hide or run away, he was just looking for Soviet officer to complete the achievement.

[@17Scumdog]

Lmao that's great! The soviets would have shot him without blinking though, and his whole family, and anyone who lived on his same street 😂

[@roux5044]

"And further more Susan, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to learn that all four of them habitually smoked Marijuana cigarettes... REEFERS!"

[@michaelchandler490]

Enjoyed your video. Thanks for making it.

[@ReelHistory]

Thank you!

[@tracyfrazier7440]

Your description makes the scene all the more horrible. It doesn’t sound like he received his deserved punishment, but I am glad Spiers didn’t take the law into his own hands.

[@krobarrides9028]

I agree, at that point in the war I feel they would have dropped a building on Speers for his actions.

[@jeffpalmer6076]

After the court-martial the soldier would’ve been transferred to the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth Kansas. The USDB is the penitentiary for the US military and has been since it was built.

[@evangiles17]

Backin the day they would make you run the Gauntlet - 20 of the heaviest and meanest men would stand opposite you on both sides and club you with truncheons - Most men never made it to the end - Grafton jail out here in Australia became one of the most feared prison's in Australia because every new inmate was forced to walk the gauntlet and no one ever made it to other end they either collapsed from the broken bones or they'd faint from the fear

[@twotiretirade4624]

Thanks for the information, great content.

[@ReelHistory]

Thanks for watching!

[@deadarmd]

What many ppl miss also is before this in the series winters gives speirs orders and says "no one else dies, not now"

[@magnificentmuttley2084]

Great video. Very informative. Since first watching Band of Brothers, I always wondered what happened to Sgt.Grant and, in particular, the piece of scum that shot him. I have to agree with Michael Hayden here, I find it very difficult to understand, that considering the seriousness of what Kraver (spelling??) did, he wasn’t executed. I suspect that Capt.Spiers and Easy Company men, no doubt, expected he would be, once found guilty in court martial. I’m sure with hindsight Capt.Spiers regretted not pulling that trigger, as Col.Cink suggested.

[@Captainkebbles1392]

I love how Winters asked Spiers point blank if he rumors were true, and he said yeah Thanks for making this, got snippets but this is a good and cool collection of all the info

[@eyesonfire4301]

WOW!! nice report..thanks for that bud

[@robbie5138]

Given the fact he had shared an Entire bottle of coniac that was more of the cause than the Joints.

[@tinderbox218]

Someone should have tracked down this SOB later. I wonder what kind of misery he continued to spread stateside after getting out of prison.

[@kodiakkeith]

It would be interesting to read the court martial transcript. I wonder if there was actually any pot involved, or was it just something the defendant tried to use as a defense? "Some Austrian gave me some loco weed and I had no idea it would turn me into a homicidal maniac..." I suspect the only weed available in the aftermath of the Nazi era would be that grown for hemp and that is so low in THC it would be a waste of time trying to get high from it. A smart defense lawyer, or the defendant himself, might use that to get a lowered sentence given the ignorance about the plant during those times.

[@MrSneaksful]

exactly what i was thinking as well. Being a advid smoker of weed for the past 30 years and gun owner. Ive never been so high as to shoot people. wtf

[@elweasel2010]

@@MrSneaksful I would not make that public knowledge since it is still against federal law.

[@blueeyedscorpio7]

💯💯👏👏

[@bvalt1]

The effects of any cannabis that he consumed would have been gone in a matter of 2 hours. The quart of distilled alcohol however would have stayed with him for several more hours. Especially in the 1940's, the THC levels would have not been very high. It was used at the time to further demonize a psychotic break that this poor combat veteran finally had, unfortunately it involved the death and maiming of several individuals. He should have been discharged and given psychological care long before this incident happened, and as others had said, he was a known trouble-maker. We know now that his psychosis was likely due to combat fatigue, PTSD as it is now termed, and 80 years later we have made little to no progress in treating mental illness in general, and we wonder why we have so many mass shootings....SMH

[@headrockbeats]

While watching the show it's so easy to forget that what you're seeing is events that actually happened (whether slightly modified or straight up as presented). It feels like fiction... yet it isn't.

[@FestusBro]

Satan's lettuce never fails.