In the autumn of 2001, just before terrorists attacked the United States on September 11th, a ten-part television mini-series, entitled Band of Brothers, began on the Home Box Office (HBO) cable network. That mini-series told with exquisite eloquence the story of one of the most famous U.S. Army units to fight during World War II.
The book upon which this HBO mini-series is based is Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest, by noted historian and biographer Stephen E. Ambrose. This is a truly extraordinary book! Imbued with Ambrose’s trademark flowing narrative, Band of Brothers tells with great power the compelling story of one of the most storied units in U.S. Army history: Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR).
That unit had its beginnings in 1942, on the hot, swampy training grounds of South Georgia. It courageously fought on some of the bloodiest battlegrounds of Europe during World War II; suffered over 150 percent casualties during its illustrious wartime career; and disbanded in the summer of 1945, only a few weeks after the defeat of Germany. By the end of the war, Easy Company was one of the most decorated units to have fought in any theater of operations.
Easy Company’s story began in the summer of 1942 at Camp Toccoa, Georgia. In that swampy rural setting, men from all walks of life – every one of them a volunteer – assembled to learn how to become paratroopers. As Ambrose points out, these men all wanted to become something more than just ordinary soldiers in the war against Germany; they wanted to become something special.
Among all the trainees at Camp Toccoa, none became more special than the men of Easy Company. Perhaps it was because of the unit’s first commander – a narrow-minded, brutal martinet named Herbert Sobel, a man who was universally loathed for his incompetence and poor leadership skills. Nevertheless, he insisted on the most rigorous training possible to prepare the men of Easy Company for war.
All that training paid off when Easy Company finally went to Europe. After being transferred to Britain in early 1944, Easy’s soldiers continued preparing for the upcoming Normandy invasion. During this period, Captain Sobel was relieved as company commander, and was replaced by another officer who was later presumed killed in action at Normandy.
During the pre-dawn hours of June 6, 1944, the 140 men of Easy Company parachuted behind enemy lines into Normandy. Most ended up being scattered across the French countryside, due to navigational errors and ground fire from the Germans. The men quickly adapted to the situation and soon became a coherent fighting force. When Captain Sobel’s replacement as company commander was declared killed in action, command of Easy Company was given to Lieutenant Richard Winters, an extraordinary gifted leader of extraordinary men.
Easy’s soldiers quickly proved their mettle in battle. Lieutenant Winters led a small unit of men who quickly and effectively neutralized a battery of German 88-caliber artillery guns threatening the Normandy beachheads. For this action, Winters and his men were awarded the first in a series of decorations, including a Distinguished Service Cross for Winters and several Silver Stars and Bronze Stars for other men.
This now battle-hardened “Band of Brothers” continued to fight with zeal and courage during the weeks after D-Day, often suffering severe casualties in the process. Easy Company was gaining a reputation as the finest unit in the 506th PIR; Winters was considered one of the best officers in the regiment. He was soon promoted and appointed Second Battalion Executive Officer.
In September 1944, the men of Easy Company once again found themselves in the thick of some of the worst fighting in Europe. Operation “Market-Garden” was the ill-fated Allied attempt to end the war early by capturing a series of bridges in Holland. This time, the “Band of Brothers” would taste defeat at the hands of the Germans.
After “Market-Garden,” Easy Company’s soldiers once again received an all-too-brief respite from battle, right before their worst trial of the war began. In December 1944, the German armies counterattacked the Allied forces in Belgium. The 101st Airborne Division, including the 506th PIR, was rushed to defend the strategic Belgian town of Bastogne. The American forces soon found themselves surrounded by a numerically superior and better equipped German army.
For nearly two months, Easy Company defended its assigned sector, despite being without sufficient food, water, ammunition, and winter clothing. during this uncommonly bitter winter, the company was commanded by another incompetent and uncaring officer. Nevertheless, the men followed Easy’s gifted officers and noncoms, who held the unit together. During the prolonged siege of Bastogne, several of Easy Company’s best soldiers became casualties.
In early 1945, General George S. Patton’s Third Army broke the German siege of Bastogne. This ended the Battle of the Bulge; the Allies continued their push into the German heartland. Easy Company found itself in the thick of several minor but bloody battles.
On May 8, 1945, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allies, thus ending the World War II in Europe. By now, Easy Company was deep within Germany, heading for one of the most prized military objectives of all: Hitler’s secret headquarters at Berchtesgaden. Easy Company had the distinction of being the unit that occupied Aldershorst (Eagle’s Nest), Hitler’s mountaintop retreat above Berchtesgaden.
In July 1945, after moving into Austria to perform occupation duties, Easy Company was officially deactivated by the U.S. Army. It had gained a sterling reputation as one of the hardest fighting and most highly decorated Army units of the Second World War.
My synopsis of Easy Company’s wartime exploits cannot even begin to do justice to Stephen Ambrose’s magnificent narrative in Band of Brothers. This book is a real departure from the kinds of books previously written by Ambrose. In his other works of history – most notably Undaunted Courage, D-Day, and Nothing Like It in the World, – Ambrose casts a historian’s dispassionate and unbiased eye on his subject and relates his story with complete neutrality. Not so in Band of Brothers! This is a personal story… one written to cast a spotlight on the brave men who served their country so bravely and nobly on Europe’s battlefields during World War II.
Ambrose allows his readers to really know the men of Easy Company: men like Dick Winters, the complete antithesis of Herb Sobel, who became so beloved by the men of Easy that they were willing to follow him anywhere; Lewis Nixon, another outstanding officer who, despite being plagued by alcoholism, proved a tremendously capable and courageous leader; Carwood Lipton, the company’s first sergeant, another extraordinary leader whose courage and example eventually earned him a battlefield commission; and other noncoms, like Bill Guanere, John Martin, and Shifty Powers, whose courage under fire held the company together during its darkest hours.
Relying on first-hand accounts of Easy Company veterans like Winters, Lipton, Guanere, and Powers, Stephen Ambrose provides a compelling narrative that brings the reader right into the heart of battle. I was completely captivated when I read about how Winters led his patrol into battle against the German artillery at Normandy; and how Easy’s soldiers endured incredible suffering with extraordinary courage in Holland and at Bastogne.
Band of Brothers is a relatively short book, running to just over 300 pages. Each and every one of those pages comes alive with Ambrose’s brilliantly constructed narrative, written in his simple yet eloquent writing style. Fair, judicious, and yet warmly sympathetic to its subject, Band of Brothers is as good a book about war and the courageous men who fought it as one is likely to find anywhere. Read and enjoy!!
Other Book Reviews by Mike Powers:An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963; An Army at Dawn;The Alienist;Last Man Standing;Is Paris Burning?;The Top 10 PulitzerPrize for History Books of All Time ; The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt ; Empire Falls ; Debt of Honor ; Lonesome Dove ; Our Town , Founding Brothers
