FIRST TIME WATCHING: Band of Brothers S1E3!!
Added 2024-01-09 14:00:04 +0000 UTCMan, this was an emotional one. Definitely caught me off guard in the end.
As always, thank you so much for your support here on Patreon. Until the next one, have a great weekend and stay golden!
LINK: https://youtu.be/sExlexAjZFM
Original Series: Band of Brothers
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Comments
I've never heard it called that. The Purple Heart is the "Enemy Marksmanship Badge."
PP82
2025-01-05 06:11:50 +0000 UTCIt's interesting to see a first reaction to scenes like the laundry collection. At first I can't fathom how it takes a minute to realise they'd all persihed and not simply missing. But I've seen this show at least 10 times in entireity, and buggered if I camn say that I had eerything figured out back in 2001 😂.
Harry Reece
2024-01-18 15:35:31 +0000 UTCIf anyone is still checking out these comments, here is an interview with a prominent member of Easy Company about Blithe. I'm being vague for spoiler reasons (although that feels weird for something that actually happened) but I would suggest giving it a watch, even if you wait until after the series to watch it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfhcwvsUkBY
Ken W
2024-01-16 03:06:26 +0000 UTClol, I'm glad that you put the video preview up! I don't have the previous episode up or whatever first, like you do, since I'm watching on Netflix. This show's incredible! Easily a fave of mine. I should mention this now - if I'm overly emotional during this watchalong or whatever, my reaction to it - I'm sorry. My mom passed yesterday and I'm still learning to cope with that. I'm grateful that I've already watched this entire series already - so I'll know what to expect. Blithe is a mess! That guy is shellshocked for sure. No idea what's going on. It's hard for me to remember watching this for the first time, at least right now it is. I think I remember him being a mess all those years ago. hahahaha, Lutz is a necessary guy for sure! He's collecting them! Not like they'll see any use otherwise. lol, he freaks you out? This show does an incredible job at that, putting thins in perspective, I mean. Dude with the grenadeis fine, yeah. He was cooking it, bringing it to them ready to blow right after it makes impact. Zeroed means that they've got their location, yeah. xD lmao, yeah! I'm glad you reacted like that, there! Totally intentional. :) I'm over here in tears, too! Normally I'm able to watch this without any tears at all. Blithe had hysterical blindness. lol, yeah - the same story is being retold and each time it's changning bit by bit. So much for a reliable narrator. Spears tells it like it is. I'm drawing a blank on what an OP is. I first watched this back in high school. The actors they have playing all of these characters did an incredible job, I feel! I'm surprised that Nat isn't using subtitles! They're all speaking English, yeah, but with all of the explosions and all that it would make it so much easier to watch for her, I'd think. He's collecting the dead men's clothes, yeah. This entire show is like this, yeah. Don't feel bad for being emotional! It shows that they did an incredible job and that you're human. Nothing wrong with that. :) Thank you for watching this, Natalie. I appreciate your reactions! :)
Logan Kerlee
2024-01-15 22:38:47 +0000 UTCMy family was neighborhood friends with the Malarkey's and I have done a great deal of study on the era and my family's involvement in the war. If you have any questions along the way I'd be happy to answer them without spoilers.
brennanfee
2024-01-11 11:19:22 +0000 UTCYou were curious about the Purple Heart - it's awarded for being wounded, or killed, as a result of enemy action, one Purple Heart per event. I've heard veterans who had Purple Hearts call it the "`Didn't duck fast enough" medal. The medals for courage in combat would include, in ascending order but not necessarily limited to, the Bronze Star with Combat V, the Silver Star, the Distinguished Service Cross (for Army - it would be the Navy Cross for Navy and USMC, or the Distinguished Flying Cross for Air Force), and the Medal of Honor, that last one being the highest award for combat service that this country has. "Zeroed in" means having the sights and aim of a weapon adjusted to score a direct hit on a target. One of the things expected of an officer is to inspire his or her people by doing things like standing up and moving around under fire, walking the walk as well as talking the talk when it comes to "Follow me." One well-known British colonel \Because of that, in every good combat force (on land, at any rate), the casualty rates - the percentages of people at each rank that are killed and wounded - go up with each promotion, at least up until you get to the generals and sometimes even then.
Jim Finley
2024-01-11 02:48:04 +0000 UTCThey don't tell you the names of the real men until the last ep. so have fun guessing who is who. Also obligatory Blithe didn't die. He had a long and distinguished career, served in the Korean War after WW2.
Ashley
2024-01-10 01:18:43 +0000 UTCThe interviewees are not named because that would give away who lived until the end. When they said that they enemy had them zeroed, it meant that the enemy artillery had corrected their aim onto their position, and they were about to be bombarded It was actually Winters who encouraged Blithe out of the foxhole. The other 2 lieutenants had talked to him, the drunk Welsh and the sociopath (maybe?) Speirs, but neither had really convinced him. Winters inspired him and rallied him during the battle.
LookingForOwls
2024-01-10 01:01:19 +0000 UTCSTOCK UP ON TISSUES. It doesn’t get any easier.
djKENTO
2024-01-10 00:39:28 +0000 UTCOkay on a different note: Conduct the opening just as you used to do with Game of Thrones, remember? The triangle pattern bc this music is also a 3/4 waltz. The Blithe thing has already been pointed out so I'll stop here until after.
MertzRocks
2024-01-09 23:16:51 +0000 UTCI've read that too. This is right.
MertzRocks
2024-01-09 23:12:03 +0000 UTCMaking reference to the book and who it interviews is spoiling it for her and other people who haven’t seen it. That’s why the real people at the beginning of the episodes aren’t named.
Tay Schumaker
2024-01-09 22:04:09 +0000 UTCIn Ambrose's book Winters talks about Blithe's hysterical blindness. The scene where Winters talks to him and then suddenly Blithe can see is pretty much just how it happened. Winters stooped to talk to him and reassure him and squeeze his shoulder and it just snapped him out of it. The other amazing-yet-true thing is Winters repeatedly exposing himself to fire and miraculously never getting hit, except for that one ricochet. When most of the men dove into the ditches on their way into Carentan Winters knew he had to get them out and moving, partly because it was the only way they'd achieve their objective and partly because they were sitting ducks where they were. The Germans would eventually zero in their artillery and wipe them out. So Winters was just yelling and screaming at them to get moving and yes, he took off his helmet to shoo them along and he even physically dragged a few of them up and kicked them in the ass. Spiers is such a compelling character and Matthew Settle does such a good job with that calm menace he always seems to wear. The story about Spiers shooting the prisoners was one that spread throughout the battalion, but there were all these different versions, each a little different from the other and all secondhand. Spiers would never talk about it. It almost certainly happened, though. It was D-Day and the paratroopers didn't have the ability to keep prisoners secure long term. It was either let them go and know they'd be trying to kill you tomorrow, or shoot them.
Rosanne Stewart
2024-01-09 21:49:32 +0000 UTCHey NAT if you see this, there is a series error about Blithe, this is at no fault of the producers or writers of the show itself as we all know this is all based on real stories and a book. Band of Brothers incorrectly states that Albert Blithe died of his war wounds in 1948, but in reality, he died of kidney failure and complications during surgery in 1967. The mistake originated from Stephen A. Ambrose's book, which the series is based on, and was never corrected, it one of the very few errors on the book about these soldiers in Easy Company. Blithe was actually one of the best soldiers in Easy Company and very fine marksman, and as you can see, didnt die during the war and lived well after the war.
LightsCameraJake
2024-01-09 21:28:32 +0000 UTCAnd I think we all know exactly which episode Nat is going to need a full truckload of tissues. Won't say which one, because spoilers, but... oof. Always a rough watch, as amazing as it is.
Jeff K
2024-01-09 18:02:23 +0000 UTCThe category 5 tear storm warning will remain in effect for the rest of this series. Tissue advisories throughout.
Essero Eson
2024-01-09 17:39:18 +0000 UTCTo answer your question Nat about the shooting of the prisoners in episode 1, they never showed it, Malarkey heard it happen, but he didn't witness it. That's why they have so many conflicting stories about the event. Also the guy who did that brave grenade throw at Carentan and helped take out that german tank was Lieutenant Harry Welsh, you can recognize his character by the gap in his teeth. It's implied that he's drinking throughout the episode. He makes a grimacing face when he's drinking from his canteen, and when he offers Blithe a sip of his canteen Blithe makes a surprised face. The guy is both chill and really brave most of the episode, probably do to a little liquid courage. It's a subtle touch they add to the episode.
Frankie H
2024-01-09 17:15:15 +0000 UTCThe Purple Heart is awarded for wounds received by the enemy in combat. A lanced boil shouldn't qualify, but it wouldn't be the first time someone's fudged the system to get a medal. Getting stabbed by one of your own also doesn't qualify, which is why he handed his extra medal over. For those of us who've "Seen the Elephant", we generally call a Purple Heart "The Booby Prize". :)
Ed Bartlett
2024-01-09 16:07:18 +0000 UTCThe text at the end of the episode is wrong, Albert Blithe died in 1967
larshans
2024-01-09 16:01:14 +0000 UTCLove your insight into film making on this show. Don’t worry about all the names. You will get to know them as you move forward in the series. Also “OP” stands for Observation Post.
Brian Mc
2024-01-09 15:46:37 +0000 UTCNo shame in crying to this show, it hits hard every episode.
Stephen Woods
2024-01-09 15:43:43 +0000 UTCThere was a historical error on Steven Ambrose's part. Blithe did survive from his wounds and would serve in Korea with distinction being awarded both the Bronze Star and the Silver Star (the two are valor medals). He would die sometime in the 1960's. Hysterical Blindness is a thing. Your mind's last "fail safe" to protect you from seeing something you can't handle psychologically...or maybe you've seen too much and the brain just shuts down your vision. Yes the Purple Heart is awarded for wounds only. I'm not certain if it is only awarded for being wounded in combat. Fun fact they are still awarding service members purple hearts made during WW2 to this day because they made so many of them. I believe they made so many for the planned invasion of Japan that thankfully never occurred. Casualties (thats wound, KIA and MIA) were estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands if not into the millions.
Stephen Lewis
2024-01-09 15:33:06 +0000 UTCSo Nat: this episode contains BY FAR the biggest factual error of the entire series, and it's about Blithe. Cutting to the chase: he absolutely DID recover, and later served in Korea, and died in 1967. None of the other Easy Company guys knew what had happened to him and just assumed he died, and that's what they told Stephen Ambrose, the author of the book, and he just accepted it as fact.
Jeff K
2024-01-09 15:20:59 +0000 UTCCan't wait to watch this on nat. This is one of my top series ever and am busting to see your overall reaction the the whole series for sure!
Ben Curran
2024-01-09 14:59:41 +0000 UTCHey Natalie, glad you seem to be enjoying the show so far even if there are some tears. In case you’re still curious, here are some answers to two of your questions on military terms. First, you were right on your guess about what ‘zeroing’ means. When Lipton said “they’ve got us zeroed” that meant the German artillery had their guns fixed to fire on some specific coordinates in Carentan. Second, ‘OP’ stands for ‘observation point’ which is exactly what it sounds like and is usually placed ahead of everyone else to look out for the enemy. Since Welsh was a platoon leader, he led about forty men and the platoon OP would probably be manned by two guys. Obviously when the Germans attacked Welsh knew where they were so he called them back to the rest of the platoon since two guys by themselves are obviously vulnerable. Hope that helps. Take care.
Thomas Wetherell
2024-01-09 14:55:23 +0000 UTCHi Nat, looking forward to this, its been great so far.
Baggie Mark
2024-01-09 14:14:17 +0000 UTCHappy Tuesday Nat. Hope you are doing well. Time for more B of B. Definitely a show I look forward to, and dread watching in equal measure 😬 It always hits hard. Wow, the emotions on this one Nat. I think we were all feeling the same at the end, well I know I was. I was yelling at the TV during the field battle too. Those were some real heroes there. I think the line directed at Blithe, "You must have been in one hell of a fight", mirrored his internal battle to get himself together, and he did finally overcome his terror. So sad that his new found bravery was cut short. Thanks for another stirring reaction today Nat 💛
Darryl Low
2024-01-09 14:02:40 +0000 UTC
