Tag: Easy Company

Band of Brothers at 15: Damian Lewis at Boot Camp

‘It’s very authentic, dripping in sincerity, there’s nothing sensational about it. It had a docu-drama feel to it which people responded to. — Damian Lewis on Band of Brothers

bandofbrothers

We earlier blogged about how a 29-year old British actor Damian Lewis got cast to play all-American WWII hero Dick Winters as well as the deft and the charisma with which Damian Lewis came to immortalize Dick Winters on small screen. However, we still have a black box between the casting and the shoot: How did Damian Lewis TRANSFORM into Dick Winters?

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Well… Once he gets the part, the two Hollywood giants Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks leave the room and Tony To, the executive producer, asks: “Hey Damian, how’d you like to go to boot camp in March?”

Ha! The boot camp… It is, in fact, what FILLS the black box I’ve been talking about… The Transformation, quoting Damian himself, from “a rice pudding” to a “celery stalk” 🙂

Continue reading “Band of Brothers at 15: Damian Lewis at Boot Camp”

Band of Brothers at 15: Episode 9 Why We Fight

By the end of the World War II, it is estimated that 6 million Jews and another 5 million people (consisting of Gypsies, Poles, Homosexuals, Soviet PoWs and the mentally and physically disabled) were murdered by the Nazis.

During World War two many Nazi Camps were liberated. A fair number of the camps were liberated during April 1945, as World War II approached its end. The sheer number of camps is staggering and horrifying. Continue reading “Band of Brothers at 15: Episode 9 Why We Fight”

Band of Brothers at 15: Episode 2 Day of Days

After successfully parachuting into Normandy on June 6, 1944, Dick Winters leads an attack on a German artillery position at Brecourt Manor where he and his men disable 4 German heavy guns that have been threatening Allied forces coming from Utah Beach. Winters is awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his service at Brecourt Manor.

This very medal and much more is on display indefinitely at the Gettysburg Museum of History exhibition “Major Dick Winters Collection” honoring Winters.

realdickwinters5

Lancester Online quotes museum curator Erick Dorr: “Winters personifies the World War II combat leader. In my opinion those men literally saved the world. We need to honor that. We need to remember that.”

We cannot agree more with Mr. Dorr. And, the 15th anniversary of Band of Brothers gives us a unique opportunity to make a tribute to this real-life hero and his Easy Company. We bring our favorite episodes of the series to the blog this week.

My personal favorite is Episode 2: Day of Days.

As I already told you in my Memorial Day post, there is no way I can comprehend the mind set of a soldier on a boat approaching the shores of Normandy or on an airplane about to make a jump into Normandy. What do these guys think? What thoughts go through their minds? Home? Family? Death? Or do they just try to get it all out of their minds and focus on getting the job done? How can one pull it off knowing his own death may arrive the moment he lands? Continue reading “Band of Brothers at 15: Episode 2 Day of Days”

For the Anniversary of D-Day: Band of Brothers, Episode 2, Day of Days

Today is the anniversary of the D-Day landings.

On June 6, 1944, after successfully parachuting into Normandy, Dick Winters led an attack on a German artillery position at Brecourt Manor and he and his men disabled 4 German heavy guns that were threatening Allied forces coming from Utah Beach. Winters was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his service at Brecourt Manor.

This very medal and much more are on display at the Gettysburg Museum of History at the “Major Dick Winters Collection” honoring Winters.

realdickwinters5

Lancester Online quotes museum curator Erick Dorr: “Winters personifies the World War II combat leader. In my opinion those men literally saved the world. We need to honor that. We need to remember that.” We cannot agree more with Mr. Dorr. And, to remember D-Day and to honor all D-day heroes, we bring Band of Brothers Episode 2: Day of Days to life today on the blog.

source: denofgeek.com
source: denofgeek.com

As I already told you in an earlier Memorial Day post, there is no way I can comprehend the mind set of a soldier on a boat approaching the shores of Normandy or on an airplane about to make a jump into Normandy. What do these guys think? What thoughts go through their minds? Home? Family? Death? Or do they just try to get it all out of their minds and focus on getting the job done? How can one pull it off knowing his own death may arrive the moment he lands? Continue reading “For the Anniversary of D-Day: Band of Brothers, Episode 2, Day of Days”

Band of Humanity

By the end of the World War II, it is estimated that 6 million Jews and another 5 million people (consisting of Gypsies, Poles, Homosexuals, Soviet PoWs and the mentally and physically disabled) were murdered by the Nazis.

It seems appropriate to post this in April. During World War two many Nazi Camps were liberated. A fair number of the camps were liberated during April 1945, as World War II approached its end. The sheer number of camps is staggering and horrifying. Continue reading “Band of Humanity”