Regarding Shifty using the Zippo on his front sight, often times the finish on the front sight post of rifles wear off over time. This ruins your sight picture, making your shots less accurate. The soot from the lighter blackens it. We still do this in the military today. I was taught about this when I was in BCT back in '05.

@GerSan1979

2 жыл бұрын

thanks for that explanation dude, years wondering about that xD

@chrisb.5295

2 жыл бұрын

You're absolutely correct with the reasoning of using the zippo on the front site post. It's especially important to do this at night because of the optical illusion of your target appearing to be higher in your sight picture. In boot camp we were taught this and always remember "lights low, sights low".

@nickinskeep

Жыл бұрын

This is the kind of info I love discovering in the comments, thanks buddy!

Bleeding out isn't like in the movies where you slowly lose energy. When you are actually bleeding out, the victim, with adrenaline coursing through their veins keeps fighting until they suddenly collapse.

As for starting rank, all Westpoint graduates begin at 2nd Lieutenant.

@Arborhawk

2 жыл бұрын

When I was in we ( enlisted ranks ) referred to 2nd Lt as Butter Bars ( gold in color, were as 1st Lt was silver bar )

@tattoofun31548

2 жыл бұрын

All officers start as 2nd Lt. or they should. Nepatism is a thing but by and large any officer in the Army will start at 2nd Lt.

@joeblow8379

2 жыл бұрын

@@tattoofun31548 Nepotism has nothing to do with officer school. The instructors don’t give af about your last name. It’s true

Webster was the one injured in the "Crossroads" episode... and said... “They got me!. You believe that? You believe I said that?" 🙂

@HollywoodMarine0351

2 жыл бұрын

Wounded, not injured as quoted by SSG. John Martin. “It's called "wounded", Peanut. "Injured" is when you fall out of a tree or something.”

@paulcochran1721

2 жыл бұрын

@@HollywoodMarine0351 Yep!

The guy you don't like who plays Colonel Sink is played by Captain Dale Dye, who setup a boot camp for the actors before shooting. He's also in numerous other movies including Saving Private Ryan.

@fenner1986

2 жыл бұрын

And to be fair, he was a good commander in real life, hard, but firm and fair. He had his men always ready to go, this was just one bad instance where he was unfortunately letting ego get in the way.

@MetalDetroit

2 жыл бұрын

And Platoon

@ryanmichael1298

2 жыл бұрын

@@MetalDetroit and Under Siege

Around 16:40 explosion across the gap - it was a satchel charge that Webster left behind with a timer detonation for the next day when the Germans would occupy the building again.

There’s two sets of ranks In the army the enlisted and the officers the enlisted go private, Private First Class, specialist, corporal, sergeant, staff sergeant, sergeant first class, first sergeant or master sergeant and sergeant major. And the officers go second lieutenant, first lieutenant, captain, major, lieutenant colonel, colonel, brigadier general, major general and Lieutenant General

@ryanmichael1298

2 жыл бұрын

and Warrant Officers

@richarddexter7641

2 жыл бұрын

There are four general ranks. You left out the most senior one--which is simply, General (4 stars).

@bakedAK85

2 жыл бұрын

These are all modern ranks. From 1942 to '48, enlisted ranks were a little different. They go Private, Private First Class, Technician 5th Grade, Corporal, Technician 4th Grade, Sergeant, Technician 3rd Grade, Staff Sergeant, Technical Sergeant, and Master Sergeant/First Sergeant. Technician grades were specialists in certain fields like translators, typists or even medics. They were "hard stripes" with a "T" identifier underneath the chevrons. Also there are 5 General Officer ranks. Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, General, and Supreme Allied Commander. Between enlisted and officer rank structures you would find Warrant Officers. Warrant Officer (Junior Grade) and Chief Warrant Officer. Also there were Flight Officers who were equivalent in rank to WO's(JG) who, well, flew planes.

@bakedAK85

2 жыл бұрын

@@richarddexter7641 also, don't for get about Supreme Allied Commander (5 star) a lá Eisenhower and MacArthur.

To give you guys a little bit of context from the book on this episode; Webster was incredibly happy to be back with Easy, and the reception wasn't as cold by the rest of the men, as far as I can remember, with him stating "I'm so happy to be back with my friends". Like many wounded men from Easy, they were always worried about being reassigned to a different unit after recovery.

@davebcf1231

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, they really did a poor job with how he was portrayed in this episode IMO. They made him seem like some clueless new guy when in reality he was a combat veteran who had been wounded twice at that point, and had already been informed of the losses Easy suffered in Bastogne which included his best friends in the company. By all accounts when he came back he was happy to be with the unit, but also had become bitter, cynical and developed a growing hatred for the Germans for causing them to be there.

@tommears7321

2 жыл бұрын

I'm sure you commented this on another reaction video to this episode 🤣

@tommears7321

2 жыл бұрын

@@davebcf1231 I don't think he was made out to be clueless rather he just found it hard to fit back in after what the rest had gone through. That's what I remember seeing in this episode

@davebcf1231

2 жыл бұрын

@@tommears7321 In the episode they show him coming back and naively asking about where everyone is as if he doesn't know what it means when guys are gone. They also portray him as being clueless about what had happened to the unit while he was gone and what the guys had been through. In reality he was a combat veteran who was well aware of what it meant when guys were gone, he had just been one of the guys who was gone because of being wounded himself, and he had already been informed of the losses easy suffered in Bastogne.

@tommears7321

2 жыл бұрын

@@davebcf1231 he wouldn't have known if guys were injured or killed ..he wasn't there. Gone doesn't always mean dead as a combat vet, guys get transferred,injured and killed. He asks where they are because he was naive yes but not clueless

I remember an episode of MASH where Radar, a Corporal went into an officers club with Captain Pierce, Radar, not being an officer was getting some grief until Captain Pierce explained that the Army was trying out a new rank on Radar, Corporal Captain. This reactions rank discussion reminded me of that 😋

@Fordo007

2 жыл бұрын

The German Empire had a general rank called 'Colonel General', so 'Corporal Captain' isn't that far out there...

@cardiac19

2 жыл бұрын

That's when they went to try and catch Trapper and ended up picking up BJ.

Fun fact: the writers for this episode wrote it in the script for Malarkey to be on the patrol. The real Malarkey found out and insisted he really hadn't been on the patrol. So they rewrote the script.

Be prepared, get a box of tissues for the next episode! I can’t wait for “Masters of Air” to be released! It’s currently in the works right now. The book was fantastic I I highly recommend it!

There's two rank structures, commissioned officers and then enlisted. Commissioned officers are always above enlisted. The lowest commissioned officer rank is Second Lieutenant. That's the rank of the new officer Jones at the start of the episode. He's a West Point graduate, on the fast track for a career in the Army, so he was sent to get a little bit of combat experience before getting promoted quickly and moved on to bigger things away from combat. They made him the second lowest commissioned officer rank of First Lieutenant after one day on the front. We saw Winters be promoted by Sobol from Second Lieutenant to First Lieutenant before shipping out. Winters on D-Day was a platoon commander in Easy Company, but he got promoted to Captain after D-Day, when he took over as commanding officer of Easy Company. He then got promoted to Major in this episode. The next rank higher is Lieutenant Colonel. Above that is (full) Colonel, the rank that Colonel Sink holds. Colonel Sink is the commanding officer of the whole 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Above that is Brigadier General (one star), Major General (two stars), Lieutenant General (three stars), General (four stars), and then General of the Army (five stars). For enlisted, they start out as Private. Then it goes Private Second Class, Private First Class, and Specialist. Above those are the enlisted (noncommissioned) officer ranks. They go Corporal, Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, Sergeant First Class, Master Sergeant, First Sergeant, Sergeant Major, and Command Sergeant Major. And finally there's this weird in-between category of ranks called warrant officers. They are technically commissioned officers above enlisted men, but they almost always start out as enlisted men with a lot of experience. These are uncommon ranks, between the normal noncomissioned officers and the commissioned officers. Generally they appear in specific postings, where a high degree of specialized technical skill in a particular job is required, rather than generalized leadership ability. There weren't any helicopters in WW2, but helicopter pilots in today's US Army are warrant officers. You might also find warrant officers in military police, logistics, and intelligence. They are basically subject matter experts within the military. The warrant officer ranks go Warrant Officer 1, Chief Warrant Officer 2, Chief Warrant Officer 3, Chief Warrant Officer 4, and Chief Warrant officer 5.

Enlisted: Private Corporal Multiple sergeant types ranging from basic sergeant to master sergeant. Sergeants also serve as non-commissioned officers. They have authority. Think of your stereotypical drill sergeant. He'll have authority over the grunts, but not over actual officers. Commissioned officer: Second lieutenant (gold bar) First lieutenant (silver bar) Captain (two silver bars) Major (gold oak leaf) Lieutenant colonel (silver oak leaf) Colonel (eagle) Generals are in their own category, going from 1-5 stars as their rank symbol.

@76JStucki

2 жыл бұрын

You left out sergeant major, which is kind of its own thing

@driverdave1

2 жыл бұрын

That's not entirely correct... The first group you described as NCOs are called enlisted, and you don't become an NCO until you reach the rank of Corporal (at least in the modern Marines). A Private is not an NCO.

@mahockey3

2 жыл бұрын

@@driverdave1 thank you! Will edit

@chrisbolliger5717

2 жыл бұрын

Sergeants don’t just “also serve” as Non-commissioned officers. They ARE NCOs.

@mahockey3

2 жыл бұрын

@@chrisbolliger5717 👍

Cobb actually fought with one of the officers while he was drunk. He got dishonorable discharge because of it.

@brucechmiel7964

2 жыл бұрын

You can see in the last shot of the episode Cobb being driven away by MP's

@SadPeterPan1977

2 жыл бұрын

@@brucechmiel7964 I'm going to have to look out for that as I've never noticed it.

When they were in the Netherlands they THOUGHT that there were only old men and boys what they actually ran into were SS veterans from the Eastern Front.

13:35 Jackson had actually been running messages all the time that Easy Company was going around. He wanted to be on the mission because he wanted to get a fight under his belt. A fragment of the grenade he threw lodged in his brain, and this fired off all the pain neurons, so that all he could do was scream. I believe I read once that, in reality, he was asking to be put out of his misery, with all the pain he was experiencing. 15:05 Col. Sink was the leader of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, which Easy is a part of. He was the guy in Episode 1 who gave Sobel the rank promotion that was due Winters, and in Episode 7 he was the one who called Winters back from his attempt to join Easy Company. (The latter action was correct, as Winters was a battalion commander, and his death or incapacity would have badly affected all of the companies in the battalion, and not just Easy Company.) 16:25 The building blew up when the timers of the charges that Webb planted finally triggered. 17:05 The commissioned officer ranks are, in order from lowest to highest: 2nd Lieutenant (which was what Lt. Jones was, as a newly minted West Point graduate), 1st Lieutenant (which was Winters' rank during Episodes 2 - 3, as well as the rank of Buck Compton, Ronald Speirs and Norman Dike in Episode 7), Captain (which was Lewis Nixon III's and Winters' rank from Episdoes 4 - 7, and Speirs' rank from this episode onwards), Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel (which was Sink's rank), and the five General ranks after that. As Nixon was a Captain, he was, where military protocol is concerned, correct to salute Winters when he received his oak leaves (the pin insignia of a Major), regardless of whether or not Winters was his best friend. Trivia: Col. Sink was played by Marine Captain Dale Dye, who runs a company that trains actors for war movies. He was the one who put the main cast of BoB through a one-week, intense course in military procedures, which included map reading, night sentry duty and getting all sorts of cold and tired and hungry (literally), so they could draw on these experiences when they acted their roles. Love the reactions!

@toothlessrick3970

2 жыл бұрын

On the DVD of Band of Brothers - The special features show the cast go through Dale Dye's training course.

I always found the lingering on Lt Jones (Colin Hanks) after Winters tells them to fake the patrol is meant to show that he is getting to see what true leadership is. It’s all part of him learning what it means to be a great leader firsthand.

@tafan321

Жыл бұрын

It shows that any great leader will know their personnel and take risks for them.

Artillery is utilised in different ways depending upon availability, experience and operational requirements. First, ideally, you have zeroed (you've heard this in the show) several points, meaning you know the exact location and settings to hit that point and saturate it. Second you have good observation available, to correct fire if needed. Then artillery can be used for harassment, where you lob a sequence of random shells into an area, ideally when you suspect the enemy may be in the open, mostly to cause stress, to inflict random casualties, to disrupt. Alternatively artillery can specifically target a point to deny that area (or at least make it lethal), such as a crossroad, a train siding, a specific feature, this is very effective working with strong points, a couple of MG's crossfire an area and the artillery is zeroed onto the little available cover, you quickly get a slaughter (this is part of what was happening at Foy and with Dikes confusion), artillery also does counter battery, where your guns search out and attempt to silence the enemies, another use is concentrated fire to support an attack, either/or/and an initial bombardment to stun the enemy, cause great casualties and destroy strongpoints, targeted fire missions to break down isolated strong points during the attach and as a "curtain" of fire to the front and sides of an advance (or in certain cases a retreat) to protect advancing troops (or retiring troops) and prevent the enemy from pressing forward with reserves. Those are some principle uses, but not an exhaustive list. Some artillery fire is "random" to the extent that the target is an area, nothing specific, the fire is to harass or deny the area (to make it unsafe), some artillery fire is targeted in that it is aimed at a specific location or concentration of enemy (or suspected concentration of enemy) and some artillery fire is sort of in-between where the fire is directed at something specific but is directed at achieving a very specific goal beyond area denial and harassment. The epoch of artillery use in war was in WW1 where for a period artillery barrages involved hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of shells in extended bombardments over multiple days with periods of low and high intensity (this high intensity shelling was sometimes called drumfire), firing at fixed entrenched positions and strongpoints. The hideous psychological and physical impact of these bombardments is what coined the term "shell shock" which became the precursor in part for what we now call PTSD. In WW2 and subsequent modern conflicts mobility and advanced communications have made these siege style long bombardments largely a thing of the past. Although in the Bastogne episodes you do see the effects of enduring frequent heavy shellfire on Easy Cpy forced to occupy fixed positions (and the truly scary movement into an area where the trees and terrain show signs of such heavy shelling with the knowledge that you are next to have to endure). Hope that helps, if you want to "listen" to a attempted recreation of drum fire then try this, even in the security of a home it is, disturbing, kzread.info/dash/bejne/qZlrlNyCZ8y1ms4.html&ab_channel=BelliDuraDespicio

@matthewcharles5867

2 жыл бұрын

There's a book called jum's war taken from diary's of Australian ww1 artillery man explains in great detail how artillery opereated, has some great insights into how truly horrific drumfire was , they quite literally saturated some areas like pozires in France

Interesting production footnote. The voice of the wounded prisoner who was left on the bank on the river is Tom Hanks.

David Webster (the person this episode centers around) was the same soldier that gave the boy chocolate in Holland.

@NiamhCreates

2 жыл бұрын

Also, yes, Jackson is the one that threw the grenade that ended up taking his life. He ran in too quickly after throwing the grenade, sadly. That's why Martin yelled, "Jackson, wait!"

Don't know if anyone has already mentioned this, but army ranks (basically) go - Enlisted: Private -> Corporal -> Sergeant (and there are a number of ranks of sergeant). Officers: Second Lieutenant -> First Lieutenant -> Captain -> Major -> Lieutenant Colonel -> Colonel (also known as a full bird colonel as the rank pip is an eagle) -> General (and there are 4, technically 5 ranks of general, though in the entire history of of the US Army starting with George Washington, there have only ever been 7 5-star generals). I left out some NCO ranks (3 private ranks and 8 sergeant ranks total) as well as Warrant Officers which are kind of between sergeants and officers, but that's the gist.

"He looks a bit like Paul Rudd." I always thought so too!

It's a pretty realistic death. I've heard tell that, because of the adrenaline, people don't just fade away. There's a big burst of energy, franticness, and then lights out.

@GK-yi4xv

2 жыл бұрын

The real Jackson was screaming out for someone to kill him and end the pain from the shrapnel in his brain.

@nightsofcandy

2 жыл бұрын

@@GK-yi4xv Jesus that's grim

You are right regarding the incoming artillery, a comment below point out it may be 60 mm mortar rounds. That kind of ammo is not sniper precise, the better use is to saturate a zone to various tactical effects like covering fire and block infantry advances. Here they are harassing a known position. Regarding the helmets, they removed them to avoid reflections, it was a full moon night. Great video!

Your order is correct, though the ranks are seperated by enlisted and officers. Enlisted is typically private (various levels), corporal/specialist, sergeant (various levels) on the enlisted side. Officers you have lieutenant (various levels), captain, major, LT Colonel, Colonel, General (various). Also, Captain means something different to the Navy.

@tamberlame27

2 жыл бұрын

I am actually surprised that the US Army has maintained this difference. I understand that this comes out of the Prussian military model and their class based society. I wonder if any modern Army has had success with only officers coming out of battlefield commissions.

@gpaje

2 жыл бұрын

@@tamberlame27 It's really based on leadership levels between the ranks, enlisted vs those that go to college (required to become a commissioned officer) and also take leadership training in the military. Obviously there are leadership within enlisted, but executive level goes to officers. Also, you cannot be a pilot in the US military without being an officer.

@tamberlame27

2 жыл бұрын

@@gpaje that kind of makes sense, but from what I have been reading and watching a lot of problems in leadership come from the fact the officers have no idea what enlisted men go through.

@TheOldKevin

2 жыл бұрын

@@gpaje Most pilots in the Army are Warrant Officers. This is unique because the Army is the only branch that doesn't require a college degree for flight training. It only requires a high school diploma and a 110 GT score on the ASVAB in addition to medical and physical standards. You can actually join the Army at 18, go through Warrant Officer selection immediately and then complete flight school.

@gpaje

2 жыл бұрын

@@tamberlame27 That can be true, but the military is huge machine and only 10% are actual combat arms, the rest is support and bureaucracy. There are exceptions as noted by this show, but the majority of it actual works. Also, you don't put a general at the front of an army, that's what your lower officers and enlisted are for, the chain of command.

I’ve been saying he looks like Paul Rudd for years! So glad someone else sees it.

At the end, when they are loading up in trucks, there was a WWI monument there.

@mrs7195

2 жыл бұрын

Likely the same monument they used in the first episode. If you look closely, they reused the same town set in multiple episodes.

Col. Robert F. Sink was played by Dale Dye, a highly decorated real-life officer who provides military consulting services on war movies and series, including Band of Brothers, The Pacific and Saving Private Ryan.

With the explosions (grenades, artillery, bombs), while shrapnel is a big deal -- more importantly, something obviously treatable -- the hidden danger is from the shockwave of the explosion which disrupts air-filled organs on its own (lungs, intestines, etc.). It's not just about the flying metal and the wounds you can see.

There is a statue of Major Winters in France. Not a small one either.

Enlisted ranks (Private, Corporal, Sargeant, etc...) are in a different rank structure than officers (2nd Lt, 1st Lt, Captain, Major, Lt Col, Col, Bridagier, etc...)

@GK-yi4xv

2 жыл бұрын

And the officers are 'commissioned', so when Lipton receives a 'battlefield commission', he's being transfered over from the enlisted ranks pathway (aka Non Commisioned Officer, or NCO) to the commissioned officers pathway, based on exceptionally distinguished service in the field. Based also on simple practicality, as, contrary to popular belief, the most dangerous ranks of all to hold were the commissioned officers at the bottom of the scale - Lieutenants and Captains mostly. They had, and always have, by far the highest death rates in wars. Not in Hollywood's subversive view, though, where they're most often mocked as pompous/timid/incompetent cowards, barely tolerated by their men.

@aleccassady5383

2 жыл бұрын

@@GK-yi4xv as far as Hollywood goes it's been my observation that it depends what perspective the film is shot from. If the main character is enlisted yes they portray the officer bad. Like in jar head, platoon, movies like that. If it's from the officers perspective they are always well rounded great leaders. Like rules of engagement, dirty dozen, Patton, Inglorious bastards, ect

I highly suggest you watch the documentary about these men after you finished the show, it's called We Stand Alone Together. 😎 The Pacific is also good, a little bit harsh, especially due to the theatre and the kind of enemy they were facing.

Generally it was: Private, Corporal, Sergeant (numerous levels), Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant, Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, General (numerous levels). US army pay grades were structured under a different scheme. Also Warrant Officers.

Officers and enlisted men have different rank "trees". Enlisted ranks are Private, Private First Class, Corporal, Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, Sergeant First Class, Master Sergeant, First Sergeant, Sergeant Major, and Command Sergeant Major. Officer ranks are Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, General.

@GK-yi4xv

2 жыл бұрын

And the second stream are 'Commissioned Officers', so when Lipton receives a 'battlefield commission', he's being transfered over to the second stream, due to exceptionally distinguished service in the field (and due also to the very high attrition rates for junior commissioned officers. It's not that well known that Lieutenants and Captains always have the highest death rates in war, by far).

@bakedAK85

2 жыл бұрын

Sergeant First Class wasn't part of the rank structure of the Army until 1948. From '42 to '48 it was Technical Sergeant. Sergeant Major and Command Sergeant Major ranks did not exist during the war.

The voice of the third prisoner left on the bank screaming was actually Tom Hanks screaming.

7:55 I think Lt. Jones loosened his definition of insubordination when he realized he was the only guy in the room who hadn’t shot someone.

Just for Simone's piece of mind.... Army Enlisted Personnel: Private, Private Second Class, Private First Class, Specialist, Corporal, Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, Sergeant First Class, Master Sergeant, First Sergeant, Sergeant Major, Command Sergeant Major, and Sergeant Major of the Army. Army Commissioned Officers: Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lieutenant Colonel, and Colonel.

Officer ranks: 2nd Lieutenant, 1st Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, General. Enlisted ranks: Private, Private First Class, Lance Corporal, Corporal, Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, First Sergeant, Master Sergeant, Sergeant Major. There are a few specialized ranks in there, but I am not so well versed in Army ranks as I am a Navy Sailor. Also, I might've gotten a couple ranks mixed up with Marine ranks, and if so, don't butcher me for it. I haven't been active duty for almost 20 years.

@bakedAK85

2 жыл бұрын

NBD. E-4 mafia welcomes their Terminal Lance brethren with open arms.

@Pecos1

2 жыл бұрын

@@bakedAK85 haha, check check

Ronald Spiers and Carwood Lipton are my favorites. Both amazing in opposite ways.

01:24 "I love Gonorrhea" Context is everything ...

Officers from the bottom up: 2nd Lieutenant (assistant platoon commander) 1st Lieutenant (platoon commander) Captain (company [3 platoons] commander) Major (battalion [3 companies] commander) Lt. Colonel (battalion) Colonel (regimental [9 or 10 companies] commander) General (division commander [several regiments]) Easy consistent of 3 platoons, and was part of the 2nd battalion (along with Dog and Fox companies) of the 506th Parachute infantry regiment, of the 101st Airborne Division. The assignments listed above aren't set in stone - Winters commanded a battalion as a captain; and a company as a Lt for that matter. All depends on where you're needed at the moment - they sort out the ranks later.

Its so cool to see 101st guys doing SMU stuff before SMUs like the SEALs and FSFODD existed.

"The essential fact of combat is the destruction and replacement of infantry companies" T H Faddenric. "This kind of war."

Ranks are: - Enlisted Soldier: Private, Private Second Class, Private First Class, Specialist - Noncommissioned Officer: Corporal & Sergeant (Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, Sergeant First Class, Master Sergeant, First Sergeant, Sergeant Major, Command Sergeant Major, Sergeant Major of the Army - Warrant Officer: Warrant Officer 1, Chief Warrant Officer 2, Chief Warrant Officer 3, Chief Warrant Officer 4, Chief Warrant Officer 5 - Commissioned Officer: Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant, Captain - Field Officer: Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel - General Officer: Brigadier General (*) Major General (**) Lieutenant General (***) General (****) General of the Army (******)

@bakedAK85

2 жыл бұрын

These are all modern ranks. From 1942 to '48, enlisted ranks were a little different. They go Private, Private First Class, Technician 5th Grade, Corporal, Technician 4th Grade, Sergeant, Technician 3rd Grade, Staff Sergeant, Technical Sergeant, and Master Sergeant/First Sergeant. Technician grades were specialists in certain fields like translators, typists or even medics. They were "hard stripes" with a "T" identifier underneath the chevrons. Also there are 5 General Officer ranks. Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, General, and Supreme Allied Commander. Between enlisted and officer rank structures you would find Warrant Officers. Warrant Officer (Junior Grade) and Chief Warrant Officer. Also there were Flight Officers who were equivalent in rank to WO's(JG) who, well, flew planes.

@GerSan1979

2 жыл бұрын

@@bakedAK85 thank you! Hope the info that I posted is still orientative and helpful. I think that, to understand band of brothers is fine, but thanks for letting us know ^^

Most armies will zero in on town squares, cross roads, and the like with their artillery. Then, they will periodically shell those areas, or will have forward observes (in sight of the targets) call in when troop concentrations are high. Note: in the Bois Jacques, the Germans relied on tree bursts (artillery shells set to explode on the slightest contact) to create more casualties. When the shells in Haguenau land, they are muffled by the dirt they imbed into. Pretty realistic, from what I've read.

As a veteran, it literally hurt my brain when you guessed at the order of rank. LOL

The 2nd Lt., fresh from West Point, is played by Tom Hanks' son, COLIN Hanks. Fun Fact, yes?

Just sittin' on the dock of the bay...watchin' the Tides of War roll away...🎵

Winters' superior is actually really good. This is war every company had to hang tough and pay the price. When they say hold a position they aren't being asshole, the whole front counts on it.

Getting promoted for officers is always a big deal but captain to major means he is going from company officer to field officer meaning less time in battle and more paperwork and pay

@ronmaximilian6953

2 жыл бұрын

Winters was already doing the job of a major before he was promoted

@FELiPES101

2 жыл бұрын

@@ronmaximilian6953 ill take your word...havent watched the show in many years

My dad had a friend who was a kid in a Polish tank battalion grouped with Americans. That thing where the guy ran straight into the German line, baffling the German soldiers... Americans he said did that all the time. They didn't have typical battlefield behaviour... when the call to move forward came through, they'd stand straight up, light a smoke and just walk straight in and not get hit... happened a lot.

as an artillery man. yes its a general area. with modern artillery ranges of 40 to 80kM standard deviation is 25meters. and more artillery you shoot more effect on target you can have. but in that scenario is just like peppering the are trying to accidentally hit anything "killing with bug bites"

US Army Officer ranks go: 2nd Lieutenant -->1st Lieutenant --> Captain --> Major --> Lt. Colonel --> Colonel --> Brigadier General --> Major General --> Lt. General --> General --> General of the Army. Enlisted ranks get complicated.

private-corporal-5 different levels of sergeant-2nd lieutenant-1st lieutenant-Captain-Major-Colonel-3 or 4 levels General

You have to remember the red flashes are only the tracers you see. for each tracer round you see there are flying 3-5 bulletts towards you you cant see.

There are 13 enlisted Army ranks: private, private second class, private first class, specialist, corporal, sergeant, staff sergeant, sergeant first class, master sergeant, first sergeant, sergeant major, command sergeant major and sergeant major of the Army. Officer ranks: Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, General

Artillery units had spotters who would look at the effects of the barrage by sneaking closer to the lines and viewing results through optics, or units closer to the combat would radio in the effects. The artillerists would get a rough idea by using ballistic principles. Sadly, sometimes they would bombard their own troops as they were too close as the estimation wasn't accurate enough. Ranks: Private Corporal Sergeant (which has various levels) Lieutenant Captain Lieutenant Colonel Colonel Generals (of which during WW2 there were 5 levels, 1 Star to 5 Star. The Canadian Defence Forces use maple leafs instead of stars, IIRC)

You guys should definitely watch The Pacific next. Be sure to watch with the historical background so you see the veterans speaking before each episode. OORAH!

Private > Corporal > Sgt > Lt > Capt > Major > Col > General is the basic order. In between there are lots of ranks like Pvt. 1st class, Gunnery Sgt, Sgt. Major etc.

@bakedAK85

2 жыл бұрын

You're getting your branches crossed. Gunnies are unique to the USMC. Also, the rank of Sergeant Major didn't exist during the war.

Officer ranks go: 2nd Lt., 1st Lt., Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Brigadier General, Major General, Lt. General, General Easy way to remember the general order is "be my little general"

Officer ranks: 2nd Lt, 1st, Lt, Captain, Major, Lt Colonel, Colonel, Brig Gen, Maj Gen, Lt. Gen, and finally General: Enlisted has changed but usually it is Private, Private Second Class, First Class, Specialist/Corporal, Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, Sergeant First Class, MSgt Sergeant / First Sergeant, and finally Sergeant Major. Just for guide for you all :)

When you mentioned the previous episode saying that in Holland "they were fighting old men and boys," that wasn't the case, i believe that was said to get the troops ready, and then it was sarcastically re-iterated by Nixon or Winters or whichever one it was. In fact Operation Market Garden, the German troops vastly outnumbered the Allies, the 9th and 10th SS Panzer division numbered 100000, whilst the Allies only had half that amount.

The lighter is to put a layer of soot on any metal surface that may shine.

If you think the ranks are difficult to understand in the US army at the time you'll end up giving yourself migraines trying to keep track of the german ranks of the time. army, navy, luftwaffe all had weird variations of them, the navy had variations within the different branches of the fleet, especially the ones that only applied to uboats and then you had the weird parallel ranking system of the SS. I still wonder how the average german soldier kept them all straight half the time

Here’s a thing to consider: our regular deployments to the Middle East are 6-12 months at a time, then we come home. There are many many soldiers in WW2 who deployed for years at a time…years. I never bitched about my time overseas because of that inspiration. If they can do that, I can do this is what I thought whenever I got homesick.

What’s above Major? In order from lowest to highest…. Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, General.

the lighter could have been 2 different things. one person already commented that the soot from the lighter can improve sight picture but another trick is to use black boot polish on the front sight and then using the lighter to melt the polish makes it shine for an even better picture. but since they were ordered that "nothing shines" he could have been completely melting the boot polish off his sight. as per the officer coming straight from school, it is an unfortunate, but fairly necessary reality that the military is split into two groups of people, commisioned officers, and enlisted. even the lowest ranking commissioned officer outranks the highest ranking enlisted man so even people like sergeant Malarkey and Martin have way more combat experience, at the end of the day, they are non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and have to defer to the orders of a commissioned officer. Winters by placing Martin in charge but telling Jones to observe was effectively a demotion for Lt. Jones, forcing him to defer to the orders of an NCO, but also served to give Jones a way to earn the respect of the men he was expected to lead, without the threat that he could make poor decisioned due to lack of combat experience.

They started off with shots in general areas, then homed in on the target. Different aiming degrees as well as different ammunition have specific calculations based on size weight and expected results.

Major is pretty high up but is the lowest field grade rank 0-4 (first rank for commissioned senior officers) after that you have lieutenant colonel then colonel and then you get to the four stars of general ranks. In order to become a Major you have to prove yourself as a company commander; which is no easy feat. A Captain can lead up to 200 men, a Major leads up to 1,000 or 3-5 companies.

At least in the USAF enlisted ranks Airman basic, Airman, Airman 1st class, Senior Airman, Staff Sergeant, Tech Sgt, Master Sgt, Senior Master Sgt, Chief Master Sgt. Then Officer ranks are 2nd Lieutenant, 1st Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, General. Those are the order of the ranks from lowest to highest in the USAF it is similar in the US Army because the AF spawned out of the Army but there are more ranks in the Army called Warrant Officers.

Good luck on the next episode.... Oh, and during the time of this episode, on the night of the raid, my uncle was crossing another river not far from that one. He didn't make it.

The last explosion was the charge they set in the house where they got the prisoners from.

@davidwoolbright3675

2 жыл бұрын

Actually the last explosion was the building they had been sleeping in getting hit by the big rail gun as they drove away. The unit that replaced easy had pretty heavy casualties from it.

@glooer

2 жыл бұрын

@@davidwoolbright3675 Oops I was talking about where they were chitchatting and the building they raided last night blew up in the background.

@davidwoolbright3675

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah. I knew that’s what you were referencing. Just wanted to clarify the two big explosions in the show.

Army ranks (not sure if it was exactly the same back then) Enlisted: E1: Private E2: Private E3: Private First Class E4: Specialist \ Corporal Non- Commisioned Officers *(Still considered Enlisted ) E5: Sergeant E6: Staff Sergeant E7: Sergeant First Class E8: Master Sergeant \ First Sergeant E9: Sergeant Major \ Command Sergeant Major \ Sergeant Major of the Army Warrant Officers (not too familiar with ranking system) Commissioned Officers: O1: 2nd Lieutenant O2: 1st Lieutenant O3: Captain O4: Major O5: Lieutenant Colonel O6: Colonel O7: Brigadier General (“1 star general”) O8: Major General (“2 star general”) O9: Lieutenant General (“3 star general”) O10: General (“4 star general”) I put the part about the stars to say that it is possible to have a “5 star” general but it is less common and I do not remember the reasoning. I believe it is a war time thing. I may have messed something up (editing wise) but that took me far longer than I intended it to Edit*

Lt. Jones did not take part in the patrol, nor did Webster. After the war, Jones was not discharged and remained in Germany; he never returned to the United States. He died after an operation following an automobile accident in Berlin while stationed there. He was 23 years old at the time of his death.

U.S. Army officer ranks from lowest to highest. 2nd Lieutenant 1st Lieutenant Captain Major Lieutenant Colonel Colonel Brigadier General Major General Lieutenant General General And in the case of major big wars, General of the Army (it's been a long time since we had one of those). In Holland, back during episode 4, when they said they were expecting just kids and old men, they were mistaken. While initially the Nazi occupation forces in Holland were lower tier type units consisting of really young or really old conscript soldiers, after the Normandy Campaign thousands of German soldiers were able to escape France after General Patton wasn't allowed to close the gap at Falaise. Many of these soldiers were re-armed and equipped, including 2 Panzer Tank Divisions, and sent into Holland and Belgium. We dropped our paratroopers almost right on their laps. Now, after the Battle of the Bulge (Bastogne), Germany is definitely running out of men. The counter offensive at Bastogne was pretty much their last big gamble to halt the Allied advance in the west. When it failed, and with the Russians in the east killing Germans by the bushel, the war was all but over for them.

I remember reading that during the battle of the bulge the US army tried promoting from the ranks rather than bringing in inexperienced officers to take command from the outside. It didnt work out very well.

@philliphampton5183

2 жыл бұрын

Its called a battlefield commission, and happened throughout numerous wars. And it worked out very well.

13:50 He took a grenade blast to the face/neck. In all honesty he probably slowly bled out. His death throws, outside of a modern emergency ward, were a foregone conclusion. (edit "foregone conclusion" was edited out.)

Basic US Army Rank structure of this time period (without Technicians or Warrant Officers because it will get a little confusing if I include them) You have 3 major groups, Enlisted Soldiers, Non-Commissioned Officers (NCO’s, Still Enlisted but with greater leadership responsibilities), and Officers. Below is the basic rank structure in order. Enlisted Ranks: Private Private First Class NCO’s Corporal Sergeant Staff Sergeant Technical Sergeant Master Sergeant First Sergeant Officers (all of which out rank all enlisted men) 2nd Lieutenant 1st Lieutenant Captain Major Lieutenant Colonel Colonel Brigadier General (1 star) Major General (2 stars) Lieutenant General (3 stars) General (4 stars) General of the Army (5 stars) Hope this helps

The simple chain Private > Corporal > Sergeant > Lieutenant > Captain > Major > Colonel, there are sub ranks in this chain, different nations use different terms and sub-ranks, also different military arms (army, navy, air force, marines) use different terms. But that chain is the basic system Corporal to Sergeant ranks are all NCO's in the Anglo-American system, meaning non-commissioned officers. Lieutenant up are commissioned officers, meaning they hold a Presidential or Royal commission of rank, the attention and saluting is in regards to this commission, you salute and pay respects to the commission and what it represents, then the commissioned officer returns that respect with acknowledgement.

You two are great. Thanks for sharing.

Love your reactions...take a deep breath it gets intense

Webster wrote his biography of his experiences in Easy Company.

I love both of your T-shirts on this one. Especially the Otis Redding T. This Memphian says thank you.

At 4:23 when you asked the question about the artillery fire from the Germans. That type of barrage was called "harassing fire". They would fire off a few rounds, every so often, trying to catch someone daydreaming. If they had position coordinates, they could be very accurate. If not, they would just lob shells into a general area.

Mortar barrages can be either general area or targeted, depending on range and terrain. At that long range and in the woods, they would be pretty much firing blind. In a situation like Iwo Jima, which was closer range on basically open terrain, the blasts could be much more targeted and strategic.

The rank structure of the US Army from 1942 to 1945 the later part of WWII (excluding Warrant Officer and technicians, as they were USUALLY not in the direct command structure) is as follows from lowest to highest: Enlisted Soldiers Private Private First Class Enlisted Soldiers that count as Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOMs): Corporal Sergeant Staff Sergeant Technical Sergeant First Sergeant Master Sergeant Commissioned Officers: 2nd Lieutenant 1st Lieutenant Captain Major Lieutenant Colonel Colonel Brigadier General Major General Lieutenant General General General of the Army

Is it possible that you react to the interviews to the real soldiers? I understand it was a bonus feature but would like to watch it alongside you guys. Regarding ranks, at least by that time it was... private, corporal, Sargeant, lieutenant, captain, major, colonel, lt colonel, general. There are a lot of intermediate ranks that have been changing in time and branch but that's the general idea for international ranks in many armies around the world. Thanks for sharing!

@jamesskyway6746

2 жыл бұрын

as for Sargeant, there is also many variations of that - first Sargeant, Staff Sargeant Gunnery Sargent etc. Same goes for Lieutenant, First and second (silver bar and gold colored bars) As for colonel. Lt Colonel is above Major and lower than full colonel (referred as "light colonel") and a Colonel has an eagle rank badge ( is why they are referred to as "full bird colonel")

@cesarvidelac

2 жыл бұрын

@@jamesskyway6746 👍👍👍

@eq1373

2 жыл бұрын

Not exactly, but close

Private-corporal-sargeant-(several different Sargeant ranks)-2nd Lieutenant-1st Lieutenant-Captain-Major-Lieutenant Colonel-Colonel(also referred to as Full Bird)-Generals(there are several from 1 to 5 star generals) This is very rough.

Yes, have tissues for the next one... both of you!

The army rank structure goes as such from lowest to highest private, Private First Class, specialist, corporal, sergeant, staff sergeant, sergeant first class, master sergeant, first sergeant, 2nd lieutenant, 1st lieutenant, captain, major, lieutenant colonel, colonel, general.

@bakedAK85

2 жыл бұрын

These are all modern ranks. From 1942 to '48, enlisted ranks were a little different. They go Private, Private First Class, Technician 5th Grade, Corporal, Technician 4th Grade, Sergeant, Technician 3rd Grade, Staff Sergeant, Technical Sergeant, and Master Sergeant/First Sergeant. Technician grades were specialists in certain fields like translators, typists or even medics. They were "hard stripes" with a "T" identifier underneath the chevrons. Also there are 5 General Officer ranks. Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, General, and Supreme Allied Commander. Also between enlisted and officer rank structures you would find Warrant Officers. Warrant Officer (Junior Grade) and Chief Warrant Officer. Also there were Flight Officers who were equivalent in rank to WO's(JG) who, well, flew planes.

From bottom up: Private Corporal Sergeant Lieutenant Captain Major Lt. Colonel

17:28 - you’re missing the crucial concept that military ranks divided into the two parallel categories of Officer and Enlisted. there are 9 or 10 levels to each category, but usually a soldier doesn’t move between categories (although we do see a few get “battlefield commissions” to go from Enlisted to Officer throughout the series). Privates, Corporals, and Sergeants are Enlisted ranks; they’re doing most of the actual soldiering. Lieutenants, Captains, Majors, Colonels, and Generals are officer ranks; they’re the managerial types, and usually the further up the ladder they climb, the further away from combat they are, which is not true for Enlisted guys. technically, a 2nd Lieutenant like Colin Hanks’ character, who’s straight out of the Academy and Officer Training, outranks a Sergeant with a decade of experience actually fighting (although sarge actually gets more respect, and might help a new Lt get sorted out in his new position). really, they’re on different career paths. it’s like working in a factory: you can start as blue collar machinist and work your way up to Foreman (that’s like a Sergeant), but you’re probably not on your way to CEO. the guys running the place went to business school, and a 25-yr-old MBA outranks a 25-year-veteran worker.

You were very close on your rank summary Simone. Good job : )

Fun fact, That prisoner that was too far back you heard was Tom Hanks himself

As the war was "all but over" in Europe, there was still Japan to deal with. Allied planners estimated up to a million casualties would be sustained in the invasion and subduing of the Japanese home islands. Purple Hearts (awarded to those killed or wounded in action against the enemy) being awarded today were manufactured during WW2 for the invasion of Japan.

@primary2630

2 жыл бұрын

damn thats crazy

@MetalDetroit

2 жыл бұрын

@@primary2630 50,000 US casualties in the Battle for Okinawa alone. They did the math of the number of defenders on Okinawa, extrapolated it to the Japanese homeland, and figured there would be 1 million US casualties. The atomic bomb killed 100’s of thousands, but saved millions of US and Japanese lives.

lol he thought it was a fishing line, that had me cracking up

Easter Egg in the episode. After the raid they hear the wounded German they left behind yelling from across the river. If you listen carefully you will recognize the voice is that of Lt. Henry Jones' (Colin Hanks) father, Tom Hanks.

Military ranks in the army from bottom up: Private, Corporal, Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, Army Chief of Staff General. Side note: I always thought it was strange that Lieutenant General is a higher rank than Major General, since a regular Lieutenant is lower than a regular Major.

The actor playing Col Sink is Dale Dye. He enlisted in the Marines and rose to the rank of Master Sergeant. He then went into the Warrant Officer ranks. He obtained his highest rank as Captain before retiring.... His bio follows at this link en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Dye.

@MetalDetroit

2 жыл бұрын

He’s great in everything

Jackson probably died from 2 factors. The percussion blast would do serious internal damage. Also, the fire blast would burn his airway which would swell and close his airway.