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canyonwalkerI already wrote one blog about "The Breaking Point", episode 7 of Band of Brothers. That one basically covers the first half of the episode, including Buck's personal breaking point. There's more tough action and drama in the second half.
At roughly the midpoint of Ep. 7 Easy Company begins an assault on the German position in the town of Foy. Their piece of the mission is high risk because the 101st Airborne are infantry, and they have to run across a field outside of town before the enemy in covered positions, with heavy weapons and artillery, spot them and open fire. And we've seen up through the first half of the episode that Easy's new commander, Lt. Dike, is an empty uniform. It's a recipe for disaster.
Winters is at the treeline with Col. Sink. Winters, furious, tries to raise Dike on the radio to command him to move. Dike doesn't answer. Winters strides toward the field himself, but Sink hauls him back, reminding him that he's a battalion officer now and can't go out into a firefight like that. Winters storms back past Sink and grabs the first officer he sees. "Speirs! Get out there and relieve Dike and take that attack on in!”"
Remember, Lt. Speirs is the brutal one who shot a handful of surrendered, unarmed enemy soldiers in an earlier episode. There's some moral debate to be had about that, though right now when men are pinned down and dying is not the time. Dike runs across the field with gusto, relieves a very relieved Lt. Dike, and in a matter of seconds gets the state of play from the sergeants and issues new combat orders.
There's a lot more action past this point that I won't recap. My point here is not to recap the plot but to highlight the turning points. Lt. Dike reached his personal breaking point in this scene... and it almost because a breaking point for dozens of men under his command. Past this point, with Lt. Speirs in charge, the combat isn't easy... but at least the Americans are regaining the advantage.
Apologies that this video is resampled and subtitled in German; it's the only one I could find on YouTube.
This scene is powerful because it recaps the losses. Easy Company came into Bastogne with 145 men; they’re going out with 63. Lipton (the character) names several of the men lost or wounded while the visual shows them fading out from the pews in the church.
In this clip Speirs doesn't deny that he did it, though he does explain why he won't deny it.
And Speirs gives Lipton recognition for his leadership showcased in this episode. First Sgt. Lipton is promoted to Lieutenant.
Tough work breaks people who aren't up to the challenge. With luck, those who succeed are rewarded.
At roughly the midpoint of Ep. 7 Easy Company begins an assault on the German position in the town of Foy. Their piece of the mission is high risk because the 101st Airborne are infantry, and they have to run across a field outside of town before the enemy in covered positions, with heavy weapons and artillery, spot them and open fire. And we've seen up through the first half of the episode that Easy's new commander, Lt. Dike, is an empty uniform. It's a recipe for disaster.
Empty Uniform's Breaking Point
Dike leads Easy out into the field. They scurry through the tall grass, keeping low, zig-zagging to avoid enemy fire. Then halfway across the open ground Dike freezes. He just stops. Then, in a panic, he calls all his men to stop. They're exposed. The Germans open fire on them from behind cover. The Americans have only tall grass as cover. They're sitting ducks. Men are getting wounded and killed.Winters is at the treeline with Col. Sink. Winters, furious, tries to raise Dike on the radio to command him to move. Dike doesn't answer. Winters strides toward the field himself, but Sink hauls him back, reminding him that he's a battalion officer now and can't go out into a firefight like that. Winters storms back past Sink and grabs the first officer he sees. "Speirs! Get out there and relieve Dike and take that attack on in!”"
Remember, Lt. Speirs is the brutal one who shot a handful of surrendered, unarmed enemy soldiers in an earlier episode. There's some moral debate to be had about that, though right now when men are pinned down and dying is not the time. Dike runs across the field with gusto, relieves a very relieved Lt. Dike, and in a matter of seconds gets the state of play from the sergeants and issues new combat orders.
There's a lot more action past this point that I won't recap. My point here is not to recap the plot but to highlight the turning points. Lt. Dike reached his personal breaking point in this scene... and it almost because a breaking point for dozens of men under his command. Past this point, with Lt. Speirs in charge, the combat isn't easy... but at least the Americans are regaining the advantage.
Reckoning the Dead
Easy Company fights for two more towns after Foy. Again, the combat isn't easy, but the protagonists are at least victorious. They spend the night in a church. A scene shows a choir singing as Lt. Speirs and Sgt. Lipton count the dead.Apologies that this video is resampled and subtitled in German; it's the only one I could find on YouTube.
This scene is powerful because it recaps the losses. Easy Company came into Bastogne with 145 men; they’re going out with 63. Lipton (the character) names several of the men lost or wounded while the visual shows them fading out from the pews in the church.
Reckoning Among the Living
After Lipton hands his casualty report over to Speirs for Speirs to take to battalion command, the two men confront the elephant in the room— stories about Speirs shooting those prisoners back in Normandy. This is also a powerful scene, so I'll include a YouTube video of it:In this clip Speirs doesn't deny that he did it, though he does explain why he won't deny it.
And Speirs gives Lipton recognition for his leadership showcased in this episode. First Sgt. Lipton is promoted to Lieutenant.
Tough work breaks people who aren't up to the challenge. With luck, those who succeed are rewarded.
