#especially from the bastogne episode

[hufflepuff3000]

Eugene Roe fanart

[wiltedprayers]

something i love about band of brothers is the little quirks and details in each of the soldiers' clothes, especially those that pop up after the war progresses when nobody really bothers with uniform regulations anymore.

my favorites from each episode:

sobel's wool jacket in currahee

toye's brass knuckles in day of days (didn't have a good choice clothing-wise for this one, sorry!)

talbert's camo handkerchief in carentan

bull in his undershirt in replacements

luz' scarf in crossroads

spina's hat and sweater in bastogne

dick using his lapels as a scarf in the breaking point

malarkey's beanie in the last patrol

nix's suspenders in why we fight

liebgott's entire outfit in points

[scottsummersgal]

a small analysis of eugene roe's st. francis prayer in episode 6 -bastogne

“Lord, grant that I shall never seek so much to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, or to be loved as to love with all my heart. With all my heart.”

-> What I love most about this scene in Bastogne is that in certain ways, it really is the thesis for the episode as well as Gene's character and his relationships.

It's not a word-for-word of the actual prayer but the fact that it is modified as a means of gene trying to make do speaks volumes, I think.

He manages to get most of the words right, but in the end he says 'With all my heart' and he repeats it twice. The actual follow up line is 'for it is in giving that one receives'. It's a bit ironic given gene's situation. to give, whether it be physical or emotional, there is no guarantee that one will receive anything in return— at least anything that would be considered good. There's an emotional risk when you get too close to someone, sometimes you're unable to save someone due to things out of your control, etc. etc. So the importance of the 'With all my heart' here is further emphasized by this. it's like he's holding on to what it means to give— to try to heal, with all your heart, believe that there is hope and faith, and that even when the odds seem stacked against you, you still have to give, to love, to believe, with all your heart in spite of it all. and i think that's what we see roe trying to do throughout the entire episode. he keeps trudging forward, with all his heart no matter how heavy it is. he gives, he consoles, he tries to understand and offer empathy without asking for anything in return.

The prayer scene serves as a sort of symbolism on how he's trying to hold onto his values and himself as a person in spite of the hardships that comes with being in Bastogne, especially as a medic, a job that requires him to show care and concern in a very intimate and up-close way (which juxtaposes the way in which he distances himself from his fellow soldiers). it's a comfort to him, and a reminder to himself of who he is and what he's trying to hold onto.

and the thing is? throughout the episode we do see it returned to him, in subtle but meaningful ways. dick checks up on him and gives him a time out (which i suppose counts as consolation), when he's holed up in a foxhole and he's asked about his family history and his grandmother being a traiteur (understanding), or when he's with renée and babe (understanding and love).

[pookielious]

I see people give babe flack for being so 'aggressive' towards roe in the bastogne episode during the 'only the nuns call me edward' and I feel like that isn't very fair like everyone during bastogne where on edge from being shelled constantly, fed horribly , had no supplies because everything kept dropping in the German zone or just not at all and in varying states of freezing, AND low on morale like anyone in that situation would be a little temperamental and irritable, especially if you had to keep hearing the same (even though it was reasonable) question a few times , it wasnt really him being mean or anything and it was what I imagine pretty accurate for the time and situation

[bellewintersroe]

How the Easy Boys Act during Bastogne x reader headcanons.

So I wanted to explore about how each of the different boys would handle being in a relationship during Bastogne. I want to try keep this (semi) realistic especially surrounding the rules of fraternisation in the army. Ps - I hope you guys enjoy! I love writing headcanons but struggle with motivation so feel free to send me requests of any headcannons/ scenarios you guys wanna see!

Eugene Roe:

Let’s start with the most notable boy within the Bastogne episodes. Gene goes through so much as a medic, although he’s so selfless throughout his whole experience.

I think because he’s already worrying about so many of the men getting hurt he’s also got the anxiety of worrying if you’re safe.

after a heavy artillery barrage he would pray for your health and safety. And I mean that. He’s a good Catholic boy (I think) so he probably does this morning and night.

whenever he has chance/ a safe opportunity he would come to see you. I think he’d feel guilty about coming empty handed, and when there’s other people around his gestures have to be small, such as knocking your hand or arm with his.

The more under pressure he becomes the more you’d see it. I think he’d be so stressed, his shell shock is evident and it’s painful to see as a partner. I think he’d even attempt to pull away to a certain extent before he realised that would do no good.

probably gets really bad anxiety if you’re exposed to the gunfire, and definitely wants to protect you from seeing some of the horrific scenes that you’d most undoubtedly see anyway.

puts a hand in front of you if you’re walking to fast. He’d never just randomly sneak off with you just to have ‘alone time’ because he’s aware of the risks. He’d never EVER gamble with your life- holy shit until you get outta there he’s a panicked mess.

Needs a partner who can talk to him, even if he doesn’t feel like opening up, just knowing you’d semi understand is reassuring.

finally is able to give you the biggest bear hug of all time behind a half bombed out building. It’s kinda emotional and longing, but Gene would sigh into your hair or your shoulder, and tighten his grip when he realised how desperately he’d needed your love and comfort.

you’d be a real comfort to him in Bastogne, however during the actual battle of the bulge I think he’d be very overworked on the lines. Even if you are on the lines he fears for you and always tries his best to get you further towards some kinda safer area.

Carwood Lipton:

Alike Eugene, he’s under an immense amount of pressure.

somehow he manages to keep morale up, and seeing you safe everyday and just flashing him an smile would really send a sense of relief and comfort through him.

like he seriously has even more motivation to fight and come home safe, because if you.

it sounds cheesy, ik, but Lip is a man deeply in love and he couldn’t forget that even if he tried.

strictly professional, ok. So no sneaky business… the furthest your relationship probably gets in Bastogne is smiles of reassurance and lingering touches on the upper back.

like you get knocked over and winded once, Lipton practically scrambles over and collapses next to you, pulling you up out of the snow with the most horrified expression.

nah he’d be so good at calming you down and helps you take deep breaths. His hand would be soothing over your upper back, and when nobody’s looking he maybe, maybe might sneak a kiss on your cheek.

so soft and caring. Seriously. You’re the first person he looks for after any serious bombing.

Babe Heffron:

So I think there’s Babe before Julian’s death and then Babe after his friends death.

before he’s pretty good at keeping morale up, he’s kinda fidgety and nervous, but for the most part he just wants to make you smile. Would do his utter most to cheer you up, even if it’s just making a little snow man for you.

Ah he’d be so cute. He’s like a big kid at heart and he’d have this big, longing eyes watching you wherever you went. He feels comfortable knowing you’re within a distance that you can see one another. People know you two have a relationship, but for the sake of rules and regulations it’s kept under wraps.

After Julian however, you’d kinda say ‘scrap the rules’ and sneak off to where you know is Foxhole is. It’s him and Spina, but you sneak in and hug his arm, whispering words of reassurance.

when Gene comes in you’d kinda panic, but you realise it’s only him so it’s not bad. He ain’t no snitch.

I think Babe would become mentally tougher after Julian’s death- well he comes across like this, but he wouldn’t wanna talk about what happened with you because he knows it would make him into a wreck.

hates crying and being vulnerable in front of you so probably tells you to ‘go away’ but IMMEDIATELY takes it back omfg.

would try to hide in foxholes with you just so he can at least have some well needed comfort from his girl that makes everything better.

Don Malarkey:

I think similar to Babe he’s a lot different when he first goes to Bastogne compared to when he leaves. (As many of the guys understandably would be).

but he’s the funny guy, he’s popular, he’s witty and hilarious, not to forget he’d be such a gentleman with you. Literally so kind and gentle. He’d always walk across the forest to come see you, every single day- no fail.

All the other nurses or women think it’s soooo romantic, even though you two are usually just sat talking. (He’d deffo sneak a kiss or two in there).

so when he loses several of his closest buddies in such a short amount of time, he goes into a deep shock, and although the visits don’t stop, you can tell he’s a shell of what he once was.

I think Don would really crave that physical comfort, like hugging him, stroking his hair- but it’s soo difficult to get that level of privacy, especially out in the open. I think this is something that you could struggle with as a couple.

Malarkey would have these great big sad, puppy eyes and you’d practically just have to bear hug him at the most random times. He’s so soft- I can’t.

Everybody knows the shit Malarkey has been through, they understand, so if they see you two embracing they turned a blind eye to it- nobody is about to snitch.

Lewis Nixon:

Ok so I feel like you and Lewis would be stationed in different areas. Like you’d be further back/ forwards on the line? Maybe stationed in the town?

anyway this makes it increasingly difficult to see one another, and I think Lewis has a real, niggling anxiety about your health and safety.

like at night he’d struggle to sleep over the thought of you being as cold as he is.

I think he’d feel so detached from your relationship, and there’s nothing neither of you can do/ prioritise in such a horrific situation.

when you two are around each other there’s always soft, subtle gestures that are sorta toned down versions of the way you both really want to act.

Maybe Lewis sees your shrunken appearance for the first time in a week or two, and he’s watching you with massively sad eyes, he’s bringing you into where him and Winters stay, offering you food, coffee.

He’d probably question why they’re not taking care of you better, but it’s kinda like? There is nobody to really take care of you, everybody’s in the same boat and Lewis hates it.

Has to settle for giving you friendly side hugs but all he really wants to do is wrap you up in a blanket and huddle you to somewhere safer, warmer, better than this.

he probably just wants a cuddle :/.

Joe Liebgott:

I think at first Joe would play by the rules because you wanted to. Like you’re worried of getting into trouble and want to be cautious with expressing your relationship too openly.

So he’d go a long with it at first, but I can imagine him stopping by your foxhole or wherever you’re stationed, even just to walk past and give you a smile. He 100% looks out for you, and if he doesn’t see you he’s like, “hey where tf is she? She was here yesterday?!” “She’s washing her hair, Liebgott…”

I feel like something might happen? Let’s say you get wounded, it’s nothing too severe, but it’s a close call. After that Joe is literally like “fuck the rules” and would come hop into your foxhole.

even if there’s other people in there, he just wants to make sure you’re ok at the end of the day.

when he can be alone with you I think he’d cover the foxhole with a blanket and practically throw himself around you. Kisses you loads, and he can barely do it properly because he’s got this childlike grin wiped across his face.

I think it really makes a difference to Liebgott that he can spend time with you, it’s so cold and miserable out there, that he takes anything he can get, and cuddling with you is his fav way to warm up, aw.

maybe gets roaming hands at one point and you have to be like “Joe, we’re sat in a hole surrounded by Germans, are you really trying this on rn?”

obviously Joe gets taken off the line during Bastogne because he’s quite literally at his breaking point. (Me and @liebgotts-lovergirl have just been discussing Lieb actually so all credit to her as it’s given me inspo!)

He’s so stressed out and it would be painful to see, I think he’d fully avoid taking it out on you because that would make him feel like the worlds worst person, but at the same time all he was is a stupid frickin hug and sometimes it’s so difficult to get.

please go visit him when he’s taken off the line, it’ll be a lot easier and god knows Lieb needs it 🥺

Would be so soft and happy with you if you surprise visited/ snuck up on him omg.

Shifty Powers:

This boy is soooo respectful, ok. He’s caring, kind, sweet, but respect is his utter most priority.

so I don’t think he’d be flaunting your relationship out and about in Bastogne? Seriously there’s more heavier things to focus on.

BUT Shifty 100% thinks about you and your relationship every single day. Like Gene, I think he prays for your safety, he’s constantly on the look out for danger- but also now he’s watching danger surrounding you.

war can be a dangerous place to have distractions such as a relationship, it’s nothing personal, but Shifty fears if he loses focus something bad will happen to those around him.

when the coast is clear and he’s not putting anybody into danger, he’d always be so polite and come over to ask if you’re ok. He’d help you dig out your foxhole some more and you’d patch him up or get him new gloves in return.

he’d be eternally grateful, and then probably try to put the gloves on you instead because he’s worried your fingers are gonna fall off hahaha.

when you leave Bastogne and have privacy again Shifty cuddles you sosososos much, there’s so much hand holding and small kisses- he’s 10000% gonna make up for lost time.

Ron Speirs:

I’m gonna be honest IDEK HOW YOUD GET IN A RELARIONSHIP WITB HIM INNTHE FIRST OKACE.

He’s so sexy and intimidating, but especially during the war his mind would NOT be on dating. But let’s assume it is, ok?

I think Ron has no option but to stay focused, you technically are his weakness, so whenever he sees you he has a difficult time maintaining his demeanour.

small things like ‘But she’s alright, right?’ And just asking where you guys are stationed fill him with relief.

when he thinks about you all alone in that foxhole he gets the sweats, he starts shaking and he feels pathetic, but it’s the only time he’d allow himself to feel that way. He must operate like a soldier, not like a little boy in love.

it’s just very conflicting, because he is very much deeply in love, he just can’t show it.

when you get time alone after Bastogne I think Ron almost breaks down. His head would drop and he’s pulling you into his arms, apologising unnecessarily.

everybody's under such an immense amount of pressure, so I feel like he’d need some good words of reassurance, but also he’d just need a longgggg hug to embrace the comfort you provide him with.

Skip Muck:

Nothing bad happens to him ok? Let’s just pretend here for the sake of a fic.

he’s a ray of sunshine, but I think he’d be so amazing at reading peoples thoughts and feelings, especially yours. So when he can see you’re particularly more upset than usual, he grabs you, preventing you from leaving with everybody else and takes your hand, pulling you into a gentle forehead kiss.

I think he’d be better with his actions rather than words, so sometimes all he needs to do is cup your face and just gaze over you before you’d fall into his chest in relief.

thank god you’ve got a guy like Skip, he’d look out for you so much, keep your morale up, and like Babe, I think he’d do super cute stuff like attempt to make you a little snowman to pass time and avert your minds from immanent danger.

Writes about you to his family at home.

probably wants to keep you well and fed. All the rations are slim, but he would save you his or sneak you some more food, seriously he’s so caring over your health and well-being.

Joe Toye:

He’s so handsomeeee oh my-

so I think there’d be a lot of lingering and longing gazes. When you first go to Bastogne, he’s probs wanting your attention so bad for more selfish reasons? If you can call normal boyfriend tendency’s ‘selfish’.

but when things very quickly become more severe and traumatising, those longing gazes turn into ones of sadness and care.

he’d really watch out for you, and he’d never let you walk anywhere unless he was there, or he’d at least offer.

“I’m gonna go into the town for a couple hours today, Joe.”

“That’s a good idea, keepin’ yourself nice and safe away from the lines, baby.”

wants you protected and safe at all costs so I think he’d ask people like Guarnere and Malarkey, those he’s closest to, to watch out for you when he can’t.

grabs your belt holes to pull you to safety, at times he’d be tempted to lift you over his shoulder and carry you to safety, he wouldn’t live with himself if anything bad happened to you.

when he does get badly wounded, you’re both in shock, it all happens so quick and Joe is so upset when you stumble on the scene and have to see him like that.

He feels bad for seeing you so upset? Like you’re traumatised and he can’t sleep that night without images of your sad, paled face in his mind.

he’s worried he’s somehow scared you off?? The extent of his injuries are horrific, but he’s still alive. He’d be worried about you every second until you are allowed to finally come visit him.

oh my god, he’d be so so relieved. A little worried, but genuinely at peace to see that you’re safe and okay.

Alton More:

Big sweetheart, a little naughty so kinda plays around the rules. Like fraternisation? Idk her, I’m in 3rd platoon and she’s in 2nd sooo stuff your fraternisation rules.

smirks at you, especially when he sees you all wrapped up in the coat he stole for you. He’s never been happier than seeing you warm.

1000% would attempt to sneak into your foxhole? I just think he’s not good at being sneaky however and gets caught and told to go back to his own foxhole.

gets worried tho when he sees you’ve given your coat to a more injured soldier, he hurried over and he’s wrapping his arms around you, worried as to why your lips are so blue and your teeth are chattering.

“damn it y/n, I think you’re turning into a little ice cube.”

When his hands are warm he sticks them under your shirt to warm up your skin, opposing when he usually sticks his cold hands into your warm shirt. He’s not that cruel however, especially not in god damn Bastogne.

Has a bit of a mental breakdown because he thinks you’re wounded when he can’t find you, like he fully freaks tf out, but he’s engulfing you in a HUGE bear hug when he finds out safe as sound. (You were just singing in a foxhole with Alley and Liebgott).

seriously a massive sweetheart tho, steals chocolate for you, attempts to somehow mix the chocolate and the snow to make you ‘chocolate ice cream’ it kinda flops but it’s so cute.

[1waveshortofashipwreck]

Should've Been Born Later, Nix - Chapter 7: The Boys Back Home

Easy Company x Fem!OCs

Chap. Synopsis: What will happen when some of Easy Company's most valuable soldiers disappear?

Words: 2,135

Find the fic's navigation page here !!

Have a question/want to be on the taglist? Let me know !!

Author's note: Hey everyone! Apologies for the delay with the chapter lol 🫠 This chapter is the point of view of the men in Bastogne!! Also, because this is my fanfiction and I can do whatever I want, there will be some soldiers who somehow survived their demise in previous episodes (Miller? Dukeman? PERHAPS) Anywho, thank you as always for reading and be on the lookout for Chapter 8! 🥰

"Luz!" Carwood cried over the last shell to drop. He watched the radioman dive into the foxhole - George met the same fate as the nine others who dropped into that hole, none of them came out. Lipton was astonished. At most, a foxhole could fit three of the men comfortably, perhaps four if needed. But ten men in one? Lipton should have seen a dog pile of olive drab stretching above the opening. Instead, he saw an empty hole in the ground. The First Sergeant blinked and rubbed his eyes, making sure what he saw was indeed reality. The foxhole stayed empty when he opened his eyes.

Lipton sprinted from where he was taking cover, desperately searching for Lieutenant Dike. He knew that Dike was the least preferable choice, especially in a situation like this, but the officers Lipton would have preferred to ask for help had disappeared. After an agonizing search mission, Lipton finally found the Lieutenant - Dike was absentmindedly strolling along, looking at the trees around him with a glassy, thousand-yard stare. “Lieutenant Dike!” Lipton called out, scrambling over tree roots and broken branches. Dike snapped back to reality, his posture automatically improving when he saw First Sergeant Lipton.

“What is it, First Sergeant?” Dike asked, trying to be authoritative. The yawn that followed his words worked against him. Carwood began to speak, but his words were caught in his throat… how in the world was he going to tell the lieutenant what just happened?

“Sir… we um…” Lipton tried to force the words out of his mouth.

“Spit it out, First Sergeant Lipton!” Dike ordered, irritation evident in his voice. Lipton paused, taking a breath before responding to the officer.

“Sir… several men are gone…”

“First Sergeant, this is war, we're going to have casualties every day.”

“Not like that sir, I mean… they've disappeared…”

Dike stared blankly at the NCO, wondering if he heard him right.

“Where did they go, Carwood?” Hearing Dike use his first name gave Lipton a feeling he could only describe as ick, but nevertheless, he continued.

“Sir, I saw ten men go into a foxhole, but when I reached them, the foxhole was empty.”

“And you’re sure you went to the right foxhole?” Lipton had to pause and take a breath before answering.

“Yes, sir.” In a flurry of urgency that Lipton had never seen from Dike before, the lieutenant had rounded up Compton, Peacock, Shames, Foley, and Welsh, as well as radioed to Colonel Sink. Lipton hastily repeated his experience to the officers, who were just as hesitant to believe Lipton as Dike was. 

“So they’re just… gone?” Harry asked, still skeptical.

“I wish I had more information for you sir, but all I saw was the men go into the foxhole and not come out,” Carwood replied, defeat evident in his voice.

“Shit…” Welsh muttered under his breath. The Irishman stared at the ground in front of him, wondering how he let two of his closest friends just disappear.

“So who all are we missing?” Buck interjected. He stood with his arms crossed, instinctively taking command of the conversation.

“Captains Winters and Nixon, Lieutenant Speirs, and then Roe, Luz, Liebgott, Guarnere, Toye, Malarkey, and Randleman,” the NCO listed off the men he saw disappear, and prayed he would see again.

What Lipton did not see was Skip Muck quickly scrambling back to his foxhole. He had originally made his way to CP to ask Captain Winters a question, but when he overheard the discussion between Lipton and the officers, panic consumed the soldier’s thoughts. Muck all but fell into Penkala’s foxhole, unaware that he inadvertently elbowed his best friend in the face.

“HEY! What the fuck!?” Penkala yelped in surprise, his hands shooting to his cheek.

“Keep it down, Penk! I gotta tell you something,” Muck hushed the soldier, looking to make sure no one else was around. “I just heard Lipton telling Buck that we lost a bunch of men.”

“Like, to a sniper?”

“No, like they fucking disappeared.” Alex rolled his eyes, figuring Skip was just up to his usual mischief.

“Yeah, and I’m marrying Rita Hayworth.”

“Penk, I’m serious. Winters, Nixon, and a few others are gone and they have no fucking idea where they went.”

“Wait, what’d you say?” Muck and Penkala looked up to see that Shifty Powers had joined them in their foxhole. The rifleman looked at his two friends with shock and concern - how could the soldiers just disappear, especially vital officers like Winters and Nixon?

“He said we’re missing half the fucking company!” Penkala’s voice raised again, becoming more distressed by the minute.

“I said keep it down, you ass-hat!” Skip punctuated his interjection with a sharp whack to the back of Penkala’s head. “Look, we all know Dike isn’t gonna do shit. When Colonel Sink gets here, we need to back Lipton up and make sure Sink knows what’s happening.”

“I can go round up some of the other NCOs and tell them,” Shifty offered, gathering up his rifle to go find the rest of Easy Company’s leaders.

“Alright, we’ll come find you once Sink gets here,” Penkala replied before Shifty set off on his solo mission. Before long, the Virginian had gathered up Alley, Christianson, Grant, Martin, McClung, Perconte, Sisk, Talbert, Popeye, and Smokey Gordon. Of course, the trio of Hashey, Garcia, and Miller wanted to tag along as well - even if they did not have a leadership role, they wanted to help their company however they could.

“I really hope Bull’s okay…” Hashey muttered to no one in particular, crossing his arms to conserve the little warmth he had. “First he went missing in Holland, now we lose him in Bastogne…”

“Yeah, we need to keep a leash on him or something!” Miller snickered to his friends before Babe Heffron bumbled up to the group. The redhead resembled a baby horse learning to gallop as he jumped and weaved past tree roots and foxholes making his way to the group of soldiers.

“The fuck is this I hear about Gaurnere missing!?” Babe’s respirations were loud and labored as he attempted to catch his breath. Before anyone could respond, Lipton came across the group of soldiers all congregated near CP.

“Hey fellas, everyone doing all right?” Carwood asked nervously - he loved his men, but he knew they were up to no good if too many were in one place without a good reason.

“We heard about the men going missing,” Smokey replied, Mississippi accent thick in his words.

“We want to help, Lip, however we can,” Floyd Talbert added. He nervously shifted his weight from one foot to the other, Smokey glancing a look of concern at his best friend. 

Lipton was about to express his gratitude to his company before Colonel Sink’s Jeep was seen pulling up beside the rest of the group. Lipton quickly went to grab the company’s officers as Sink nodded in thanks to his driver and stepped out of the car. With a loud, abrupt command to “Ten-Hut!” from Buck Compton, the gathered men snapped to attention and saluted the colonel, who offered a gentle salute in return.

“At ease men,” Sink instructed before turning to the officers, “I knew it was bad when I was getting a call from Dike.”

Lipton and Welsh needed to bite their cheeks to hide their amused smiles. “We’re not sure what to do, sir, or if anything can be done…” Buck replied to the colonel before taking a step back - the blonde gestured for Lipton to step up, an instruction to inform Sink of their predicament.

“Carwood, tell me exactly what you saw.” The rest of the gathered men leaned in as Sink spoke, anxious to understand what was happening.

“Ten men went into a foxhole while we were getting shelled, sir, but the foxhole was completely empty when I went to check on them afterward. There was absolutely no trace of anyone being in that foxhole, sir, and now we can’t find any of the men I saw go in.”

The older man nodded in understanding, silently processing Lipton’s words. “Who all went in?” The NCO repeated the names from earlier, ending with Captains Winters and Nixon. Sink simply looked down at the snow. “And you have no idea where the hell any of them went…”

“No sir,” Lipton replied quietly.

The colonel simply let out a sigh and shook his head, “I’m sorry boys, but since it was during a shelling and they were last seen going into a foxhole, the higher-ups probably aren’t going to authorize a search party,” he sent a determined look to the men, “I’m going to do everything I can to push the request through, but I better not hear of anyone taking matters into their own hands.” Before getting back into his Jeep, Sink turned to Lieutenant Dike, or rather, where Dike should have been. “And where the hell is Dike?”

“We don’t know, sir, we looked for him before you arrived but didn’t find him,” Welsh chimed in. Sink rubbed his forehead in irritation before turning to Buck and Welsh.

“All right, I’m making this an official order. Lieutenant Compton, if Dike isn’t to be found and a decision needs to be made, your company comes to you. Harry, you’re second in command. You kids do what you think is right. You’re good soldiers with smart heads on your shoulders.” Sink nodded to the officers and saluted the men before getting back in his Jeep and driving back to Regimental HQ - the poor man put his head in his hands, his most trusted officers were gone without a trace, and there was virtually nothing he could do to help them.

As if on cue, Dike returned to the company, “What are we all standing around for? We have a line to protect!” Dike crescendoed his voice to try and be more authoritative, but his efforts fell flat. Eyes rolled and voices groaned as the gathered men all dispersed and returned to their assigned duties - well, all except for Babe, Talbert, Smokey, McClung, Shifty, Alley, Grant, and Popeye. As everyone was trying to leave, Smokey grabbed the sleeve of whoever he could.

“Y’all, this isn’t right, we need to do something,” the machine gunner pleaded in a hushed tone.

“You heard Sink, though, there’s no way they’re gonna authorize a search party,” Moe replied, his brows furrowed in confusion.

Popeye took a beat before he chimed in, “...why do we need to wait for authorization?”

“Because only a general can authorize a search party,” Talbert answered the Virginian - while he did not agree with the policy at all, he knew that there was no getting around it.

“But didn’t Sink say that he left Buck and Welsh in charge if Dike isn’t around? They’re not the type to snitch,” Grant offered to the conversation, scrunching his shoulders up for warmth like a turtle retreating into its shell.

“Hell, they might be happy to help out,” Gordon affirmed the NCO. The men looked around at each other with uncertainty - what if Dike found out? Or Peacock? To be honest, it was probably worse for the latter officer to discover the plot. Thomas Peacock tries his best to be a good captain, but these efforts cause him to be rather heavy-handed with the rules. If Peacock were to hear of the plot to find the missing soldiers, he would surely either tell his superior officers or try to stop the soldiers himself.

“What if we get caught?” Shifty asked nervously - while he wanted to help his friends, the poor boy was nervous to hatch a plot like this.

“We can’t just do nothin’! We all know they’d do the same if it were any of us out there!” The man from Philly interjected, earning Babe a smack on the head from Grant.

“Where would we even start?” McClung asked the group.

“Well, best thing to do would be to investigate the foxhole and see if there are any clues,” everyone turned in shock to see Lipton returning to them. “I needed something from CP, and then I noticed all of you still over here, I figured you were up to no good,” the first sergeant said with a smile, earning him a loving slap on the back from Grant and Johnny Martin. The rest of the afternoon was about to be spent brainstorming, at least until one of the men needed to take their turn watching the line.

All of the men felt nervous, but especially Babe. Guarnere is his best friend, it would be one thing if Babe knew that he was wounded, even killed, but not knowing what happened to Bill was eating away at Babe worse than anything he had ever felt before.

~~~~~

Chapter 6 | Chapter 8 (coming soon!)

Taglist: @b00ks1ut , @blueberry-ovaries , @bucky32557038ww2 , @claudycod , @dontirrigateme , @easycompany123 , @emilee1421 , @executethyself35 , @hanniewinnix , @ithinkabouttzu , @jump-wings , @panzershrike-pretz , @stolen94 , @themysciraprincess , @xxluckystrike

Thank you so much as always for reading and stay tuned for Chapter 8! 😁

[mastersoftheair]

ok, so my own final (and very, very fresh) thoughts, bc i wanted to wait until i'd watched everything to make a sweeping opinion of the whole series, and it's quite opinionated. and long. probably too long. i write essays for fun (everyone point and laugh):

my personal (and very, very fresh) ranking of the hbo war shows (not including gen kill bc that's a different war, sorry) goes- band of brothers > masters of the air > the pacific (it's the same for my title score rankings. that hasn't changed yet)

my main points of contention with MotA are 1) the nine episodes, 2) the length of the episodes, and 3) certain editing choices. nine episodes, compared to the classic ten, isn't Nearly enough time to showcase all that they wanna showcase (especially when the episodes are as short as they are, once you get past the recap and "next on" parts). and they wanna showcase A Lot! there so much going on! i'd ask them to pace themselves, but they literally Can't!

i mean, the editing choices are a Whole Thing! practically gives me whiplash sometimes lol. i feel like the weaker episodes still have parts that are Really good, but like. Individually. they don't work together as a stronger whole, which is to the episode's detriment. rather than jumping around (as the show often did), they could've benefited a lot from focusing on the One Story instead of squeezing three more stories into there (i say that, but i think the 4-5-6 episode run (all with multiple stories per episode) did this very well while Still being very good episodes, so it's not like it Can't be done, it just didn't work for 7, 8 and (partly) 9). granted, i suspect a chunk of the weird editing can be blamed on, well, there being only nine (and not all that long) episodes and no one wanting to cough up enough money for a tenth. ugh! i'm blaming both hbo And appletv for this (and covid19 ig). it's just One More Episode, how much could it cost?? and on the subject of episodes, why no episode titles? you used to love episode titles! i could've brainstormed episode titles for them For Free!!

when it comes to the characters, the rankings remain the same: BoB > MotA > TP. it's not totally fair tho, since BoB followed the exact same (and large-ish) group of guys from beginning to end, so you're Gonna know who they all are and get attached. this wasn't the case (for me!) when watching TP, since, unlike BoB, they jump around from group to group. i never felt like i got to know them all that well, outside of the main characters. i think MotA almost hits that sweet spot, especially knowing they had those two main things going against it: large cast And jumping from group to group. there's a case to be made for bias here (i Was the blog blogging about everything MotA for like. years.), but i still think they found a good enough balance of fleshing out the main characters while Also helping the audience get to know about a bunch of minor characters, of which there are a shitton (and their personalities, motivations, backgrounds, quirks).

there's also the representation of women. actual angel renée lemaire is and will always be a cut above the rest (bastogne is just That Good, argue with the wall). she's written so well that it almost makes me forget about how a bunch of women are portrayed in carentan. i have...issues with how women are portrayed in TP (even tho i love lena), so there's that. MotA falls in the middle (again) bc there's Way more women on-screen, but the writing can be questionable. balanced (as all things should be?) captain l'sandra wing-westgate is a character of all time, but episode 7 birthed the craziest discourse known to man (the hbo war fandom), but it wasn't all that unwarranted. manon and michou were sooo cool, but we didn't see nearly enough of them (another victim of the 'editing too many stories into one episode' problem. why not a whole resistance episode? or at least as the only b-plot?). paulina was interesting, but fulfilled one of those 'attractive foreign woman gives sage advice during/after sex' tropes (there's probably a tvtropes page for that idk). so many red cross girls, but none of the in-depth payoff :/ epic highs (multiple women!!) + epic lows (writing women??) = pretty tolerable. not great, not terrible. it was aight. i trust the fandom to build on this tho.

narrative is the big one tho. it's the whole "doing so much with so little" thing they've got going on (i'm ignoring their big budget here lol, could've been bigger). rather than having one main story with many connecting side stories (like BoB), it does the TP thing where there's many semi-connecting side stories set in the same general area. it helps that there's crosby's narration (i enjoy narration, sue me!), and he helps everything connect, sorta. but there's still other side stories that have Nothing to do with him (sandra's side gigs (revealing what she did takes away the mystery of what she Might be doing), the tuskegee airmen, quinn and bailey's eurotrip). would it have helped if there were two narrators (say, someone like rosie)? idk. gonna sit with that one. if there's a through-line, it's not super obvious like in the other two shows. which is insanely funny to me bc i literally like TP less, but that show's got an Extremely tight through-line all the way down. i can't lie and say it doesn't!

back to budget- i've seen people criticize this show for being called "masters of the air" when there's not much of "the air". ig that's fair, but there's the money issue, again. also, it'd get very repetitive if they were always in "the air". there was enough confusion about identifying who was who with the masks on, so imagine if that was Every Episode. out of All the issues the show has, this is the least issue-y. again, that's just my opinion, and it could change.

another budget thing (i think??)- idk enough about costuming and hair for period pieces so i can't comment on that with my 0 background in it, all i Can say is that i knoooooow people were clowning on marjorie cleven's hair in episode 1 (and i could see why, no such thing as 1940s beach waves). but from what i could understand- that actress' addition was a last-minute thing (bc i had No idea who the hell she was and i already found someone cast for marjorie all the way back in 2021). maybe there's something to say about the quality of rush jobs, but i really do think it was the most last-minute thing bc it came out of Nowhere, and timeline-wise, it looks like that bit was done long after everything else had been filmed. outside looking in, it seems something probably went wrong/didn't work out with who or what they already had and there wasn't enough wiggle room (time and money) to fix it. this isn't me being an apologist (lol), but i feel like a theorist at a big board bc nothing adds up! and i wanna know what happened! i'm just speculating! speculating on this blog is All i did for like Years lmaooo.

this is more of a side thing, but some of the lines in MotA feel really on-the-nose, almost corny. and that was Gonna be a knock against it, but there's some equally Extremely on-the-nose lines in both BoB and TP (Especially in BoB), so if i give MotA shit for it, i'd have to give all three shows shit for it lol. none of them are free of cheese.

another silly aside- no peaches, no main gingers, no main eugenes! we can't have 'em all, but c'mon!

there Is some good tho lol. one thing that MotA really has going for it, that i think the other shows have less of, is- and GOD it feels so weird to call this "world-building" when it's actual goddamn history, but- it's got world-building. maybe that isn't the best word for it. but i like how much Bigger ww2 feels in this show. BoB is one stop, then the next stop, then the next stop, which is, admittedly, good from a narrative-perspective (easy to follow), but not as good when you want a scale of how devastating the war is (in fairness, it was filmed in 2000). even TP feels pretty "enclosed" in a way. there's island-hopping, yeah, but all the damn islands look the same (not including australia lol). it's a theatre of the war we otherwise don't really get to see, but there still isn't all that much to see. it's water and sand and rock and dirt. which is the point, but Whatever! would've been cool if we saw sledge and co. in china, but moving on. MotA's able to really show the scale of it, both in the air and on the ground (that scene in germany during episode 6 was both harrowing and fantastic, also the inclusion of the actual children forced to fight nearer to the war's end in the finale). idk i just liked how it was able to zoom in and zoom out (and in and out again) in a way that the other shows weren't.

another thing it's got that the other shows don't is Really driving home how young everyone is (not "child soldier" young, but damn young). the cast is full of baby faces (rip babyface). a lot of ww2 shows/movies don't bother casting to reflect this, but i think overlooking that takes away from the overall impact. you browse through some old newspaper articles or photos of soldiers during ww2 enough and you're gonna Regularly get hit with the face of someone who looks like they could've sat in the desk next to you during a high school lit class. a lot of those b&w grinning faces look like kids bc they pretty much were (more so if they lied about their age). you don't really get that in BoB or TP (it's Crazy when the real life pics of the soldiers portrayed in those shows look younger than the actors).

i'm mixed about the tuskegee airmen. what we have, i love (thank you, dee rees). unfortunately, my biggest irk is that it leaves me wanting more of them, which i won't ever get. speaking as a black person (not speaking for All black people, just how i personally feel about it), having them included feels like a catch-22. if they weren't included in any capacity (all while knowing there were whole tuskegee airmen in stalag iii with the white main characters), there'd be a problem. however, including them (all while having these time constraints and not enough focus on them) leads to the feeling of having them "tokenized" (which i can see). there's no world where there'd be 50/50 split (even a 70/30 split) bc, at that point, just give them a show of their own. but there'd still be a general annoyance that big budget ww2 shows are only ever white. on the other hand, hanks and spielberg and orloff and miller and all the directors (except dee rees) are white, and how good of a story about black people are you really gonna get from the perspective of nonblack people? that in mind, i personally don't feel put-off by having the three tuskegee airmen in the posters/trailers/promos, bc i just Know there'd be a whole nother problem if they weren't included in them at all despite being in the show for however long (it'd be even worse if they made their pictures smaller). like i don't work in advertising, but i don't know if a "sweet spot" even exists for something like this. people would be pissed off no matter what imo (i'm also speaking with a bias here bc i had to browse through sooooo many comments written by white guys whining and crying and pissing and shitting themselves once they learned that the tuskegee airmen were gonna be in the show in Any capacity, so i'm just cool knowing they're in shambles rn (and josiah cross- he played richard macon- always goes Wild seeing his face in the promos, and his joy is pretty contagious).

i give it somewhere like a 7.5-8/10. 3.75 stars out of 5. not perfect, subject to change, gotta marinate, but i'm overall happy with it! MotA's best episodes are better than many other individual hbo war episodes. should i be grading it using the overall sum of its parts, not just the different parts? idk, i'm not being paid to grade lol.

[bleedingcoffee42]

And Sparky stole Buck's smokes, just like that what also made me think they might have been pals (in the show at least).

It always makes me laugh that the biggest badasses in the army have the most innocent or cute or funny nicknames. Look at Bill and Tab.

Bunch of high school girls they were. And well, officers were like celebs, so the best material to moan about for the gang.

Someone said somewhere, and I really liked it, that in the eps before 7 Speirs was seen as boogeyman but the perspective has changed during ep 7, because we'd started to look at him through Lip's eyes aka someone who admired Ron (probably because of that interaction with Dike in the woods, lol).

But yeah, totally, I would sell my kidney to hear all what Lip said about his Captain. And some others. Probably a lot was not even written down, because it didn't fit Ambrose's narative, SIGH.

Tbh, Nixon and Sparky just had to be an interesting mix too. And what is funny, Speirs was another one who didn't drink, what made me think that Nix had a type xD

Buck also had a copy of Sparky's wedding photo to put in his book. A few guys had pics of Speirs, I don't know if they were just lining up to get some to have a photo to show of this guy they served with or if he just handed them out? Malarkey tried hunting him down for the pic of him wearing burlap which was taken right before his Bastogne binocular pic. He's also always such a ham for photos?

Dick didn't have a style name. Just his nickname. What's up with that?

I LOVE that. And the undercurrent of truth that is in that Breaking Point episode because it's all from Lip's POV, and he was the one giving the info because Dick was genuinely on the "I just turned around and Speirs was there so I sent him". As much as Winters told Lewis and Livingston that they had to play this like men in love, Lipton had to lay it on the same. 'There is hype and then there is Ron Speirs who is everything and more than his rep and he came out there and touched me nine times and then ran into town, across it and stole my heart, the company, and Foy from the hands of the enemy."

Lipton rambles though. Like he'll tell a story for about two pages and I can NOT believe he would just be like "Speirs was impressive." There was more. And that second interview is not in the online boxes and I do not want to go to Carlisle PA to read it, but....

Nix and Sparky keeping their mouths shut and just watching from the sidelines while Dick and Lip go into BOB frenzy says a lot more than 'I like my privacy'. Especially since Speirs specifically asked for Nix's address when Dick was starting his harassment campaign.

[z-ppy]

just finished band of brothers and i'm having many feelings.

first -- the entirety of the hbo war fandom somehow failed to mention that easy company liberated a concentration camp? yeah i get it the way nix looks at dick is earth-shattering but... liebgott having to translate? the bodies ? that episode was hard, and honestly kind of erased all the feelings i was feeling about bastogne. glad liebgott got his headhunt tho.

there is no reason for the way dick and nix look at each other except that they are in love.

web's eyelashes are the most beautiful thing i've ever seen. they should have been nicer to him, on account of his eyelashes.

i learned a lot about the european theater that i didn't know! especially towards the end.

the personal connections were still weird to me. i went to summer camp at toccoa, i have relatives who fought and died in italy, i did a big europe trip in high school that basically went backwards from the show, starting in austria and ending in england. i have a bottle of sand from omaha beach.

still about halfway thru the pacific and i have to say band of brothers ranks second after gen kill. it's a very different kind of show, but gk is still #1 for me.

@screwby

ETA: I almost forgot --- roe my precious angel baby. again, am part cajun. his prayer and his accent and his sad fucking eyes and he cared so much for his men running like a little chipmunk thru the forest to take care of them. my heart is so full of love for that little man. bless him.

ETA #2: nix is frighteningly relatable. he's a hot mess and i love him for it. nix/winecellar is my otp

[whollyjoly]

Em!!! How about 3, 8, 12, and 13 for the BoB ask!! 🖤🫡

hello my dear!! ahhh thank you for stopping by!!! ✨✨

okay okay SO

3. which episode wrecks your emotions the most?

FUCK that is such a hard question cause like...a lot of them. but honestly, bastogne just fills me with so many different emotions?? there's something about the stark juxtposition of that episode compared to the relatively colorful episodes in holland - we go from these purple and yellow fields of thistle and yarrow to the stark monochrome of a freezing hell in basically no time, and you can feel the creeping dread slowly consume you, almost like a kind of hypothermia

i also think that there's something so visceral about focusing on the deteriorating health of the company - not just the physical health, but the mental toll as well. its easy to think about things like gun shots and mortar shells, but seeing the slow misery absolutely guts me. joe's trench foot, bill's uti, babe's cough... and just the overwhelming sense of grief. all the things that gene, our absolute goddamn beloved, feels so responsible and no matter what he does, there's just...nothing he can do.

but even with no supplies, no coat, no morphine, no goddamn scissors - he still tries. he still runs into the fire, takes the boots off a corpse, gives away the precious piece of chocolate. because he is a medic and thats what he does.

(bonus fun fact: the first time i watched band of brothers, i was in undergrad - where i was studying to be an emergency room doctor! my path ended up going a different direction, but that drive and desire to just...help, is something i've always resonated with. especially with gene. so maybe im biased a bit 😅)

FUCK anyways that was a lot longer than i meant it to be but!!! this episode!!!!! kills me!!!!!!!

8. when did you first watch the show?

LOL didn't even realize this was the next question when i mentioned it above!! but yeah, funny story, my ex introduced me to this show?? we were in college (this was about 7ish years ago?) and he knew i loved history - particularly war/political media - and thought i would enjoy it!! anyways, we binged it over a few days, and i super quickly became obsessed.

although, i remember him like? spoiling things for me while watching and it pissed me off?? like he told me immediately after the battle of the island that it was dick's last time in combat, before even sink promoting him and i was like ??? im sorry??? so yeah, 0 out of fucking 10 harry (not welsh, my beloved) 😠

aaaanyways my love for the show definitely lasted longer than my love for him, let's just say that 😅

12. which aspect of the show shocked you the most when you found out it wasn’t true?

okay okay so i feel like blithe is the easy answer, but honestly....

the fucking betrayal i felt when i found out that speirs' tertius (terseus?) bit just...doesnt make any fucking sense

i think i was trying to research it for my immortal soldier!alton more story (cause, uh, fun fact - speirs is definitely also an immortal soldier in that au) and i wanted to get the exact time period that tertius was alive right for some plotting

turns out, tertius DOESNT FUCKING EXIST

not only that, but like, little of that whole speech makes sense - for example, mentioning "carthaginian prisoners" implies one of the punic wars, but centurions weren't a thing until?? like 50 years after the end of the last punic war?? so he's just?? making shit up???

anyways it absolutely broke me cause i was so in love with the idea of speirs just being this big history nerd and classics fan and it turns out he's just that finance bro in the back of the lecture who says things so confidently everyone automatically believes them, even if they're just talking out of their ass 😭😭

although it cemented the fact that speirs would definitely have been a lax bro, tell me im wrong

13. have you read any of the books the real life people wrote about their time in easy company? if so, which ones?

hahahahahahaha okay so ive kinda been the worst about it cause like, i own three of them and have pretty much read the first two chapters of each 🙃🙃

i know i know okay but i am SO BAD at just!! sitting down and reading a book!!! it's on my list i promise

but yeah i have: biggest brother, malarkey's book, and bill & babe's book. the bill & babe book has been my favorite so far, i've read the most of it and i LOVE their different perspectives and sense of personality through it!! so much!!

(bonus fun fact: i got the bill & babe book while visiting some friends over the holidays. we went into a bookstore and i didn't think i'd get anything, buuuuut i figured i'd take a look around anyways. i'd been looking for a copy of bill & babe's book, and hadn't found one at my fav bookstore back home. well, just in case, i found myself looking at the ww2 history section....and there it was. one, single, last copy of brothers in battle, best of friends.

but that's not the most amazing thing. do you know where i was at the time?

the bookstore was in philadelphia. south philly, to be precise. on 17th street.

if that's not meant to be, idk what is!!)

ANYWAYS MY DEAR i am sure you didnt expect me to ramble this much, but here we are 😅 look, i am nothing if not a wordy bitch✨

thank you SO much for stopping by, and zim zam! 🔥🫡

from this bob ask game

[softguarnere]

Hey Dove! For the BoB ask game!

1. Who was your first favourite character?

2. Is there a character you liked/disliked at first, but then changed opinion on throughout the show?

3. When did you first watch the show?

4. If you could pick three characters to be on your zombie apocalypse team, who would they be and why?

6. If you had to pick only one episode as your favourite, which one would it be?

8. How did you find out about the show?

9. Is there a character you think is very underrated or that you think people should show more love to? Who and why?

10. Would you ever do the same thing the boys did if you got the chance? Why/why not?

11. What’s your favourite location from the show?

12. What do you think your army nickname would be if you were in it?

13. If you could meet any of the boys, who would you most want to meet and why?

14. How many pairs of socks would you bring to Bastogne? [Because, as they say, socks are important!]

16. If you had to pick a trait from any of the boys that would be your main trait, which one would it be?

17. Did the 101st Airborne need saving in Bastogne?

19. What song [beside the original scores] do you connect the most with the show?

20. If you have a(ny) ship(s) when it comes to the show, which one(s) is your absolute favourite?

There’s so many asks so hopefully it’s not too much! I’m just super curious 😅

Hi Louise! 🤗 These are all super fun, thanks for sending them

Who was your first favourite character?

Bill Guarnere! (everyone act shocked)

2. Is there a character you liked/disliked at first, but then changed opinion on throughout the show?

Hmmm idk, maybe Nixon? I think maybe I just didn't understand his humor and his actions as well as I do now. I think he's an interesting character and I've come to really enjoy him

3. When did you first watch the show?

High school history class, as forever immortalized in this post 😌🫶🏽

4. If you could pick three characters to be on your zombie apocalypse team, who would they be and why?

Shifty Powers, because who wouldn't want a sharpshooter on their side? Ron Speirs, because I think he'd be a good leader in a tough situation like that. Eugene Roe, because every team needs a healer.

6. If you had to pick only one episode as your favourite, which one would it be?

That's such a tough one! Maybe the first one, just because I think it's a lot of fun to watch - especially the ending, because the score goes so hard

8. How did you find out about the show?

The aforementioned high school history class. My teacher was very into the show

9. Is there a character you think is very underrated or that you think people should show more love to? Who and why?

Skinny Sisk, bb! 😎 Such an interesting guy with lots of stories surrounding him, I just think we don't talk about him enough

10. Would you ever do the same thing the boys did if you got the chance? Why/why not?

Jumping out of planes for a living looks cool and may or may not be something that I'm currently trying to get into right now 🫣 But yes, I would do it because I think it would be an interesting career

11. What’s your favourite location from the show?

Either Toccoa or Austria

12. What do you think your army nickname would be if you were in it?

Honestly I have no clue. Probably Dove, since I guess it's technically kind of a nickname lol

13. If you could meet any of the boys, who would you most want to meet and why?

After all the stories that the cast told, you just know that Guarnere and Heffron would be the life of the party while simultaneously giving the best advice

14. How many pairs of socks would you bring to Bastogne? [Because, as they say, socks are important!]

A pair for the feet, a pair for the hands, and a third pair just in case

16. If you had to pick a trait from any of the boys that would be your main trait, which one would it be?

I'd really want Winters' selflessness - the ability he had to both inspire and effectively lead all at once

17. Did the 101st Airborne need saving in Bastogne?

*stares into the camera like I'm on The Office*

19. What song [beside the original scores] do you connect the most with the show?

For some reason I've always associated "Hold Me Down" by The Happy Fitz with it, but also more recently "I Can See You (Taylor's Version)" by Taylor Swift

20. If you have a(ny) ship(s) when it comes to the show, which one(s) is your absolute favourite?

Out of all the popular ships, I think that Webgott is one of my favorites, just because I love how well people write their banter, and because I think Liebgott and Webster reflect each other well

For this ask game!

[wiltedprayers]

i know Bastogne is universally recognized as the Best band of brothers episode and listen, I get it and also agree in the sense that the story portrayed is the most interesting and overall it's incredibly well written. but I'd just like to point out the excellence that's episode 5, "Crossroads."

(Crossroads is the episode that focuses the most on Dick Winters — ep 1, 2, and later 10 also do but it's not as centralized as it is here — We follow Dick through an anachronistic series of events, and the episode ends with E company moving towards Bastogne. It's directed by Tom Hanks.)

I love this episode because of all the different creative choices it has and how it stands out visually and sonically in comparison to all the other eps. so in technical aspects, it's my favorite of the bunch. this distinction is exemplary in the sequences that go from Dick writing his report quietly in his office to him leading the attack on the SS companies. It's very interesting to me how loud and obnoxious the typing gets for both Dick and the audience after a while; in the battlefield, there's nothing to pull Dick out of his concentration, always the focused leader. he has a mission to do, and he intends to carry it out as smoothly as possible (as seen in this episode). in the office, though, he's distracted, losing track of time, almost physically feeling the noises of the typewriter as if it was the sound of a gun going off inside his ears.

the back and forth between time periods is amazing. the sound design in this episode is my personal favorite (in a show with explosions and rifles, you wouldn't think a clacking typewriter and a man out of breath would be the reason for this). the combined sounds of Dick writing with the gunshots going off, the change in paragraphs with the tearing of the tape? Dick and the company running towards the enemy (clearly screaming) with nothing but the sounds of their breaths and footsteps making noise? just excellent sound design.

also, the cinematography. I could talk for hours about how good this episode's photography and lighting are. there's this particular moment I love after Alley is shown to be hit and bleeding on the barn table, where we immediately cut to Dick writing about this in his report. it's all about the stark contrast between the lived experience of seeing one of your men badly wounded and then simply writing and reading about it.

the night shots as well. it's very easy to fail in making a night scene both properly lit but also indicative of the time (some shows make it look dark as shit basically), but band of brothers does it well: in the first pic, you only have the moonlight as illumination, which is not much, but it helps to get you into Dick's perspective of having to go through this mission in the depths of night with such a limited field of vision.

there's several night scenes in this episode, most notably the battle on the Crossroads, but also Operation Pegasus, the night Moose is shot, Dick in Paris, and then Easy company going into Bastogne.

finally, the color grading. band of brothers is a strange show that's always changing in its color grading — maybe the different directors had no prior discussion before filming the episodes, as it happened with the writers' room, but I doubt this — nevertheless, Crossroads' color grading stands out, specially in the long-awaited scene of E company charging against the SS companies.

the high contrast of the dark shadows with the desaturated greens (and later reds) make for quite a sight, especially if you compare it to the warmer tones of the present scenes of Dick writing. the show wants you to know how different these moments are for Dick, who under fire is collected and focused but is ultimately crumbling under the bureaucratic pressure.

also I freaking love all the shots and framing of the typewriter. nothing to say other than they're cool as hell.

and this isn't even covering the emotional and character-driven aspects of the story! (that's a post for another day, maybe). for me Crossroads is a masterpiece of an episode in what it means to use camera, lighting, and sound to make your story as immersing as possible; it connects beautifully all technical aspects of filmmaking and, in my opinion, delivers one of the show's best episodes (that's accompanied with a great script.)

[flyingfortress1]

Finished episode six of band of brothers:

First of all such a good episode! I can see why people call it as their favorite. Shane Taylor does such a good job in this as Roe- the fact that they choose to spotlight on a medic too is really interesting; it's a very unique perspective that you don't see too often in war media. It also conveys the desperation- Roe is scrounging for medical supplies (ie, scissors, morphine) and then you see the overloaded 'aide station'/hospital in Bastogne proper.

-there really is a darker shift with this episode- like it's a war show so everything is dark, but the coloring, the foreboding, isolated siege feeling, foreshadowing in the previous episode- Easy's kinda come on top for the most part before, but not now.

-also the fact that this was shot in a warehouse and everyone was sweltering will never stop amazing me. I legit thought that this was actually shot in the cold, in an actual forest lol. dunno why- but at least it must've been cold, I thought. The special effects and makeup department, plus the acting is so solid.

-also didn't realize how much Skip is in this- especially considering the next episode....they're really 'bout to drop one on you

-and Smokey! I love Smokey. That man really saw tanks coming towards him, and was like, nah, gotta get my coffee first, solid priorities obviously. The paralyzing shot though- oof. Especially cause now I can figure out who people are- I remember him in the earlier episodes as getting all the purple hearts and getting interviewed. I'm glad he was able to walk again and at least partly recover.

-Spina! love Spina and his hat. also the guys theorizing about Roe possibly being a morphine addict- that's really interesting, because I know from the B-17 side, from a memoir, a lot of their aide kits would be missing morphine cause addicts would steal it.

-Perconte's 'snow cone' is cute though. he's trying. trying to keep good hygiene too- good health starts with the mouth I guess like my mom says.

-Bill getting a uti and Roe's response is pretty funny- I mean if I was being a medic in a highly stressful situation with shelling, low supplies, I'd probably start getting annoyed- plus what you can do other than suggest him to drink more water? And Toye losing his boot- I feel like he's got a bit of a insecure side, like how he doesn't want to admit his choice to take the boots off was maybe a mistake/losing them? do sort of wonder if his trenchfoot was on the leg he lost or the one he kept though- what bad luck this guy had.

-Babe! He's so done with everything- honestly, I would be too. It's sad though, cause he seems like he kinda took Julian under his wing (like Bill with Babe as a replacement) and had to leave him behind- jeez, what survivor's guilt that's gotta be. You can really see his grief as he's in between Spina and Roe (them trying to make sure he's okay was really sweet). And Julian- fuuuuck. Generally gore doesn't bother me, but seeing his throat opening- mmmm, nope, nope. It was horrifying, made me feel sick, and really hit the impact of Julian's death/injury for me- poor kid, I can't imagine him slowly dying and having to see the others leave him behind.

-Buck- so this is more coincidence probably, than intentional symbolism, but his actor is very fair- very light blue eyes and blonde hair, skin- but because of that with the cold affect- plus white/gray background coloring of the snow- he becomes very ghost like- a shadow of his former, vivacious self like hinting at his mental breakdown incoming. and what a horrible time to get broken up with in the middle of a warzone/combat/situation like this. I've always felt bad for the guys getting the Dear John letter (unless they deserved it I guess) in situations like that. Like, I don't think the girl really gets what's happening- I mean if you're done with somone, you're done- but the impact is so much crueler (one bad thing on top of the other) than it might otherwise be in combat.

-Also Dike- I have such a desire to be a fly on the wall at that time to figure out what was going on with him. The Easy guys were so frustrated with him, yet he did have a good combat record- so what happened there? I'm so curious. I feel like there's a reason he was gone a lot- or maybe he was breaking like Buck but they didn't know him so well and thus, didn't realize this was normal?

-Renee and Anna (irl Augusta) are super cool btw. Renee's bit with Eugene is really interesting- because when I first watched it, I really thought they were going to tease a relationship, but instead they just sat in mutual trauma which honestly, was pretty realistic lol. Like what else are you going to do, life sucks. and the church frescos/art was really pretty- it was a sad irony in a way, this religious and beautiful place of sanctuary being destroyed and a place where so many had to die.

-Skinny Sisk (?) being like, I'm in heaven was so funny, like good for you Skinny lol. just living his best life while the medic and nurse are just two seconds away from a burnt out panic attack.

-and Dick shaving in the freezing cold, and knowing now he was also stripping down to the waist- like wtf, how did Lip get pneumonia not you, but also mad respect for doing that. that's pretty hardcore.

comments and thoughts always welcome!

[lyselkatzhappynerding]

Richard Speight Jr's speech at the All Heroes Monument in Tonawanda

A couple of articles in full in case you have trouble accessing the links without a VPN:

Article by Peter Gallivan

BUFFALO, N.Y. — On June 6th, 1944, Warren "Skip" Muck was one of hundreds of American servicemen who dropped into Normandy to force Adolf Hitler's army out of France and beat them back to Germany.

On January 10, 1944, the City of Tonawanda native was killed in a foxhole in Foy, Belgium at the Battle of the Bulge. For decades, his family back here in Western New York had few details about his service and the day he died. That all changed with a simple phone call according to his niece, Becky Krurnowski. Becky says her mother, Skip's sister, got off of a call back in 2001 with more questions than answers. "She said there's an actor trying to get a hold of me, and something with Tom Hanks. They want to make a movie."

As it turned out, the actor was Richard Speight, researching for his upcoming role in "A Band of Brothers." Becky and her sister began a series of emails back and forth with the actor, telling him stories of Skip growing up, such as the time he swam across the Niagara River. Speight then took the stories to the writers and all of the sudden what was a bit began to grow, and Skip Muck became a series regular.

Krurnowski adds that this 75th anniversary of the Normandy invasion will have special meaning to her, taking her back to the world premiere of "A Band of Brothers"— one she attended as a guest of the studio, on Omaha Beach, Normandy.

Krurnowski says until Episode 7, they had no idea exactly how Muck had died. It showed him sharing a foxhole with one of his best friends, Alex Penkala, when they took a direct hit from a German canon shell. Becky says her mom found comfort in knowing that Skip was with his men and with his friends when he lost his life.

Lou Michel article from the Buffalo News

Saluting 'unbelievable sacrifices' Monument honors local ties to "Saving Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers"

As some area veterans know, the story lines of two epic movies about World War II - "Saving Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers" -- center on two local families.

Now the memories of those World War II soldiers will be enshrined along the banks of the Niagara River in the City of Tonawanda.

That's because the four Niland brothers, whose story helped inspire "Saving Private Ryan," and Sgt. Warren H. "Skip" Muck, a central figure in "Band of Brothers," hailed from Tonawanda.

An Amherst couple, Rick and Lisa Lewis, donated $150,000 for the multistone monument to pay special tribute to the Nilands and Muck for their sacrifices.

"There will be one stone for each family, and etched on the stones will be the stories of the Niland brothers and Skip Muck," said Rick Lewis, whose family lived nearly a century in Tonawanda and became prominent when it owned the Talking Phone Book.

In the center of the veterans memorial plaza, which will be dedicated Saturday, will be a 10-foot-tall granite replica of the Washington Monument with a tribute to all other City of Tonawanda veterans from various wars.

"This will be in Niawanda Park directly behind City Hall, and at night it will be prominently illuminated, and I believe it will become a signature landmark for the City of Tonawanda," Lewis said.

The story about the Niland brothers is well known in some veteran circles.

On June 6, 1944, at the start of the Normandy invasion, Michael I. and Augusta Niland received the first of three telegrams that three of their four sons were missing in action. Two other telegrams soon followed, notifying the parents that two more sons were missing.

Their fourth son, Sgt. Frederick W. "Fritz" Niland, an Army paratrooper, was participating in the invasion.

War Department officials wasted no time ordering Fritz Niland out of the combat zone, once his whereabouts were determined. It was that effort that inspired the basic storyline of Steven Spielberg's 1998 movie starring Tom Hanks and Matt Damon.

The other Niland brothers were not as fortunate. Tech. Sgt. Robert J. Niland perished on the day of the invasion, and the next day, Lt. Preston T. Niland died. The third missing brother, Tech. Sgt. Edward F. Niland, was shot down over Burma and captured by the Japanese. He survived 11 months as a prisoner of war.

As for Muck, he became famous posthumously, with his story told in the best-selling book, "Band of Brothers," and later in the HBO cable network movie miniseries of the same name.

Muck was a member of Company E, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, and one of about a dozen main characters. The story told of how the soldiers, first meeting in paratrooper school, became like a family.

"They banded together because they were up against so many hardships. That's why they called themselves the Band of Brothers. If any got injured, they would go to the hospital, get patched up and want to be back with their guys," said Becky Krurnowski, a 55-year-old niece of Muck.

In her City of Tonawanda home, she has a reminder of her uncle, who was killed Jan. 10, 1945, during the Battle of the Bulge.

"A million years ago, my mother gave me the American flag that had covered my uncle's coffin," Krurnowski said. "It's been in my family room for about 20 years now on display."

Adding a sense of irony, Lewis said, is the fact that Skip Muck and Fritz Niland were best friends before going off to war.

"The sacrifices made by the Muck and Niland families in Tonawanda are just unbelievable," said Thomas Beilein, a Niland family cousin and former sheriff of Niagara County who now serves as head of the State Commission on Correction.

"As children, we didn't hear stories about the sacrifices. The family never talked about it. They never held it out there for the world to see. They didn't wear it on their sleeve," said Beilein.

The monument will be officially unveiled at 11 a.m. Saturday with members of the Niland and Muck families present. Surviving members of the Band of Brothers, all around 90 years of age, are scheduled to travel here from different parts of the country to attend.

The actor who played Skip Muck, Richard Speight Jr., will also attend and speak at the dedication.

A military flyover and reception are also planned, and HBO has agreed to provide free showings of Band of Brothers after the ceremony in the nearby Riviera Theatre on Webster Street, North Tonawanda.

Pete Niland, son of the late Edward Niland, also is scheduled to speak at the ceremony.

"I'm going to especially thank Rick and Lisa Lewis, who are sponsoring this, and I'm going to make mention that this is an honor not only to our family but to all the Tonawanda families who sacrificed, and there were a number of them," said Niland.

Lewis said he and his wife have wanted to honor the two families for years and put a spotlight on the City of Tonawanda.

"The area has been very good to my family, and we're anxious to do some things for the community," said Lewis, who organized a special committee a year ago with City of Tonawanda Mayor Ronald Pilozzi and representatives from several veterans groups, including Post 264, American Legion.

Pilozzi, a Vietnam veteran who was awarded a Bronze Star with Valor and a Purple Heart, says he feels a special closeness for the monument.

"One of the reasons I'm so proud of it is I was in the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam," Pilozzi said, explaining that Muck and a Niland family member were in the 101st.

The 101st faced its toughest assignment during the Battle of Bastogne, one of the more famous encounters against the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge.

"The 101st Airborne was completely encircled and cut off by the Germans, but they made their stand and held out long enough for Gen. [George S.] Patton to come in and relieve them and basically defeat the Nazis," Pilozzi said of the division's bravery.

Describing himself as an amateur historian for the modest working-class City of Tonawanda, Lewis said the memorial will ensure that no one ever forgets the sacrifices and bravery demonstrated by the deceased relatives of the Niland and Muck families.

The City of Tonawanda has a tremendous history of which it can be very, very proud," he said. "I still have family members there and consider myself an amateur historian of the city."

The monument, Lewis explained, is designed with enough open space to add additional stones in the future, should Tonawanda want to honor other veterans.

The monument was chiseled and inscribed by Stone Art Memorial Co. of Lackawanna. The grayish colored granite was quarried in Maine.

[wexhappyxfew]

camp nano 2021 [july]

landslide [band of brothers fic]; focus portion

goal: 30k

— looking at my work schedule as well as the minimal time i’ll have at home during the month of july simply because of work and other things, 30k seemed like a good sort of middle ground goal, especially with what portions of the fic i’m hoping to get written. but who knows, maybe i’ll even surprise myself, haha! <3

focus: PART 4 — NEVER TAME A WOLF (ep 8-9)

EPISODE 8: Natia Filipska and Easy Company make it to the Western side of the Rhine, settling in Haguenau, a small bombed out sector of Alsace, France, attempting to seek relief from the Battle of the Bulge and the toll it has taken on the division. Settled in a bit of warmth for once, fighting off a nasty case of the flu, and reeling from the memories of her past and of Bastogne, Natia’s ability to cope with what she has experienced throughout the war dwindles to a tiny flame that staggers closer and closer to a final trigger. Nearly everyone she knew and loved was lost or wounded by the war, the very thing she wished for to finally be over, with what she had been told repeatedly not to succumb to and yet she had let it control every bit of her. She was done being controlled; by war, by her past, by Agent Mortem. Because a wolf was better left untamed.

EPISODE 9: Natia Filipska and Easy Company finally received relief from the war, moving back to Mourmelon-le-Grande, France, with new wounds, memories and nightmares to live down for the rest of their days. Some fair better than others, but nearly all continually relive the horrors that Bastogne and the Battle of the Bulge allowed them to endure. Natia falls into her normal ways — the ways that brought comfort before and she was convinced would bring comfort again. But this was a different time. Alcohol and cigarettes were no use. And after what happened in Alsace, nearly any member of Easy Company within a 5 mile radius kept a watch on her. She thought the upbringing of warmer weather meant a chance of a bit of joy filling her system again but if anything it sent her mind spiraling with anger and fear. Her only distraction came in the form of an encrypted note, signed Agent Legio.

— good luck to anyone else who is participating!! :D

[kaasknot]

An Analysis of Eugene Roe’s dialogue in “Band of Brothers”

I re-watched “Bastogne” this weekend all fucking week because, well, originally I needed to get BoB back in my ear so I could write, but that turned into a burning need to copy out all of Gene’s dialogue so I could understand how he speaks. And what started out as an analysis of how he speaks turned into an overall character study. This post is mostly just about his speech patterns, but stay tuned--there may be another post in the future where I dissect out the emotional arc of the ep. Tl;dr: Gene is shit at conversation. He’s not a chatty guy, and as soon as he steps outside his comfort zone he turns into an awkward dork really quick. (This post is long as hell, so the rest is behind a cut.)

Okay so, bare bones. Gene, of all the characters, has the most broken speech, in the sense that he hesitates over what to say most. He says “uh,” a lot. Everyone says one or two “uh”s, Guarnere’s got a couple, and Buck, on the edge of breakdown as he is, doesn’t have tidy speech, either. But Gene is constantly stumbling over his words: “I got, uh, I got this, and… got myself a Kraut bandage.” “Sergeant Guarnere. Did you, uh, keep your morphine from Holland?” “Well, I, uh… It’s Edward, right?” “Gordon, I--I need scissors. You got scissors? Sharp scissors.” [in reference to Toye’s missing boots] “Wh-what happened?” [when Martin tells him to sit the patrol out] “Uh… Yes, Sergeant.” (By a similar token, he's the only character--at least in “Bastogne”--who uses the filler words “Uh-huh,” “Uh-uh,” or “Mm-hm.” Everyone else verbalizes a full “Yeah,” “No,” “Okay,” or etc; Gene is the only one who doesn't always bring the full word out of a noise.) These are only the verbalized stumbles. There's plenty more times where Gene visibly searches for words, or his expression is the “processing” dial, or has to stop and pull himself together before he speaks. Everybody stumbles over their words in real life, our dialogue isn't scripted and sometimes things come out wrong or the brain takes a moment to process. For it to happen this often in a scripted show, though, it means that it's telling us something about the character. It means Gene isn't comfortable with words. It means he's often left searching for what to say. And this is backed up by his overwhelming preference for nonverbal communication. If something can be communicated without words, Gene usually goes for it, especially if it's at the beginning or end of a conversation. In “Carentan,” when Dick looks to him for an explanation for why Blithe can suddenly see, Gene gives a wordless shrug and goes back to business. At the beginning of “Bastogne,” when Dick tells him to scrounge whatever he can because he's going to need it, Gene just nods in reply. In the same episode, when Renée tosses him the chocolate bar, he smiles his thanks rather than saying it out loud. Later that evening, after he walks away from Guarnere/Lt. Foley, he tosses Foley a thumbs up to make sure his message was received. Gene finds actions easier than words. This carries into his bedside manner, as well. Gene uses touch frequently; he puts a hand on Dick’s arm in “Carentan” to urge him toward getting his leg bandaged, and again in “Crossroads” when he gives him the coffee; he pats Joe Toye on the knee when he gets up to leave after talking to him about trench foot; he pats a random background dude when approaching Lt. Dike. On the other hand, when it comes to words, he uses them rarely and often very badly. When Skinny is wounded, Gene doesn’t actually say a whole lot of reassurances. He issues an order immediately, but only says “Okay, Sisk, it ain’t that bad, ain’t that bad” after the pain starts really getting to Skinny. Then there’s the bit in the foxhole with Babe and Spina. When Gene first rolls into the foxhole, he says “Gotcha!” in a light upbeat way--but one speaking glance with Spina, and he alters his approach. He drops words and goes for the chocolate, which was the reason he went in anyway. He's very confident with this treatment: give chocolate, make Babe eat it, everything will be fixed. Only, Babe isn't fixed. He starts explaining the root of his emotional upset (Babe is very good at externalizing his emotions), and Gene gets overwhelmed/awkward very quickly. He looks away, clearly is at a loss for words, looks to Spina for help (Spina is no help, lol), and eventually tries a very bland platitude in his Calm Medic Voice: “Hey, no, it’s okay--” which Babe immediately shoots down: “It’s NOT. It’s not ‘okay.’ I should’ve got to him.” Words having thus proved useless, Gene returns to actions and goes to tuck Babe in better. Compare this to how Guarnere responds to Buck’s confession that his girlfriend dumped him: instead of going for a generic platitude, Guarnere says “Just in time for Christmas, huh?” which is not only a situation-specific observation, but communicates that he understands the emotional implications, and is commiserating with Buck. Gene, on the other hand, did not reply with specificity. He inadvertently dismissed the severity of Babe’s pain (it’s okay--it's not bad as all that), and he didn't really indicate he commiserated or shared Babe’s pain (even though from his expression he's sharing it a little too much, and is desperately uncomfortable). Somebody help this poor fool, he’s trying very hard despite not knowing what the fuck he's doing. Of interest, while I didn't pay especial attention to Babe’s dialogue in this ep, I did notice one significant difference between how he and Gene talk: Gene frequently repeats himself, most notably with the scissors: “Penkala, loosen your fingers, goddamn it! Loosen them now!” “Penkala, scissors. I need scissors. You got scissors?” “Gordon, I--I need scissors. You got scissors? Sharp scissors.” “Alright, here. This is what I want you to do. I want you to take someone and work your way over to the third battalion, alright? You know what we need. Bandages, plasma, whatever you can beg, you beg. Alright? And get me some goddamn scissors, I can’t get any. And you get yourself a hot meal too, huh?” The bit with the scissors may just be the equivalent of muttering something over and over to yourself so you don't forget it as you walk into another room, but the way he keeps saying “alright” when giving orders to Spina (or his verbal tic, “huh?” at the end of a lot of his sentences) is interesting. It implies he's subconsciously(?) unsure if he's being understood, so he has to keep checking in and making sure the other person is listening. By extension, the same could be said of him repeating “scissors” over and over: he wants to make sure his listener gets the picture. By contrast, Babe repeats what other people say. Gene says “Hey, it's okay” and Babe replies “No, it's not ‘okay’.” Or later, when he mimics Gene saying his name, again, he's repeating back Gene’s words. This is a way of him indicating as a listener that yeah, he's heard what the other person said, and he's now gonna say it back to prove it. I suspect Babe comes from a conversational culture that emphasizes audience participation. You indicate your engagement as a listener by talking over the speaker, repeating what they're saying, and announcing your agreement or disapproval. Gene, by contrast, waits for the other person to stop talking, and usually pauses to collect his thoughts before he speaks (this gets worse over the course of the ep, as the existential questions and trauma hit harder). I can easily see a conversation between them where Babe is chattering away, getting more and more uncomfortable because Gene isn't contributing--is he listening? Is he bored? Is he annoyed with Babe?--but meanwhile Gene’s desperately waiting for Babe to stop talking so he can pause to think and formulate a reply. In Gene’s culture (not speaking for Louisianans generally; it could just be his family culture), listeners are respectfully quiet until the speaker indicates they're done. Going back to Guarnere, though, something else I noticed--Guarnere looks fairly steadily at Buck’s face during his confession. His eyes flick away to the picture, but they go right back to Buck. Guarnere is connecting with Buck, witnessing and internalizing Buck’s emotions, and it's such a stark difference from how Gene handles eye contact. Gene almost never looks people in the eye for any long period of time, and often avoids looking at faces altogether. The notable exceptions seem to arise in two contexts: in periods of high emotion, or when he needs to communicate something. Examples: when Dick helps him up before the Normandy jump; when he verbally shreds Dick and Harry in “Crossroads”; when he takes Penkala’s aid kit after Penk was being a ninny; when he has a silent Medic Confab with Spina over Babe’s head; that blistering look he shares with Renée; when he looks up to Babe after Jackson died. They all seem, as far as I can tell, to function either as straight communication (“Do not do this again”/”How’s he doing?”) or as an emotional release valve (see: sharing a man’s death with your hands literally inside his body). It's clearly a powerful gesture to Gene, one that he doesn't like using very often. And that's another thing--despite all this reticence with other people, Gene doesn't tolerate bullshit lightly. He’s not shy, just reserved; he mostly keeps his opinions to himself, but he’s perfectly ready to defend his boundaries or his patients if the situation calls for it. When Dick says “Stupid” under his breath in “Carentan,” Gene looks sharply up at him, ready to cut a bitch if he has to. When Harry OD’s Moose on morphine in “Crossroads,” Gene does cut a bitch. When Gordon gives him shit about looking for scissors in the sewing room, Gene interrupts with a relatively mild “Alright.” Same with Toye’s feet--Gene is incredibly unimpressed with Toye’s self-care, but he doesn't take it out on him, and instead reiterates what Toye already knows. He also doesn't say outright “you fucked up,” he says (or uses his expression to imply) “can't you see why this is bad? you should know better.” He expects people to use their brains, and is disappointed/exasperated (or occasionally enraged) when they don't. He also tends to use questions to call out people’s lapses in logic. He says, “You don’t think it might be important to let me know how much medication the man has had, huh?” He says, “You don’t want to go out in this shit and you’re yelling ‘medic’?” He says, “What, do you got a drugstore in here?” And then there’s the times he outright ignores stupid people/questions, like when Dike asked what would happen if he and Spina got hit, or when Alley asked if Gene was using all the morphine personally. And with two exceptions, the first with Harry and the second with Penkala, Gene generally keeps his temper to himself. He’s incredibly inwardly-directed; he doesn’t take his anger out on others unless the situation is dire. That scene with Penkala is interesting in a couple of ways. First, outside of the “Jesus Christ!” in “Crossroads,” it's the first time we hear Gene curse in the whole show. And even more interestingly, he's actually echoing back what Penkala says: “It’s the artery, I can feel it--” “Penkala, let go--” It’s the goddamn artery!” “Penkala, loosen your fingers, goddamn it! Loosen them now!” To my recollection, this scene and “three syrettes, maybe?” are the only times Gene echoes what someone says, and they’re both in times of high emotion. Gene’s just made a run through artillery or mortars or whatever the heck the Germans are lobbing at them, he's tightly wound and riding the sharp edge of adrenaline. Then when he gets to Penkala, Penk’s freaking the fuck out, and Gene doesn't have time to collect himself. He does with Skinny--there’s a little moment after he jumps into Skinny’s foxhole where he takes a deep breath before getting to work--and he does while he waits for the reconnaissance patrol. And later, when his BSOD starts, he needs longer and longer to collect himself before the action begins. It looks as though if Gene doesn't have time to get into a Medic frame of mind, he ends up feeding off the panic of whoever he's trying to help. And it sticks with him, too--when he dumps himself back in the hole with Spina and gives him the order to go find 3rd Battalion, he swears again: “And get me some goddamn scissors, I can't get any.” That's not particularly unusual human behavior--we’re empathetic creatures for the most part, and it's extremely easy for us to panic each other. But look at Guarnere again: when Buck comes up half in a panic about Liebgott and Alley singing, Guarnere doesn't feed into it. He talks Buck down, reassures him he’ll address the problem, and presumably does. He doesn't get caught up in an emotional feedback loop strong enough to carry him through a whole nother conversation. So, Gene is highly susceptible to the emotions around him. Not to say that Guarnere isn’t, he wouldn't be half as good at dealing with people if he wasn't, but Gene either feels them more strongly, or his coping mechanisms aren't as good (that second post I mention will deal heavily with Gene’s coping mechanisms, if I ever write it). Either way, since Gene isn't good at handling people’s emotions, and since war is basically an explosion of the nastiest emotions people can have, one of his coping mechanisms is to avoid people. Hot take here, I know. Gene Roe isolates himself: news at 11. Now, I personally feel that Gene is an introvert, and that his keen awareness of/sensitivity to other people’s emotions feeds into/is exacerbated by it. It would explain why he's so bad at conversation: he doesn't get much practice. So when he's tossed into war, he becomes even more reserved, not only because war is hell, but because Gene is in a position of basically non-stop exposure to the pain, fear, panic, and death of his friends. Take all that together, and it's just easier for Gene not to get close. So, he generally doesn't speak unless spoken to, first. When he does venture first, it's almost always work-related, and generally only ventures into personal territory when he's explicitly asked, like when Spina asks about traiteurs. He tells exactly one awkward, doofy joke, and he doesn't shit-talk the others, save the very last line of the show, when he tells Babe to watch the line. Other nuts and bolts about his speech: he frequently starts sentences with hesitators like “Well” or “Alright,” to buy himself time to come up with a sentence. He also frequently ends his sentences with “huh?”, a verbal tic that could be a genuine need to make sure his listener’s paying attention, or just a turn of phrase he picked up from others. His grammar is fairly informal--Renée asks if he's a surgeon and he replies that they “don't got no surgeon”--but his word choice can sometimes be stilted and very formal: “You don’t think it might be important to let me know how much medication the man has had, huh? Because I do not see one syrette on the man’s jacket!” (an interesting combo of “don’t” and “do not” in this one, plus the length of the sentence is much longer than casual sentences tend to be.) “No, I don't recall.” (a more old-fashioned or stilted way of saying it than “No, I don’t remember.”) Maybe he’s self-educated through books, or possibly he spent a lot of time with an older relative who talked old fashioned (I like the idea of him inadvertently mimicking his grandmother’s speech patterns). He definitely isn't picking up the speech patterns of his fellow soldiers, which is something most people do when they spend time around each other--a symptom of his self-isolation. And last of all: French. When does this Cajun boy speak his second language? Answer: pretty infrequently. He does with Renée because he's trying to connect with her; he's curious enough that he's willing to step outside his self-imposed reserve and connect to another person. That was a deliberate choice on his part, nothing unconscious. The other time he uses it is when he's speaking to Guarnere about his biroute. There's a couple possible reasons he says this--he's fucking with Guarnere (unlikely, given his tone), or maybe he learned it in French first, and that's what he reached for first (perhaps adults in his family said dirty words in French to keep small, primarily-English-speaking ears from learning them. Too bad for them, children are language sponges). ALSO, given that he calls his grandmother a traiteurs instead of a traiteuse, i.e. he mixes up plural and gender on his noun cases, it could be said he's not very fluent in French at all (from a Watsonian standpoint, anyway; the Doylist explanation being that the writers done fucked up and Shane Taylor, not being a French speaker, didn't know better. This is held up by how Gene can apparently yell in frustration that he can't reach the artery, which is Advanced Second Language Skills, so pick your poison). He does all his cursing in English, though, so that's clearly his primary, instinctual go-to tongue. ETA: it turns out Cajun French is an odd duck and the word “traiteur” is used for all comers, men, women, and other. This was not an error! Gene can be fluent in the language again, as a treat. In conclusion, Gene Roe is a disaster child who doesn't know to make the words go.

(P.S. for the curious, I made a transcript of all his major scenes on my DW, which can be found here.)