Band of Brothers

I've seen death. I've seen my friends, my men, being killed.

And this is-- it doesn't take too many days of that...

...and you change dramatically.

We had no food, didn't have ammunition. it was cold.

We didn't have clothes. if you built a fire, something would shoot at you.

Everywhere you look, you would see dead people.

A dead soldier there, here. Ours, theirs.

Then civilians, besides... Dead animals.

So death was all over.

You don't have a chance, when your friends go down...

...to really take care of them as you might.

And especially if you're under attack, moving or whatever, and...

I withstood it well...

...but I had a lot of trouble in later life...

...because those events would come back...

...and you never forget them.

After Bastogne...

...Easy Company was called to push the Germans through the Bulge.

We were here this morning. We came this way.

Here's the logging road coming into here.

- So you go right there. - Take it easy!

- Stop crying or I'll nail it to your head. - It's made of wood.

- Move them out. - Yes, sir. 2nd Platoon, let's go.

I was glad to be out of my foxhole and moving, even if only to get warm.

Spread out. Keep your interval.

E Company was sent to clear the woods near the town of Foy...

...in preparation for what we knew would be the assault on Foy itself.

I see it, Buck.

Watch for mines.

During that 1000-yard attack, we encountered sporadic machine-gun fire...

...and had a couple casualties, but overall met little resistance.

Nelson! Look. Nelson!

Hoobler's run-in with the German was the most dramatic moment of the day.

Halt!

Halt!

Oh, shit.

Thank you.

Hoobler had been talking about getting a Luger since Normandy.

He went from foxhole to foxhole telling everyone.

Down he goes like a sack of potatoes.

Outstanding accuracy on my part, if I do say so myself.

- Which you do. - Which I do.

Shifty, I could've given you a run for your money.

No, I'm not a good shot. Dad was an excellent shot.

He'd shoot the wings off a fly.

That German, what'd you think he was doing?

Recon. He must have figured nobody'd hear a horse.

He was just trying to get out of Dodge.

- What happened to the horse? - Don't know.

Probably still running. Hope he's okay.

- You dug in? - Yeah, yeah.

Just thought I'd take a walk.

You're a good shot. Glad you're on our side.

Thanks, Lip.

- Hey, Lip? - Yeah.

- Thanks for the help. - You got it, Shifty.

- Hey, Lip? You got a sec? - Yes, sir.

Give him a hand.

- Where's Dike? - He's around.

- Could you be more specific, sergeant? - Not really, sir.

I haven't seen him all day and I have to figure out how we ended up.

- Two wounded. - Who?

- Brown and Stevenson. - Goddamn it. Where's Dike?

Where does he go?

I don't know, but I wish he'd stay there.

- Shut up, boys. - Shutting up, sarge.

What the hell was that?

- Patrol? - No, we would've heard.

- One man, maybe a sniper. - That was no rifle.

- What do you see, Shift? - Nobody out there.

- Are you sure? - Uh-huh.

- It's Hoob. He's shot! - Sniper?

- No, no, he, he shot himself. - Medic!

- What happened? - Doc.

It's my fucking leg.

- You'll be all right. - It just went off.

What are you doing with a loaded gun in your pants? Damn it! Goddamn it!

- I wasn't touching it. - Medic!

- Where are you hit? - In my leg.

- Take it easy, buddy. - Don't look, Hoob. it'll be fine.

- Hurts like a son of a bitch. - It's gonna be okay.

- Doc! - Don't worry about it, Hoob.

- You'll be all right. You hear me? - Warm him up!

Keep him warm.

- How's it looking, doc? - Let me see it.

Can we get him some blankets or something?

- Keep talking to him. - Listen to me, it's okay.

Think it was a German leg?

- It's not that bad. - You're gonna be fine.

Hold on. Put this across him.

- Wrap him up. Wrap him up. - Here you go. Here you go.

- Lip, you said I was a great shot? - You are. You're a great shot.

You jump out of planes. You're tough, man.

- It's not that bad. - Stay with us, Hoob.

- It's all right. - Doc, what are we gonna do?

- How we doing, doc? - I can't see a thing.

- Let's get ready to move him. - Relax, take it easy. Take it easy.

Doc. Doc!

Perc, I'll need a jeep.

He was wearing so many clothes we couldn't tell how bad he was bleeding.

He was already dead. The bullet cut the main artery in his leg.

It wouldn't have made a difference if you had known.

Cut that main artery in the leg, that's it.

Yes, sir. I'm gonna go back and make sure the boys are all dug in, sir.

- Lip? Where's Dike? - You want to see him, sir?

No, I just would have expected this kind of news from him.

Well, I was there, sir. Figured it might as well be me.

Where's Dike? I probably heard that question a thousand times...

...and I probably asked it a few times myself.

There were long stretches where we didn't know where Lieutenant Dike was.

He'd disappear for hours.

It wouldn't have been bad if he was one of the guys...

...but he was supposed to be leading the company.

Captain Winters was a CO we could all respect.

Moose Heyliger would have done a good job...

...but he was accidentally shot by a sentry.

Then came Norman Dike.

I want security around the company CP.

Dike wasn't bad because he made bad decisions...

...he was bad because he made no decisions.

Battalion S3 is planning a move...

...so I will probably be called away regularly.

Any questions?

Yeah. What's the formation you're wanting us to go for?

At present, as per usual, but I'll clarify that with you at a later time.

Yes, sir.

I gotta make a call.

- Let's move it out. - Right.

Dike was a favorite of somebody at Division.

He'd been sent down to get combat experience.

It seemed like E Company was an annoyance to him.

Something he had to get through before he could continue up the ladder.

- We're screwed. - I'm glad Dike's never around.

You know what? We're doing all right, even with Foxhole Norman.

We're doing all right now. In case you ain't noticed...

...there's a town over there, right? In that town are Germans.

- These Germans got tanks. - I know.

And our side's gonna want to go into that town.

Guess who they're gonna want to go knock on the door?

I know, all right? it's me you're talking to here.

We gotta do all this with a CO who's got his head so far up his ass...

...that lump in his throat is his goddamn nose.

- Hey, first sergeant. - Hey, boys.

- Hey, Lip. - Hey, Muck, what's the word?

Sitting around freezing our ass off, singing Dike's praises.

Oh, yeah. Lieutenant Dike.

Well, I'll tell you...

...I wouldn't want to be a replacement officer here.

Get thrown in with guys who've known each other for what, two years?

You've been in combat together since Normandy.

He's supposed to just show up and lead them? How does a guy do that?

How could anyone really hope to gain respect of the toughest...

...most professional, most dedicated sons of bitches in the entire ETO?

If you ask me, a guy'd have to march off to Berlin...

...and come back with Hitler's mustache or something.

Anyway, listen. You guys don't worry about Dike. All right?

Yeah.

We all do our jobs, everything'll be fine.

- See you, sarge. - Yeah, boy.

I don't know if I believed that, but as first sergeant, it was my job.

Not to protect Dike, but to protect the integrity of the company.

You know what Dike's problem is, don't you?

He's another arrogant, rich jerk from Yale.

Oh, God, not another one of those.

Division wouldn't let me replace him just because I got a bad feeling.

Even if they would, who'd I put in his place?

Shames?

Do not talk when I'm talking!

Shames has seen too many war movies.

You crapheads did not listen to a word I said, did you?

Or Peacock?

He tries hard, but he's not cut out to take men into combat.

I'm not making him Company CO when I don't want him as a platoon leader.

- What about Compton? - He's the only real choice.

Buck's a real combat leader, but you know...

...I want Easy to have at least one experienced platoon leader.

Not that it matters anyway, because I can't get rid of Dike.

We all know who you'd like to have running Easy.

Trouble is, it's not your job anymore, Dick.

You've gotta find somebody.

We agreed Buck would've been the best choice...

...if Winters had been able to get rid of Dike.

But Buck wasn't the same as before he got shot in Holland.

He was more serious.

- He had a Luger in his pants. - Jesus.

Don't you two do something stupid like that, all right?

- We'll try not to, Buck. - I mean it.

And you, Wild Bill.

I've invested too much goddamn time shaping you into something useful.

- You do something crazy-- - I know, you'll kill me.

Even if you're dead, I'll still kill you.

I'll see you later. I'm gonna check on the other guys.

- Crazy Joe McCloskey. - What?

This guy used to hang out at Delancey's and stare at people.

I know who Crazy Joe is. What's that got to do with anything?

Buck kind of reminds me of him now.

- What? - Ever since he got shot in Holland.

Wait. What are you saying, he's nuts? Because Crazy Joe was nuts.

I'm not saying he's nuts. I'm just saying...

What? What are you saying?