Band of Brothers

Between Band of Brothers and The Pacific, you get the most realistic, well acted dramas about WWII thus far. I will be watching the mini-series' for years to come. Also regarding Lt. Norman Dyke, first remember he is connected to someone high up at division headquarters. And in regards to his Bronze Stars for "supposedly brave actions thus far in the war, let us all remember Douglas MacArthur receiving the medal of honor for running out on the Philippines and his men. It's sadly true that people have been awarded medals, because of powerful friends. I will take Carwood Lipton's word regarding Dike as accurate.

It got a smidge confused concerning the date of Hitler's death and where they were at the time, but aside form that it's a pretty darn good series. Blithe didn't die either, not form his wounds, anyway. He went on to serve in Korea if I'm not mistaken. It also doesn't give Lieutenant Norman Dike enough credit. He was shot in the shoulder and disoriented during that particular charge. He later went on to do extremely heroic things with other units, or maybe he'd done those things earlier in the second world war. Still a good story though. It's enjoyable for people looking for a bit of action with no interest in history, and it's also pretty good for people who enjoy history.

By far the best war series/movie I've ever seen, and that includes "Saving Private Ryan." I've binge watched it four or five times over the years. It's so realistic and touching that we watched it repeatedly in officer training during our time off on Sunday. I rarely get choked up watching anything, but I have tears running down my cheeks every time I watch this. You can almost smell the stink of combat, the sweaty helmet liners, cordite, oil, smoke, rotting meat...it's all there along with the kind of character development that's reserved for the best of the best movies. One minor issue I had...the combat soldiers had a mix of 30-30 carbines and M1 Garands. My understanding is that the 30-30s were garrison weapons for the purple trades and support staff, while the heavier Garand was a combat weapon. Using the 30-30 for distances seems like a waste of time.