Albert Blithe,Easy company. (1 Viewer)

[Rob]

Have just watched again the 'Carentan 'episode of Band of Brothers.For anyone who hasn't seen this its a great episode of a fantastic series and really captures the Horror and realism of War.It is also a truly moving tribute to the men of this company who fought with such bravery for our freedom and who in doing so lost so many friends and comrades.

The episode concentrates on Private Blithe(played by British actor Marc Warren) who during the battle for Carentan suffered from Hysterical blindness and who quickly returned to the fighting.Some three weeks later whilst leading an advance in the woods is shot and seriously wounded in the neck.It was a very sad ending to the episode as it stated he never recovered from the wound and died in 1948.

I was absolutely delighted to discover this was not the case.Apparently he recovered from the wound got married had kids,fought in Korea and died in 1967 from Kidney failure and not from his wound,he was buried with full Military honours in Arlington cemetery..It was when his family saw the episode of B.O.B that they came forward and put the record straight.

I just thought i'd post this because as i say it was a very sad ending to the episode,and i thought i'd let anyone new to the programme know that this was not the case.

Respect and thanks to Mr Blithe and all his comrades

Rob

 

[Molloy]

Hi Rob,

Was just rewatching this episode myself over the past week, was lucky enough to be able to find the DVD boxset in my local library!

Yes, the Carentan episode is definitely one of the most outstanding ones in the series; along with the previous "Day of Days" episode depicting the night drop into Normandy, it definitely ranks as one of my all time favourites from the show. The opening assault into the town itself has to rank as one of the best stand-alone sequences from the show. According to the extras on the DVD edition, the same village set was used and constantly rearranged right the way through the series to depict locations as diverse as France, Holland, Germany and Belgium.

Apparently, the confusion over Blithe's fate stems from the fact that when Stephen E. Ambrose was originally interviewing veterans of E Company for the book, and then later when the screenplay for the TV series was being drafted, many of his comrades were under the mistaken impression that he never managed to recover from his wounds, as most of them never saw him again following his evacuation from Normandy.

In fact, as I was equally pleased to learn, he stayed on as a career soldier in the regular post-war US Army, eventually winning the accolade of "Paratrooper of the Year" in the 1950's. I suppose that because the majority of Easy's members weren't professional, career soldiers, but rather were serving only for the duration of the war, most of them wouldn't have had cause to ever see Blithe again in the post-war military.

Cheers,

Molloy.

 

[Rob]

Hi Rob,

Was just rewatching this episode myself over the past week, was lucky enough to be able to find the DVD boxset in my local library!

Yes, the Carentan episode is definitely one of the most outstanding ones in the series; along with the previous "Day of Days" episode depicting the night drop into Normandy, it definitely ranks as one of my all time favourites from the show. The opening assault into the town itself has to rank as one of the best stand-alone sequences from the show. According to the extras on the DVD edition, the same village set was used and constantly rearranged right the way through the series to depict locations as diverse as France, Holland, Germany and Belgium.

Apparently, the confusion over Blithe's fate stems from the fact that when Stephen E. Ambrose was originally interviewing veterans of E Company for the book, and then later when the screenplay for the TV series was being drafted, many of his comrades were under the mistaken impression that he never managed to recover from his wounds, as most of them never saw him again following his evacuation from Normandy.

In fact, as I was equally pleased to learn, he stayed on as a career soldier in the regular post-war US Army, eventually winning the accolade of "Paratrooper of the Year" in the 1950's. I suppose that because the majority of Easy's members weren't professional, career soldiers, but rather were serving only for the duration of the war, most of them wouldn't have had cause to ever see Blithe again in the post-war military.

Cheers,

Molloy.

Hi Molloy,
Fantastic series isn't it.My darling wife got me the ltd edition tin set when it came out,i think it really set the standard for tv War series.So many good episodes.As well as the two you mentioned, 'Bastogne' is also a great one and i also really enjoy 'The last Patrol'.

Can hardly imagine what it must have been like for these men, fighting so far from home and seeing their comrades killed or wounded,the price of our freedom was indeed so high.

Rob

 

[Molloy]

Hi Molloy,
Fantastic series isn't it.My darling wife got me the ltd edition tin set when it came out,i think it really set the standard for tv War series.So many good episodes.As well as the two you mentioned, 'Bastogne' is also a great one and i also really enjoy 'The last Patrol'.

Can hardly imagine what it must have been like for these men, fighting so far from home and seeing their comrades killed or wounded,the price of our freedom was indeed so high.

Rob

Absolutely, the experiences those men had to undergo can hardly be comprehended, they were so truly dreadful. I think the accurate depiction of that is one of the reasons the series was, and still is, so popular and well regarded. In many ways, in particular for an age group like mine with absolutely no direct knowledge of that conflict, I think the story of Easy Company has become a kind of "lightening rod" for the experiences and sacrifices of that wartime generation.

"The Last Patrol" is a particularily good episode as well, it really succeeds in capturing that feeling of not wanting to be one of the last casualties, especially so close to the end of the war. I have that episode ear-marked for watching tomorrow night with the girlfriend, who surprisingly is grudgingly admitting to quite liking the series (although as a massive Sex and the City fan she says she always feels a little bit disappointed when the HBO logo at the start gives way to scenes of soldiers, instead of Carrie Bradshaw traipsing around Manhattan!).

6,000 words worth of essay to be completed for college by this time tomorrow, then it's last day of term and Band of Brothers in the evening - really can't wait till Friday!

Cheers,

Molloy.

 

[Currahee Chris]

Hey Molloy- OUCH!! Have fun with writing that paper and then kick back and enjoy a pint.

Rob- thanks for setting that straight- I never knew that either and what a mess for those guys to plaster that on to the end of the DVD. Essentially, Blythe went through what scores of guys experienced to some degree or another- we here in the States conjure up images of Dick Winters and Ron Speirs (who was my favorite) but the fact is, the "Blythes" of the world were far more common. Many people I watch these shows with label guys like Blythe (or the kid from the 29th in SPR) as "cowards". I always quickly chime in and try to put it in the proper perspective. Very very few people know how they would respond to these kinds of situations- to cast names is pretty hypocritical.

It's kind of funny as once my wife saw that series with me, she kind of lost touch with reality and started putting me in the same light as those guys- which I am clearly not. It was fun, as I think it was 2003 when I went to the WW2 airshow here in Reading Pa and met Bill Guarnere and a couple other guys and flashed the Currahee crest- they treated me like a young, young nephew Really great guys- the lot of em.

Even today, the 506 continues to rock steady- they performed very well in Nam and the recent Navy Seal who was awareded the CMOH was attached to the 506. I even ran into a Captain who is stationed in Heidelburg at the moment. He told me several CURRAHEE stories of my boys in Iraq. One squad was in such a hotspot that he couldn't get any helicopter cover in to bring them relief-

still, 60 years later, they STAND ALONE!!

CC

 

[Rob]

Thanks for your post Chris,wow you were very lucky to meet those guys.The trouble in past wars that young men we now know were suffering from shell shock were (particulally by my country) shot for cowardice.Now i don't want to start up that particular bone of contention but as you say unless people have been there they have no idea how they would react under fire.

It was so good to read about Private Blithe surviving the wound he got in France and going on to lead a happy life.As you say poor research on HBO's part there,apart from that a superb series.Cheers Chris always good to read your posts.

Rob

 

[Molloy]

Hey Molloy- OUCH!! Have fun with writing that paper and then kick back and enjoy a pint.

Rob- thanks for setting that straight- I never knew that either and what a mess for those guys to plaster that on to the end of the DVD. Essentially, Blythe went through what scores of guys experienced to some degree or another- we here in the States conjure up images of Dick Winters and Ron Speirs (who was my favorite) but the fact is, the "Blythes" of the world were far more common. Many people I watch these shows with label guys like Blythe (or the kid from the 29th in SPR) as "cowards". I always quickly chime in and try to put it in the proper perspective. Very very few people know how they would respond to these kinds of situations- to cast names is pretty hypocritical.

It's kind of funny as once my wife saw that series with me, she kind of lost touch with reality and started putting me in the same light as those guys- which I am clearly not. It was fun, as I think it was 2003 when I went to the WW2 airshow here in Reading Pa and met Bill Guarnere and a couple other guys and flashed the Currahee crest- they treated me like a young, young nephew Really great guys- the lot of em.

Even today, the 506 continues to rock steady- they performed very well in Nam and the recent Navy Seal who was awareded the CMOH was attached to the 506. I even ran into a Captain who is stationed in Heidelburg at the moment. He told me several CURRAHEE stories of my boys in Iraq. One squad was in such a hotspot that he couldn't get any helicopter cover in to bring them relief-

still, 60 years later, they STAND ALONE!!

CC

Cheers mate, I'm very much looking forward to handing this one up and then relaxing for the weekend!!

I gathered from some of your previous posts that you were with the 506th allright, when did you serve??


Molloy.

 

[jazzeum]

This was discussed once before and page two of this thread has some more information on Blithe.

 

[Rob]

This was discussed once before and page two of this thread has some more information on Blithe.

Thank you Brad,wasn't aware of that thread.

Rob

 

[jazzeum]

Glad to help Rob. Being here so long, when I see a new thread, something goes off in my mind, saying "Hmm, I've seen that before." Not sure if it's a curse but it does come in handy now and then.

 

[Molloy]

Cheers for the additional info, Brad!

Regards,

Molloy.

 

[Currahee Chris]

Cheers mate, I'm very much looking forward to handing this one up and then relaxing for the weekend!!

I gathered from some of your previous posts that you were with the 506th allright, when did you serve??

I was in the 506 from MLK Day 91- MLK Day 92 (Martin Luther King Day) so Damian's post on MLK does have some significance for me at least I can remember when I got off that God forsaken section of Korea (Camp Greaves is where the 1st battalion was prior to OIF/OEF- I think they are still there).

I was in the Second Infantry Division when I was with them, the first battalion sometime in the 1960's got realigned with the Second ID- the other guys are still hardcore with the 101.

The battalion is no longer Airborne but air assault (well, 2nd and 3rd batts are, 1st is light infantry). Air assault soldiers repel from helicopters and do the sort of things you saw on Blackhawk down. So far as I know the 82nd and 173 Airborne Brigade are the only paras we still have, though I think there are some with the 10th Mountain Division.

My career- I was formally trained as a mechanic at Fort Jackson- way WAY out of my element. When I got to Greaves, I got myself transfered out of the motor pool and into the scout platoon. My chain of command was SUPERIOR in that they allowed soldiers the flexibility to On the Job Train with other platoons. I stayed with the Scouts for the rest of the year. I arrived in the middle of our DMZ mission- 24 hour patrols along the z and then 24 off- went like that for 6 weeks straight. Then, 2 weeks prep time for Operation Team Spirit- 30 plus days in the field- had a blast. Things slowed down a bit after that. In the 365 days I was on the Z, I spent 100+ in the field. To put that in perspective, my dad was a career army Sergeant, spent 100 days in his 22 year career. CHAIRBORNE!! I always raz him on that.

After Currahee country, I went on to C Battery 3/3ADA, which later became the 2/5 ADA, Fifth ID. Me and Dave(DMNamiot) missed each other by a couple years, though I have a feeling he would have hated it as the chain of command I had was pretty ate up. That being said, I think 1992 was one of the worst years in US Army history as there were many political forces involved that made it intolerable on the troops. I personally felt like Gen. Powell should have done more for us then but, I hold the battalion commanders responsible more than anything. Anyway, I did some motor pool work there and worked in the training section. At Greaves, I got REALLY REALLY squared away with land navigation and night ops so I was able to take that and apply it to some of the new LT's and other NCO's there at 3/3.

Regarding all my comments on Modern US Armor- I wasn't a tanker though my duties always got me near them. Being the loveable guy that I am, I buddied up with tankers and they let me cruise around with them. That was one of the things I loved about the Army- I used to jump into a hummer, cruise on over to some other unit where I knew may have met someone at social function (ie, the bar some other weekend ) and bug them to let me drive their tanks, 113's, Bradley's, etc. It was a great arrangement- almost pulled off an Apache ride but didn't have my dogtags.

After that, I enrolled in college and was in the Pa Army National guard for 8 years. I was with the 2/112th infantry battalion- some of you who are up on your Bulge history might recognize this as the unit that got their teeth kicked in during the initial stages of the Bulge- glad I wasn't with them then!!

Alright, enough of my nonsense. You get cracking on that paper!! BTW- LOVE LOVE LOVE Dublin- took my wife and son there back in December 1999. Her first experience overseas. We stayed at the Gresham. We went to the Guinness pub and I got drank under the table by some 115 pound cute blonde girl- my wife hasn't let me forget that one yet. Guess you guys (and gals) get started at a young age!!

STANDS ALONE!!
CC

 

[Molloy]

I was in the 506 from MLK Day 91- MLK Day 92 (Martin Luther King Day) so Damian's post on MLK does have some significance for me at least I can remember when I got off that God forsaken section of Korea (Camp Greaves is where the 1st battalion was prior to OIF/OEF- I think they are still there).

I was in the Second Infantry Division when I was with them, the first battalion sometime in the 1960's got realigned with the Second ID- the other guys are still hardcore with the 101.

The battalion is no longer Airborne but air assault (well, 2nd and 3rd batts are, 1st is light infantry). Air assault soldiers repel from helicopters and do the sort of things you saw on Blackhawk down. So far as I know the 82nd and 173 Airborne Brigade are the only paras we still have, though I think there are some with the 10th Mountain Division.

My career- I was formally trained as a mechanic at Fort Jackson- way WAY out of my element. When I got to Greaves, I got myself transfered out of the motor pool and into the scout platoon. My chain of command was SUPERIOR in that they allowed soldiers the flexibility to On the Job Train with other platoons. I stayed with the Scouts for the rest of the year. I arrived in the middle of our DMZ mission- 24 hour patrols along the z and then 24 off- went like that for 6 weeks straight. Then, 2 weeks prep time for Operation Team Spirit- 30 plus days in the field- had a blast. Things slowed down a bit after that. In the 365 days I was on the Z, I spent 100+ in the field. To put that in perspective, my dad was a career army Sergeant, spent 100 days in his 22 year career. CHAIRBORNE!! I always raz him on that.

After Currahee country, I went on to C Battery 3/3ADA, which later became the 2/5 ADA, Fifth ID. Me and Dave(DMNamiot) missed each other by a couple years, though I have a feeling he would have hated it as the chain of command I had was pretty ate up. That being said, I think 1992 was one of the worst years in US Army history as there were many political forces involved that made it intolerable on the troops. I personally felt like Gen. Powell should have done more for us then but, I hold the battalion commanders responsible more than anything. Anyway, I did some motor pool work there and worked in the training section. At Greaves, I got REALLY REALLY squared away with land navigation and night ops so I was able to take that and apply it to some of the new LT's and other NCO's there at 3/3.

Regarding all my comments on Modern US Armor- I wasn't a tanker though my duties always got me near them. Being the loveable guy that I am, I buddied up with tankers and they let me cruise around with them. That was one of the things I loved about the Army- I used to jump into a hummer, cruise on over to some other unit where I knew may have met someone at social function (ie, the bar some other weekend ) and bug them to let me drive their tanks, 113's, Bradley's, etc. It was a great arrangement- almost pulled off an Apache ride but didn't have my dogtags.

After that, I enrolled in college and was in the Pa Army National guard for 8 years. I was with the 2/112th infantry battalion- some of you who are up on your Bulge history might recognize this as the unit that got their teeth kicked in during the initial stages of the Bulge- glad I wasn't with them then!!

Alright, enough of my nonsense. You get cracking on that paper!! BTW- LOVE LOVE LOVE Dublin- took my wife and son there back in December 1999. Her first experience overseas. We stayed at the Gresham. We went to the Guinness pub and I got drank under the table by some 115 pound cute blonde girl- my wife hasn't let me forget that one yet. Guess you guys (and gals) get started at a young age!!

STANDS ALONE!!
CC

Ah ok, that makes sense - I remember coming across something online a while back about the 506th being reflagged as "Taskforce Band of Brothers" or something to that effect prior to a deployment to Iraq - didn't quite understand the significance of that as I assumed the regiment had always been part of the 101st. Anyway that's fascinating, thank you for sharing. Korea must have been a fairly interesting place to serve in!

Ha, ha, yes they do start us on to that side of things at a relatively tender age around here!

My Dad worked for a long while for Guinness in the St. James's Gate brewery -he used to get crates of the stuff complimentary every month. He's never been a big drinker though, so the majority of it ended up being parcelled out to friends and relatives every few weeks. Of course, sod's law being what it is, just I reached that adolescent age where the cans started to hold an increased attraction, he promptly changed jobs, thus drying up my potential source of free Guinness. Still kicking myself over missing out on that one!

I'm slowly grinding through that essay, but as my major is History, I suppose I can legitimately write the forum off as some extra-curriculur study !

Cheers,

Molloy.