Band of Brothers

 While we were at it, we saw some sights connected with "The Band of Brothers" TV series. Most of these sites got very little attention until the TV series came out - then all sorts of monuments and memorials popped up.

Dick Winters landed up this road on the left side, His equipment landed on the right. A machine gun was firing down the road, so he decided it was too dangerous to retrieve it. The houses weren't there at the time - nor was the overpass in the distance.

The site of the first ambush (where Guarnere went a little nuts). In the TV show there was a tunnel, in real life it was just a crossroads. Also, other soldiers besides easy company were involved

Lt Meehan's plane crashed here - on the right side of the hedgerow.  There are many such hedgerows (also called bocage) all over Normandy.

The plane crashed in this field, off to the left. Things still don't grow there very well

The memorial is shaped like the tail section of the transport

This church is next to the memorial

The road to Carentan where they charged into town. Exposed, but not nearly as much as the men who charged over la Fiere Bridge. As before, most of the buildings on the side of the road were not there in 1944.

The next several photos are about the assault of a 105mm battery at Brecourt Manner.

Their assembly point was in this village. It was much closer than I ever would have guessed. Winters got very minimal instructions, "There's fire along that hedgerow there. Take care of it." He ended up assaulting the position (4 guns and about 150 men) with 12 troopers.

The German guns were positioned here - near the hedgerow on the right. This is now somebody's farm, so we couldn't get closer without tresspassing. The better pics are from Kyle.

Memorial to those who participated in the assault. Our guide told us that the actual assault took much longer than depicted on the TV show. He also made the wise comment. "Time spent on reconnaissance is seldom wasted."

The "Leadership Statue."  The statue is obviously of Winters (even has his name tag) but he insisted it be dedicated to all junior officers (Lieutenants and captains) who participated. He died a few months before it was completed. A humble man, I suspect he preferred it that way.

Close up of the inscription:

LtC Robert Cole (commander 3rd Battalion, 101 PIR) lead his men across several bridges (now called Purplr Heart Lane) followed by a bayonet charge on this spot as they charged south into Carentan. He was awarded the Medal of Honor. He was killed by a sniper during Operation Market Garden. He never knew he had been awarded the CMH

They charged across this field to get to those buildings in the background