ToW #4: Band of Brothers

     Band of Brothers by Stephen E. Ambrose examines WWII from the perspective of 'Easy' Company, of the 506th regiment, 101st airborne division. As I was reading it, I drew many connections to O'Brien's How to Tell a True War Story, particularly when O'Brien discusses how a true war story should be unbelievable. One of these moments is when 2nd Ltn. "Buck" Compton "threw his grenade on a straight line—no arch—and it hit a German in the head as it exploded." (Ambrose, 81) Another 'unbelievable' moment is when Lewis Nixon, an officer in E. Company, is seen "examining his helmet, a big smile on his face. A German machinegun bullet from the first burst had gone through the front of his helmet and exited out the side at such an angle that the bullet simply left a burn mark on his forehead. It did not even break the skin." (Ambrose, 137)

     However, the unbelievable moments are not the only focus of the book, because like O'Brien noted, the book shows the development of the special relationship those who were in E. Company had, having fought through a war together, behind enemy lines. Abrose really drives this point home by interviewing surviving members of E. Company, giving a primary source and account to back nearly everything he says. He not only examines how they lived on the battlefield, but the companionship they had off it, formed through struggling through training and the battlefield together.

     Showing the companionship servers a greater purpose, though, because it also helps the reader to feel empathy when a member of the group is killed or wounded, because they've made a connection to those in the (true) story. And by recalling the story through first person perspective, and seeing how the war went through this perspective, Abrose might be seeking to show the tragedy of war, and the fact that freedom doesn't come free.