Any Band of Brothers Fans Here?

[Nextmanup]

I'm a big fan of the TV series, have watched the HBO documentary about it, and have seen all episodes probably 10 times. 

 

I read about WWII all the time, but just found out something I did not know, and thought I would share.

Fans of BOB will recall the scene where the guys are dug in in the woods around Bastogne in January, 1945.  Part of Operation Wacht am Rhein, or what we Americans call "The Battle of the Bulge." 

 

A foxhole is being shared by Warren "Skip" Muck and Alex Penkala.  The Germans started shelling their position heavily, and George Luz was caught outside a foxhole.

 

Muck and Penkala shouted to Luz to get into their foxhole for protection.

Before he could do that, a German 88mm shell hit directly into Muck and Penkala's foxhole, killing both instantly.

 

In the documentary HBO made about the series, Babe Heffron and "Wild" Bill Guarnere visited that spot in the woods decades later.  They recounted the story of Muck and Penkala's foxhole being hit.  As they described it, they blew up in a sort of mist with basically nothing left of either of them.

 

So it turns out Skip Muck was born in Amherst on January 31, 1922! 

 

Lived most of his young life in Tonawanda, and graduated from Tonawanda High.

 

Worked at Remington Rand on Main St.

 

I had never heard any of that before today, and thought I'd share.  

 

Didn't realize the WNY connection to that character or the Band of Brothers.

 

Sadly, almost all of those guys from the show are dead now.  

 

RIP!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MarkyMannn]

Great series, for me better than Pacific. I didn't see BOB anywhere on TV for Mem Day

[Shamrock]

Have the DVD, get it out and watch it. There was an Australian style series from the 1985 called ANZACS. Same style of following the recruits, in this case, the 8th Battalion through enlistment, Gallipoli, France and then to the end of War. The story of the men at war, how it changes some, brings out the best in others, some leaders are born, some leaders become exposed and some, no matter how great they were, are devastated. How In these small units, mateship was paramount.
 

I also like the story of, was it Dick Winters (?) who took the officers pistol & noticed it had never been fired.

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

Yes, watched it once through years ago.  Years later I had no interest in watching 'Billions', since Damian Lewis had solidified himself as a true good guy in my eyes as Major Winters.  (Schwimmer, however, was dislikable as ever. ?)

[NobesBLO13]

There’s a soldier in The Pacific that’s from Buffalo as well. It’s been a while since I’ve seen it so I don’t remember which one.

[HopsGuy]

23 hours ago, Nextmanup said:

 

So it turns out Skip Muck was born in Amherst on January 31, 1922! 

 

Lived most of his young life in Tonawanda, and graduated from Tonawanda High.

 

Worked at Remington Rand on Main St.

 

I had never heard any of that before today, and thought I'd share.  

 

Didn't realize the WNY connection to that character or the Band of Brothers.

 

Sadly, almost all of those guys from the show are dead now.  

 

RIP!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s a scene where they’re watching a movie and a guy comes in and asks, “Skip where you been?”

 

(paraphrasing) “Well, I was in Tonawanda, then Hitler invaded France. So now I’m here.”

Another scene, I believe in the episode you referenced, Skip tells a story about swimming across the Niagara River above the Falls. Said the current took him 2 miles down river before he reached Canada. Then his mom & sister yelled at him.

[sherpa]

2 hours ago, NobesBLO13 said:

There’s a soldier in The Pacific that’s from Buffalo as well. It’s been a while since I’ve seen it so I don’t remember which one.

 

Are you talking about a regular soldier or Naval Aviator Wade McClusky?

McClusky is famous for finding the Japanese carrier force in the Battle of Midway, and the annual award for the best strike squadron in the Navy is named after him.

South Park High School guy I think.

[whatdrought]

Great show, one of the best (and hardest to watch) I‘ve ever seen. 

[leh-nerd skin-erd]

20 hours ago, NobesBLO13 said:

There’s a soldier in The Pacific that’s from Buffalo as well. It’s been a while since I’ve seen it so I don’t remember which one.

Unless I'm mistaken, John Baslione, who's story grew up in Bayonne  NJ, but was born in Buffalo.  Moved to NJ when he was a child. 

[Nanker]

On 5/30/2020 at 12:38 PM, Nextmanup said:

I'm a big fan of the TV series, have watched the HBO documentary about it, and have seen all episodes probably 10 times. 

 

I read about WWII all the time, but just found out something I did not know, and thought I would share.

Fans of BOB will recall the scene where the guys are dug in in the woods around Bastogne in January, 1945.  Part of Operation Wacht am Rhein, or what we Americans call "The Battle of the Bulge." 

 

A foxhole is being shared by Warren "Skip" Muck and Alex Penkala.  The Germans started shelling their position heavily, and George Luz was caught outside a foxhole.

 

Muck and Penkala shouted to Luz to get into their foxhole for protection.

Before he could do that, a German 88mm shell hit directly into Muck and Penkala's foxhole, killing both instantly.

 

In the documentary HBO made about the series, Babe Heffron and "Wild" Bill Guarnere visited that spot in the woods decades later.  They recounted the story of Muck and Penkala's foxhole being hit.  As they described it, they blew up in a sort of mist with basically nothing left of either of them.

 

So it turns out Skip Muck was born in Amherst on January 31, 1922! 

 

Lived most of his young life in Tonawanda, and graduated from Tonawanda High.

 

Worked at Remington Rand on Main St.

 

I had never heard any of that before today, and thought I'd share.  

 

Didn't realize the WNY connection to that character or the Band of Brothers.

 

Sadly, almost all of those guys from the show are dead now.  

 

RIP!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's called obliteration, and was one of the most terrifying ideas that the ground troops had to deal with. The main protagonist of BOB Richard Winters died about a year ago. He lived a quiet life in Hershey, PA. 

 

21 hours ago, NobesBLO13 said:

There’s a soldier in The Pacific that’s from Buffalo as well. It’s been a while since I’ve seen it so I don’t remember which one.

John Basilone. He was taken stateside to sell war bonds after Guadalcanal. He went back to active duty because he requested it and died on Iwo Jima on the first day of fighting.

21 minutes ago, leh-nerd skin-erd said:

Unless I'm mistaken, John Baslione, who's story grew up in Bayonne  NJ, but was born in Buffalo.  Moved to NJ when he was a child. 

Exactly correct.

[BarleyNY]

Own the DVDs.  Still one of my absolute favorite cinematic endeavors.  I usually include it on my top 10 favorite movies list even though it’s a miniseries.  I really enjoyed watching it with my teenage son, who loved it.

[Nextmanup]

On 5/30/2020 at 11:25 PM, MarkyMannn said:

Great series, for me better than Pacific. I didn't see BOB anywhere on TV for Mem Day

 

Almost everyone seems to agree with you, including me.  The Pacific was too disjointed and followed too many stories to be nearly as gripping as BOB, IMO.  

 

One of the stories the show was based on was "With the Old Breed" by Eugene Sledge.  That is a phenomenal book that I would encourage anyone to read; they should have made the entire show just about Sledge Hammer and his experiences in the War.  

 

On 5/31/2020 at 5:12 AM, Shamrock said:

Have the DVD, get it out and watch it. There was an Australian style series from the 1985 called ANZACS. Same style of following the recruits, in this case, the 8th Battalion through enlistment, Gallipoli, France and then to the end of War. The story of the men at war, how it changes some, brings out the best in others, some leaders are born, some leaders become exposed and some, no matter how great they were, are devastated. How In these small units, mateship was paramount.
 

I also like the story of, was it Dick Winters (?) who took the officers pistol & noticed it had never been fired.

 

Yes indeed.  It was a Walther PP if I'm not mistaken.  

 

 

On 5/31/2020 at 12:16 PM, HopsGuy said:

There’s a scene where they’re watching a movie and a guy comes in and asks, “Skip where you been?”

 

(paraphrasing) “Well, I was in Tonawanda, then Hitler invaded France. So now I’m here.”

Another scene, I believe in the episode you referenced, Skip tells a story about swimming across the Niagara River above the Falls. Said the current took him 2 miles down river before he reached Canada. Then his mom & sister yelled at him.

 

Thank you for mentioning these!  Now that you mention them, I remember both immediately, and yet I don't think it clicked that it was coming from Muck, who was kind of a more minor character in the show.  But of course there's the Buffalo connection right there.  

 

The show also shows very little of Joe Toye, despite being what just about everyone in Easy Company considered the toughest guy in the company.  He lost his leg along with Will Bill in the woods outside Foye around the time Skip Muck and Penkala were killed. 

 

On 5/31/2020 at 2:01 PM, sherpa said:

 

Are you talking about a regular soldier or Naval Aviator Wade McClusky?

McClusky is famous for finding the Japanese carrier force in the Battle of Midway, and the annual award for the best strike squadron in the Navy is named after him.

South Park High School guy I think.

 

Wade McClusky was absolutely a Buffalo guy!  It can't be overstated how important his actions at Midway were! 

 

None of that featured in "The Pacific" though did it?  I only watched the series once and never again; it wasn't really that good!

 

 

 

[Jumpsuit Jim]

It is a minor connection, but Bob Leckie, one of the early main characters and the author of  “Helmet For My Pillow” wrote  for The Buffalo-Courier after the war. His book was source material for the first half of the series until Sledge’s book took over.