Band of Brothers: E. Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne From Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle Nest, Book Analysis
Book Report
“Band of Brothers: E. Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne From Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle Nest” by Stephen E. Ambrose
Band Of Brothers is the history of Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, from basic training to D-Day. It follows the jump into Holland, the Battle of the Bulge, and finally the occupation of Berchtesgaden and Austria. This is a rarity among military histories, told from the viewpoint of the front line soldier, the privates, non-commissioned officers and officers who carry out the grand strategy of generals. Many books discuss the inner working of commands at Division and Army levels, but few detail the day to day life of the soldier. Stephen Ambrose's book does that and more. It explores the how draftee citizen soldiers of elite outfits like the 101st Airborne did, in World War II, defeat an enemy like the well trained German Wehrmacht and S.S. In 1942 the Second Battalion of the 506th was formed and started basic training. The recruits volunteered for the thrill, the honor, the extra money, but above all the desire to be better than the ordinary draftee. A description of the physical effort required in basic training explains why a majority of the volunteers never made it as far as the door of the airplane. When the Company finally made it to Fort Benning for jump school, they were in such great physical shape that they outdid the school's physical fitness cadre. After five jumps in December of 1942, the company qualified as Parachutists, and nine-months later they were on a ship to England to train for the invasion of Hitler's Fortress Europa.
Ambrose also details the nine months of training that the company endured in England in preparation for the invasion. He tells it from the viewpoint of both officers and men and explains the final shift in Easy Company hierarchy just prior to D-Day. His description of the night jump of the 101st in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, with
“Band of Brothers: E. Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne From Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle Nest” by Stephen E. Ambrose
Band Of Brothers is the history of Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, from basic training to D-Day. It follows the jump into Holland, the Battle of the Bulge, and finally the occupation of Berchtesgaden and Austria. This is a rarity among military histories, told from the viewpoint of the front line soldier, the privates, non-commissioned officers and officers who carry out the grand strategy of generals. Many books discuss the inner working of commands at Division and Army levels, but few detail the day to day life of the soldier. Stephen Ambrose's book does that and more. It explores the how draftee citizen soldiers of elite outfits like the 101st Airborne did, in World War II, defeat an enemy like the well trained German Wehrmacht and S.S. In 1942 the Second Battalion of the 506th was formed and started basic training. The recruits volunteered for the thrill, the honor, the extra money, but above all the desire to be better than the ordinary draftee. A description of the physical effort required in basic training explains why a majority of the volunteers never made it as far as the door of the airplane. When the Company finally made it to Fort Benning for jump school, they were in such great physical shape that they outdid the school's physical fitness cadre. After five jumps in December of 1942, the company qualified as Parachutists, and nine-months later they were on a ship to England to train for the invasion of Hitler's Fortress Europa.
Ambrose also details the nine months of training that the company endured in England in preparation for the invasion. He tells it from the viewpoint of both officers and men and explains the final shift in Easy Company hierarchy just prior to D-Day. His description of the night jump of the 101st in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, with