Band of Brothers: Bastogne

1. Band of Brothers: Bastogne Presentation by Alex Bankier, Peter Jablonski, Georgia Jiang, and Steven Miller

2. General Info Alex Bankier • “Band of Brothers” was an HBO miniseries featuring 10 hour-long episodes revolving around Easy Company of the U.S Army’s 101st Airborne Division during WWII (1944-1945) • The episode titled “Bastogne”, directed by David Leland, was released October 7th, 2001 and starred Kirk Acevedo, Doug Allen, and William Armstrong • As a whole, “Band of Brothers” won 22 awards, including a Golden Globe and several Emmy’s, and was nominated for at least 20 more

3. Episode Summary Georgia Jiang The title of the episode is also the setting: Bastogne, Belgium. The main character, Eugene Roe, and his fellow soldiers are stationed at Ardennes Forest and because it is a very harsh winter, they are suffering from both frostbite and ordinary war casualties. Eugene Roe is a medic and the episode repetitively emphasizes the extreme cold and lack of supplies – even the most basic amenities like bandages, painkiller, and scissors are scarce in the warzone.

4. Overall Quality of “Bastogne” Alex Bankier • The episode itself was actually quite historically accurate, as well as genuinely entertaining in its action and well-paced character development • “Bastogne”, as well as “Band of Brothers” as a whole, did an excellent job of establishing sub-plotlines for each individual or group of characters (most characters were actual soldiers who had fought with the 101st Airborne)

5. Entertainment Value Steven Miller • Very historically accurate • Well made, award winning • Well casted • Overall, very good • Recommended

6. Main Character(s) Steven Miller • While the show is about the entire company, this episode focuses on the medic, Eugene • Realistically, Eugene spends the entire episode either trying to patch up his company or scavenging for any supplies he can get his hands on • As the episode progresses, Eugene grows more distant and quiet

7. Eugene and the nurse

8. Combat and Fighting Peter Jablonski • Sporadic fighting • Any time the Germans had an opportunity, they attacked • Blurred boundaries • At one point, two characters accidentally fell into a foxhole where a German soldier was hiding • Diverse collection of weapons • Shells • Machine guns • Tanks

9. Peter Jablonski Demo

10. Environment Peter Jablonski • Snowy (accurate since it’s December) • Ends on Christmas 1944 • Not far from the town of Bastogne

11. Conditions of Survival Alex Bankier • In the episode, the men of Easy Company are forced to stay entrenched in their foxholes, braving the freezing cold with small fires and almost no winter clothing. While medical supplies and food are scarce, their seems to be a fair number of medical personnel who are available. • In reality, all of the above was very true save the fact that medical personnel had mostly been captured or killed during the Siege of Bastogne

12. The Battle of the Bulge – The Big Picture Georgia Jiang This confrontation (from December 1944 to January 1945) was a last attempt by the Nazi Germans to split the Allies’ power on the Western Front by dividing the British and the American forces stationed by the Ardennes Forest, which was located in regions of southern Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. The Germans also aimed to have a peace negotiation for this Front and attain much needed supplies that had been depleted in the battles earlier as possible consequences of the battle.

13. The Battle of the Bulge – The Small Picture Georgia Jiang The objective for the Germans was to cross the Meuse River and capture the port of Antwerp. At first, the attack caused confusion among the British and American troops, allowing the Germans to reach deep into the Allies’ territory, but soon the former recovered and managed to contain the Nazi-offensive and protected the strategic town of Bastogne. The Germans were forced to retreat across the Rhine and back into Germany as a result.