Band of Brothers Rewatch, Extras: We Stand Alone Together
Congrats to everybody who made it through the rewatch with me! I feel a special bond with all of you. The kind of bond that exists only between people who've watched a lot of DVDs together.
So much to love in the extras. First let's talk about We Stand Alone Together, the documentary feature about the real men of Easy Company.
Oh, and this post will spoil those who haven't watched the series or the documentary yet. Back to your DVDs, grasshoppers.
I stayed up late last night, after I had watched the inauguration on Tivo *shakes fist at stupid job* to rewatch We Stand Alone Together and take some notes. I really wanted to get this up TODAY. January 21st.
Happy Birthday, Major Winters
Favorite Moments
“My name is C...Carwood...Lipton.”
I’ve said before, I don’t think Donnie Wahlberg looks much like Carwood Lipton. Especially when you look at Lipton as a young man. He actually looks more like Neal McDonough, with the cheekbones and the jawline. That doesn’t bother me; I don’t think it’s that important that the actors look like the real guys.
But over the years and along the rewatches, I’ve come to see the resemblance between DW and CCL more and more. You don’t see it in the episode interviews as much, but in We Stand Alone, you get glimpses of Lipton’s smile. There’s the similarity. When I’m watching DW as Lipton or watching the real Lipton, I catch myself smiling at the TV.
And they both have this interesting combination of sweetness and strength. Donnie has that fantastic Wahlberg quality of gentle badassery. Like, “Guys, please stop doing that, or I will have to fuck you up. And say hello to your mother for me.” I don’t really see a badass in the real Lipton, but I do see toughness. And when you look at his picture from back then, you can imagine it.
Plus, you can tell that C. Carwood is a pretty smart and thoughtful guy. I can really believe that he had that natural sense of the right thing to do, as we see in Breaking Point.
“Some of ‘em lost as much as 40 pounds. But I didn’t have nothin’ to lose. I only weighed 130; I wouldn’t have been big enough to stand.”
Popeye is awesome, isn’t he? He’s one of the guys that I could just listen to all day, the way he phrases things.
“Rembrandt, and all those people.”
Ha. Shifty might be my favorite RL Easy man. The way he talks, the things he says. He’s just such a gentle soul. It’s even more impressive to know that a man with a sweet heart like that did what it took to be in the 101st and get through the war alive.
He also gives us the biggest fangirl tease, when he says that after they had discovered all of Hitler’s booze, “the whole company fell out in their underwear.” Dammit, Spanks, what happened to your celebrated commitment to telling the story exactly as it happened?
“Georgie Luz come over and he hollered, ‘I can’t see nothin of them. There’s nothin there.’”
Look at those two, in their red berets, walking through the Bois Jacques. They actually remember exactly where their foxholes were, and where Muck and Penkala died.
And Babe remembering how Jim Campbell saved his life. “(Toye said) ‘I already checked him, he’s gone.’ Jim Campbell might be alive today if he hadn’t said, ‘Heffron, you stay here with your gun. I’m going up.’ And I never, never, never...I sleep on it, I eat on it...never forget that... It’s just so bad. All you life you gotta remember what one guy did because he thought it was his job to do, and he took a shot for you.”
Guarnere talks about how the people of Holland loved them. “They called us angels from the sky. Which we were!”
“I’d better not talk about it.”
Lipton remembers what happened to Toye and Guarnere and even he sort of chokes up. Then, oh, Don Malarkey. I think you’re the one who gets me most of all.
“We didn’t think we had a chance to come home.”
John Martin talking about how he and Guarnere went to Scotland to get tattoos, cause, why not? Martin tearing up is almost as bad as Malarkey.
“My god, it’s beautiful...”
Popeye tells about getting hit by the grenade during the assault on the guns at Brecourt. “It felt like it blowed my butt over my head.”
Then Winters, with tears in his voice: “He’s behind enemy lines on D-Day. Does he holler ‘Help!’? No. He hollers, ‘I’m sorry, Lieutenant. I’m sorry. I goofed.’ My god, it’s beautiful, when you think of a guy who’s that dedicated to his company, to his buddies, that he apologizes for getting hit. But that’s the kind of guy he was, and that’s the kind each one of them was. They were all the same.”
I love the way he says, “beau-tee-ful”. :-)
“‘Sergeant Joe Toye, 506 PIR, 101st Airborne Division.’ That’s what he wanted on his tombstone.’”
Pete Toye, who I assume is Joe Toye’s son, talking about him. That’s a really nice bit. It’s nice to see that the families of the men really appreciate what they went through and the bonds they have to the others in the company.
“Every army unit thinks they’re the best. But we knew we were the best.”
Ha! See? That’s why I love both Liptons. Creamy on the outside, tough in the center.
“Grandpa said, ‘No. But I served in a company of heroes.’”
Well it made us cry at the end of Points, and it doesn’t get any better the more you see it, does it?
“Sure your story and your shoes are mighty thin.”
Babe! Singing! Brigid O’Flynn. Isn’t that the most fantastic thing? “Joe Toye. Oh there was a big Mick. He’d say, ‘Guarnere, you’re Italian. You don’t know that song.’ Guarnere could sing it better than he did!”
Questions
Who are your favorite real-life Easy men and why?
Which actors’ portrayals most closely match the real guys?
What are your favorite parts of We Stand Alone Together?
What surprised you about the real Easy Company?
What would you ask them if you had the chance?
Link of Awesome
newredshoesis the best kind of fangirl: smart, passionate, and lots of fun. She comes bearing so many gifts! I heart her very much for that. Just look at these boys!
So much to love in the extras. First let's talk about We Stand Alone Together, the documentary feature about the real men of Easy Company.
Oh, and this post will spoil those who haven't watched the series or the documentary yet. Back to your DVDs, grasshoppers.
I stayed up late last night, after I had watched the inauguration on Tivo *shakes fist at stupid job* to rewatch We Stand Alone Together and take some notes. I really wanted to get this up TODAY. January 21st.
Happy Birthday, Major Winters
Favorite Moments
“My name is C...Carwood...Lipton.”
I’ve said before, I don’t think Donnie Wahlberg looks much like Carwood Lipton. Especially when you look at Lipton as a young man. He actually looks more like Neal McDonough, with the cheekbones and the jawline. That doesn’t bother me; I don’t think it’s that important that the actors look like the real guys.
But over the years and along the rewatches, I’ve come to see the resemblance between DW and CCL more and more. You don’t see it in the episode interviews as much, but in We Stand Alone, you get glimpses of Lipton’s smile. There’s the similarity. When I’m watching DW as Lipton or watching the real Lipton, I catch myself smiling at the TV.
And they both have this interesting combination of sweetness and strength. Donnie has that fantastic Wahlberg quality of gentle badassery. Like, “Guys, please stop doing that, or I will have to fuck you up. And say hello to your mother for me.” I don’t really see a badass in the real Lipton, but I do see toughness. And when you look at his picture from back then, you can imagine it.
Plus, you can tell that C. Carwood is a pretty smart and thoughtful guy. I can really believe that he had that natural sense of the right thing to do, as we see in Breaking Point.
“Some of ‘em lost as much as 40 pounds. But I didn’t have nothin’ to lose. I only weighed 130; I wouldn’t have been big enough to stand.”
Popeye is awesome, isn’t he? He’s one of the guys that I could just listen to all day, the way he phrases things.
“Rembrandt, and all those people.”
Ha. Shifty might be my favorite RL Easy man. The way he talks, the things he says. He’s just such a gentle soul. It’s even more impressive to know that a man with a sweet heart like that did what it took to be in the 101st and get through the war alive.
He also gives us the biggest fangirl tease, when he says that after they had discovered all of Hitler’s booze, “the whole company fell out in their underwear.” Dammit, Spanks, what happened to your celebrated commitment to telling the story exactly as it happened?
“Georgie Luz come over and he hollered, ‘I can’t see nothin of them. There’s nothin there.’”
Look at those two, in their red berets, walking through the Bois Jacques. They actually remember exactly where their foxholes were, and where Muck and Penkala died.
And Babe remembering how Jim Campbell saved his life. “(Toye said) ‘I already checked him, he’s gone.’ Jim Campbell might be alive today if he hadn’t said, ‘Heffron, you stay here with your gun. I’m going up.’ And I never, never, never...I sleep on it, I eat on it...never forget that... It’s just so bad. All you life you gotta remember what one guy did because he thought it was his job to do, and he took a shot for you.”
Guarnere talks about how the people of Holland loved them. “They called us angels from the sky. Which we were!”
“I’d better not talk about it.”
Lipton remembers what happened to Toye and Guarnere and even he sort of chokes up. Then, oh, Don Malarkey. I think you’re the one who gets me most of all.
“We didn’t think we had a chance to come home.”
John Martin talking about how he and Guarnere went to Scotland to get tattoos, cause, why not? Martin tearing up is almost as bad as Malarkey.
“My god, it’s beautiful...”
Popeye tells about getting hit by the grenade during the assault on the guns at Brecourt. “It felt like it blowed my butt over my head.”
Then Winters, with tears in his voice: “He’s behind enemy lines on D-Day. Does he holler ‘Help!’? No. He hollers, ‘I’m sorry, Lieutenant. I’m sorry. I goofed.’ My god, it’s beautiful, when you think of a guy who’s that dedicated to his company, to his buddies, that he apologizes for getting hit. But that’s the kind of guy he was, and that’s the kind each one of them was. They were all the same.”
I love the way he says, “beau-tee-ful”. :-)
“‘Sergeant Joe Toye, 506 PIR, 101st Airborne Division.’ That’s what he wanted on his tombstone.’”
Pete Toye, who I assume is Joe Toye’s son, talking about him. That’s a really nice bit. It’s nice to see that the families of the men really appreciate what they went through and the bonds they have to the others in the company.
“Every army unit thinks they’re the best. But we knew we were the best.”
Ha! See? That’s why I love both Liptons. Creamy on the outside, tough in the center.
“Grandpa said, ‘No. But I served in a company of heroes.’”
Well it made us cry at the end of Points, and it doesn’t get any better the more you see it, does it?
“Sure your story and your shoes are mighty thin.”
Babe! Singing! Brigid O’Flynn. Isn’t that the most fantastic thing? “Joe Toye. Oh there was a big Mick. He’d say, ‘Guarnere, you’re Italian. You don’t know that song.’ Guarnere could sing it better than he did!”
Questions
Who are your favorite real-life Easy men and why?
Which actors’ portrayals most closely match the real guys?
What are your favorite parts of We Stand Alone Together?
What surprised you about the real Easy Company?
What would you ask them if you had the chance?
Link of Awesome
newredshoesis the best kind of fangirl: smart, passionate, and lots of fun. She comes bearing so many gifts! I heart her very much for that. Just look at these boys!