Band of Brothers: Legacy (2026)

[bunniefuu]

PLAYTONE PRESENTS

[g*nf*re]

[helicopter passes amid g*nf*re]

A NEW w*r PRODUCTION

[thunder rumbling]

Think of being surrounded as

something unusual, horrible.

This should never happen.

No, that was normal.

[warplanes flying overhead]

[footsteps and rustling]

You fight to the north,

you fight to the south,

you fight to the east,

you fight to the west.

Youre surrounded.

[birds chirping]

The poor b*stards thats

on the other side has the

problem. You dont.

[soldiers screaming]

Lets go!

This is the story

of Easy Company.

It was formed in 1942.

[plane engine rumbling]

506 Parachute Infantry Regiment.

Part of the 101st airborne.

It was the best.

This is not Dog Company.

This is not Fox Company.

This, this is Easy Company.

[expl*si*n]

[expl*si*n]

Our country was attacked.

Its a different-- It wasnt

like Korea or Vietnam.

We was attacked.

Theres a feeling that

maybe were just dumb

country people, but

we had a lot of us volunteering.

Two okay!

One okay!

[music]

I never thought Id

get through D-Day,

let alone the next phase

or the next phase.

[music continues]

Chances of survival is very,

very slim.

Extremely slim.

[g*nf*re]

Move out, move out, move it out!

[g*nf*re]

Easy Companys actions on D-Day.

How did that happen?

Theres the magic of that

chemistry again.

I cant explain.

Lets hope it lives forever.

[music playing]

We were a group of actors.

We were just all ready

to go there.

Young.

Serious.

Bit earnest maybe.

Just really wanting

to do good work,

wanting to do the thing right.

[music playing]

We were blessed and fortunate

enough

to be able to portray

the lives of

absolutely true heroes.

Every single one of them.

Just everything was so big,

so expl*sive,

and then you get these small

little intimate moments with us.

I dont know.

It made me realize

just how special it was to

be a part of this thing.

- The daredevil. - Its

a very sacred thing

to carry someones legacy.

And I think there was

that secret sauce

that we were all doing

it for something

other than our careers.

When we got into it,

we didnt know what it was.

It wasnt until we really

started getting

into it, you know, like,

oh, sh*t, this is...

This is intense.

Its very important

to us that the men

had their legacy intact.

Because what they

did for the world

should be recognized fully.

[g*nf*re and expl*si*n]

Its...

a very unusual feeling

and its a very unusual bonding.

[singing] A hell

of a way to die!

If you want to call this

story that were

putting together

a band of brothers,

this is about as clear

as you can make it.

BAND OF BROTHERS LEGACY

Am I all right here?

- Youre doing great.

- Oh, yeah.

I dont know.

Dont forget Im short,

so I can stand.

Maybe it would be better.

[laughter]

Uncle Paduche they used

to call me.

What does that mean?

Well, thats the sort of respect

for the elderly people.

We were taught

actually from the day

you were born,

you respect your elders

no matter what.

We werent lacking

in confidence.

We felt that

whatever we came up against,

we could take care of.

Now, what was it about

jumping out of an

airplane that appealed to you?

$50 a month.

[laughter]

We were pretty much

in the middle of

things most of the time.

But the whole company was...

You know, was...

Very, very special.

[reflective, uplifting music]

I had always promised

myself that someday,

someday, Ill write my memories

of World w*r II.

And like everybody else,

you keep putting it off.

But Ambrose came along, and

he requested this

for the purpose of writing

a book.

He would interview me, share

questions.

One thing led to another, and...

It happened.

Easy Company!

Gather up around me.

The Easy Company story

works because

if you look at all the sort of

big plot points of World w*r II,

they happen to be there

for a bunch of them.

Theyre in Normandy.

Battle of the Bulge.

[expl*si*n]

They were there at the

Eagles Nest at the end.

It was just this sort

of confluence of

you could tell the whole story

with just this group of people.

[people shouting indistinctly]

Youll be okay.

There was no flinching

in Band of Brothers.

It had a docu-drama style to it.

That was its brilliance.

Really gets you among the men.

Thats why its endured so well.

Band of Brothers is different.

Its about supporting

each other,

loving each other,

and going from some guys

who at one point

didnt know each other at all.

At the end of this

10 episode arc

being guys who would die

for one another

because they love each

other so much.

You dont get to see that often.

You know, every young

actor in the world,

theyd gone casting

in Australia,

London, New York, LA.

Hundreds and hundreds

of 20-something lads

just thinking, "Oh God, I want

to be in this thing."

Knowing this was World w*r II

and knowing the history

that I had

with my dad talking

about World w*r II,

and all the wars

for that matter,

I was really prepared for it.

Seven of my great uncles

served in World w*r II.

They were all

first generation

Jewish New Yorkers.

Every one of them,

their families had escaped.

It was very personal.

Good luck.

When this project

came to me,

I was all in.

My father was in the Army,

so it was

subconsciously always

right under the

surface and something

I really wanted to

explore if I had

the opportunity.

Good evening, Easy Company.

Good evening, sir.

Ambrose gave me a call.

Hes all excited.

And he said he has some

wonderful news.

And he says, "d*ck, I

sold the rights of

Band of Brothers to Tom Hanks

under one condition.

That he does not play your part,

because hes too old."

I was another, you know,

British punk actor trying to

get his next job.

And

everyone just had a couple

of sides,

which is very typical, you know,

in a big Hollywood production.

They just give you a couple

of pages of scripts.

You learn that. You dont

know what its about.

After the very first

one that I read,

I just started reading this guy.

They kept giving me scripts,

a guy called d*ck Winters.

And I still wasnt sure who d*ck

Winters was at that point.

But then the next audition,

it was d*ck Winters again.

The next audition,

and I thought,

I should probably ask

at this point.

They said, "Well, hes the lead

of the series."

I remember thinking,

"Wow, this could be real."

I didnt put a lot

of energy into it,

because I kind of judged it.

I was like, World

w*r II officer.

Its a certain type.

Theres a look.

Im not going to get that part.

And I get the book,

and in that same actor way,

you just open it to the index,

because you know...

"This is fine, wheres me?"

And I saw my first picture

of Lewis Nixon in the bed,

surrounded by the wine bottles,

you know, shitty grin

on his face,

and a

big hangover, Im sure.

And something clicked,

and I was like,

"Oh, Im going to...

Im going to get this."

Cheers.

[scoffs]

I think that it was a very

slow burn

on getting to know

how important this was.

I think the real

impact of all that

started happening

when we actually

started contacting the men

individually.

Buck was just bigger than life.

And we were so similar

in so many ways that

he wasnt a chatterbox.

He was very kind of close

to the vest.

He was so proud to

be an American.

More grenade!

I remember a lot of sh**ting,

a lot of a*tillery,

a lot of things happening.

And I always felt like I was

somehow...

As I look back on it,

I thought I was damn lucky.

To jump into those shoes

was the most daunting

task I could

ever possibly imagine.

You wont need it.

Were jumping low. Take

the belly back.

Some guys called him Bull, some

guys called him The Bull.

You know, I think

Babe and Bill, The Bull!

[chuckles]

Always The Bull.

Not Bull, but The Bull.

And when I initially

reached out to him,

he was

very non-talkative.

Had you ever been in an airplane

before?

Nope.

So first time up, you

had to jump out.

Yeah.

Which created a situation where

I wound up speaking with

his wife, Vera,

for a good hour, hour and a half

after I spoke with him.

And got

just incredible, incredible,

information from her.

We lost F Company.

Again?

After reading the book and

learning what they went through

and educating myself

on the unit,

I just was in awe of these guys.

We spoke mostly about

family and life,

and he became sort

of a mentor to me.

And when he wanted

to speak about the w*r

he spoke about it.

I never pronged him or

poked him for any information.

In fact, the way it worked

on Band of Brothers,

none of the guys ever,

ever spoke about themselves.

Youd talk to him

for three hours,

and they would tell you about

everything

everyone in the company

did but themselves.

And for them, youd have to go

to a different person.

Hey, fellas.

What do you hear?

What do you say?

I called him and I said,

"Hey, is this Mr..."

I didnt even know how

to pronounce his name.

I was making it much

more Italian.

They had Americanized it a

little bit with Guarnere.

And he answered, "Yowza!"

And I said, "Hi, is

this Mr. Guarnere?"

And he said, "It is.

Whos this?"

And I said, "My name

is Frankie Hughes.

Im auditioning to play you.

Mr. Guarnere, is there any

advice you would give me

to play you?"

And he said,

"Yeah, I was a paid k*ller.

I was a 19-year-old paid k*ller.

Dont forget that."

I said, "I wont, sir."

And he said, "Good luck."

When I jumped on D-Day,

I swore

I swore I was going

to k*ll every

damn German I came across.

And thats why I think

they nicknamed me

Wild Bill, because I did

a lot of k*lling D-Day.

[g*nsh*t]

Joe!

Im Ross McCool, and I

play Joe Liebgott.

Im a Scotsman

who sounds English,

whos Catholic,

playing an American Jew

who spoke German.

So I had a lot to

sink my proverbial teeth into.

Earlier on, I kept getting

told from the men,

"Its a scrappy guy."

But he had a sharpness in him.

He knew how to soldier.

Skinny little guy?

You got pink to the neck

in Holland.

Sometimes you cant really

see too much.

You just get a sense of maybe,

you know,

what they look like,

the way they carry themselves,

the hair.

[chuckles]

They carried themselves

like g*dd*mn men.

This is my favorite here.

This is

Winters and Nixon.

Devillish rascal, huh?

- Webbing? - Webbing, please.

Can I have a name, please?

Livingstone playing Nixon.

Looking good.

Lewis had passed,

so it was never really on

the table to meet him.

I reached out to Grace Nixon,

who was

really wonderful

and really open,

as far as inviting me

kind of into her life

and sharing Lewis

the way that she knew him.

- Thats a good picture.

- Hes so handsome.

[laughter]

I think so too.

This guy was handsome. Yes.

Hes got a handsome face.

[indistinct chatter]

[music]

I met d*ck,

and I remember a man that was

suspicious of Hollywood.

He had a very interesting

combination of

a good strong ego,

but he had this amazing

humility as well.

As an actor,

what you want always

is you want behavioral.

You want to hear from

someone if something hurt.

You want to hear if something

was joyful, something was sad.

Whatever it was, you can find

ways of

exploring the psychology

of the person

youre going to play.

To the g*ng, as we were sitting

there,

I said, "Well, when I

get in the Army,

Im not going to volunteer

for anything.

B.S. IN ECONOMICS

Just going to do whatever

they tell me

and put my ear in and get out."

And the foreman,

who was a World w*r I veteran

he jumped on my hind butt good,

and he said, "No, you dont.

You get in the Army,

and you do your best

each and every day."

I didnt answer him,

but I never forgot it,

and I havent forgotten

it today.

[suspenseful music builds]

w*r DEPARTMENT FILM BULLETIN

THIS FILM IS CONFIDENTIAL

There were people

who thought that trying

to insert people

into combat via parachute

cant be done.

Its suicide.

And it was strictly

a volunteer thing.

You didnt get drafted and told,

"Youre going to go

be a paratrooper."

And what happened

was it took you out of the

standard pool,

made you something special.

Well, at ease, paratroopers.

I got a couple of phone

calls from

Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.

They wanted to say, "Look,

how would you approach this?"

I said, "Well, look.

Youre going to hire young men

with no military experience.

And the only thing they really

know about

World w*r II is the last

bad movie they saw."

And I believe that the way

to fix it

was to give actors

some fleeting acquaintance

with what a soldiers

life is really about.

And I thought, "Look,

heres a chance

to do it right."

The first thing they did for us

was they set up

a 10-day actor boot camp.

They train us in the same

way that they

train military people.

From here on out,

youre no longer called

by your civilian name.

Whats up, yo, dog?

All that stuffs gone.

1940s, right?

We are so f---ed.

Name?

Luz, George.

Dirt in the rear sight aperture.

Pass revoked. [r*fle clicks]

George was from Providence,

Rhode Island,

and so he was a tough guy,

and he

and he made people laugh,

and a lot of people loved him.

Are those dusty jump wings?

How do you expect to slay

the Huns with

dust on your jump wings?

I got a chance to talk

to Bill and Babe

and Carwood, and Bill said to me

constantly, wed be sitting

around,

hes like, "I hope youre funny,

kid."

So Id be like, "Oh,

man, oh, man,

Im going to ruin this thing."

How you cut that fence

and get this

g*dd*mn platoon on the move!

[cow mooing]

Yes, sir!

[fly swatted] My grandpa Ron,

he told me when I first

told him that I

got this job, and they were

going to send us to a boot camp.

I remember him saying,

"Start running now.

The rest of its a duck walk,

but just

make sure you can run

your d*ck off."

You know? I was like, "Okay."

[laughing]

What company is this?

Easy Company!

What do we do?

We stand alone!

[singing] Hey young punk,

dont you be so fooled.

[singing] Im an instructor

at the Airborne School.

[singing] Im an instructor

at the Airborne School.

And everybodys a little

apprehensive

about meeting Captain Dale Dye,

military advisor to the movies.

You have three tries.

Snap, and surge of power.

You can make it.

I snuck into platoon

when I was 10 years old.

I saw Dale Dye up

on that screen.

Im like, "I want to work with

these people someday."

And I knew it right then.

And then 13 years later,

there I was.

I think its looking good,

Webster.

I was cast to play this role,

who clearly

was a man who questioned

authority.

This guy was going to Harvard.

He had his ticket

out of the w*r.

He didnt have to go.

I knew David Websters

spirit was a powerful one.

Perconte.

[rousing patriotic music]

I was ready.

I will say, physically,

I was ready.

I couldnt have been any

more ready.

It was trying to understand

the chain of command,

and who people were.

He just couldnt understand that

Captain Dye was just a captain.

He was such a force

over our lives that

youve got to be a general.

Like, youve got--

And he meant it.

And hed go, "General,

I was just trying--

Hed go, "What?

Perconte, get down and give

me 50."

And Jim could just do push-ups

till youre tired.

Like, hed just-- Hed go--

[mimics push-ups rapidly]

"Okay, what were you saying?"

"General, I was saying--"

"50 more."

Like he would just start. You

know, he was unbreakable.

[rousing patriotic music]

Dale did a really

smart thing where

he put Damian and I

in the same squad.

He made me the squad leader.

And then at a certain

point it shifted.

And then he got sort

of promoted past me.

And Dale was like,

"You know,

I think it probably,

always really

stuck in Lewis Nixons craw.

I think there was probably

a little

competitive thing between

these guys a little bit."

And I found that really helpful.

I moved up from a private

to a sergeant

almost immediately.

Not even knowing what I

was doing.

And theyre like, "Oh, take

charge of your platoon."

The hell does that mean?

Halt!

Platoon Sergeant, take charge.

I mean, you could have read

it in a book

and you wouldnt have gotten it.

You could have been told

it six times and

you would have messed it up.

And you realize, "Oh my gosh,

this full immersion

is how boot camp works."

People came and asked

me for advice.

What are we to do, sir?

It was like a crash course

in leadership.

People want your authority.

They want you to be d*ck

Winters.

They want you to be in charge,

so youve got to deliver.

I want concentrated bursts

of machine g*n fire.

Do not waste your a*mo.

Go, runner, go. Cover him.

You get scared a little bit,

and youre like,

"I dont know what Im doing.

I dont know what this is."

And then the second

thought I have

after that was like,

"Well, neither did they."

[military drumbeat]

Now, this is a brand new idea.

It was the first time

that it had been tried.

It becomes a very easy decision

to make later on.

"Im going to volunteer

for the paratroopers."

Your parents say, "No, please

dont do that.

Thats the wrong thing to do."

And so forth.

But you want to be

with the best.

Every one of the

requirements was

something to conquer because

we wanted to be in the 506.

There were all kinds of

exercises that you had to pass.

The ones who couldnt measure up

were moved out of the company.

This training at Toccoa,

which lasted roughly 13 weeks,

lets start off with

physical training.

Learning left face, right face

and you get them in shape.

Some of them lost as much

as 40 pounds.

But I didnt have nothing

to lose.

I weighed about 130.

If Id have lost 40 pounds,

I wouldnt have been big

enough to stay.

[military drumbeat continues]

[indistinct chatter]

[whistle blows]

Orders changed.

Get up!

Lectures are cancelled.

Easy Company is running

up Currahee.

Move! Move! [chairs and tables

scraping]

[inspiring music builds]

Currahee.

That was the big obstacle.

To be able to run that.

And I shouldnt say run.

You get the wrong impression.

We didnt run it.

You did a parachute shuffle,

which is a small shuffling step.

You couldnt possibly

run that thing.

Nobody could.

Come on, you can make

it up there.

Come on. Come on up. Lets go.

Come on, Guarnere. Christenson,

come on.

Come on.

They put the fear of the devil

in me

when they started

telling me about

that mountain, you know.

That youre going to have to run

that mountain.

You run that mountain

or youre not

going to be, you wont

be in this outfit.

You have 50 minutes

to the top and back

and I will be watching you.

What are you waiting for?

The way he trained them,

an unforgiving way,

hardened them.

Hi-h*, Silver!

[multiple footsteps running]

Now when we talk about

our original company commander,

Captain Sobel,

he did his best,

but he was in the wrong job.

Theyre right out

there somewhere.

Lets just get them.

Sir, we have perfect cover here.

Lieutenant, deploy your troops.

I mean, heres a Jewish, urban,

like an older guy,

in the Deep South,

training a bunch

of 18-year-olds, and...

You know, there was a lot of

anti-Semitism at the time.

He knew he was

beating the sh*t out of them

at times.

You look tired.

Theres an ambulance

waiting for you at

the bottom of the hill.

It can all be over right now.

No more pain,

no more Currahee,

no more Captain Sobel.

He was a horses a*s.

[chuckles]

Lieutenant Sobel does not hate

Easy Company, Private Randleman.

[multiple footsteps]

He just hates you.

[soldiers chuckle]

Thank you, sir.

His message to us is

that you lead men

by fear.

You lead men by strict

discipline.

I said, "No, you lead

it by example."

And we had two different

philosophies.

I performed my duty as I

was ordered, sir.

And I disagree.

So,

your options are quite simple,

Lieutenant.

What is it about Winters that

makes him such a good leader?

Well, he takes his duty

a heck far ahead of

his privilege.

And you give your life to

make him look good

instead of doing

what youre told or ordered

to do.

d*ck Winters was a very

good leader, excellent leader.

The men would follow him

in the name of it.

Sobel, they wouldnt.

Easy Company, you passed

your final field test.

Bootcamp was arguably

the pivotal point

because it was a group of men

who just understood the mission.

And by understanding

the mission,

it became a brotherhood.

Through your eyes, through

your actions,

through your gestures,

through your

handling of weapons,

through your wearing

of the uniform, everything.

The truth is there.

Let it shine, boys.

Make the world proud

of Easy Company

and the world will celebrate

our forefathers.

Lets not f--- it up.

Yes, sir.

Not bad for a bunch of actors.

[chuckles]

H-Hour.

D-Day.

We were thoroughly prepared.

The men were

trained, hardened,

Physically and mentally,

and they were ready to jump.

[rousing patriotic music]

[military aircraft

engine roaring]

Confidence depends

on the success of

whatever youre trying to do.

Courage

is what inspires you

to do the things

that are needed to get

the things done.

Ive always said courage

is not the absence of fear.

Courage is going ahead

and doing what

needs to be done, even

if you feel fear.

[rousing patriotic

music continues]

D-Day was not an accident

that had worked,

it had been prepared for.

We just didnt know what we

were doing at the time.

We found that out later.

[aircraft engines roaring,

suspenseful music builds]

When you reach that point that

youre standing in the door,

youre asking yourself,

"What the hell am I doing here?"

Its only one thing to

do and thats to go.

[indistinct radio chatter,

tense music]

The routine was the pilot

would turn on a

red light by the door

and that was supposed

to indicate

that you had, I dont

know whether

it was five minutes

or three minutes.

When you got the red light,

you would

stand up and hook up.

Hook up!

See out the door

and I could see the flak,

the tracer boards and

the stuff in the air coming up.

And then he said to me, "Red

light."

Well, by the time I

had to go through

that thought process,

he says, "Green light."

And Im still sitting

there on the deck

of the plane

and all the guys

are sitting down

and so I said, "Oh God,

lets go."

[wind rushing, g*nf*re

whizzing past]

We were sort of the guinea pigs.

Everyone wanted to get

out of the planes.

Lets go, lets go, lets go!

Does that light look

green to you?

Lets go, lets go, lets go!

No matter where youre

at, get them out.

The flak was terrible.

And the aircraft was

absolutely horrendous.

It was like a

July the 4th celebration

ten times over.

[aircraft engine roaring]

I was the first to jump.

Lets go!

[dramatic music swells]

And Randleman was the last

to jump.

[wind rushing]

I was supposed to push

everybody out.

It was like jumping

off a two-story

building where it was.

There was nobody landing

where they were supposed to.

I was ten miles from where

we jumped.

[footsteps rustling through

tall grass, g*nf*re]

We were just scattered

from one end of the peninsula

to the other,

men as far as

30 kilometers from their drop

zone.

So theyre on their own.

But somehow or another

those fellas,

individuals of

Joe Toye,

Popeye Wynn,

they found the objective

and they found it on time.

We were all lost,

but we got to the objective

and we took the objective.

[music swells]

Well, on the next morning

after daylight,

Im in this group, were

moving up along

this road, and I run

into Winters.

Whats going on?

Whats the holdup? Not sure.

[distant expl*si*n]

Fivell get you ten its got

something to do with that.

So Winters is telling

me, he says

theres some guys out here,

some Germans out here

firing some a*tillery pieces.

He said,

"Wed like to find out

whats going on out there

and see what we can do about

it."

Theres some Kraut Eighty-Eights

up ahead,

up ahead and to the right

about what?

300 yards?

Up through those gardens.

Now theyre right between us

and causeway number two.

Firing onto the boys

landing at Utah.

Think Easy can handle it?

Yes, sir.

There are two g*ns

that we know of,

firing on Utah beach

[distant expl*si*n continues]

and planning on a third

and a fourth

here and here.

The Germans are in the trenches

with access to the entire

battery.

How many Krauts do you think

were facing?

No idea.

No idea.

Nothing in the manual

tells you how to

react to how to attack

these g*ns.

You have no idea whats there,

how many people are there.

All you know is theres

a battery of g*ns

firing at these beaches.

If you knew at the time,

you would not do what youd

done.

There couldve been 200 men

there.

It couldve been 10 there.

You dont have no idea.

Captain, second squad.

- Yes, sir. - All right,

you heard the word.

Lets move, lets move.

[expl*si*n, tense music builds]

I divided the group

into two units.

Lieutenant Compton was with me.

I gave him half the men

and I took half the men.

Gave instructions, I went,

"Compton, crawl through

the grass.

And as you throw your grenades,

Ill charge up with the rest

of the guys."

[tense music continues]

[rapid g*nf*re begin,

soldier scream]

I get out through this hedge,

and I peek.

I look up and I peek

through the bushes

and I see a couple of Germans

over here

about 30, 50 yards away.

And about that time,

Guarnere comes running across

and he jumps in beside me.

[rapid g*nf*re continues]

[grunts]

[expl*si*n]

Buck Compton, yes.

Him and I were tossing some

grenades, just attacking.

Its stupid when you look

at it, but we were lucky.

Very fortunate.

I think the Germans were very,

very surprised

that we attacked them.

They thought they were being

attacked by a greater force.

Lets go! Lets go!

Follow me!

[expl*si*n]

[rapid g*nf*re continues]

Compton, covering fire!

You know, when Popeye was hit

on D-Day morning, he was right

beside me.

So I can speak firsthand

on this.

And when he was hit and he

went down, he was hit hard.

[Popeye screams]

After I got hit,

[grunts and screaming]

and I didnt want to leave him,

you know.

Im sorry, sir!

I screwed up!

You dont want to get in another

situation with people

you dont know.

And Id been with these

people for

going on three years.

He said, "Im sorry, Lieutenant.

I goofed.

Im sorry."

For the simple reason

that in crawling

across that field of grass,

he had got his butt

a little too high

and he got one right

through both cheeks.

And he was hurt hard.

But he said, "Im sorry,

I goofed."

He didnt say, "Help."

That is a man.

Oh sh*t.

Hey Popeye, how bad is it?

Im sorry sir, I didnt mean...

He did all the rest of it.

He is a good man.

One, two, three.

[grunts]

Get down.

Get down.

I needed to get

this guys journey across,

you know?

I needed to tell Popeyes story

for his family

and not mess it up.

He felt like hed

let people down.

Its just a testament to...

to these guys and

the...

the brotherhood they had, I

guess.

Dont that make

you our commanding officer, sir?

Yeah, it does.

Your big fear is the fact

that you dont

want to let your buddy down.

You dont want to let the fellow

down beside you.

And if youre a leader,

you dont want to

let your men down.

I think we had made a decision.

Lets not make this guy

Superman

from episode one.

Lets see him become Superman.

Lets see him do incredible

things.

But theres still doubt.

Hes a young man.

Hes just jumped in to

liberate Europe

out of an airplane.

Hes 26 years old.

Hes got control of 50 men.

And lets just see him grow.

And I dont think

d*ck liked that.

He wanted to characterize

him thinking,

growing into the role.

He said, "I just knew."

I came back to him after

hed seen the whole thing.

I said, "Now what do you think?"

He put his hand in my shoulder

and went,

"Kid, you nailed it."

[airplane engine roars overhead]

This is called "Operation

Market Garden".

In terms of airborne

divisions involved,

this ones even bigger

than Normandy.

Were dropping deep into

occupied Holland.

Winters came out when

we were sh**ting

episode four, and we get

ambushed.

[g*nsh*t, body thuds]

Jump off when one of our other

lieutenants

gets shot, and guys

jump off the tanks.

[g*nf*re]

d*ck Winters left.

He went home.

He said, "Ive seen enough."

They couldnt watch it.

It was too real for them

to watch what we were doing.

That was the biggest

compliment that we

could have been given.

[rapid r*fle fire, indistinct

shouting]

Were people sh**ting

you when you--

Oh, yeah, thats

when I found out

that when you can hear

b*ll*ts sing,

it aint going to touch you.

But when they snap like

that around your ears

ears, theyre getting close.

[chuckles]

And were they whistling

or snapping?

Snapping.

[tank approaching]

[grenade explodes]

Fall back!

Fall back!

Fall back!

Lets go, lets go, lets go!

Keep moving, keep moving!

In Holland...

Lets go!

And we have a tough, tough

battle there

so that

as far as the regiments

concerned,

yes,

we survived it and we won it.

But we lost many engagements.

[somber music]

Come on!

Quiet!

Elements of the first and sixth

SS Panzer Division

have broken through in

the Ardennes Forest.

Wed been in Normandy.

Wed been in Holland.

We knew that we were a

capable fighting outfit.

When we left for Bastogne,

we were short of equipment.

We didnt have enough

ammunition.

We didnt have enough

warm clothes.

But we had confidence.

Hey, pal.

Hey, pal. Hey, pal.

What happened?

Where the hell are you going?

They came out of nowhere.

They slaughtered us.

Youve got to get out of here.

We just got here. Get your a*mo.

The soldiers that we saw

as we went in

were completely demoralized.

I mean, they were just

trying to get out of there.

[honks]

Make a hole! Hey!

Make a hole!

I got a*mo!

Grab what you can!

Lieutenant, youre a godsend.

I played Lieutenant George C.

Rice.

He made nine runs,

which is unbelievable.

Ill try to make another

a*mo run if I can

but dont count on anything.

Thank you, sir.

Ill take this guy.

Panzer division is about

to cut the road south.

[engine starts]

Looks like you guys are going

to be surrounded.

Were paratroopers, Lieutenant.

Were supposed to be surrounded.

I remember my grandfather

didnt really

talk about the w*r, what he went

through.

Even my own dad didnt

talk much.

Just that generation, just

theyre just pretty humble

and theyre just quiet.

And so to get these

stories is rare.

Its a gem, and it really

happened.

And I think, you know,

when you look at this, its like

its a history lesson.

And you go, "Whew!

Can you just imagine?"

Good luck.

Thanks.

[clattering]

Really, when youre into it,

you kind of start feeling

how young everyone was

in World w*r II and how you go,

"Wait, these were kids."

I dont remember whether it was,

the coldest winter on record,

the coldest in

30 years or 50 years.

But it was a terribly

cold winter.

[sombre music]

I mean, I cant imagine what

these guys went through.

I would guess that

the glaring part of Bastogne

would be how vulnerable you are.

[anticipatory music builds]

As they start to surround us,

and the defense continued

to build,

until we had this 16-mile

perimeter

around Bastogne,

which we ended up holding.

We got a man down!

We referred to this later

as the hole in the donut.

They got donuts. They got

a hole in the middle.

Theres no way you can miss

that hole.

Youre surrounded.

All they do is just

keep shelling you.

Theres no way you can miss

shelling.

[expl*si*n, indistinct screams]

Get your boys out of here!

Pull him back!

-[expl*si*n] -Lets go!

I remember up in Bastogne,

I was wondering, "Guarnere

and I would

share this hole together."

And we got very close.

And you, wild Bill.

Ive invested too

much g*dd*mn time

-shaping you into something

useful. -[chuckles]

Guarnere, no question

about Guarnere, is

that tough, hard...

type of guy.

There were others, Im sure.

Well, a guy by the name

of Joe Toye, I remember.

He was a tough guy, you know.

And I dont mean that in a

pejorative. I mean tough...

in terms of fiber.

[expl*si*n]

Incoming!

Take cover!

[expl*si*n continues]

Take cover!

[expl*si*n continues]

sh*t!

You know, in Episode 7, Bill

and Joe Toye lose their legs.

[expl*si*n]

sh*t!

-Come on, Joe. -[screaming]

Come on, buddy. Come on!

Hold on! Ill be there!

Ill be there!

[expl*si*n, soldiers yelping]

No!

[expl*si*n continues]

I wanted to know how Bill

handled that.

He talked about how horrible

Bastogne was

and how that constant

bombardment was really terrible.

But

he said, he wouldnt--

"Yeah, I got hit. And I

was, you know."

He really played it down down,

so I called Carwood.

And I talked to Mr. Lipton

and he said

I said, "When he got hit..."

And he got very quiet

and I realized he was upset.

And I said, "You know what,

Mr. Lipton, we dont have

to talk about it.

I know it was so raw."

I went over to Guarnere.

He was sitting on the ground.

His leg was badly mangled.

He was holding his leg and

it was jerking like that.

And...

He said, "Lip,

They got old Guarnere

this time."

He had been hit before, but

they really got him there.

[emotional, somber music]

-[grunts] -I got you.

I didnt save Joe Toyes life.

Maybe I did. I dont know.

But like I say, hes my buddy.

Id have done it for anyone.

It helped so much as an actor

when you had the practical

trees blowing up.

It wasnt on a green screen.

It was...

You know, I really felt like

Buck was with me on that moment.

[indistinct shouting]

[shaky breathing]

Medic!

And to see my buddies getting

blown up in front of me,

I felt like Buck.

And I think thats why that

moment was so truthful, because

we were a band of brothers.

[sighing]

We were meant to survive.

All right.

And we mourn and grieve

in a bunch of

different ways, and we hold

the weight of

a situation with us.

And these men held the weight of

the situation with them for

the rest of their lives.

And they only know the

thoughts they had in their head.

And they only know how difficult

it was

to go to sleep or not

for them.

That was deeply personal

to them.

[grunts, expl*si*n continues]

To lose those two men, it...

It shook him up.

Winters decided he

was shaking...

shaken up too much to stay

in the company,

so we transferred him out.

Compton was a fine officer.

A fine soldier.

It just happened to hit him

at the wrong time there.

You know, he would never say,

"This is how I felt when

this happened."

It would be like that

thousand-yard stare

when Id ask him

what it was like on that day.

Guys like that

speak volumes by saying

very little.

[mournful violin music]

He got to know his men really

well and cared for his men,

which, of course, d*ck

Winters was like,

"You cant get too close

to your men."

But that just wasnt

who Buck Compton was.

If he loved something,

he loved all in.

And I admire that so much

about Buck

and thats why it was so hard

for him in the end.

There wasnt a thing called

PTSD back then.

[mournful hymn]

101st Airborne had been made

famous by what it did in

the Battle of the Bulge.

The newspapers called them

the battered b*stards

of Bastogne.

These were ghosts for these men.

When you call yourself Penkala

or Muck or Luz,

these were not character names.

They had deep, intimate

relationships with these guys.

They loved these guys, and

you were representing them.

[car speeds along highway

as mournful music fades]

We toured

in the footsteps

of Easy Company.

We bonded, Frank and I.

So this is the only

original house?

No, at the other

side in the road

at the headquarters

of the Germans-

I remember the minute we all

got off the bus in Bastogne.

We all started to walk in.

A lot of these men have never

been back,

most of them have never

been back.

And...

we kind of pulled back.

Okay.

Home sweet home, Bill.

Yes, it is.

Yes, sir.

Who knows who laid in this hole

today?

[coughing]

So walking through there,

you would just see them.

"Well, I would...

Well, if he would have been

right here, well...

Well, yeah, I probably would

have been right here.

I would have been right here."

And youd just go, "Wow."

We had our foxholes

right over here,

and the other area,

and the other area.

Wherever we had to move

out and dig in again.

Because the Krauts had plenty

of a*tillery.

Most intentional-

That went through right here.

Shelling.

Most intentional one of them.

You couldnt believe it.

You had to be here.

You just dove in the hole

and just pray, thats it.

If it comes in, you aint

going to know it.

A couple of arms

went around each other.

Crying, some of them

were crying,

and some of them would make

a joke,

and thered be a laugh cry.

This is where you cant believe

that shells going, sir.

-Yeah. -Shelling, I dont

remember no shelling.

[chuckles]

-Or no Snow, I said. -[laughing]

-You dont believe this guy.

-[laughing]

[melancholy music]

It was just so impactful

for a young man

for me, and I know

its not about me,

to be there and witness that,

because it changes you.

[melancholy music continues]

[rapid footsteps, crow cawing]

He said, "Come with me, sir."

What, what, what, what?

Frank, Frank, what is it?

[breathing heavily]

I dont know, sir.

I dont know.

Took me up to this fence, and

I was looking at some victims.

Were in a concentration camp.

And this was, of course,

turned out

to be called a Holocaust.

And they had k*lled them,

starve them to death, and

buried them like we do garbage

in this country.

Make a ditch and push them all,

wad them all in there

and cover them up.

So you opened the gates

and went in?

[nods]

Theres no words to describe it,

but as you looked at them

in the eye,

they would drop their head,

they would drop their eyes.

And it would remind you of a,

a dog that

was mistreated and been beaten.

And frankly to myself

I said, "Now I know

why Im here."

Youve been starving to death,

youve been freezing to death,

people have been sh**ting

at you.

Why am I here?

And after you looked at that,

youd say, "I know."

[sombre music continues]

Nobody had any concept or idea

that we would see anything

like this.

Ask them what kind of campuses,

what, uh...

So when we...

Saw it for the first time,

it was a shock.

But uh...

I had no idea what to do.

And... [inhales]

Our mission

was to push on to end this w*r.

By design,

production hid that set from us.

We were not allowed to see it.

We didnt even know

it was being built.

It was built on the other side.

So when we got to that episode,

David Frankel,

who directed the episode,

he had family on both sides

in camps.

So it was really, really

personal to him.

You know, that episode

in particular was

a very, very tough episode

for everybody.

And I think its because

its the one that

really hits home, and again,

the clues in the title,

"Why We Fight".

Theyre Jews.

You just really recognize

the weight of the series,

and what its gonna mean

to an audience.

[sombre music continues]

Its very difficult

to find a w*r

where there was a clear

cut right

and a clear cut wrong.

And...

The Second World w*r

is that.

I think there is a real sense

that if we had not won it,

we would be living in

a different world.

[soldiers cheering and running]

[hopeful music swells]

We took Berchtesgaden

May the 5th.

Had no fighting, no sh**ting.

The w*r was over May the 8th.

Throughout the world,

throngs of people

hailed the end of the w*r

in Europe.

The only thing we cared about,

Easy Company was gonna watch it.

If this thing won every

award and they went,

"I dont know.

I dont know."

"Very Hollywood."

It would mean nothing.

[upbeat, anticipatory music]

I dont think you can

get anything bigger in life

than to be on Normandy Beach

for the premiere of Band

of Brothers

with the actual Easy

Company men.

Even more important than what

we thought of it, was gonna be

what these guys thought of it.

And I remember just being like,

"I hope we did them proud."

I think all the actors

are a little nervous

waiting to see

how the veterans will respond

to the

portrayal of that man.

Immediately after the screening

and they saw it,

immediately half of them were

like, "You son of a b*tch."

You know? [chuckles]

It was so visceral for them.

Id never seen Buck

get emotional.

And to get a bear hug

from Buck Compton was...

[sighs heavily]

You can keep the Academy Awards.

You can keep the Emmys, keep

all that stuff, but...

That was my greatest award.

You never know.

You can look around the room

at the cast and crew screening.

You can go and slap backs

with the executive producers.

And they were like, "This

is quite good."

But you never know how the

market is gonna respond.

Well, it was crazy.

We premiered on

9/9,

and then two days later

the towers came down.

A few moments ago, something,

believed to be a plane, crashed

into the south tower

of the World Trade Center.

And smashed directly

perhaps purposefully, into...

-Oh my goodness. -Oh, God.

-Theres another one.

-[clears throat]

So wed only aired one episode.

HBO took a big breath

and was like,

"Well, were gonna

let it air out and

then we have bigger things

to focus on."

Tipper!

Answer me! Tip!

-Hang in there, buddy.

-[breathing heavily]

Okay, were gonna get you fixed

up, all right?

-Okay. -Is this the last thing

people want to see?

Other people dying

when the countrys

grieving so deeply for whats

happening?

But it kind of became

this rallying point to kind

of unite people.

Thats when I heard

the expl*si*n.

Thats when the second

tower came down again.

I would always ask Bill,

"If it happened today,

do you think todays generation

would do the same thing?"

And he said,

"If it happened today,

kids would do the same thing."

[sombre music]

And 9/11 happened.

My phone rang and it was Bill.

And I picked it up and he said,

"See what I mean, kid?

Theyre doing it.

Theyre just dressed like

firemen and cops now.

And EMTs.

Theyre going right into those

buildings.

Same thing."

[indistinct overlapping

radio chatter]

All of us were glued

to the television

and we had it on

and there was a

firefighter that came on.

And they were asking

him a question

and he said, "I dont

know if you guys are

watching that series,

Band of Brothers,

but thats who we are. We

are a band of brothers."

And we were all just

floored by that.

Something like that really

hits home

and you realize, "Man,

this project is doing

more things than I could ever

imagine."

[truck rumbling, mournful music]

I dont think anyone

realized that it was

going to sort of become the

sort of warm hug that

that the country was going

to need,

especially the military

families and

specifically the moms

and dads who were

sending their kids off to w*r.

In a weird way,

I think

it let them know that

they were going to be

taken care of by each other,

even if they couldnt take

care of them anymore.

And knowing that they wouldnt

be alone,

knowing that they would have

found family with them.

[indistinct chatter as hopeful

music builds]

[engine rumbling]

A good friend of mine said,

"Hey, have you seen this book

called Band of Brothers?"

And I said, "No, I

havent seen it."

So I read it and

absolutely clearly

fell in love with the story,

but in particular, incredible

respect for

d*ck Winters.

I started getting

all these letters

from all the members

of Easy Company.

One of the last letters

I got was

actually from d*ck Winters.

He was just a really good guy.

He became like almost

the grandfather I never had.

And whenever I read that book,

I took my book

and I gave it around

to everybody

and said, "Hey, you have to read

this book.

This guys the model

for who we have to become."

-[b*ll*ts whizzing past]

-Get them going, Buck!

Follow me!

Move up!

Move out, men!

Go!

They knew

that he loved them.

His way of showing

love to them was

he treated them

as men.

He treated them with respect,

but he held them accountable.

Understand?

Yes, sir.

And it wasnt just

in World w*r II

where they got

the moniker of the Greatest

Generation, right?

Its what they did after

the w*r as well.

Nobody has ever asked

me that question.

About...

About adjusting to civilian

life.

Nobody has brought

that thing up.

Trying to get adjusted

to civilian life

was very difficult.

To go out and

communicate and talk to people.

It was up to me to make the

adjustment, not them.

I was the one who

was out of line.

They werent out of line.

But it was very, very difficult.

Lewis was around.

So from time to time,

maybe once or twice,

Id get to see him

and I could sit and talk to him.

And he could talk to me.

That was a big help.

But it took time.

I think were all looking for

heroes right now, arent we?

I think we could all say that

the world needs a hero.

[chuckles]

And these guys were our heroes.

They were all our heroes.

I dont think Im a hero.

Because part of that time,

what I have done is

saving my own hide first.

[chuckles]

Well, unless you were running

out into

-...a rain of fire to go get

your friend... -Yeah.

to throw him over your back.

I mean, you did some

heroic things.

Two Bronze stars

would argue with you.

[chuckles]

I just figured Id done

what needed to be

done at the time

and had done it.

I think, and this is my personal

feeling,

that accomplishing something

is what makes a man a hero.

Not what happens to him,

but what he gets done.

And so, as I say,

I think the word "hero"

is overused.

How can they say youre a hero

or you did what you...

Nah, its...

Them kids that didnt come back.

Theyre the guys.

Theyre the guys.

They didnt have to make

a judgment call.

Their judgments were already

being made.

Thats...

I dont want to get

sentimental, but

this is what you live with.

And its not easy.

Believe me.

[rousing, inspiring music]

We were ready to hear

the stories

of our veterans.

We were ready to

allow them to be

not flawed, I would say, but

hurt and in need of things.

This came along at the time

when it was needed.

It was an honor. It was a

privilege and an honor.

[hopeful music]

The show is never

about celebrity.

Were honoring them.

It was about

a legacy

of a company who

saved the world.

Im proud to have served

with each and every one of you.

We lost all the guys now.

So, I guess we are

the guys that keep that little

fabric,

that little through

line to them.

We wear it as a badge of honor.

[solemn music begin]

When I got the news,

it was...

It was heartbreaking

because this

incredible energy had left

the world.

It was not a tragedy

in that sense.

You couldnt have lived your

life fuller than this guy did.

Its hard to put into words

how much Buck means to me

and still means to

me and how much

I think about him

all the time and

all the guys and everything else

and how much I draw from that

as an artist.

But even more importantly,

how much

I draw from that as a man.

I was just asked, you know,

"What does d*ck mean to me now?"

13 years, 14 years

after he died.

I...

I think about him a lot.

A lot.

I defy anybody

not to get a lump in the throat

at the end of episode ten.

We cut to all the veterans

after every episode

and then you cut to d*ck

and he tells the story.

Do you remember

the letter that Mike

Ranney wrote me?

You do.

Do you remember how I ended it?

I cherish

the memories of a question

my grandson asked

me the other day

when he said,

"Grandpa, were you a hero

in the w*r?"

Grandpa said, "No."

But I served in a company

of heroes.

Its the most moving thing.

And his mouth goes to the side

and he just

so you can just see

him hanging on.

I remember our chats.

You know, those two

days in Hershey.

I remember thinking,

exactly as the men

must have thought

that fought with him,

"I dont want to let him down.

Weve got to honor him

the right way."

[music swells]

Ive lived through the day

that I did my job.

I didnt leave my men down

and my men are in pretty

good shape.

Im very thankful.

Do your best.

And the ones that

did their best,

you never forget them.

Youll never forget them for

the rest of your life.

[music swells and fades]

[bittersweet, hopeful

music begins]