In the summer of 1942, young men in Army training at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, are given an opportunity to be part of a unique unit of paratroopers. This unit offers $50 dollars a month extra for hazardous duty pay, which draws a lot of the volunteers. These men begin a very rigorous training regimen under Captain Sobel, whom most of the men come to hate. Their training includes basic infantry skills - use and maintenance of various weapons, map reading, communications. They also practice jumping with parachutes, beginning with towers of varying heights, then to the actual jump from an airplane. The hardest part of their training is a run they must make, up to the top of Mount Currahee, which is an Indian name that means We Stand Alone Together.
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After several long months of this training, the men of Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne, are shipped to Uppottery, England, where they continue their training. They are being prepared for the greatest military maneuver ever undertaken; the D-Day invasion of Normandy. The 506 is to parachute behind the German lines and work their way back towards the beach, to meet the Allies there, and hopefully cut off German supply lines to the front in the process. On June 6, 1944, the invasion comes, after having been postponed for bad weather. The drops do not go well, due to anti-aircraft fire and low visibilty, but as the men hit the ground, they begin to regroup, and eventually, the beaches are secured, and the company is under the leadership of Lt. Dick Winters. Now it is time to beat the Germans back to Berlin.
Easy Company does not get much rest after D-Day. They are sent into Holland, as part of Operation Market-Garden. In an effort to get to Berlin, they are then sent to Bastogne, and are tasked to hold the front line in the dead of winter, with no food, no winter clothing, and little ammo. This becomes known as the Battle of the Bulge. After many casualties, they are finally relived, and then continue the push towards Germany. They finally fight their way in to Germany, where they come upon a concentration camp, one of many that are found as the Allies push into what was German territory. The company gets tasked to take Hitler's Eagle's Nest and the town of Berchtesgaden, the last stronghold of the SS, and as the German Army surrenders, many of the men begin preparing to ship out to the war in the Pacific. Finally, Japan, too, surrenders, and the war is over.
Easy Company had one of the highest casualty rates of all the Allied units. There were many battlefield commissions, including making Dick Winters a Major, and battallion leader. Their unit was disbanded after the war, in honor of their accomplishments. For the ones that made it back, we get a brief glimpse of thier lives back at home, how they took their experiences and lived their lives after being a part of one of the greatest forces in all of military history. This is an intimate look at how these men came together and made it through the worst the Germans had, how they became a Band of Brothers.
The review of this Book prepared by Karen
This story follows the men of Easy Company, 506th regiment, 101st Airborne division of the US army from their training camp in Georgia, to England to the allied invasion of Normandy on D-day. Easy company also fights in Holland, where they are forced to retreat, and in the cold winter in Belgium. Easy company then takes Hitler's "Eagle's Nest" in luxurious Austria.
The review of this Book prepared by andrew chapman
This book is about American men who are in their 19's and early 20's who volunteer to be Rangers and end up becoming a "band of brothers" due to the what they are put through fighting the war togther. It is about how they look out for one another, leadership, brotherhood, and the mental and physical abuse they go through to survive and who doesn't survive. At the end of the book it tells you about each one of the guys and what they did after the war and now.
The review of this Book prepared by Susan H.
