| Bastogne | |
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Episode: |
6 |
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Subject: |
The Battle of the Bulge |
"Bastogne" is the 6th Episode of Band of Brothers. It follows Medic Eugene Roe as he tries to treat the many men being wounded during the Battle of the Bulge.
Synopsis[]
Easy Company has been dispatched to the woods northeast of the Belgian village of Bastogne to defend it against the German army's surprise attack, the Ardennes Offensive or Battle of the Bulge. Bastogne is a highly strategic area for advancing German tank divisions due to the village being a junction of seven major roads connected to several bridges that will allow the tanks to move toward their ultimate goal; crossing the Meuse River and reconquering Antwerp. Easy and several other Army units have dug in among the thick forests and have held their positions despite lacking adequate food, ammunition, and cold weather clothing. The units also have repelled many German armored attacks and bombardments with heavy artillery specifically engineered to blow apart pine trees, creating deadly shrapnel.
Doc Roe walks in the snow, losing his way in the persistent fog and ending up near the German front line, seeing several dead enemy soldiers. It is unclear whether they died from Allied fire of if they merely froze to death. Roe quietly turns around and begins walking back. As he approaches Easy's command post, he sees Captain Winters, shaving with icy water in an ammo box. Winters suddenly tells Roe to duck when he sees a lost German soldier nearby and orders the man to surrender. While searching him, Winters finds a bandage for Roe; medical supplies for himself and the entire company are very low.
Winters, Captain Nixon and several NCO's meet with Col. Sink and Brigadier General Tony McAuliffe. Winters and Nixon report the difficulties their unit is facing, including gaps in their line, German artillery attacks, lack of an aid station in Bastogne and others. They are told by McAuliffe and Sink to hold the line, no matter the cost. Winters returns to shaving and tells Roe to connect with the company's other medic for any supplies he may need. While trekking to the other medic's foxhole, his escort, Babe Heffron, falls into a camouflaged German foxhole and is nearly shot by the soldier lurking inside.
Easy is attacked several times and several men are wounded. Doc rushes to their aid and even with his meager supplies, is able to treat their wounds. In his search for supplies and equipment, he rifles through Frank Perconte's personal effects and takes his small set of scissors. Other men offer up their morphine syrettes when Doc runs low. As he moves among the dozens of foxholes, he brings them non-medical supplies. He finds Joe Toye bootless in one of them and brings him a pair of boots he believes are Toye's size. Later, Toye has developed a nasty case of trench foot. All Roe can do is tell Toye to dry his socks by hanging them around his neck, and move around more to increase the circulation to his feet. Roe is also powerless to help Bill Guarnere with a urinary infection because he has no penicillin. While talking to Babe Heffron, Roe, much as he does with the rest of the company, calls him "Edward," to which Babe becomes annoyed, saying only the nuns in school called him that.
When he escorts a wounded man to Bastogne and the aid station set up in the village's church, he meets a young and kind Belgian nurse, Renee, and the pair develop a bond. Roe is half-French Cajun from Louisiana and speaks French. The pair discuss what healing the soldiers feels like. Roe tries to convince her it's a good thing as her touch calms them, and that it's a gift. She rebukes saying it feels more like a curse. Sometime later they both attempt to save a grievously wounded man's life but are unable to do so, leaving the two sad, frustrated, and bitter. Before he leaves, she tosses him a chocolate bar.
Roe wants to join a squad on a probe near the German line. John Martin tells him to stay behind and await any call to help them. They reach a grove where logs have been piled up and are shot at immediately. The youngest and most inexperienced man in the squad, John Julian, is hit in the neck. Despite Babe and Martin's attempts to pull him to safety, the concentrated fire from the Germans prevents them, and they have to leave Julian behind when he is only a few yards away. His loss is disheartening for the company and especially devastating to Babe.
One morning the fog around the area has lifted, and the Army Air Corps attempts a large supply drop. Most of the bundles land in Bastogne but on the front line, the members of Easy are nearly strafed by Luftwaffe planes chasing the Air Corps. The Germans attempt yet another frontal attack, and a man is hit in the chest and paralyzed. He's escorted to the aid station where Roe knows nobody can help him, telling them the man was paralyzed. Lt. Harry Welsh takes a hard shot in his thigh and Roe, exhausted and underfed, takes several seconds before his instinct takes over and he can help Welsh. Winters orders Roe to go to the rear, get some hot food and get some sleep.
Roe finds the still upset Babe out of his foxhole, hunkered down in another one. He gives Babe some of his chocolate bar, which seems to lighten Babe's mood, despite the bitter cold. Babe's companion asks Roe about his grandmother being a traiteurs, a faith healer. Roe seems to think he inherited at least some of his grandmother's talent for healing people. Later, when Babe's foxhole companion is wounded and has to be dragged out, Roe accidentally steps on Babe's hand, giving him a significant gash on his palm.
A German bombing run hits Bastogne. When Roe escorts yet another wounded man to the church for help, the church takes a couple of direct hits. Roe rushes to the scene and is only able to find Renee's bandanna in the wreckage.
When he returns to the front lines, he settles in with Heffron in a foxhole on the front. Noticing that the hand Roe stepped on hasn't been treated yet, Roe pulls out Renee's bandanna. After looking it over for a moment, he tears it into a bandage and wraps up Babe's hand. He also calls him by his nickname, a significant moment because it's the first time he uses anyone's nickname. Babe starts laughing, imitating Roe's Louisiana drawl, while a smiling Roe tells him to watch the front line.
Casualties and Deaths[]
- PFC John T. Julian (KIA)
- Walter .Gordon Jr (WIA) (Paralysis)
- Renee Lemaire (KIA)