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The Breaking Point

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The Breaking Point
Band of Brothers episode 7

Episode:

7

Preceded by:

"Bastogne"

Followed by:

"The Last Patrol"

Focus:

C. Carwood Lipton

Subject:

The capture of Foy

"The Breaking Point" is the 7th Episode of Band of Brothers. It is seen from the point of view of 1st Sgt. C. Carwood Lipton as he watches as several men near the breaking point in the Ardennes. Lipton is also the narrator.

In this episode, Dike is replaced by Lt. Speirs, who is able to lead the men in the capture of Foy.

Synopsis[]

The company is still stuck in Bastogne and is succumbing to the cold harsh winter. Despite this, things are looking up! They are due to take the town of Foy and finally be done with the dreaded winter. There is just one problem: Lieutenant Norman Dike. He's never around, is incompetent and never knows what to do. With no real commander to lead them, First Sergeant Lipton must do everything he can to keep the company strong, but what will they do when the fateful day comes that Dike leads them into battle?

Summary[]

The episode begins on January 2, 1945 in the Ardennes Forest at the town of Foy, where 1st Sergeant C. Carwood Lipton, 1st Lieutenant Lynn D. "Buck" Compton, and Staff Sergeant William J. "Wild Bill" Guarnere are reading a map on Staff Sergeant Donald G. "Malark" Malarkey's back. When Malarkey raises himself up with the map, Compton is joking, saying that he will nail the map on Malarkey's head, and Guarnere is assembling the 2nd Platoon.

The next day, January 3, a German SS Officer is riding on a horse, when he's ambushed by Donald Hoobler, Pvt. Lester "Les" Hashey, and Sergeant Burton P. "Pat" Christenson. The SS Officer tries to gallop away, but Hoobler shoots him in the head with his M1 Garand. Hoobler searches the body, and finds a Luger Pistol, one of his goals since he'd joined the paratroopers.

After the incident, Hoobler tells everyone that he found one, including Lipton and Sergeant Darrell C. "Shifty" Powers. Powers was digging a foxhole when Hoobler brags amiably that he might be a better shot than Powers. Shifty counters that he himself isn't nearly as good as his own father. After the conversation, Hoobler was going to test his new souvenir. Lipton and Powers are joined by Compton and Malarkey. Compton wants to know where Easy Company's CO, Lieutenant Dike is. Lipton can't answer exactly, because no one knows where Dike ever goes. Lipton then says that two men were wounded. A sudden shot is heard, and Lipton, Compton, Malarkey, and Powers duck into Shifty's foxhole. Hashey appears and says that Hoobler accidentally shot himself. The men go to his foxhole to help but are unable to find the wound quickly enough, and Hoobler bleeds to death. The Luger he'd had stuffed into his pants pocket had inexplicably fired, severing his femoral artery. Lipton tells Captain Winters about the incident. When Winters asks why Lt. Dike isn't relaying the news, Lipton says it's because Dike is nowhere to be found.

Winters that night talks to his pal Captain Lewis Nixon about who could replace Dike, understanding that Dike is not a good leader because he is never around and never really bonds with the men. After comparing the officers, they realize that one is too strict, one isn't very good ("God bless him" as Winters says), leading to them to realize the only real choice is Compton as he is a good combat leader. But they're stuck with Dike regardless because he's a favorite among the higher-ups in the company.

Later, Dike randomly asks Lipton where he is from, which leads to an awkward conversation between the pair and Dike leaves Lipton in mid-sentence. The next morning, we see Frank Perconte, Pat Christenson, and Harold Webb discussing the rumor about what Lt. Speirs did in Normandy and how he gunned down some German POWs after offering them cigarettes. Speirs himself appears and tells them that the foxhole they've dug needs to be deeper and better camouflaged, but they say Dike said it was good enough. He then offers them a cigarette, and the men's faces show horror because of the story about the POWs.

Easy returns to the front line in the forest just outside of Foy. As they dig new foxholes and strengthen the existing ones, they are bombarded several times. A shell hits very close to Joe Toye, and his right leg is severed above his knee. Bill Guarnere rushes out and begins to drag Toye to safety when another shell explodes near both of them, shredding Guarnere's right leg. As Compton approaches both men, he suddenly has trouble calling for a medic; the shock of the situation has become Compton's "breaking point," and he is taken off the front line.

The worst shelling takes place at night and sees Corporal Penkala and Sgt. Skip Muck's foxhole take a direct hit, a moment witnessed by George Luz. A shell also lands next to Luz and Lipton's foxhole, but doesn't explode. Lipton is so shaken hat he takes a cigarette from Luz even though he doesn't smoke. Muck and Penkala were good friends of Don Malarkey who becomes saddened by their deaths. To boost his mood a bit, Lipton gives Malarkey Hoob's Luger for his brother.

During the night's bombardment, Dike tells Lipton to take charge while he retreats to the rear. Lipton says to Winters that the attack of Foy they are going to carry out the next day will result in lots of good men getting killed if Dike isn't replaced. All Winters can say is that they're stuck with him.

The next day, the men prepare to attack. Winters runs through the plan with Dike and tells him he's relying on him. Dike says "clear" and signals he understands. As Winters gets up, Dike yawns quite calmly just sitting in a small foxhole.

The attack begins with the men running across the open field. Lipton tells his men to move fast and to keep doing so until they reach the town. Dike runs much slower and tells Shames to keep it tight. Foley breaks off with 1st Platoon to clear out a small shack. Because he isn't going fast enough, Dike assumes Foley has disbanded from him and is going against orders. Dike stops in the middle of open territory telling radioman George Luz to get Foley on the radio. Dike has all of Easy Company stop advancing much to Winters' dismay. Lipton orders 2nd Squad to find cover. Dike doesn't realize he isn't under cover until a shell nearly blows him up. He runs to cover with Luz.

Dike tells Foley over the radio to get back to where he can see him. Foley does so, bringing a runner. Lipton also goes to where Dike has taken cover, asking what Dike's next orders are. Winters radios in to Luz to tell him to get Dike on the radio. Foley arrives just as we see from Dike's perspective that he is panicking under all the stress of the battle. Obviously not thinking, Dike tells Foley to take 1st platoon on a flanking mission despite the fact they will have little adequate cover and will be cut off from the company. Dike shouts against the men's pleas to continue advancing forward, saying to Foley everyone else will provide suppressing fire when they can.

While running back, Foley's runner is gunned down by a sniper. Foley tells the men what Dike wants them to do. They begin to advance only for them to be pinned down by a sniper.

Realizing Dike is losing it, Winters runs out of the tree line to take his place but is stopped by Colonel Sink because he is battalion XO. Realizing he isn't allowed, Winters brushes off Sink and shouts for Speirs and tells him to relieve Dike and take command.

As Speirs runs to the company, the men realize they are pinned down by the sniper, effectively taking them down one at a time. Speirs arrives, relieves the shell-shocked Dike. He asks Lipton how the battle is going. Lipton replies that first platoon is trying a flanking mission but are stretched out because of a sniper; he thinks the sniper is in the building with the caved-in roof.

Speirs tells Lipton he wants the building to be blasted by grenades and mortars until it's gone; when it is gone, 1st Squad should head straight in and abandon Dike's orders to flank the village. Lipton replies "Yes sir" and smiles at George Luz, thankful that a good commander is leading them now.

The sniper is taken down by a mortar and the men quickly enter Foy and push through fast. They get halfway through but are faced with a dilemma. I company is on the other side and is being attacked by armor, meaning they'll slip away from the others. With the village is filled with attacking Germans, Speirs makes a suicidal run through the German front line. Lipton narrates that the Germans didn't try to kill Speirs because they were shocked at what they were seeing. However the most remarkable thing about what Speirs did wasn't that he successfully connected with I company, but that ran back the same way he'd gone.

The men celebrate their victory by singing in front of a tank while being filmed. Their celebration is cut short, however, by another sniper who appears from a hiding spot and shoots at the soldiers, killing two of them. The majority make it to cover in time. Lipton locates the sniper and runs out as bait so that Shifty can take him out. They succeed and continue to celebrate.

Fast-forward to a night in a church where the men are listening to a choir. Lipton explains that the men were under the impression that they were being relieved and would be heading back to Mourmelon the next day. However, the plans changed and they would instead be on their way to the town of Hagenau to help hold the line. Lipton spends much of the night making up a roster of the men remaining. Out of the 145 they went into Bastogne with, only 63 are left. Lipton imagines seeing every man sitting in the church with all the casualties fading away as the camera moves through the church.

Speirs, now officially in charge of the company, approaches Lipton and begins to talk about the recent events. Lipton says the men are just thankful to have a good leader again but Speirs surprises him by saying they already had a good leader, someone who stuck by them and kept their spirits up during the worst times. Lipton doesn't understand who he means, leading to Speirs to tell Lipton that he (Lipton) is that man. Speirs also tells him that Winters put in a battle field commission for Lipton, and Sink approved it. Speirs reveals to him he has been promoted; "Congratulations...Lieutenant."

The episode ends with the men boarding the trucks heading for Haguenau. Luz sees the men from First Battalion and sarcastically thanks them for using Easy's foxholes as toilets. Lipton shares a smoke with the men as the episode ends.


Casualties and Deaths[]

See also[]

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