may the fourth be with you.

BoB #8

"the realisation we were being fattened for the slaughter didn't stop us from going back for seconds."

- Chapter 4: "Look Out, Hitler! Here We Come!", "Band of Brothers" by Stephen E. Ambrose.

BoB #7

They were ready. But, of course, going into combat for the first time is an ultimate experience for which one can never be fully ready. It is anticipated for years in advance; it is a test that produces anxiety, eagerness, tension, fear of failure, anticipation. There is a mystery about the thing, heightened by the fact that those who have done it cannot put into words what it is like, how it feels, except that getting shot at and shooting to kill produce extraordinary emotional reactions. No matter how hard you train, nor however realistic the training, no one can ever be fully prepared for the intensity of the real thing.

- Chapter 4: "Look Out, Hitler! Here We Come!", "Band of Brothers" by Stephen E. Ambrose.

BoB #6

Easy got its briefing for Eagle on May 10-11. the objective was a gun battery covering the beach. At dusk on May 11, Easy took off. The planes made "legs" over England, flying for about two and a half hours. Shortly after midnight, the company jumped. For Easy, the exercise went smoothly; for other companies, there were troubles. Second Battalion Headquarters company was with a group that ran into a German air raid over London. Flak was coming up; the formation broke up; the pilots could not locate the DZ. Eight of the nine planes carrying Company H of the 502d dropped their men on the village of Ramsbury, nine miles from the DZ. Twenty-eight planes returned to their airfields with the paratroopers still aboard. Others jumped willy-nilly, leading to many accidents. Nearly 500 men suffered broken bones, sprains, or other injuries.

The only consolation the airborne commanders could find in this mess was that by tradition a bad dress rehearsal leads to a great opening night.

- Chapter 4: "Look Out, Hitler! Here We Come!", "Band of Brothers" by Stephen E. Ambrose.

BoB #5

Climbing aboard the C-47s was difficult, because of all the gear each man carried. Individuals were overloaded, following the age-old tendency of soldiers going into combat to attempt to be ready for every conceivable emergency. The vest and long drawers issued each man were impregnated, to ward off a possible chemical attack; it made them cumbersome, they stank, they itched, they kept in body heat and caused torrents of sweat. The combat jacket and trousers were also treated. The men carried a pocket knife in the lapel of their blouses, to be used to cut themselves out of their harness if they landed in a tree. In their baggy trousers' pockets they had a spoon, razor, socks, cleaning patches, flashlight, maps, three-day supply of K-rations, a emergency ration package (four chocolate bars, a pack of charms, powdered coffee, sugar, and matches), ammunition, a compass, two fragmentation grenades, an anti-tank mine, a smoke grenade, a Gammon bomb(a two-pound plastic explosive for use against tanks), and cigarettes, two cartons per man. The soldier topped his uniform with a webbing belt and braces, a .45 pistol (standard for noncoms and officers; privates had to get their own, and most did), water canteen, shovel, first aid kit, and bayonet. Over this went his parachute harness, his main parachute in its backpack, and reserve parachute hooked on the front. A gas mask was strapped to his left leg and a jump-knife/bayonet to his right. Across his chest the soldier slung his musette bag with his spare underwear and ammunition, and in some cases TNT sticks, along with his broken-down rifle or machine gun or mortar diagonally up-and-down across his front under is reserve chute pack, leaving both hands free to handle the risers. Over everything he wore his Mae West life jacket.Finally, he put on his helmet.

- Chapter 4: "Look Out, Hitler! Here We Come!", "Band of Brothers" by Stephen E. Ambrose.

BoB #4

The men continued to play tricks on Sobel. Pvt. George Luz could imitate voices. One night E Company was leading the battalion on a cross-country march. The barbed-wire fences kept slowing the progress. Sobel was in the front.

"Captain Sobel," a voice called out, "what's the holdup?"

"The barbed wire," Sobel replied, thinking he was addressing Maj. Oliver Horton, the battalion executive officer.

"Cut those fences," Luz called out, continuing to imitate Horton's voice. "Yes, sir!" Sobel replied, and he ordered wire cutters to the front.

The next morning a contingent of Wiltshire farmers confronted Colonel Strayer. They complained mightily about the cut fences. Their cows were wandering all over the landscape. Strayer called in Sobel.

"Why did you cut those fences?"

"I was ordered to cut them, sir!"

"By whom?"

"Major Horton."

"Can't be. Horton's on leave in London." Sobel caught hell, but he was never able to learn who fooled him and was therefore unable to retaliate.

- Chapter 3: Duties of the Latrine Orderly, "Band of Brothers" by Stephen E. Ambrose.

BoB #3

This was not combat, but it was as close as the Army could make it. The manoeuvres held in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana from June 5to July 15, 1943, combined paratroopers and gliderborne troops in the largest airborne exercise to date.

On June 10, the 506th PIR officially joined the 101st Airborne Division, thus making that date the greatest date the 101st ever had. Adding the 506th noticeably raised the morale of the 101st, at least according to the men of E Company.

The manoeuvres, pitting the Red Army against the Blue Army, ranged over a wide area of backwoods hills and mountains. Easy made three jumps. Christenson remembered one of them vividly. It was hot, stifling hot inside the C-47, and the heated air rising in currents from the hills cause the plane to bob and weave. Cpl. Denver "Bull" Randleman, at the back of the stick and thus farthest from the open door, began vomiting into his helmet. The man in front took one look and lost his lunch. The process worked right up the line. Not everyone managed to vomit into his helmet; the floor was awash in vomit, the plane stank. Christenson, at the front, was hanging on, but barely. "My stomach was on the verge of rebellion... "Why don't they turn o the green light? There it is!" From behind, shouts of "Go!" "Go! Dammit, Go!" Out I went into the clean fresh air. I felt as if someone had passed a magic wand over my head and said, "Christenson, you feel great." And I did."

- Chapter 2: Stand Up and Hook Up, "Band of Brothers" by Stephen E. Ambrose.

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anyone else see it?

didn't realise until now that denis lawson who plays captain "dreadnought" foster in hornblower played wedge antilles in star wars :O i was literally shocked i hadn't made the connection before.

http://www.latestbuy.com.au/3d-darth-vader-helmet-clock.html

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