Deschutes Public Library

Band of brothers, E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest, Stephen E. Ambrose

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

contains biographical information

illustrationsplatesmaps

index present

non fiction

Band of brothers

bibliography

45862089

Stephen E. Ambrose

Accelerated Reader AR, UG, 7.7, 20, 54429.Accelerated Reader, UG, 7.7, 20, 20, 54429

E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest

"They came together, citizen soldiers, in the summer of 1942, drawn to Airborne by the $50 monthly bonus and a desire to be better than the other guy. And at its peak -- in Holland and the Ardennes -- Easy Company was as good a rifle company as any in the world. From the rigorous training in Georgia in 1942 to the disbanding in 1945, Stephen E. Ambrose tells the story of this remarkable group. In combat, the reward for a job well done is the next tough assignment, and as they advanced through Europe, the men of Easy kept getting the tough assignments. They parachuted into France early D-Day morning and knocked out a battery of four 105 mm cannon looking down Utah Beach; they parachuted into Holland during the Arnhem campaign; they were the Battered Bastards of the Bastion of Bastogne, brought in to hold the line, although surrounded, in the Battle of the Bulge; and then they spearheaded the counteroffensive. Finally, they captured Hitler's Bavarian outpost, his Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden. They were rough-and-ready guys, battered by the Depression, mistrustful and suspicious. They drank too much French wine, looted too many German cameras and watches, and fought too often with other GIs. But in training and combat they learned selflessness and found the closest brotherhood they ever knew. They discovered that in war, men who loved life would give their lives for them. This is the story of the men who fought, of the martinet they hated who trained them well, and of the captain they loved who led them. E Company was a company of men who went hungry, froze, and died for each other, a company that took 150 percent casualties, a company where the Purple Heart was not a medal -- it was a badge of office." -- Book jacket

Introduction --"We wanted those wings"; Camp Toccoa, July-December 1942 -- "Stand up and hook up"; Benning, Mackall, Bragg, Shanks, December 1942-September 1943 -- "Duties of the latrine orderly"; Aldbourne, September 1943-March 1944 -- "Look out, Hitler! Here we come!"; Slapton Sands, Uppottery, April 1-June 5, 1944 -- "Follow me"; Normandy, June 6, 1944 -- "Move out!"; Carentan, June 7-July 12, 1944 -- Healing wounds and scrubbed missions; Aldbourne, July 13-September 16, 1944 -- "Hell's highway"; Holland, September 17-October 1, 1944 -- Island; Holland, October 2-November 25, 1944 -- Resting, recovering, and refitting: Mourmelon-le-Grand, November 26-December 18, 1944 -- "They got us surrounded-the poor bastards"; Bastogne, December 19-31, 1944 -- Breaking point; Bastogne, January 1-13, 1945 -- Attack; Noville, January 14-17, 1945 -- Patrol: Haguenau, January 18-February 23, 1945 -- "Best feeling in the world": Mourmelon, February 25-April 2, 1945 -- Getting to know the enemy: Germany, April 2-30, 1945 -- Drinking Hitler's champagne; Berchtesgaden, May 1-8, 1945 -- Soldier's dream life; Austria, May 8-July 31, 1945 -- Postwar careers; 1945-1991 -- Acknowledgments and sources -- Index