Tag: Dick Winters

Let’s Salute Major Winters – the Rank and the Man – on Memorial Day

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source: People Magazine

Today is Memorial Day – a day of remembrance honoring all men and women that died in active military service. And it gives us a great opportunity to salute all war heroes, and in particular Major Dick Winters and Easy Company.

I know a thing or two about war. My day job is to study and understand war. I have written academic articles on war, I have taught on war… and even though I can write about war for pages and talk about it for hours as a scholar, the human cost of war is still incomprehensible to me.

Let me take a moment and look at my own family. My maternal grandmother never knew her father because he was a soldier in WWI in the Eastern Front in Turkey, and he literally froze because of the cold as he fought against the Russians. My paternal grandmother never knew her father, either; because he was also a soldier in WWI and was killed by a shrapnel in Gallipoli as he fought against the Anzacs. Continue reading “Let’s Salute Major Winters – the Rank and the Man – on Memorial Day”

In the Footsteps of ‘Band of Brothers’: Linda Visits Filming Locations in Switzerland

Today’s blog post is coming from a very special lady. Linda has been running The Friends of Major Dick Winters Facebook Page for years and she is incredibly devoted to real-life WWII heroes. She regularly attends the reunions held on the anniversary of D-Day in Normandy with Band of Brothers actors and WWII veterans. Damian knows Linda well and appreciates her hard work honoring Major Dick Winters and all WWII veterans. You can read Linda’s wonderful story about how she became a Damian Lewis fan here!

Linda and Damian at Band of Brothers Reunion on the 70th Anniversary of D-Day in Normandy

In the summer of 2018, Linda had the pleasure of visiting some important Band of Brothers filming locations in Switzerland. I kindly asked her if she would consider writing about her trip for us and she said YES! And we are extremely thrilled that we are sharing Linda’s travels in the footsteps of Steven Spielberg filming Band of Brothers in our week-long BoB 18th Anniversary celebration!

Linda, we cannot thank you enough for your support and friendship, and for this very special contribution to Fan Fun. Currahee! Continue reading “In the Footsteps of ‘Band of Brothers’: Linda Visits Filming Locations in Switzerland”

Anniversary of Bastogne

 

battle of the bulge, bastogne, band of brothers
Source: http://yalebooksblog.co.uk/2014/12/22/held-bastogne-2-americans-strike-back/

This week marks the 78th anniversary of the Siege at Bastogne, a pivotal confrontation in Battle of the Bulge, which saw the Allied forces assert their most courageous and bloody defense against the last big push by Nazi forces in WWII.

The Bastogne episode of Band of Brothers was arguably the most emotionally intense and beautifully filmed of the series. It was like watching a dream sequence through a filter of constant snow, a bitter cold that you could almost feel in your bones as you’re watching. Like an opera of bodies, bent over, running for cover, crouching near trees, or frozen solid to the ground. You could watch all the action without sound and still feel it viscerally.

Did anyone see the new Star Wars? The sight of the salt planet with the blood red soil under the thin layer of salt brought immediately to this viewer’s mind the red against white of the smoke grenades the soldiers in Band of Brothers set off to obscure their positions from the Germans. Such a visually poignant and memorable cinematic effect.

Continue reading “Anniversary of Bastogne”

Throwback Thursday to D-Day’s 70th
Anniversary on Utah Beach: In Memory of Jim “Pee Wee” Martin

When Damian attended the ceremonies for the 70th Anniversary of D-Day on Utah Beach back in 2014, he met the WWII veteran Jim “Pee Wee” Martin. A member of the 101st Airborne Division, Martin got his nickname because he was the lightest man in his regiment. He parachuted into Normandy on D-Day and was also a part of the ill-fated “Operation Market Garden” and the Ardenne Forest Offensive aka “Battle of the Bulge” during the WWII. He was 93 years old on the 70th Anniversary of D-Day but this did not  hold him back from parachuting  into Normandy to re-live that day all over again! And he did it again, in Holland this time, on the 75th anniversary of Operation Market Garden. He was 98. Continue reading “Throwback Thursday to D-Day’s 70th
Anniversary on Utah Beach: In Memory of Jim “Pee Wee” Martin”

Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis at Band of Brothers Boot Camp

‘It’s very authentic, dripping in sincerity, there’s nothing sensational about it. It had a docu-drama feel to it which people responded to. –Damian Lewis on Band of Brothers

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We blogged earlier about how a 29-year old British actor Damian Lewis got cast to play all-American WWII hero Dick Winters as well as the deft and the charisma with which Damian Lewis came to immortalize Dick Winters on small screen. However, we still have a black box between the casting and the shoot: How did Damian Lewis TRANSFORM into Dick Winters?

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Well… Once he gets the part, the two Hollywood giants Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks leave the room and Tony To, the executive producer, asks: “Hey Damian, how’d you like to go to boot camp in March?”

Ha! The boot camp… It is, in fact, what FILLS the black box I’ve been talking about… The Transformation, quoting Damian himself, from “a rice pudding” to a “celery stalk” 🙂

Continue reading “Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis at Band of Brothers Boot Camp”