Tag: Easy Company

We Salute Major Dick Winters – The Rank and The Man – on Veterans Day

Today is Veterans Day – a day of honoring all men and women that served in the United States armed forces. 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 “We Salute Major Dick Winters – The Rank and The Man – on Veterans Day”

I finally watched Damian Lewis in Band of Brothers – Redux

This show is not for me.

I’ve always known this, that’s why I have never watched it. I’d start thinking about the subject matter, remember photo stills of the scenes I’ve glimpsed over the years, and just KNEW it would be nightmare city for me.  You can call me delicate, call me a wuss, I don’t really care. This show? This show is not for me.

source: galleryhip.com

But I need to be clear: I do not want, for one moment, for my thoughts on war or my inability to sit through a show this intense, to be mistaken for criticism or ingratitude for the sacrifices made by so many. I am a descendant of men and women who served, and I benefit every day of my life because of those who went before me. I would never disparage their time spent defending our country, and their great sacrifices in doing so. Continue reading “I finally watched Damian Lewis in Band of Brothers – Redux”

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”

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

bandofbrothers

We earlier blogged 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?

DLDW

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”

Band of Brothers at 18: Revisiting Dick Winters

Here it is the eighteen year anniversary of Band of Brothers, and the interest in this great series has, surprisingly, gotten only greater. Such a complete portrait of a rag-tag bunch of newbie soldiers out on the mission of a lifetime, told thru the halcyon Spielbergian lens, seen never before and never since. Quipped today to my blog mates that the series demands a rewatch soon. Perhaps a project for the sixteen year anniversary? Until then, let’s revisit Dick Winters once again. Enjoy!

Damian Lewis’ first role as an American was in the role of Dick Winters in Spielberg/Hanks’ Band of Brothers. (Fun fact: the title Band of Brothers is taken from Shakespeare, from Henry V’s speech to his troops: “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother”)

Source: HBO
Source: HBO

Continue reading “Band of Brothers at 18: Revisiting Dick Winters”