The story of the Band of Brothers, World War II’s Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, had been made famous by historian Stephen Ambrose’s book and the HBO miniseries which dramatized their legendary journey.
Easy Company was an elite group; they made it through the tough training of Camp Toccoa, parachuted into Normandy for D-Day and Holland for Operation Market Garden, fought the Germans and the cold in the Battle of the Bulge, liberated concentration camps, and took hold of the Eagles Nest, Hitler's mountaintop retreat.
Through reading the book, or watching their expedition unfold on TV, we can grow to appreciate what we have and realize that we always have the chance to look at the bright side of things.
While in Holland, Private David Webster took a bullet through the calf and when the medic checked him out, he had a big grin on his face.
In Bastonge, Corporal Gordon took a bullet through a back, forcing him into a full cast in which only his eyes were unplastered. He laid in a hospital bed flat unable to move for six weeks. Slowly he began to have some feeling in his extremities and his doctor said if the bullet varied one-half inch he would have been dead.
He considered himself to be "fortunate, very fortunate. A million dollar wound."
When a captured German staff officer told Dick Winters " Our armies should join hands and wipe out the Russian Army."
He replied "No thanks,"
"All I want to do is get out of the Army and go home."
These stories and countless others from Easy Company show us we can find the silver lining in just about any situation.
In a time when our country is experiencing increases in suicide, stress, and loneliness, we need to strengthen our mental fortitude.
Here are a few quotes from the band of brothers to help us do that.
8 quotes from Band of Brothers that will make us more resilient.
"You lead by fear or you lead by example."
-Dick Winters
"Stop worrying about me. I joined the parachutists to fight. I intend to fight. If necessary, I shall die fighting, but don't worry about this because no war can be won without young men dying. These things which are precious are saved only by sacrifice."
-David Webster
"You had to be a little bit awed that you were part of a thing that was so much greater than you."
-Harry Welsh
"We were like machines. We didn't have anyone who leaped up and charged a machine gun. We knocked it out or made it withdraw by maneuver and teamwork or mortar fire. We were smart; there weren't many flashy heroics. We had learned that heroics was the way to get killed without getting the job done, and getting the job done was more important."
-Carwood Lipton
I did not forget to get on my knees and thank God for helping me to live through this day and ask for his help on D plus one."
-Dick Winters
"Every once in awhile there's a sniper trying to shoot us, and he's trying to ricochet one in on us, and we would hear that bullet hit and ricochet around, we kind of enjoyed that."
-Shifty Powers
"When you were convinced that your body could stand no more, you found out that it could."
-Burton Christenson
"I had reached that stage in Bastogne where I knew I was going to get it. Sooner or later, I'm gonna get it. I just hope the hell it isn't too bad. But there never was a fear in me that I was gonna break."
-Dick Winters
These quotes highlight traits that we need to develop in order to build our resiliency. Purpose, teamwork, physical effort, sacrifice, faith, the ability to laugh, determination, and gratitude are traits that these men showed. Hopefully, over time we can hone these traits and as a result, become more resilient.
Source:
Stephen E. Ambrose, Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hilter's Eagle's Nest
