The cities of Arnhem, on the Lower Rhine, and Nijmegen, on the Waal, marked the eastern limit of the 101st's lines, the small towns of Opheusden on the Lower Rhine and Dodewaard on the Waal were the western limit. The area in which it fought was a 5-kilometer-wide 'island' that lay between the Lower Rhine on the north and the Waal River on the south. From the beginning of October until almost the end of November 1944, however, it would be involved in static, trench warfare, more reminiscent of World War I than World War II. It had been utilized in that way in Normandy and during the first ten days in Holland. 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 medalit was a badge of office.Įasy Company, like all units in the American airborne divisions, had been trained as a light infantry assault outfit, with the emphasis on quick movement, daring maneuvers, and small arms fire. 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. They discovered that in war, men who loved life would give their lives for them. ![]() But in training and combat they learned selflessness and found the closest brotherhood they ever knew. They drank too much French wine, looted too many German cameras and watches, and fought too often with other GIs. 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. 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. Ambrose tells the story of this remarkable company. And at its peakin Holland and the ArdennesEasy 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. Featuring a foreword from Tom Hanks.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. Ambrose's classic New York Times bestseller and inspiration for the acclaimed HBO series about Easy Company, the ordinary men who became the World War II's most extraordinary soldiers at the frontlines of the war's most critical moments. 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. They were rough-and-ready guys, battered by the Depression, mistrustful and suspicious. Finally, they captured Hitler's Bavarian outpost, his Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden. 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. ![]() 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. ![]() Army, was as good a rifle company as any in the world.įrom the rigorous training in Georgia in 1942 to the disbanding in 1945, Stephen Ambrose tells the story of this remarkable company. And at its peak - in Holland and the Ardennes - Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Divison, U.S. 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.
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