Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest
by Stephen Ambrose
“The result of these shared experiences was a closeness unknown to all outsiders. Comrades are closer than friends, closer than brothers.”
“Most of what they learned in the training period proved to be valuable in combat, but it was that intimacy, that total trust, that comradeship that developed…that proved to be invaluable.”
E-Company (or Easy Company) of the 506th, 101st Airborne was on the front lines of the European Theatre from the moment they were dropped into occupied France hours before the Allied invasion of Normandy. They fought in The Netherlands, were surrounded in Belgium defending Bastone, and occupied Berchtesgaden high in the Bavarian Alps on V-E Day. They suffered over 150% casualties during their numerous engagements on the front lines. At its core was a group of non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and officers that trained and fought together from Easy’s formation in 1942 until the end of the war. This is their story.
Although written in the early 1990s, Band of Brothers found a whole new audience in the early 2000s after the release of the HBO miniseries (which may just be the greatest piece of television ever made). The miniseries should be required viewing and the book is required reading for everyone. What Ambrose and the book provide, however, are more layers, more details, and additional characters that can never be fully explored in even a 10 part television series. For instance, the book adds more details behind campaigns such as Operation Market Garden, a battle afforded only one episode in the mini-series. We get additional details behind their training experiences pre-Normandy and how this experience truly formed Easy Company’s core. This added context and background enhance the viewing of the miniseries.
I am a big fan of oral histories and while Band of Brothers isn’t an oral history in the strictest sense, it drew heavily on the inputs of Easy Company’s surviving members. It is fortunate the book was written when it was – with most veterans in their 70s. A decade or two later and all the intimate details, fears, emotions, and stories would be lost forever. On a personal note, I was fortunate enough to speak to my own grandfather about his World War II experiences in the Pacific prior to his death in 1999. I knew he served in the war, but he never talked about specifics until the very end. Looking back, I am eternally grateful I began asking him questions and that he finally opened up about it. I never would have heard his firsthand account of kamikaze attacks, the shelling of Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and being moored in Tokyo Harbor the day the surrender was signed. Capturing these first-hand accounts is important and to me, that is where this Band of Brothers shines.
History aside, Band of Brothers is also a book on leadership and teamwork. To say that Easy Company was a high performing team would be an understatement. As such, the book’s lessons are instructive. The company trained and endured hardships even before jumping into Normandy. In the two years prior to D-Day the intense training they went through not only forged them into an effective fighting force, but more importantly, the shared experiences gave them a bond and cohesiveness unmatched by anything in the civilian world. They fought and bled together. Their trust in each other was unwavering. According to Ambrose, this bond was still present decades later. Friendships formed in the military can carry through a lifetime. My grandfather and father kept in touch with people they served with over 50 years before. It’s been decades and I still see talk with my buddies from the military. Years can pass but we pick up the conversation exactly where we left it. The shared experiences at this critical time in our lives in powerful. And in combat, even more so.
We may not be defending Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge or destroying enemy artillery in Normandy but we can still use this model when developing and leading high performing teams. This post isn’t long enough to cover every leadership or teamwork lesson from Band of Brothers. However, two lessons come to mind. One, trust in your teammate must be total. These men volunteered for the Airborne because they wanted to fight alongside the best, not some poorly trained unmotivated draftee. As a result, they were more afraid of letting each other down than anything else. Selfishness is not tolerated. Backstabbing is taboo. Trust is knowing that your teammate’s motivation is greater than themself. Second, small teams with a singular goal or purpose forged by events or adversity can accomplish anything. It could be a business, a sports team, or grizzled combat veterans, but a well-trained team focused on a simple singular purpose is a powerful thing. While ‘adversity’ shouldn’t be manufactured, an ‘us vs them’ mentality helps form cohesive teams. Harnessing that along with a simple goal or purpose (or a just cause ala Simon Sinek’s The Infinite Game) is powerful. Teams want and need something they can get behind. Even though Easy Company had its share of leaders, some good, some toxic, they never lost sight of their purpose and trust.
Band of Brothers is a great microcosm of World War II as seen through the eyes of just one company. There were heroes all over this war, so many sacrifices, so many stories, so much selflessness. This was just one example. For over 80 years, the values these men fought and died for helped create this amazing modern world. Democracy, free markets, forward progress, and a largely peaceful international system prevailed. I fear modern leaders have forgotten why these men gave so much. I fear we are wasting all their sacrifices and will have to relive the same mistakes their fathers made. Time will tell but I’m grateful books like this exist so we don’t forget the these lessons.