How could anyone ever know of the price paid by soldiers in terror, agony and bloodshed if they'd never been to places like Normandy, Bastogne or Haguenau?
The Last Patrol
Who are you?
JJones
Lieutenant Jones, sir.
Right, our West Pointer.
JJones
Yes, sir.
When did you graduate?
JJones
June 6th, sir.
June 6th? Of last year?
JJones
D-Day, yes, sir.
[laughing sarcastically] All right, don't get hurt.
Why We Fight
ECEasy Company
[singing] Is everybody happy? Cried the Sergeant looking up
Our hero feebly answered yes, and then they stood him up
He jumped into the icy blast, his static line unhooked
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die!
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die!
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die!
He ain't gonna jump no more!
The risers wrapped around his neck, connectors cracked his dome
Suspension lines were tied in knots around his skinny bones
The canopy became his shroud, he hurtled to the ground
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die!
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die!
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die!
He ain't gonna jump no more!
He hit the ground, the sound was SPLAT, his blood went spurting high
His comrades then were heard to say, A HELL OF A WAY TO DIE!
He lay there rolling round in the welter of his gore
He ain't gonna jump no more!
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die!
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die!
He ain't gonna jump no more!
[Several members of Easy Company watch German citizens clean up rubble from their town, while a string quartet somberly plays]
I'll tell you one thing about the Krauts; they sure clean up good.
Yup, all you need is a little Mozart.
[Joins them] Beethoven.
Sorry, sir?
That's not Mozart. That's Beethoven.
Got a visit from Colonel Sink this morning.
And how is the good colonel?
Concerned. Still drinking nothing but the VAT 69, huh?
Only the finest for Mrs. Nixon's baby boy.
That a problem up at regiment?
What? This? Is that what he said? No, I just don't like it up there.
Good. You'll be happy to hear that Sink is transferring you back down to Battalion S-3.
What do you think I should write to these parents, Dick?
Hear what I said, Nix? You've been demoted.
Yeah, demoted. Got ya. 'Cause I don't know how to tell them their kids never made it out of the goddamn plane.
You tell them what you always tell them. Their sons died as heroes.
You really still believe that?
Yeah. Yeah, I do. Don't you?
Hey, Janovek, what ya reading?
JJanovek
Um, an article.
No shit. What's it about?
JJanovek
It's about why we're fightin' the war.
Why're we fighting the war, Janovek?
JJanovek
It seems the Germans are bad, very bad.
You don't say. The Germans are bad, huh? [turns to Perconte] Hey, Frank, this guy's reading an article over here that says that the Germans [sarcastic dramatic pause] are bad.
Hitler's dead.
Holy shit.
Shot himself in Berlin.
BBull
Is the war over, sir?
No. We have orders to Berchtesgaden. We're gonna move out in one hour.
Why? The man's not home. Should've killed himself three years ago, saved us a lot of trouble.
Yeah, he should've. But he didn't.
[about the concentration camp's prisoners] Can you ask him, uh, ask him what kind of camp this is? Um, what, ah, why are they here?
Was ist das hier?
PPrisoner
Das, das, das, das hier, das... das ist ein arbeitslager für unerwunschte wirklich.
He says, it's a work camp for, Unerwunschte. I'm not sure what the word means, sir. Uh, unwanted, disliked maybe?
[guessing] Criminals?
I don't think criminals, sir. Uh, verbrecher?
PPrisoner
Verbrecher? Nein, nein.
No
PPrisoner
Ärzte, musiker, beamter, bauern...
Doctors, musicians...
PPrisoner
Schreiber, schneider, intellektuelle...
tailors, clerks, farmers, intellectuals. I mean, normal people.
PPrisoner
Juden. Juden. Juden.
[softly] They're Jews.
PPrisoner
Polen, Zigeuner...
Poles, Gypsies
PPrisoner
Aber Ich glaub das schlimm, das Frauenlager ist bei der nexte bahnstation dort hin.
Wie bitte, was sagen sie?
PPrisoner
Das das Frauenlager bei der nexte bahnstation. [The prisoner wanders away, weeping]
Liebgott?
...The women’s camp is at the next railroad stop.
[After finding a concentration camp, Easy Company has returned to the nearby town and is clearing out a bakery, intending to provide the confiscated food and goods to the camp's inmates. The owner of the bakery is shouting angrily at the paratroopers in German, demanding that they put everything back.]
Shut up.
[The baker keeps shouting.]
Shut up!
[The baker continues shouting, ignoring Webster.]
[Draws his sidearm] Shut up, you Nazi fuck! [Grabs the baker, aiming the pistol at him]
BBaker
Ich bin kein Nazi! (I am not a Nazi!)
Oh, you're not a Nazi? My mistake, you fat fucking prick. What about a human being? Are you one of those, or are you going to tell me that you never smelled the fucking stench? [of the nearby concentration camp]
BBaker
Toeten sie mich nicht, bitte toeten sie mich nicht, ich verstehe nicht was du da sagst (Don't kill me, please don't kill me, I don't know what you're saying)
LLesniewski
Leave him alone, Web, he says he doesn't know what the hell you're talking about.
Bullshit.
[O' Keefe is humming "She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain"]
Hey, O'Brien. Shut up!
OKO' Keefe
I told you, it's O'Keefe.
Do you know why no one remembers your name? It's because no one wants to remember your name. There's too many Smiths, DiMattos and O'Keefes and O'Briens, who show up here, replacing Toccoa men that you dumb replacements got killed in the first place! And they're all like you! They're all piss and vinegar. "Where're the Krauts at? Let me at 'em! When do I get to jump into Berlin?" Two days later, there they are with their blood and guts hanging out and they're screaming for a medic, begging for their goddamn mother. Dumb fucks don't even know they're dead yet. Hey, you listening to me? Do you understand this is the best part of the fucking war I've seen? I've got hot chow, hot showers, warm bed. Germany is almost as good as being home. I even got to wipe my own ass with real toilet paper today. So, quit asking about when you're gonna see real action, will you?! And stop with the fucking love songs!
[both are silent for a while]
When did you ship out? A few weeks ago?
OKO' Keefe
Yeah.
It's been two years since I've seen home. Two years. This fucking war.
Points
Listen up. You ready for it? [pause] German Army surrendered.
[Members of Easy Company are going hunting. Shifty Powers misses a chance to shoot a deer]
Dammit, Shifty! The Army's going to be glad to get rid of you.
SShifty
I wish, you know? Turns out, they want me to stay for a while.
MMalarky
Are you serious?
SShifty
Yup.
MMalarky
How many points are you short?
SShifty
Fifteen.
MMalarky
Fifteen? Jesus Christ, I thought I had it bad.
SShifty
No Purple Hearts, never was injured.
GCGerman Colonel
I wonder what will happen to us – to people like you and me – when there are finally no more wars to occupy us?
Have all your men collect the weapons, deposit them at the church and the school, and at the airfield.
CColonel
Very well. [Draws his sidearm, offers it to Winters butt-first] Please accept this as my personal surrender, Major. It is better than to lay it on the desk of a clerk.
[considers] You may keep your sidearm, Colonel.
[Colonel assents, salutes]
[Captain Sobel, now outranked by Winters, happens to be walking by while Winters is sitting in his Jeep. Sobel pretends to not notice Winters.]
Captain Sobel.
Major Winters. [Tries to keep walking]
Captain Sobel... we salute the rank, not the man.
[Sobel slowly turns and salutes]
[translating a German general's speech] Men, it's been a long war, it's been a tough war. You've fought bravely, proudly for your country. You're a special group. You've found in one another a bond that exists only in combat, among brothers. You've shared foxholes, held each other in dire moments. You've seen death and suffered together. I'm proud to have served with each and every one of you. You all deserve long and happy lives in peace.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's Band of Brothers pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.