I recently rewatched Band of Brothers, the Home Box Office miniseries produced by Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and several others, which is based on the book of the same name. The New York Times bestseller was written by Stephen Ambrose, one of the seminal biographers of our time. It chronicles the training and war campaign of Easy Company, of the 506th Infantry Regiment, 101 Airborne Division. This was one of the first American Airborne units, activated in preparation for European theater operations during World War II.
With a list of quality actors as long as an NFL starting roster, the performances and action sequences are widely regarded as second-to-none when it comes to gripping military training and combat storytelling. It needed to be, as the actual soldiers of Easy Company portrayed by the series were larger than life in their character and their deeds.
In the third episode of the miniseries, a recently promoted noncommissioned officer named Sergeant Malarky (played by Scott Grimes) enters a laundry facility on an English Military Base after the fierce engagement with the German Army in and around Carentan, France. He is there to pick up his laundered uniform, and is asked by a young lady working the launderette if he can pick up laundry for some of the other soldiers of his unit. As worker stacked the orphaned uniforms onto Malarky’s forearms, his face turned from the look of a high school senior ready for prom night to a soldier that had been hardened by the full spectrum of war. This scene, in its incredible gravitas, was a homage to the 65 Easy Company soldiers who died in combat since their arrival in the European Theater. The somber look on Malarky’s face during this scene as the laundry staff calls out the numerous names and stacks the uniforms of the fallen on him to bear is a look I have seen in real life. I have seen it in the faces of my military family, the soldiers I served with, who are weighted down much in the same way.
When I think of Memorial Day, I sometimes think of this scene. I meditate on the memories of the fallen men that I served with in the Army. The ones that never hung up their uniforms, but had them folded and returned to their families. These memories are a heavy burden to bear, and those feelings are amplified on Memorial Day.
Engaging in a Meaningful Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a tough time for many, including Gold Star Families and Veterans who served with fallen servicemembers. It is important to properly recognize Gold Star families; to pay solemn homage to their departed loved ones and to offer unconditional support and deep gratitude for their family’s irreversible loss. While kind acts such as these will never heal the hole in their hearts, it is a meaningful gesture that can help these families understand the full context and meaning of their loved one’s sacrifice. These servicemembers sacrificed themselves for our wellbeing, and we need to show up and stand up for them through their families in this way.
Veterans that have served with fallen servicemembers often create a familial bond with them that is codified in the challenges their military service thrusts them into. When a servicemember dies during military service to their country, it devastates their fellow soldiers not unlike the way that losing a nuclear family member. The feeling is strong, lasting and painful. Time helps heal the wounds, but they are always there, easing to some degree with every passing year, but never fully healing, no matter how much time passes.
An opportunity to help
There are other methods to help those grieving as a result of this type of loss. Professional counseling works and being blessed with a service dog works. Reunions of Veterans who have served together also works, in ways that I never imaged compared to checking in via phone, video conference or texting.
I challenge you to reach out to the Gold Star Families and Veterans who served with the fallen in a way that you find appropriate. I will be calling some, texting others, and will check in to say hello in a meaningful way. I’m also planning on seeing a few in person in a few weeks, to catch up and show up for them. Other meaningful ways to engage in Memorial Day includes participating in Memorial Day Parades or Remembrance events. Even if you don’t know a Veteran personally, you can make a difference in supporting our fallen and thanking them for the freedom they paid forward for us.
Where you a hero in the war?
Band of Brothers masterfully incorporates introductory and concluding interviews with the real men of Easy Company that are peppered about the ten program episodes. The soldiers candidly discuss their experiences in training and combat in a way that is germane to a given episode’s themes.
The final program monologue is assigned to Major Dick Winters, who rose in rank of Easy Company Platoon Leader, to Company Commander and beyond. The men of Easy Company have described him at great length as being a good decision-maker and good soldier who earned the respect of his men by keeping them engaged in the mission while using smart approaches to limit soldier injury and fatality risks. He would never ask his troops to do anything he wouldn’t do himself and, as a result, his men would follow him anywhere. With his leadership qualities and track record, Major Winters earned some of our nation’s highest military awards, including the Distinguished Service Cross, as well as a statue in Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, France, a town that Easy Company helped liberated as part of the Normandy Invasion.
During the last few moments of this award-winning series, Major Winters is seen discussing a cherished memory of a question that his grandson once asked him. The straightforward question was framed as only a young child could ask. “Grandpa, where you a Hero in the war?” With a balance of strength and emotion, Dick Winters recalls responding to his Grandson with, “No, but I served in a Company of Heroes.”
To me, Memorial Day is a day to fully engage in thought and action in appreciation of the ultimate sacrifice our fallen Heroes made to provide us with the freedoms that we enjoy. It’s a time to grieve their loss, but also a time to celebrate their lives. To me, all the emotions and feelings can be summarized in one word…honor.
I ask that we collectively as a Nation honor our Military Heroes this and every Memorial Day.
