[Quinn]

In the fight in Carentan when Easy were in their hedgerow and the germans in theirs, what did Maj.Winters mean when he said to Guarnere 'i want fire superiority, guarnere keep 'em pinned down' what did he mean by this? Also he said to Perconte 'get your men in order, port on 'em Perconte!' i thought Perconte was a technical sgt. how come he has men?

[McIntee]

He was encouraging his men to keep the germans from advancing on them hence: "keep em pinned down"...

[homefront41]

Quinn, on May 2 2004, 01:46 PM, said:

'get your men in order, port on 'em Perconte!'

"Pour it on them, Perconte"

This post has been edited by homefront41: 10 May 2004 - 11:17 PM

[appell8]

After all this many viewings, more questions keep appearing.

I know at the T intersection that the 2nd floor left hand MG is taken out by long range MG fire. The 1st floor MG is taken out by Shifty and then Welsh with a grenade. What took out the 2nd floor RIGHT hand MG?

Can't believe I'm blanking on this. What town is it where Blithe, Shifty, Tab, and Smokey join the group at the monument? Can't be St. Marie Du Mont, since they moved on from there to Culoville on D-Day.

St. Compte Du Mont?

And if so, why the deep forest where Hoobs and Blithe meet the tail of F Co.? The stretch from St. Compte du Mont to Carentan was/is causeway and estuaries. Didn't see any forests.

License?

Oh, and another bit of foreshadowing. More's the one who mouths off to Spiers. Just as he later defies Spiers about the photo album. And More's the one who barely misses colliding with the lorrie. And we find out in Ep. 10 that he died in a motor vehicle accident.

And another. Perco is portrayed as a scrounger, de-souverniring German bodies of their watches. This isn't much developed in later episodes. But is it a way of setting up the unsettling scene in Ep. 9 where Spiers tries to cadge the lighter from Perco?

I confess that I STILL cannot inventory the casualties at Bloody Gulch. Was Bull hit? Smokey? Who was the bloodied machine gunner?

In the theme of fear, Blithe is at one end of the range. Many are at the other end. But the episode highlights and celebrates Harry Welsh. Fearless? No. See how rattled he was by Blithe's shooting. Able to rise above his fear? Repeatedly. In taking the lead at the T-intersection. In charging the MG. In going out into the open with McGrath to take out the jagdpanzer with the bazooka. But he hates calling for volunteers. Superb portrait of a leader who would just as soon do it himself.

This post has been edited by appell8: 10 May 2004 - 09:41 PM

[stingray_34_2000]

I found myself wondering why they were focusing on Blithe so much on this episode? As it has been said before, I think that it shows the other reaction to being in this type of situation. I found the character to be sort of out of it with a very short attention span. I do not mean to sound degrading, but I wonder what the real person was like, I wonder, based on the movie character, how he made it through jump school? It almost seemed that he had ADD. Again, not to sound degrading.

[Lipton]

stingray_34_2000, on May 11 2004, 08:13 AM, said:

I found myself wondering why they were focusing on Blithe so much on this episode?  As it has been said before, I think that it shows the other reaction to being in this type of situation.  I found the character to be sort of out of it with a very short attention span.  I do not mean to sound degrading, but I wonder what the real person was like, I wonder, based on the movie character, how he made it through jump school?  It almost seemed that he had ADD.  Again, not to sound degrading.

Albert Blithe wasn’t a coward, like he’s portrayed in the episode. He had historical blindness after the capture of Carentan and was wounded during the patrol, but all of the scenes where he’s covering and crying during the fight are fictious.

This post has been edited by Lipton: 11 May 2004 - 08:51 AM

[stingray_34_2000]

I was not considering him a coward by any means. It just seems to me, by the portrayal of the movie, that he was very slow on his feet. I was just curious if he was like this in true life or not. Some things we will never know and I am alright with that. I will not believe based on the mini-series that everyone is portrayed exactly how they were back then.

Stingray

[hipster01cg]

My brother had hysterical blindess (u could call it that), he was getting blood taking out. He quite thin so it was kinda sore for him but anyways, he started to get tunnel vision and then his eyesight went. The nurse didn't notice till after the blood was taken out and when he calmed down, the eyesight came back.

The same sort of thing happened although it was more on the fainting side than the eyesight thing. It was when he was watching Master and Commander and they have to cut of a 14 or 15 year old boys arm.

Just thought i'd share.

Cat:)

[Jamaica]

stingray_34_2000, on May 11 2004, 11:58 AM, said:

  It just seems to me, by the portrayal of the movie, that he was very slow on his feet.  I was just curious if he was like this in true life or not.  Some things we will never know and I am alright with that.  I will not believe based on the mini-series that everyone is portrayed exactly how they were back then.

Stingray

I got the impression that Blithe was simply dazed about what all was going on around him - shell-shocked. While he was probably quiet and gentle on a normal basis, anyway, he was also, at that time, very overwhelmed - like when a person who lives in a rural area goes into a city and experiences sensory overload -because he's being assaulted with so many different sights and sounds. It becomes difficult to absorb them all.

I think Carentan is one of the most effective episodes of the series because, to me, anyway, it seemed like it took me by the hand and showed me what it felt like to have my first combat experience. It made me feel like I was terrified out of my mind, but with the help of the officers I evolve from a scared citizen to a true soldier. It just takes the emotional experience of a soldier's first combat experience and strips it down to its most basic and raw level. It's supposed to help us understand just how terrifying and confusing it is, and it shows us just how amazing these soldiers were that they, over time, (if they survived long enough) developed into guys who could think and function effectively under fire.

I have never understood why anyone would've thought of the Blithe of the series as being a failure - he was supposed to be us; and he overcame his fear.