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Oct 28, 2001 · Why We Fight: Directed by David Frankel. With Doug Allen, Nicholas Aaron, Eion Bailey, Jamie Bamber. As the Allies move into Germany and the war comes closer to an end, disillusionment and anger set in for Easy Company - until they stumble onto a concentration camp abandoned by the German military.
- (11K)
- Drama, History, War
- David Frankel
- 2001-10-28
- Overview
- Synopsis
- Plot summary
"Why We Fight" is the 9th episode of Band of Brothers. It follows Easy Company partaking in the occupation of Germany, as well as liberating a Nazi Concentration Camp, all seen through the eyes of Captain Lewis Nixon.
Easy Company is finally in Germany and are pushing the Germans back further than ever. Nothing could be better; some soldiers are already saying the war is over. Captain Nixon, however, has become pessimistic. His men die jumping in to the occupied country and things back home aren't looking bright for him either. But Nixon and the others soon find...
The episode opens with Easy supervising the cleanup of a German village; local German citizens are removing the rubble of houses and buildings from the street. A string quartet is playing a somber piece by Beethoven. Luz, Perconte, Liebgott, Webster, and Randleman are sitting on the second floor of a house overseeing the progress when Nixon joins them.
A flashback shows Easy arriving in Germany, near Munich. Captain Lewis Nixon returns to his unit obviously upset; he had made a combat jump with the 17th Airborne division, and his plane was destroyed shortly after he jumped, killing all the paratroopers on board. While Nixon reflects angrily on the unenviable task of informing the families of the men who were killed, Winters confronts his friend about his excessive drinking. He also informs Nixon that Sink is demoting him from Battalion H.Q., and that he should tell the parents that their sons died as heroes. "You really still believe that?" Nixon scoffs. "Yeah. Yeah, I do." Winters replies.
Meanwhile, the men of Easy enjoy themselves. Private Janovec is bedding a German girl only to be interrupted by Captain Spiers, who is mailing home several valuables he's plundered from wealthier houses. Sergeants George Luz and Frank Perconte forage at a farm for eggs to make an omlette; George tries to flirt with a German farmgirl, but ultimately gets slapped in the face. A replacement, Private Patrick O'Keefe, is sent to an outpost with Perconte. O'Keefe hasn't seen any combat and his over-eager, upbeat attitude offends the hardened Perconte who lashes out harshly in a verbal tirade. He tells O'Keefe that he has spent two years away from home watching his fellow veterans die on the battlefield, and occupying Germany is the first time he has actually been able to relax.
Nixon informs Winters and Speirs that President Franklin D. Roosevelt has died back in America. The next day, Nixon receives a letter from his wife; she is asking him for a divorce.
The company sets off to Landsberg, their new headquarters, to deal with bands of Waffen-SS whom Hitler has ordered to fight a guerilla war in the Alps. As they drive through Bavaria, the paratroopers begin singing "Blood upon the Risers", with Nixon briefly joining in. Along the way, they witness over 300,000 newly-surrendered German POW's marching past; noticing that they continue to march proudly even in defeat, Webster begins ranting angrily at the Germans for starting a war they could never have hoped to win, and uprooting his and his fellow soldiers' lives. When he shouts "What the fuck are we doing here?!", Nixon's expression indicates he agrees with Webster. When they witness French soldiers summarily executing three Germans, O'Keefe is shaken, but Perconte simply shrugs at him, while Liebgott looks smug.
Nixon enters a German house uninvited in search of more liquor and breaks a picture of a German officer (Wolf Kahler); the man's wife appears and gives him a cold stare. Sgts. Randleman, Christenson, Perconte, and Luz are sent out on patrol, taking O'Keefe with them. Perconte asked Luz if the woods reminded him of Bastogne. On the edge of the woods they discover a German concentration camp. Perconte races back on foot to Landsberg to find Winters.
Watch the ninth episode of the HBO series Band Of Brothers, based on the book by Stephen E. Ambrose. Follow Easy Company as they liberate a Nazi concentration camp and face the final challenge of the Eagle's Nest.
HBO's Band of Brothers is a dramatization, but it doesn't lessen the impact.This is a scene from ... We all know the history, but the images are still haunting.
- 4 min
- 2.2K
- 8FLiX
Mar 6, 2014 · A review of the penultimate episode of the HBO miniseries Band Of Brothers, which depicts the discovery of a concentration camp by Easy Company. The episode explores the themes of war, death, and humanity in the context of the Nazi atrocities.
Oct 28, 2001 · Band Of Brothers has been so good at portraying the human struggles of the war through the eyes of these men that it never needed to raise the potential specter of the true depths of the...
In this episode Sean and James discuss Band of Brothers Episode 9: Why We Fight. While on patrol, some of the men of Easy Company stumble across a concentration camp near Landsberg and free the surviving prisoners.
