Thus Spake Russ

Posted By Russ Emerson on May 28, 2004 at 11:50 am

Stephen Den Beste writes about the film Battle of Britain. Not a review of the film, as such, nor of the DVD (as I did last August). No, he writes the sort of review I wish I’d written.
It’s about why men fight, and about heroes:

Real heroes feel pride, but it is not pride in being an unusual man, better than those around him. Far more often it is pride in having been part of an unusual group. If you press them, you’ll find that they will say that their fellows were better than they were. They will brag about the achievements of other men they served with, but will downplay their own.

I’m put in mind of something said at the conclusion of the documentary We Stand Alone Together, the recollections of the real men of Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, whose story was told in the mini-series Band of Brothers. Richard D. Winters, who commanded Easy Company from D-Day through Operation Market Garden, recalls part of a letter he received from one of his men many years after the war:

I cherish the memories of a question my grandson asked me the other day, when he said “Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?” Grandpa said “No, but I served with a company of heroes.”

I received the DVD set of Band of Brothers for my birthday. I know how I’ll be spending my Memorial Day.

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