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evidenceof · 2 months

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Source: Richard Winters, Band of Brothers Interview September 29, 2000

Interesting going through the records to see the version of Dick Winters' War which was something else entirely. After the war, he, in a meeting set up by Ambrose, touched base with the German Fallschirmjäger commander Friedrich Freiherr von der Heydte (misspelled in the transcript as "Vonder Hite"), whose company made contact with Easy in Carentan. The meeting and dialogue that followed solidified a few things for me especially after he described the enemy as a, "first-class enemy."

War to Dick, seemingly, was a war to be the best soldier, company, country—likened to a football game. And it shows so much in the writing of Band of Brothers, the eventual show, the corrections and correspondences he's had with all those involved in the narrative. Cutting down what could have been unflattering whether that's how his men reckoned with the war after the fact, or the hell the 101st paratroops raised while in between battles.

Source: Richard Winters, Band of Brothers Interview September 29, 2000

This is a long-ass post so the rest is under the cut if you want to swallow the All-American pill.

Source: Richard Winters, Band of Brothers Documentary Interview

This is isn't going to be a pretty picture at all, mind you. And I mean it's Dick, his blond hair blue-eyed, Christian, (Republican) All-American glory in Class As or a football jersey in the 1940s. His mindset followed suit: that of the White American (male) during the height of America's empire. Persecution for people like him was next to nothing, and a battle could be a battle to prove something to yourself. To have high regard for your enemy, actual Nazis, to regard them by their skill in battle and the neatness of their uniform and march is a take of like the highest privilege.

It echoes a lot in his choices, viewing the war as a battle for who can outclass the other, to prove they're best of the best; the best soldier. Him joining the paratroops with the idea that the doughboy and the run-of-the-mill infantry man wouldn't be the elite arm ("You volunteered and it was the notion that you wanted to do something in order to be with the best. [...] That's the kind of a guy I want to be with. They were in shape. Everything the did, they did it the double."). When he described his men, if he began it with an unappreciative tone about their behavior and conduct, is ended with, "but he was a great soldier on the field." Inefficiency was the enemy. German forces were just the tool to show you where you had holes in your line and which nationality could fight the war the best.

Up until the point of discovering the camp, as an officer, as himself, Dick saw the war as a number of objectives to take over successfully for the sake of the mission, for the sake of keeping his men alive. Only when they find the camp does it seem to really hit him, outside of his disgust for the bombing of Pearl Harbor, why they're fighting this war.

“You’ve never seen anything like this. It’s a complete shock. It just stumps every feeling of emotion that you have. The horror of it…you could never imagine anything like this. [...] Now I know why I am here!” - Dick re: the discovery of concentration camps as told in 'Hang Tough'

The much critiqued Ep. 9: Why We Fight circling on Nix (seeing Dick's irl reaction of him being happy his friend had a larger part in the series), followed by Ep 10 is such a fucking whiplash in tonality not just for the cheeriness of the last ep. But also in showing the atrocities of the concentration camp and then literally giving a platform to a German general talking about how they fought well, having LIEBGOTT OF ALL PEOPLE, to translate feels so deranged. Dick is able to view these the German troops for their individual action and functionality as a soldier instead of a collective ideology of hate and persecution. He then can't comprehend the anger Liebgott had (he tsks a lot about Joe's treatment of the Nazi POWs in the memoirs).

Source: Richard Winters, Band of Brothers Interview September 29, 2000

Dick cared for his men, (my god did he care so much for his men; this is a different conversation that I will yap about some other time), but a lot of the times I feel like compassion couldn't budge beyond that point of understanding. The horrors of the Axis forces were only reality to him if and when he saw them upfront: bombed towns, civilians shot down by 88s, concentration camps. Anything that edges outside that periphery is beyond the objective and therefore inconsequential. "To fight and be the best for the guy beside you in a foxhole," felt like a whole ethos that he carried with him and that propelled him forward.

Dick's view of the world and the war is very much aligned with the white America's vantage point at that time. Liberators, of what and for whom it wasn't always clear to them within the confines of the American logo map that we know America to be today—what mattered was that they were the Good Guys, Victory Joe. They liberated, they did not take. And it ties up so, so neatly for the narrative of Tom Hanks and Co propaganda. What else is there to do after a football game but to shake hands with the opponent?

#because the eye twitch i twitched after reading von der heydte's name in the interview like bro wdym you went and had lunchtime chitchat #and laughed at his dog biting ambrose's ankle. like good on that dog honestly but this all this is insane unsurprising SURE but still insan #me flinching every time i look for clippings of him in the 2000s and finding them in republican publications lmaooo #dick winters #easy archives #band of brothers #wwii #if uve thoughts and violent reactions hit me up lmao

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whumblr · 8 months

Text

Outside

Continuation from Experiment - pt 1 here

Dani curled up in her favourite chair by the window of the library. Her focus however drifted and she found her gaze kept being drawn to the landscape outside. A wilderness; shrubs and greenery turning into a vast forest surrounding Roman’s mansion, and only near the horizon a glint of the headlights of a lone car. The first sign of civilization for miles - none to be found in the center of this mansion. She estimated the distance, wondered how far she could get through the woods. Useless, really.

She forced her eyes back onto the page of her book. But just as she did, clouds parted and rays of sunshine slid over the pages. Warmth roamed up her arms, tingling her skin in-between the bandages, further up her neck, until she squinted at the bright light. She let her eyes remain closed for just a few seconds, basking in the light, letting it fill the darkest recesses of her thoughts as well. Opening her eyes brought her back to her cruel reality. She exhaled softly.

“Roman.” She only continued when he looked up. “I want to go outside.”

A sly grin spread over his lips and he rested his temple against a fist, tilting his head as he looked her in the eye. “That’s nice, dear. You go right ahead.”

Dani wanted to take the Encyclopedia of the human anatomy on the table and smack him right in his smug face with all its glorious 600 glossy pages (hardcover). Counterproductive, so she sighed out temptations of violence and pulled at the leg of her jeans.

In a slow blink his eyes followed and roamed down to the device around her ankle. “Deactivate it, then,” Dani asked tightly, but still as nicely as she could.

He shifted upright as if he wanted to get up. But then he hummed, directed his attention back to whatever he was working on, and said in a clipped but still playful voice, “No.”

She abruptly stood, dunked her book into the cushion of her seat with so much force it bounced back up, and legged past him without a word. She could see his lips press tightly against his thumb in an attempt to hide his smirk. His eyes followed her out, but he didn’t say another word.

Fucking asshole.

She fumed her way down the stairs, circled through the house and only stopped in front of the back door. Tentatively opened it to gain access to the porch outside. None of the doors in this house were locked. A cruel reminder of her circumstances. She had nowhere to go to escape. Only doors to Roman’s private spaces were locked; his office, his bedroom. And of course her own door at night. She always tested it. Only needed one shot to strangle him in his sleep. Well, two, really… two doors. Still…

The device around her ankle felt heavier than before, cautioning her.

The porch should still fall into the safe area. She tipped a toe outside and set one foot, the one without the device, onto the dark wooden flooring. Technically, probably half the garden was still safe, but she wasn’t going to risk it. She had no idea how this thing pinpointed her location and if it could be off by a few yards. Not going to test that, especially when she was alone.

The lawn stretched out in front of her, tempting her. A green oasis, bordered by beds of wildflowers, hedges turning to pine trees, bushes, all closed in by the woods stretching out for… miles? He had quite a nice garden. To go along with his stupid nice house. Nicely in the middle of freaking nowhere.

She could see dew drops shimmering in the sunshine. That rare bit of sunshine she hadn’t felt in… weeks.

The porch itself, of fucking course, was cast in shadows.

She nudged back and forth, trying a few steps up and down the porch, but steering clear of the steps leading to the garden.

“Go on, then,” a voice behind her encouraged.

Her chest tightened in anger and she stopped her pacing. “No,” she answered in the same clipped voice.

“Coward.” Roman stopped right next to her, joining her with his hands in his pockets to show he came in peace. Together they looked out over the garden in silence. Then he took a deep breath and slowly, deliberately, took a step forward, down the three steps, into the sun. He turned slowly in the middle of the lawn, arms spread wide, eyes closed, head tilted up as if he was enjoying the warmth on his face.

As he spun back, she caught the grin on his face.

“Yeah,” Dani too turned on the spot, hiding her sour expression, “I’ll just go back inside.”

She heard him follow but refused to look back, instead stomping up the stairs back to the library.

He caught up, caught the clenched fist swinging next to her hip as she strode away, pulling her back. She turned with a snap, using the momentum to twist her wrist free and aimed a punch. It landed in the palm of his hand, drawing out a soft chuckle.

“Go on,” he goaded again, this time his voice low, chin tipped down leering at her, advancing on her.

His hand snapped around her wrist. Pulled her in, grabbed her other wrist as well and crossed her arms over her body, tight over her chest, forcing her back until she hit a wall.

Muscles strained as she tried to pull free from his grip. Patience strained as he leaned in closer, smug expression bearing down on her.

“Let go of me,” she said in a calm voice that didn’t line up with the rage swirling through her.

“Hm, no.”

She kicked hard at his knee. Felt and heard a nice crunch. He buckled but didn’t fully let go of her yet.

And without thinking and mostly out of habit, she followed up with a somewhat more indecent kick.

That did the trick.

He stooped forward with a choked off surprised gasp, palm of his hand crashing against the wall as he kept himself up. She just about caught the utmost fury as he glared up at her through narrowed eyes, but before he could regain his ability to speak, she zipped past him and fucking ran.

Ran but she had nowhere to run to.

She heard a thunk behind her as she rushed down the hallway, bolted down the stairs, vaguely registering that he must have collapsed to his knees. But in her panic she found no satisfaction for it.

His voice thundered through the house.

“Danielle!”

Ohhh, shit. Hearing her full name never bode well.

She sprinted to the back of the house, her legs carrying her unconsciously to the most logical escape route. Outside. But that route was cut off, by an invisible minefield that she couldn’t sneak or weave through. She screeched to a halt on the porch, panting, looking around as if she could find an opening somewhere in the invisible electric curtain that closed her in.

Nothing of course. She was absolutely stuck, with nowhere to hide, and with nothing but a severe punishment waiting for her.

Her face fell. Freedom, so close, spread out wide in front of her. Yet still boxed in.

Just as she wondered if she would be able to take the risk and run through the minefield, pain and electricity be damned – at some point she would be outside the range where the ankle monitor might just stop, right?! – footsteps stumbled behind her and her breath caught. She twirled on the spot.

Roman leaned heavily against the doorway, his face twisted in anger, the last remnants of pain twitching in his eyes. At least he had the dignity not to cradle his bruised package. Probably already did that upstairs… on his knees. Trembling. A prick of light in her darkness. An image to hold on to for the upcoming time. She had the dignity not to smirk. Her fear wouldn’t let her anyway.

Dani backed away. Slowly. Maybe she could still slip past him, but what was the use. It would only prolong the inevitable.

Another step back.

Her heart skipped a beat when the ground disappeared. Her ankle doubled as it crashed a few steps lower. With a soft shocked gasp, she fell back, arms flailing.

Completely unexpected, Roman’s hand shot out, gripping her tight by the wrist and she was almost grateful when he pulled her back onto the porch. He didn’t speak yet, just snarled down on her. And just when she got her feet firmly back under her supporting her own weight, his lips curled.

Their eyes met for a second.

And he shoved her hard.

She didn’t even have time to gasp in shock, yet it was like she fell in slow motion. Her mind braced for impact, for the shock that was about to course through her. Legs scrambled under her, stumbling back, muscles strained, desperate to stay upright but it was no use.

Before her back even hit the wet grass, the device activated.

And her mouth opened in a silent scream.

Pain coursed up her legs, the electric surge spreading through her body in an instant. It tensed every muscle to the point where she was completely paralysed for a few seconds.

Then finally could she release the pain in a scream. She wrenched onto her stomach, shaking heavily, fists clenched around the blades of grass. It was like all here muscles were caught in a ring of fire, heat burning through her.

But then it stopped. Muscles abruptly released and she lay flat as a board on the grass for a moment, heaving in gasps.

So much for her escape plan to just power through…

Roman lazily watched her from the porch, fiddling with the remote control for the ankle device. “You’d better crawl back here, fast,” he said, ice in his voice. “It will reactivate again in a few seconds.”

She clawed a hand forward, but before she could even get a leg under her to push off, her muscles clenched up again.

“You know,” Roman’s voice came when her screams died down again to sharp exhales. “To give the escapee the chance to get back within the perimeter…”

He hadn’t moved a muscle, simply watched as she struggled to pick her way back, fell face-forward into the grass as the device activated again; not by its setting but by his hand, hidden behind his back.

Every time Dani went just a little too far in one go for his taste, he pressed the button, stopping her dead in her tracks. Not like she had any grip on how many seconds had passed anyway…

Teeth clenched, Dani fought her way back, trying to move through the paralysing pain. Every inch she gained would make this stop faster. She managed to stay on her hands and knees, simply letting the pain shoot through her and endure, so she could stay upright and immediately inch closer when her muscles were under her control again.

And finally, as she pulled herself up the porch, it stopped. She lay there clutching at the wooden boards, breathing heavily as if she’d just clawed her way back out of a river, holding on for dear life afraid the stream might drag her back.

“Well, now, look at that,” Roman crooned, lightly kicking at her hips, gesturing to her long legs still on the grass. “At least now you know what the safe zone is. Look, you could sit over there in the sun next time.” He put the remote back into his pocket, after completely turning the device off for a bit. A little surprise for next time she tried to sunbathe.

A hand snagged in her hair. He pulled her up and hissed in her face,

“Now, I sincerely hope you didn’t think we were done here.”

Continued here

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