Easy Company Analysis

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To Stephen E. Ambrose, the men of the Easy Company were the best men he had ever met. Easy Company is officially known as the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment in the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army. The men of this infantry served during World War II. They had different jobs and came from different areas, classes, and backgrounds (Ambrose, Band of Brothers 15). However, these differences did not deter this infantry of men from becoming a family. Through rigorous training and combat experience during the daunting and violent battles of World War II, the Easy Company put their bravery and comradery to the test in order to truly become a band of brothers who were successful on and off the battlefield. Easy Company was first formed at…show more content…
During D-Day, General Eisenhower gave Easy Company the mission of capturing causeway exits. Causeways are coastlines, roads, railways used as military defenses. The goal of this was to throw Germany into disarray. Easy Company planned to do a night drop, surprise the Germans by destroying the big guns, and gain control of the causeway exits so the Germans could not escape warfare. They knew this mission would be tricky, so they practiced on a similar coastline (Ambrose, Band of Brothers 58). The men practiced their mission, but they had yet to receive any combat experience and already lost a platoon leader, company commander, and first sergeant. (Ambrose, Band of Brothers 69). They realized how grueling the war would be when they heard about these deaths before jumping out of planes and being thrown into that same combat. When they jumped, men lost their leg packs, some lost all of their equipment, and many of them hit the ground hard (Ambrose, Band of Brothers 71). Easy Company planned a quick frontal attack with the support of machine guns for cover fire. The attack was a success and made Germany realize that they had underestimated the Americans, who took out an entire platoon of German paratroopers. (Ambrose, Band of Brothers 84). Ambrose was right in his statement that, “Normandy was a soldier’s battle. It belonged to the riflemen, machine gunners,…show more content…
48 soldiers of the Easy Company gave their lives for their country and more than 100 soldiers were severely wounded multiple times. Most of the men suffered from severe stress as well. They spent the best years of their life fighting for their country. They were trained to kill and accustomed to a world of violence. Most of them had no college education and thought they lacked skills needed to survive in the real world since all they had was combat experience. Once the soldiers returned home, they were able to attend college, get married, and have kids. They intended to build prosperous lives for themselves. There were also a number of soldiers from the Easy Company who decided to stay in the Army and continue fighting for their country. For instance, Lieutenant S. H. Matheson, an original company officer was moved up to regimental staff and eventually became a two-star general and commander. He had the honor working for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). (Ambrose, Band of Brothers

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