budweiser said:
No offense to anyone who fought in D-Day. Yes, the opening scene was a very accurate tribute to D-Day. What did that have to do with the plot of the movie?
Did Rangers actually land with the infantry at Omaha beach? I thought they assaulted the cliffs at Point-Du-Hoc. Let me ask you this, how many Ranger Captains do you think wore their rank on their collar during the D-Day assualt? The enemy soldiers facing the GIs were older men, young boys and a mix of european POWs. Look at the actors playing them, Speilberg used the Irish (I think it was Irish) army, young men in their twenties. The list goes on. I sort of like the movie, I even own a copy. But in my eyes, the fictional story complete with stereo typical american squaddies lessens the movie a great deal.
Two of three platoons of Company C of the 2nd Ranger Battalion landed on the beach shown accompanying Company A of the 116th Infantry Regiment. This is the unit that Tom Hanks's character was supposed to be with. (This is also the unit with which my father spent the night atop the ridgeline.) The Pont-du-Hoc rangers were the members of the 1st Platoon of Company C that had lost contact with the rest of the invasion troops, had taken 50% casualties and went up the cliffs anyway, to find that the guns up there were not really a danger. 2nd and 3rd Platoons helped at the Vierville exit but did not clear it (as they were shown to do in the movie) and then proceeded along the top of the ridge to PdH to meet the survivors (not many) of the 1st Platoon.
So, they did land at the right place, but the entire battle (which took about an hour from first landing to clearing the exit and reaching the top) was compressed into about a twenty minute period--my guess is for dramatic effect.
You're right about Hanks wearing his insignia on his shoulder during the landing. Very, very stupid move if he did so. The only outfit that regularly displayed regalia (and ties) in combat was Patton's 3rd Army, and believe me, they didn't like it.
As far as the composition of the troops in the Bunkers along the Beach, if I remember correctly, the two guys that came out shouting that they were Czech were about 30-35. I understand the need for dramatic tension, but most of the troops in those Bunkers were killed by dropping captured German potato-masher grenades down the stovepipes, amazingly enough (the American grenades were too large in diameter to fit down the pipe). The enemy exiting the back of the bunker is something I found to be less believable than other parts.
The units in the Cotenin Peninsula were second-line units, but were not Static troops like the beach defenses. The troops faced at Carentan were the 3rd Battalion of the 6th German Parachute Regiment, which was probably made up of troops about the same age as the troops they were facing (average age about 26.) Reinforcing them were some fairly good Mechanized Infantry troops.
The Tiger Is shown in the movie being blown up by the "sticky bomb" is actually a repro made on a Russian T-34 Chassis. This can be noted because the tracks are wrong.
In any case, it's nice to talk to someone who has some interest in the history of the Normandy Campagaign. I would highly recommend a visit to the 101st's museum if you live anywhere close to Fort Campbell.
Oh, one final note: the manual Hanks referred to was the "Ranger Handbook of Field Expedient Devices." Most of the rangers involved would have been very familiar with it. I'll see if I can find a repro page showing how the sticky bomb worked.
Tom
