Given the overall theme of this episode, I think it is the most heavy of the series.
Seemingly, he saw some hellish actions and didn’t wish to experience them ever again.
It is a perfectly normal thing to want to avoid trauma.
Late in the episode, Lipton says “fear is poison in combat” and he is absolutely correct.
I’ve told the story before on ZBT, but I had a Solider who was amazing.
No, he froze like a statue and I had to pull him down to the ground.
Today we call that post traumatic stress.
Back then, you just got told to toughen up and those men buried those feelings deep inside.
There is zero shame to that.
If anything, I commend them even more for living with those awful feelings and never seeking any help.
Buck Compton
Buck is one of my favorite men in the series.
Buck was two years older than Guarnere and two years younger than Toye so essentially all the same age.
You even see it a couple other times when Buck was gambling with the guys or throwing darts.
We can all relate to not wanting to see your friends hurt.
As a result, when Buck was in the aid station he was a shell of himself.
He couldn’t process what he’d seen so he crawled inside himself and who could blame him.
You learn valuable lessons through sports that serve you well on the battlefield.
E Tool
You see the men digging their foxholes with a mini shovel aka entrenching tool aka E tool.
The thing is flimsy as hell so it’s always collapsing on your mid-shovel.
Plus, it’s tiny as all get out so digging a proper foxhole takes forever.
Thank God we don’t fight wars in trenches and foxholes any more.
Negligent Discharge
Hoobler has a pistol go off in his belt buckle, which ultimately kills him.
This is such a horrible way to die given what he’d endured to that point.
Present day, a negligent discharge is a big no-no in combat.
Names and Rank
Everyone uses names and rank pretty interchangeably.
I think that was just a sign of the times.
Junior enlisted usually get called by their last names if you drop the rank.
We call first sergeants, “Top” as they are the top ranking enlisted NCO in the unit.
It was a term of endearment mixed with respect and professionalism.
I have too many great stories involving him that I can’t possibly tell them all here.
and everyone responds, “BOOM BOOM.”
To endure barrage after barrage like these men did is unfathomable.
There is no two ways about it - he was a horrible leader in every facet.
This is on display throughout the episode:
The opposite of Dike is LT Speirs.
There is absolutely zero hesitation when you see Winters call on him to relieve Dike during the assault.
He reaches Lip and wastes no time doling out orders for the attack.
As a result, they take their objective.
Speirs displays exactly what I was talking about when I mentioned leadership being innate.
As a result, you see how Lip reacts to seeing leadership in action once again.
The final display of leadership comes at the end when Speirs gasses up Lip.
He tells him how Easy Company has always had a leader from the beginning.
ICYMI
Episode 1 recap
Episode 2 recap
Episode 3 recap
Episode 4 recap
Episode 5 recap
Episode 6 recap
