Band of Brothers Viewer Guide #6

 

EPISODE 6 - Bastogne 

Eugene Roe was born in south Louisiana and was a Cajun.  Normally that name is spelled Reaux so I wonder if he simplified it when he enlisted in 1942.  He dropped out of elementary school to work in the oil field for his family.  He became a medic and was assigned to Easy Company at Camp Toccoa.  He was wounded in Holland and evacuated, but returned after a few days.  After the war, he became a construction contractor, got married, and had two girls and a boy.  He died of cancer in 1998.

Babe Hefron’s friend Pvt. Julian is referred to as a replacement, but they had actually been together since boot camp.  This is weird because they act like old friends in the episode.

Roe did not meet a nurse named Renee.

What is a “traiteur”?  In south Louisiana, Cajun faith healers were called traiteurs. 

The book does not mention being strafed by P-47s.

The book does not mention that tanks were involved in the attack.  If you think about it, there was no , way they could have stopped such an attack.  The episode breaks away to follow Roe to the hospital (also not in the book).  When he returns, they are still in the same position.  That would have been highly unlikely.

The book does not mention the Germans singing “Silent Night”.  This is more  of a WWI movie trope.

The book does not mention the hospital being bombed and Renee being killed, but the character is based on Renee Lemaire who was a Belgian nurse who worked in the hospital.  It is unlikely, but possible, that Roe encountered her.  She was killed when the hospital was bombed.  The episode has a nod to another nurse named Augusta Chiwy (called Anna in the show) who also helped with the wounded.