14 Heartwrenching Moments From 'Band of Brothers'
Vote up the scenes that made you tear up.
Band of Brothers deserves its reputation as one of the finest and most heartbreaking on-screen representations of the trials and victories of the men who fought in World War II, and the many behind-the-scenes stories which have emerged over the years have only enhanced its prestige. Over the course of ten episodes, the miniseries draws the viewer into the world of warfare, in all of its ugliness. Even though it doesn't shy away from the grittiness of armed conflict, the narrative also spotlights moments of genuine pathos and emotion. These sad moments hit even harder when one considers the extent to which much of the series is drawn from real life and involves the stories of real people.
Look back through the most gut-wrenching moments of Band of Brothers that are sure to stoke your emotions.
- 120 VOTES
The Baseball Game Finale
Photo: HBOEven in a show like Band of Brothers, in which darkness and bloodshed and death is so ubiquitous, there are moments of light and joy. In the final episode, once the war is over, the men of Easy Company engage in the most American of pastimes: a game of baseball. The celebratory feeling is tempered with narration of Winters relating what happened to all of the men. It's a sentimental moment, to be sure, and very much out of the Steven Spielberg playbook. The fates of all the characters resonate deeply, particularly since the viewer has already seen just how much these young men have endured. The pathos of the moment is made even more intense and heartbreaking by the viewer's knowledge that, by the time the series was released in 2001, the generation that fought in WWII was slowly passing away, leaving behind nothing but memories.
- 222 VOTES
Donald Malarkey Picking Up The Laundry Of His Recently Deceased Friends
Photo: HBOMany of the most impactful scenes if Band of Brothers occur during battle or other moments of action. However, there are some that occur in the quieter scenes, most notably when Donald Malarkey (Scott Grimes) picks up laundry. At first, he's confused when the laundress asks him to take some other clothing items, until he realizes the items she's asking about belong to various dead soldiers. As sadness slowly dawns on his face, it brings home the reality of what losses on the battlefield really mean. Each loss means a friend left behind, marked with small absences and items which only become more noticeable the longer time goes by. As the camera pans over the various parcels of laundry and the laundress intones the name, it's a solemn litany of lives lost.
- 321 VOTES
Eugene Jackson's Messy Death
Photo: HBOOne of the things Band of Brothers does quite well is articulating the messy combination of agency and helplessness that men sent out to war experience. Death always waits, and there is only so much one man can do to try to stave it off, and it can come at the most unexpected moments. In this case, Eugene Jackson (Andrew Lee Potts) throws a grenade into a house, only for it to explode when he steps inside, leaving him severely wounded. It's a rather ignominious moment, showing how ridiculous and undignified war can be. Moreover, there is something especially troubling about the futile efforts of his friends to save him, even as he dies right in front of them. This scene questions the notions of valor and dignity in war, instead positing that crass, vulgar death is the main affair.
- 421 VOTES
Buck Compton Finding Joe Toye And Bill Guarnere, Assuming They're Dead
Photo: HBOMany scenes in Band of Brothers are quite difficult to watch, not just because they are full of violence and bloodshed but also because they show men pushed to their breaking point and sometimes beyond. In one particularly notable scene, Buck Compton (Neal McDonough) sees Joe Toye (Kirk Acevedo) and Bill Guarnere (Frank John Hughes) have been hit by mortar shells. This proves to be too much for Buck, who believes they've both died; for a few moments, he cannot find it in himself to call for a medic. The look on his face, as well as the helmet falling from his nerveless fingers, viscerally hits the viewer. He has the look of a man who's tipped over into the realm of the abject, his psyche no longer able to handle the strain.
- 547 VOTES
Easy Company Discovering The Kaufering IV Concentration Camp
Photo: HBOThe most heartbreaking moments in war films typically occur on the field of battle, as soldiers sacrifice their lives, sometimes in a blaze of glory and sometimes in a more subdued manner. While there are certainly such moments in Band of Brothers, one of the most harrowing moments is when Easy Company liberates an abandoned concentration camp and bears witness to the horrific conditions and brutalized bodies of the Jewish people imprisoned there. This scene highlights the unfathomable horror of the Holocaust, serving as a potent reminder no matter when or where the viewer is watching from that such atrocities must be remembered and prevented from occurring again.
- 646 VOTES
John Julian's Death At Bastogne
Photo: HBOThere's something uniquely devastating about seeing young people perish in battle, all their potential eradicated by a single bullet. A perfect example is John Julian's (Marc-Ryan Jordan) death in Band of Brothers when he is struck and wounded at Bastogne. His fellow soldiers desperately try to get to him as he lies bleeding on the ground, while viewers can see his eyes mutely begging for help. Despite their attempts, it's painfully clear that his wounds are too severe for him to be saved. When the scene ends with his body sprawled in the snow, it's a punch to the gut and a reminder of the costs of war.
- 744 VOTES
Joseph Liebgott Breaking Down In Tears After Telling The Prisoners They Have To Stay In The Camp
Photo: HBOThe episode “Why We Fight” is one of the most heartbreaking episodes of early 2000s television, and each moment after the discovery of the concentration camp only heightens the heartbreak. As if it wasn't bad enough that these poor people had to suffer the torture and torment of being in a concentration camp, they also have to remain in the camp even after the US soldiers "free" them, so they can be monitored for safety purposes. Poor Joseph Liebgott (Ross McCall) is the one who has to tell them they must remain, and his heartbreak is palpable as they beg him to let them go. He breaks down in tears, and the audience can hardly blame him, as they know how much these poor people have suffered and how traumatizing it must be to stay in that place for a single second longer.
- 824 VOTES
Moose Heyliger Being Hit By Friendly Fire
Photo: HBOSome of the most notable and heartbreaking incidents of Band of Brothers involve the characters being attacked or shot by the enemy, but a particularly traumatizing moment occurs as the result of friendly fire. Frederick “Moose” Heyliger (Stephen McCole) is shot several times in the chest by a nervous soldier who shouts commands but doesn't really give him time to respond. One expects soldiers to be shot down by the enemy, but knowing such an act was a mistake made by a frightened young man brings with it a whole different emotional response. This is no less a tragedy than those that occur on the battlefield between enemies, and, in some ways, feels even more gutting, as if there must've been some way to avoid it.
- 932 VOTES
Alex Penkala And Skip Muck's Deaths At The Hands Of A Mortar Strike
Photo: HBOIn war, death can come at any point, with those who witness it struggling to make sense of what they have just seen. Band of Brothers certainly doesn't shy away from these cases. Take, for example, the moment when Alex Penkala (Tim Matthews) and Skip Muck (Richard Speight Jr.) are killed by a mortar strike. At first, they are simply chatting with their fellow soldier, George Luz (Rick Gomez); after they are scattered, they try to get him to join them, only for a mortar strike to come blasting down, killing them instantly and leaving Luz looking at where they once were. There is no closure in such a situation, and no chance to give a final farewell. Most heartbreakingly of all, perhaps, there is also no body to properly pay respects to.
- 1034 VOTES
The Kaufering Prisoner Explaining That 'Normal People' Were In The Camp
Photo: HBOWhen the American soldiers first encounter the concentration camp, they have trouble wrapping their heads around what they're seeing. In fact, their initial assumption is that it was a prison meant for criminals of some sort, and it takes them a while to grasp the ugly and sinister truth: the people locked behind its walls and subjected to torment were innocent people with normal occupations. The moment in which one prisoner explains this (through an interpreter) is almost like a wound. Though viewers already know the cruelty of concentration camps, seeing soldiers forced to comprehend the senselessness of it for the first time illuminates the horror in a new light. This moment serves as yet another reminder of how the Nazis were willing to destroy the lives of ordinary people in the interest of their conquests.
- 1125 VOTES
Doc Roe Finding Renée Lemaire's Scarf In Rubble
Photo: HBOFar too often civilians get lost in the annals of history and warfare, their names chalked up to simple collateral damage and largely forgotten except for their families. Fortunately there are series like Band of Brothers, which actually does a very good job of showing how war affects those on its margins. When Doc Roe (Shane Taylor) develops a close bond with a nurse, Renée (Lucie Jeanne), one can't help but feel a tremble of fear, knowing it is probably not going to end well. That fear is proven correct: she ends up perishing during a bombing, and Doc only finds her remarkable blue scarf. It's one of those moments which pierces like a spear. They were two people who met and made a connection in the midst of bloodshed and war, but something permanent was never to be.
- 1241 VOTES
Richard Winters's Shooting Of A Surrendering Young Man
Photo: HBODamian Lewis delivers an extraordinary performance in Band of Brothers, capably bringing out the many different layers of Major Richard Winters. Although he is a hero, Winters is haunted by some of his actions, including a wrenching moment when he shoots a seemingly unarmed and surrendering young man. This situation in which one must decide, in the blink of an eye, whether to take the life of another, encapsulates all the horrors of war, even when combatants try to act with good intentions. The blunt suddenness of the camera work, combined with the staccato of the gunshot, is terrifying - and so is the look on Winters's face. Viewers can tell that this memory will haunt him for the rest of his life.
- 1314 VOTES
Donald Hoobler's Death From A Self-Inflicted Wound
Photo: HBODeath is an ever-present feature of Band of Brothers. Most of such deaths come from enemy fire, of course, but there are a surprising number of times when various soldiers are killed by happenstance and by accident. Donald Hoobler (Peter McCabe), for example, has a Luger in his pocket which ends up going off due to the pressure exerted by his clothes. Even more unfortunately, the shot goes through the femoral artery in his leg, leading him to die of blood loss. The tragedy comes from the sheer pointlessness. He didn't die in battle or for any good cause. Instead, it was nothing more than a freak accident that could have happened to anyone, serving as another illustration of the futility and absurdity of war.
- 1420 VOTES
Ronald Speirs Slaughtering German Prisoners-Of-War
Photo: HBOJustified as it was, World War II exerted tremendous pressure on the men who fought in it, leading some of them to do things they would never do outside of wartime. In Band of Brothers, one of the most egregious acts of violence involved Ronald Speirs (Matthew Settle). The series implies that he shot a number of German prisoners of war in cold blood. Even though the viewer doesn't actually see him commit this heinous act, it's clear he has committed what some might view as a war crime. In the conditions of war, the series points out, people will do many things that may qualify as dishonorable, or even horrifying. Even viewing the Germans as the enemy, the idea that they are senselessly killed while imprisoned underscores that even in war, some moral standards must remain.
