- Easy Company paratroopers jump behind enemy lines in Normandy on D-Day and struggle to reunite in hostile territory.
- In the very early hours of the D-Day invasion, Easy Company along with thousands of other Allied paratroopers land behind enemy lines in Normandy. In the chaos of the jump however, they are spread far and wide with many landing far from their expected drop zone. Lt. Winters assembles the few men they can find and slowly make their way to their rendezvous point. As the men straggle in, they also must adjust such as when Malarkey meets a German soldier who grew up in Oregon. Easy's Company commander is still missing so Winters is left in charge and is ordered to take out a German artillery bunker that is wreaking havoc with the troops landing on the beach. They do so with great efficiency and are rewarded with several Bronze and Silver Stars and the Distinguished Service Cross for Winters.—garykmcd
- On the D-Day, the allied paratroopers jump behind the German lines and the Easy Company is scattered in Normandy and many of the survivors have lost their weapons. Sgt. Richard D. Winters gathers a couple of soldiers and they head to the Battalion. The squad is assigned to destroy three German cannons in their first war experience.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Episode Two, entitled "Day of Days", explores the arrival of Easy Company on French soil, making the point that making a successful infiltration is much more hazardous than training for that infiltration. It is not lost of the viewer that such work these days has been handed over to Army Rangers and Navy Seals, who having succeeded in infiltration turn over the progress to regular troops who must hold onto the captured ground.
This episode opens in a C-47 somewhere over France, the men of Easy Company are preparing for their drop into Normandy. As the squadron approaches the mainland, they encounter heavy anti-aircraft fire from the German forces below. Easy Company's new Commander, 1st Lieutenant Meehan, is killed when his plane is hit and crashes. 2nd Platoons Commander, 1st Lieutenant Winters' (Damian Lewis) stick is forced to jump early when their plane is also hit by heavy flak. Winters lands safely and is soon joined by a man from A Company, Private Hall (Andrew Scott).
Winters quickly finds out that the drop has not been as orderly as expected; Easy Company's men, along with those of companies A ("Able") to I ("Item") and the 82nd Airborne division have been scattered all over Normandy. Winters and Hall find Sergeant Lipton (Donnie Wahlberg) and 2 members of the 82nd. They are also joined by Guarnere (Frank John Hughes), Toye (Kirk Acevedo) and Malarkey (Scott Grimes). Together they head for the rallying point, successfully engaging a small German detachment on the railroad spur line Winters patrol has been following. Guarnere fails to wait for Winters command to open fire and attacks the Germans with obvious prejudice; he'd received word just before boarding his plane in England that his brother had been killed at the Battle of Monte Cassino.
Right before they arrive at the rallying point, they come across several captured German officers, one of whom is part of the "Volksdeutsche Anstrengung" (German National Effort); German-Americans who returned to their ancestral homeland to join the German army. Malarkey himself is quite astonished that the man he meets is from his home state of Oregon. After Malarkey re-joins his company, he sees 1st Lieutenant Speirs (Matthew Settle) of D company pass by. Malarkey hears heavy gunfire as Speirs (apparently) executes the captured German soldiers.
Winters meets up with Buck Compton (Neal McDonough) at the rallying point and receives orders from Colonel Sink (Dale Dye) to take out a nest of German 105mm heavy guns at Brecourt, a nearby French estate. The guns are aimed directly at Causeway #1 at Utah Beach and are inflicting heavy casualties. Winters gathers two squads, one led by himself, the other by Compton. The Battle of Brecourt Manor follows, and Winters proves himself an excellent tactician, using a small force to take out a larger one in a heavily fortified position. During the fight, Popeye Wynn (Nicholas Aaron) is wounded and is forced to leave the battle. Winters himself destroys three of the guns, using TNT and German "Kartoffel Stampfer" (potato masher) grenades on the guns' barrels. Private Hall (Andrew Scott) is killed in the trenches by a booby trap. Several of the men prove their valor in battle and Winters plans to recommend them for commendations. Lt. Speirs (Matthew Settle) takes out the fourth gun himself and the platoon retreats.
That night the men rest and eat. Lt. Nixon tells Winters that a map he found at Brecourt showed all the key German artillery sites in Normandy and was passed up to Army intelligence. Winters speaks briefly to his men, putting to rest a longstanding rumor that he is of the Quaker faith (an assumption of Guarnere's since Winters never drinks alcohol). Later, while trying to open a small can of food, Winters talks to Nixon about Hall's death and finds that he isn't very hungry. As a result of 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment's overall success in the Normandy Invasion, the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment was awarded the following Military Decorations:
1. Presidential Unit Citation (Army) by Authority of War Department General Order #4, 1945. 2. French Croix De Guerre with Palm, World War Two, by Authority of Department of the Army General Order #43, 1950. 3. Netherlands Orange Lanyard, by Authority of Department of the Army General Order #43, 1950. 4. Belgian Fourragere, 1940, by Authority of Department of the Army General Order #43, 1950.
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