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Did Lewis Nixon Take Centre Stage Over Easy Company Members? (Band of Brothers Opinion Piece)
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- čas přidán 28. 05. 2024
- Lewis Nixon was a complex character in the Band of Brothers series and was even more so in real life. If not for his best friend, Richard Winters, he likely would have found himself on an early boat ride home.
Correction: He jumped out from a perfectly good airplane in the combat zone twice because the third jump was from a plane that received a direct hit and fell apart with only 4 pax surviving including himself. That makes him even more badass.
And it went Boom...
There's no such thing as, "a perfectly good airplane".
@@WmRussell1972 Exactly!
@@WmRussell1972they are coming for you now, run!
3 Stars on your Jump Wings is a hell of a feat for a man who never fired his weapon in war.
Cant fault his courage.
Not entirely unheard of. I knew a dude who did 5 deployments and didn’t fire his first shots until the 4th…some places are just less kinetic even if it’s only half a mile away 🤷🏼♂️
Officers are supposed to lead and give orders.. They are only supposed to fire a gun if something goes wrong and an enemy is about to kill them. They used to go into battle with swords. There are probably a lot of officers who never had to shoot an enemy.
Alcohol
A vast majority of troops in WWII never fired their weapon...same for Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan...since the ratio of combat troops to support troops is around 6 : 1
He may have had his flaws, who doesn't, but he did much more for our country than I ever did.
If you took a hard discerning look at Capt Nixon, you could probably find others like him. His condition wasn't unique. And you are correct, every individual has their flaws. In this respect the flaw with Ambrose's book was 'embellishment'.
...or the maker of this video.
When you look at the US today, it becomes clear it was ultimately all for nothing in the end.
he volunteered for AB
he jumped every time he was asked..
you cant call the man useless or a coward with that alone as his achievement
The problem with memoirs and government documents is that you can only count on about 50% or less of it being accurate. I served 2 tours in Afghanistan and believe me when I tell you that my fellow marines all recall certain details of our missions DIFFERENTLY… there’s things I remember that others don’t and after 15 years they remember things I don’t…shoot, some of them have shown me pictures and videos of me in events that I have 0 recollection of. They call it the “fog of war” for a reason…the reality is that in stressful situations the brain has a nasty habit of compartmentalizing very specific details in order to shield you from long term trauma, the truth of these events and the individuals that experienced them will forever be shrouded in mystery…just know that truth is far more terrible and darker than any of them actually represent
Cross referencing plays a huge part in cross checking 'probable' facts.
@@War_And_Truth100% and even then it’s hit or miss…give ya some anecdotal evidence here… when I was in Afghanistan on my second deployment, I saw a little fat kid beat another kid to death with a pipe over a candy bar that I had handed him… I know for a fact that everybody in my vehicle saw it, but if you ask the five of us today, only three of us remember seeing it (those of us without children)… I know we all made jokes about it at the time…so there’s certainly some mental gymnastics going on that few people could possibly understand
I hear you. I think it is a psychological mechanism. A defense. War is never a fond memory, so the mind does not try to remember every detail.
A brilliant piece of commentary regarding the “fog of war”. I too served in the Marines in Vietnam as a 21 year old Scout Dog handler in most of 1968 and the three months in 1969. I walked point for various infantry units in the, 1st,7th,5th Marines plus 1st Recon. You are so correct about having different memories of combat actions than other vets in those units. At this point in my life, 77 years old,so many memories have faded or just receded into the deep corners of my memory.
Several months ago former Lieutenant from Hotel Company, Hotel Co. 2/1 contacted me out of the blue after after 52 years. He had been searching for me all these decades. We talked on the phone for over 2 hours. He mentioned actions we had been in and I had forgotten so many details.
Someone can be 20 feet from you in combat and their experience can be totally different from your recollections of the same firefight.
Now at after all these years go bye I can’t remember jack-shit about about so many details of those 13 months.
Went to college when I came home, earned 2 degrees and went into the chemical industry and retired 11 years after serving in various executive positions several chemical companies.
Made my peace with my war experience’s and moved on. Still think about my friends who didn’t make it home. But time is precious. You cannot dwell on something that happened over 50 years ago.
.
@@johnciummo3299 thanks for sharing your story brother 🫡. Glad to see my experiences aren’t unique (though I’ve confirmed this with other combat vets)…it is wild though how people can be literally feet from you and have a completely different memory because of where they were looking…or maybe they were closer to the 50 and couldn’t hear jack shit over the links and brass plinking 🤷🏼♂️😂 (funny how that’s all you hear after the 3rd round)…just know that your generation of marine passed on your hard earned knowledge to my generation and because of that many of my friends came home. Your fallen brethren was not a waste, their time was up and many marines got to come home because of their service. Semper Fi brother 💪
Everything about Nixon makes sense when you know that he was alcoholic- everything. Smart, indespensable and likeable when sober- stupid, dagerous and an ass when under the influence. Many alcoholics have these traits.
Sounds like you speak from experience.
You don't have to be alcoholic. Everybody is like that when drunk.
A functioning alcoholic, they're everywhere.
My father had two combat jumps with 507 PIR (Normandy, Rhine), when I asked him that same question: why would anybody want to jump out of a perfectly good plane, he responded: "Two reasons. 1: Once they started shooting at us, nobody wanted to stay in that plane. 2: They weren't perfectly good airplanes.
And a bonus line: He used to say "Geronimo!" was Indian for, "Who the Hell pushed me?!"
Thank you for sharing this! This is great!
Brilliant..... Absolutely Brilliant. Thanks for Sharing.
Your dad was correct; by the time the German flak batteries were done the surviving C-47s needed days of inspection and repairs before they were combat worthy again.
Nixon was a hero like most of easy company. His drinking was how he coped. No one can judge how they would behave in a similar situation.
I personally think I would have drank more
War is hell, coming back to a peaceful and adjusting is awkward and takes a long time. But you will never be the same.
@chuck5898 - Re: "Nixon was a hero like most of easy company. His drinking was how he coped. No one can judge how they would behave in a similar situation."
Great comment. All of us sitting here about a quarter of the way through the 21st century have the benefit of 20-20 hindsight and all that has been learned and discovered since the WW2 era. Vast numbers of men suffered psychological wounds from the war, even if they were never diagnosed with them. For the most part, the men of the WW2 generation - who had come of age during the Great Depression and knew hardship - put their experiences behind them and got on with life when they got home. Even well-adjusted men had to deal with nightmares for years after the war.
Nixon was wealthy of course, because of his family's successful businesses - but that didn't make him immune to the horrors of war or the personal misfortunes he suffered during and after the conflict. Whereas Richard Winters was known as one of the finest combat leaders to come out of the 506th PIR and the 101st A/B Division, Lewis Nixon was almost universally--acclaimed as the finest staff and intelligence officer. He was a book-end to Winters not just in terms of temperament but in terms of what he did best.
No one got their jump wings as a paratrooper unless they had mastered their duties thoroughly, and that included Lewis Nixon. If the tables had been turned, and he led men in combat directly, the chances are he would have done very well. It just didn't work out that way, and his greatest service to the men and the unit were elsewhere. Lewis was every bit as essential to the team that was E Company as Winters was, albeit in a different way. And he later got to prove his mettle at regiment, too. Working for Colonel Sink probably wasn't the easiest of jobs, either.
Especially back then - talking about mental health was much more taboo than now and drinking was more prevalent in general.
Sink's nickname was "Bourbon Bob."
And he was pissed off at Nixon for drinking?
None of us is in any position to fault Lewis Nixon for anything.
No but we can have opinions.
@@War_And_TruthDick Winters liked him, and that's good enough for me
Not faulting. Just observations.
@@scott9872 Thanks Scott Lol I have 50 other videos without a bad word about anyone (even Sobel) Don't judge too much on this one alone.
As I made it to Hereford and one of the toughest units in the world, I had more respect for the airborne from WW2 than ever.
From all accounts, Richard Winters considered him a friend. This should be enough of a testament to his character.
They were best friends. I don't know about you, but I always have my close friends backs.
@@War_And_Truth Is that to suggest a "he's my friend, right or wrong" aspect for Winters and Nixon? In contrast to the TV series, in _Beyond Band of Brothers_ Winters wrote that he and Nixon didn't really become good friends until after they returned to England after Normandy. We know that they didn't have similar interests, behaviors, or personalities so they must have seen something trustworthy and respectable in each other's characters which is what the truest friendships are based on. So, yeah, testament to Nixon's character.
that is exactly my response; good enough for Winters good enough for me
I heard Malarkey in an interview disparage David Webster. Malarkey needed to remember that without Webster's book, Parachute Infantry, the primary source material for Ambrose's Band of Brothers, and then the Video, he, and the rest of Easy Company would have died off like 16 millions of their comrades in arms, mourned only by their family and friends, in obscurity.
@@IncogNito-gg6uh I read it a long time ago. Prolly should read it again.
Ambrose wrote the forward for Webster's book as well. Malarkey didn't like the amount of air time Webster received in BOB while some of the other men didn;t appear at all. I think he just had a gripe with him.
@IncogNito-gg6uh Webster was a snob not a soldier.
@@jeremyschipp
With his IQ and education, he easily could have gotten an non-combat job. Instead he volunteered to go into one of the most dangerous jobs in the army. The US had something like 12,000,000 men in uniform. 90% were not in combat. If you were a rifleman, in combat, your chances of being killed or wounded were high. If you were just in the army, your chances of getting killed or wounded were not that high since only a small minority went into combat. He did his duty when he could have gotten a safe job.
malarkey was critical about many easy company members...makes one wonder...
"She hates that dog!"
The S2 helps plan and presents courses of action for the battalion commander and can request intelligence related missions. A good S2 can really help the battalion, and the fact that he was kept around as long as he was with his drinking, not shaving, etc may speak to his competence as a strategist. Having a close friend that is a staff officer could be really advantageous to a platoon leader or company commander. Also, as a staff officer, Nixon would have probably had very little contact with the rank and file men of the battalion and limited contact with anyone below company or platoon command. All units do sand tables and briefings for the missions but some leaders can go above and beyond the minimum, and a good sand table of the objective can really contribute to mission success.
Bingo. Also, an exceptional S2 (or almost and staff officer), is among the most thankless jobs in a combat unit. They're certainly safer than being on the line, but an S2 in the 101st in WWII Europe was probably working around the clock, rarely praised when things went well, and often critiqued when they didn't.
On the flip side, a drunk S2 can get a lot of men killed.
As a 30 year veteran, I approve of this message.
@@War_And_Truth nonsense, functioning alcoholics make the machine work. We make hooch when we can't smuggle/liberate/trade some booze.
@IdentitiesWW2 so give some examples of where Nixon did it
Livingston did such a good job in the show that Nixon was one of my favourite characters. The show was probably overly-sympathetic to him. He sounds a complex character with some significant flaws. That said, his courage is beyond reproach. His run with the map alone probably saved a lot of lives.
Well said
Livingston was so good that Nixon's widow gave him the Yale graduation ring Lewis wore.
Livingston also went to Yale.
I'll go out on a limb here and say if sobel hadn't pushed people up that mountain and inisted on excellence in terms of physical fitness and all the rest he may not have made it, whilst his training methods were brutal the soldiers that emerged, even flawed characters like nixon, appear to have been top notch.
@@roundtheloopandback I think no one objects to Sobel pushing people up the mountain, but the objection is to his bullying and unprofessional behaviour towards the cadets. Some might say this is also a necessary part in creating a good team, but I don't believe that.
@@joostdriesens3984 the men of easy believed it for the most part so why don't you ?
Blew me away to learn Compton and legend Jackie Robinson were teaamates on UCLAs baseball team.
Small world
What’s even crazier is he also became a politician and a DA in some very high profile cases…influencers tend to congregate
@@War_And_Truth Yeah and I also heard that the actor who played Compton, Neil McDonough was ALSO a UCLA baseball player--same position as Compton, too.
@@localenterprisebroadcastin5971 He prosecuted Sirhan Sirhan.
@@nickmitsialis No, McDonough went to Syracuse University and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater. He did have a baseball scholarship but he was a pitcher. Compton was a catcher on the UCLA team.
Ron Livingston was perfect as Nixon. Office Space quality.😁
Agreed. He brings it forward to the Loudermilk series where he is a recovered alcoholic. Guy really plays that part incredibly well.
Office Space is a fantastic film. They should show it to teenagers in school so they get qualified and don't end up in dead end jobs.
@@michaelreimer951 Yes I agree. I think Loudermilk is a great role for him.
@@roberttilton7927You still end up there 😂
Keep the stories coming, this is great material that sheds light to what most people wouldn't expect from "Heroes" these people were regular people put in a big situation where they did regular people behavior.
Thanks.
There’s no such thing as a perfectly good airplane - USAF Maintenance
LOL
I served during Desert Shield/Desert Storm and my father was a medic in Vietnam, he dove head-first into the bottle to deal with it, and I almost fell into that trap myself. Nix drinking to deal with the stress is totally understandable, and I can relate to wanting something to dull the pain and numb the experiences. Nix was simply a guy, who did amazing things during war, with amazing guys all around him. Buck snapped after seeing his closest friends blown up, a fate most of us would have shared if it happened to us, no shame there. Nix might not have been a "frontline" grunt, but he served a vital purpose in supplying intel that saved lives. If Dick Winters called Nixon a friend, that's all I need to know he was a decent man.
You can say what you want about the man but his wife took his dog. The bullet grazing may not have been worth a purple heart but not even having a dog to come home to deserved one for sure.
Lol
"It's my dog, she's TAKING MY DOG" 😂😂
@@cpj93070It's not even her dog!!
@@tanker335 Well compared to some of them getting killed and losing limbs I would say he got off pretty lightly. The alcohol and smoking was probably doing him more damage.
So many guys come back from Operational deployment to find no wife, no kids, no home, no money.
I told my section never to put their war service money, in a joint bank account. Keep it separate and treat your family when you return.
The men thought Winters was their best friend, because he took the same risks as them early on and he was tough but fair. But Winters had his own best friend, Nixon.
And Nixon had done nothing to deserve that friendship (in their view), so of course they all resented him for that.
@@tanker335 I was only responding to the fact that Nixon wasn't well liked by the men, according to videos like these. And I was merely theorizing how that would be possible.
1. Officers weren't liked by the enlisted men in general, Winters was the exception;
2. Nixon was in intelligence and was told not to risk himself in combat because he was too valuable to lose for the top brass;
3. I liked how Nixon was portrayed and especially his and Winters' friendship;
Mate if you are going to stick it to me and everyone else you disagree with you wont last long on this channel. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
My uncle was in the 509th PIR made the landings at Tunisia and jumped into Sicily made the landings at Anzio and was killed there on Feb 29th 1944. He is buried in a US cemetery nearby.
Was he part of the 82nd Airborne? 101st didn't jump into Sicily.
@@holdenknapp6490he said 509th PIR so definitely not 101st😂
@@qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnm3937 I get that I assumed the regiment was attached to an airborne division. Had no idea they were one of the few regiments to operate independently of the 101st and 82nd.
Loving your exposés on this particular part of the war and very impressed with the consistent considered comments and observations of my fellow viewers. Good job one and all!👍🏼
In the words of Randleman from the TV show, " Sh*t, Cobb. You didn't fight in Normandy neither."
I get it Nixon was imperfect and flawed but tried to do his best and that all anyone could really do. That being said he was able to ultimately get back on the wagon because he had that conversation with himself he that had a problem and admitting it is the first step.
But that's how it is in the military. Not only you're gonna see the war from your point of view, but the leadership as well. What could be considered a good leader for some, could be a bad one for others
I forgot about the clannishness of my infantry platoons, even within the company. There were only a couple of guys outside of 4th platoon, C Co, 1/325th and 3rd Platoon, D Co, 1/48th that I knew in any meaningful way.
Nothing unusual here with brothers arguing with each other. Bottom line is they were all heroes and truly a band of brothers.
Ed Shames said, in his biography, that he despised Nixon when he had to work with him for a short time. He was only too happy to go to another combat unit in the division (iirc this was after his battlefield commission so he was leaving 3rd battalion.)
Yes he stated that Nixon would sleep late and left all the work to him. Ambrose was a lazy writer and I’m convinced he let Winters set the narrative and not just about Nixon. I also noticed that though his book included a picture of Winters there’s hardly any mention of him.
@@altonbunnjr Ambrose certainly didn’t do Lt Dike any favors and it’s painfully obvious he let Winters define his character. It’s a shame and unfortunately no way to clean up his reputation in my opinion.
@@altonbunnjr I agree that Ambrose was a lazy writer who accepted hearsay when a legit historian never would but Shames' and Winters' assessments of Nixon aren't irreconcilable. Shames experienced Nixon as a superior officer loading him with work which might have happened when Shames was still a Operations Sergeant before Overlord i.e. when everyone was frustrated waiting for something to happen (I haven't read _The Combat Story of Ed Shames of Easy Company_ but he started in I Company, 3rd Battalion and then transferred to E Company, 2nd Battalion as a platoon leader after his June 1944 commission where he stayed until war's end). Winters wrote in _Beyond Band of Brothers_ that he and Nixon didn't become good friends until after returning to England from Normandy. He experienced Nixon as an equal officer who came through with what he needed and when he needed it.
Your analogy of high school is so on point!!!😂 Guys like Nixon were part of the team well into the 80’s. Also keep in mind that the UCMJ came into existence soon after WW2.
Most of your videos I’d say are well researched and presented, but this one I think you didn’t really look into what a Bn S3 actually does, if you had it probably would explain why Dick Winters gave Nixon high praise for his tactics and “battle sense”
Having a “dud” in the 3 shop can handicap the whole battalion, there’s every sign Nixon was far from being that but he was an alcoholic, and the mileage would certainly vary on how dependable he was
That he volunteered to go airborne, braved enemy fire over some distance to get that map to those who needed it most, and that he was eventually able to overcome his alcoholism I’d say says a lot about his strength of character
I think if he was doing a good enough job at Regiment Sink would have kept him around despite the drinking.
@@War_And_Truth, maybe, but Sink kept him at Regt level throughout some of their heaviest fighting and reconstitution phases, so he must’ve had some abilities
I’d hazard a guess Nixon was burnt out long before he got demoted down to Bn, and the drinking only made it worse
Possibly they were trying to support him, because of all the Bn’s they could send him to, they sent him to the one commanded by his friend
Exactly. Also had a ticket out of Bastogne but stayed. He also was going to the Pacific by choice. Cool headed bravery to be sure.
@@War_And_TruthSink kept him there through all the worst parts of the war, he didnt get rid of him until everything was winding down. It seemd more like he was indispensable in combat in spite of his shortcomings, but once he was no longer indispensible... he was dispensed with.
Excellent and informative presentation. Thank you.
You're very welcome!
As always, i learned several new facts from your research...well done!
Glad to hear it!
It could be that when Maj. Winters says that Nixon was a good strategist, they could have had a lot of private conversations that we are not privy too.
My own accounts have sometimes contradicted others. Until sitting down and explaining where I was and where others were.
In a firefight pov is crazy, it’s distorted to your field of vision.
As much as we can read and listen about Easy company and others, we can never know everything that transpired. Or who these brave men really were.
I appreciate your videos and glad you can up on my recommendations. I try to keep a healthy level of skepticism without the cynicism.
You are right. My videos are about clearing up blatant mistakes (Blithe/Halls/Lorraine) and the rest is more of a discussion point.
I grew up in Lawrenceville nj, I think I went to grade school with his son. My friend had a asian mom and I met his dad a couple times,
To be honest, if I found myself in any of the situations these guys did, I'd have lasted seconds...
Glad to hear he overcame his drinking problem, which is a war unto itself.
Inaccuracies in books are unavoidable. The personal biases of men are unavoidable as well. I don’t dispute your work or criticize your goal of painting an accurate picture. My feeling is, if Winters trusted Nixon and thought Nixon was a valuable leader, thats good enough for me. Drinking aside, he did his duty under difficult circumstances. He helped win a war against fascist tyranny. He earned his jump stars and Winter’s respect and trust. That makes him a hell of a man, and I’ll drink one to him if I fall off the wagon.
In every aspect of life there are people who have conflicts with others and may view others differently. I think it would’ve been difficult for anyone to gain respect or admiration in Lt Nixon’s role. At the tactical level most anyone outside of the immediate team is viewed as a non-participant and thus just a suit. It’s possible that Lt Nixson and Maj Winters just clicked and maybe there’s more to Nixson that we know of. Life is strange and complicated most of the without extreme circumstances, in combat bonds are made that can’t be broken.
Thanks for doing this series that focuses on "Band of Brothers". While I greatly enjoyed the TV production, the obvious influence of Ambrose together with the Hollywood impulse to have heroes and goats resulted in what amounts to character assassination against some in the Company, meaning those who rubbed Ambrose or Winters the wrong way. Sobel was apparently a jerk with his training methods, and likely a jerk all around, but he also made the jump into Normandy and I believe was decorated for leading an attack on a machine gun position. Dike had won a couple of bronze stars prior to Foy, where he was wounded, none of that is mentioned. Ed Shames' contributions were completely ignored, if I remember correctly he said he told Ambrose that Ambrose was wrong on several points, so Shames evaporated from Ambrose's history. Albert Blithe another obvious error. We all know people in organizations, including outside the military, that behaved just as portrayed in the series. It is one of the things that makes Band of Brothers so powerful. But these are real men being represented, men put in incredibly difficult situations, and the one-side representation just does not do them justice.
Thanks mate. I have copped a bit of flak for this one but I'm just trying to present the real story of these guys.
Everybody has a part. Nixon did his job. Just because some guys think you’re “That guy” does not take away anything he did overseas
Band of brothers is a carefully crafted narrative to emphasize certain soldiers and officers at the expense of others, I,e,, it’s the survivors that write the history. There are several flaws in Ambrose’s body of work which renders it to be questionable.
If you ever get a chance to grab the 70s docu-series, "The World at War" dvd set and the extras...check out young, hippie Ambrose's love letter to the valiant , hero Soviets.
@@ericjones9471 Gross.
@@ericjones9471 I totally know what you’re talking about. I mean he wasn’t entirely wrong though…from the perspective of the ground offensive the soviets absolutely were the ones who defeated the Germans…the west did it from the air and completely destroyed Germanys infrastructure and war production capabilities. Where they get some big facts wrong are the numbers of committed combat troops vs logistical troops and my personal favorite, the claim that the Soviets out produced everyone in terms of war materials which is just false no matter how you slice it 😂
I always consider the fact that the Soviets were there with the N@zees on the invasion of Poland. And Soviet fan boys seem to disregard the gact that they destroyed their former "allies" in their home country. We had interests in Europe and Asia, but as do many folks always want to highlight we always overinflate out umpact on the war to which we weren't that pistol.
@@ericjones9471 Not to mention what the Soviets did to Finland
For anyone to question Nixon with the benefit of hindsight is revisionism of the worst kind. Particularly if that someone is doing so from a comfortable seat
Its called analyzing history. People have been doing it for thousands of years.
@@War_And_Truth my comment isn't aimed at you. A lot of people have unjustifiable opinions. You provide caveats so it's not reflective on you
@@mgreengiantit should be
On the videos Ive seen on this channel, folks have been respectful as F, to each other! Awesome!
I admire your efforts in striving for accuracy in all your videos. ✅
I appreciate that!
Lewis Nixon was a Tacoa Man. So that makes him a member . Quit picking on this man. He did his part. That bullet grazing is still an attempt by the enemy to take Nixon's life. He fit well in the story, brought some humor to situations and he was there from start to finish. He was a cool cucumber. The actor that portrayed Nixon did it well. Yea some people don't get along with others in the military, happens all the time personality conflicts. Lewis Nixon was a good man and paratrooper.
I'm just presenting an opinion, just like you have. I don't think I have mentioned Nixon in any of the other 60 videos I have made so I am hardly picking on the guy.
Nixon seemed to have been haunted by demons, even after the war. BTW I was a platoon leader in Charlie company 1st Battalion, 506th in the 70s and 80s
How many firefights have you been in?
That's really cool. I bet you have some great stories.
A whole decade? That is a LONG time to stay an Lt. and be a platoon commander.
What kind of bad mistake did you make???
I Wasn’t precise. Graduated the Citadel in May, 1979. Was rendered quadriplegic in 1980 in a training accident at Ft. Campbell after having a platoon for 7 months. So you’re correct, I made a huge mistake, just not an unprofessional or dishonorable one.
@@thejman8734 how many have you ?
I think a certain amount of weight is owed to Dick Winters here, he knew him best. Given basically the universal good reputation Winters earned, it's hard for me to believe Nixon was as bad as some of these videos make him out to be.
He would have rarely had contact with the Easy company men, most of the officers he served with were older and died before him, etc. Winters presents Nixon as a flawed but brilliant man, which is probably pretty accurate. Of course, we're all flawed, but we all didn't contribute to the most successful military campaign in American history.
As the people that lived these experiences die off and people like Nixon no longer have the ability to defend themselves, I hope it doesn't become a normal thing where videos like this take jabs at people for views.
I just present a story of the portrayal vs the real life facts. I don't know what these guys are like until I research them. Everyone hates Sobel but I think I was pretty fair with the series I did on him. I'm not bashing anyone, just offering my opinion. There are plenty of fan boy videos out there.
I agree. Winters has a sterling reputation. IF Nixon were a scumbag and a terrible person/officer...I SERIOUSLY doubt he would have the respect...much less friendship...of Winters.
Actually, it sounds like BoB got the spirit of the guy pretty much spot on based on this. He was depicted as not involved at all with the enlisted, a troubled, sarcastic, alcoholic loner whose only friend was Winters.
I appreciate your efforts to find this info. BoB is a great series but , of course, it has been sanitized and "adjusted" a bit to make it more engrossing. Nice work .
Thank you.
As a Veteran who also struggled with his inner demons, that he found Love and was able to get sober brought a smile to my face.
On another note it's astounding to me that the actors who portrayed the Veterans look SO much like the actual Men themselves. Especially Garniere- the actor who played him could've been related! Ditto for Ron Livingston.
Nixon looks rocked when he is in the picture at the Eagles nest you showed around 8 minutes maybe.
The writer Bernard Cornwell writes historical fiction. He always gave the due credit to the real combatants in his books. Cornwell says he does not to steal someone’s glory.
Band of Brothers was movie. A fine, long movie and in the screen writing business you have to “accentuate” certain events over others. My own great uncle Sherman came home to Topeka and became a history teacher.
Nix sounds like a high IQ "disruptor" personality. Just the sort you want for S2, as they are the b%stards who pick apart your plan by saying, "yeah, but what if the enemy did Z or Y" and then you have to work out better CONPLANs or go through extra courses of action.
Awesome work on this series. I am more and more convinced that the story of E Coy (as told by Ambrose) is a lot more about a bunch of relieved "survivors" projecting onto a "messiah" who in reality was probably just "a bit better than average, and a bit luckier than average" and doing all they could to protect his later image as their great saviour, and demonising those who nay-sayed him, and elevating those who he befriended (Walsh and Nixon).
Ambrose's research is now showing it's cracks as it was taken from too small a group.
Thank you. Its a controversial video which surprises me a bit. Nixon has a lot of fans out there Lol
That's the thing about S2/G2 they do all the hard work prior to the operations starting (like S5/G5 plans). If they get it right you lose less men, or your efforts have a greater effect.
For some reason, Winters best friends were both alcoholics, Nixon and Harry Welsh. It would be an interesting psychological study to see why that was true.
Also, Ed Shames, after he was made an officer, was assigned as Nixon's assistant S2 (intelligence). Shames believed that he was made Nixon's assistant in order to get something out of him due to his alcoholism. When he showed up at Nixon's residence, he found that Nixon had rented an entire house. Every other officer had to share a house with the British families that lived there. Nixon could do that because the Nixon family were among the riches in the entire U.S.
He was certainly protected, except when it came to Colonel Sink.
Winters also said Colonel Sink was a heavy drinker, didn't he?
@@Clonetrooper1139 I cant say I have heard that before.
It's one of the reasons Winters cites as why he disobeyed the order for the 2nd batch of prisoners. He didn't consider it a lawfull order since he was drunk when he made it..
Yea i think it was winter's book he mentioned it
Thank you for the time and work that goes into research this. Really is eye opening.
My pleasure!
I understand your point. Lewis Nixon was a man, and thus, imperfect, like the rest of us. Both the book and miniseries adaptation have to concede certain realities, because if not, we would have a biography of every one of them (which I wouldn't mind) and a miniseries in which every episode would've been 6hrs (which I wouldn't mind either). A quick example was in Episode 7 I believe, when Winters is shown to start running towards the combat, when in reality, he yelled at Spears to relieve Dike. Some say Dike lost it, others say he was wounded and in shock, but the man did have combat experience, earning awards, and also later in the war as well.
They were men, they were imperfect, but they were brave as hell as well.
REAL GGOD JOB ON THESE
My understanding is they quickly ran out of Ambrose material and turned to Don Burgett's, ("A" company, 1st Battalion, 506th) 5 books of his experiences to flush out the majority of the series. When Mr. Burgett called up Mr. Hanks and asked for some financial compensation, Mr. Hanks said he would never pay him a penny, but would list his name in the credits. Which he did. That's Hollywood.
Nice. I haven't heard that before.
That sounds about right for 'showbusiness'.
@@IncogNito-gg6uh Thanks for your recommendation. I shall search for them.
👍
I was under the impression that David Websters (Parachute Infantry??) book was also a great resource to both Ambrose and the BoB production/writers etc...
According to the official BoB podcasts I listened to one of the writers (John Orloff I think) and Hanks himself repeatedly reference "the Bible". That was Winters own field notes and diary he kept during the war. So while I know there can be issues with memory and recollections of these guys 60-70 years later, you can't fault the guy for keeping notes while in combat and then preserving them... If anything, it shows how easy it was for a mistake like Blythe surviving and the rest of the Taccoa guys not knowing.. Blithe was never in the unit again, he never came to a reunion until AFTER the series, and there was no internet with write ups about him until well after the series either. I also throw the first into Lansburg/Bertchesgarden into this as well. Fault Ambrose for not crosschecking, but if Winters wrote it down in his field notes, it's most likely what he was told/ordered.
There are clear biases in the book and miniseries. Ambrose was a lazy historian at best. Alas we will never be able to know all the details between the various men as they are now gone and most of their stories were not preserved. But you are doing some great work in this series.
Thanks, I appreciate it.
Ambrose committed the academic sin of taking another historian's work without attribution. That is different from him being inaccurate or deliberately falsifying what happened.
Thank you WW Truth, as a veteran of a later war I like the unvarnished truth about WWII. My dad was in the 17th at Bastogne and Rheinland campagnes. The 101st deserve the glory of holding out at Bastogne, but the 17th and 101st drove the Germans north, away from Bastogne. The 17th is nearly forgotten. They fought just as well.
Your dad was a legend! Thanks for sharing.
Love this channel. Can you do one on RV Burgin? The Pacific only gave us the tip of the iceberg.
I have started on the Pacific with an episode on Eugine Sledge. I will definitely get to Burgin, Basilone and the rest of those guys.
Competent , trustworthy, and intellectual..(And it is amuzing that Sobel didn't quite know how to handle or take Nixon....it messed with his mind).....But he (Nixon) still had his own flaws and withdrew by his own means on dealing with adversity. Even Col. Sink was subject to making very bad decisions...like ordering another raid on the German outpost when the war was all about over just to capture a couple more of low ranking soldaten. It was fruitless, at best; but putting good men at unneccessary risk....just for bragging rights.
Well done . Thank you. I have often wondered why Winters went to work after the war for Lewis Nixon.
"How can you jump with dust on your JUMPWINGS?!?!?!
Band of Brothers was great but it was also a Hollywood drama whose writers wanted to get the best story to attract viewers......It was the fog of war.....with so many sides to the story.......The fact that he went to war for his country is all I need to know.
There is always a lot more to a story than is usually told in just about any event.
As pointed out, many years have gone by and lots of different opinions given.
Good or bad in real life, I think Ron Livingston did a great job on the series.
I respectfully feel that the creator has abit of a bias against Nixon. While there is ZERO excuse for his drunkenness and some of his discipline problems, I think that he is being harped on quite a bit unfairly.
A lot of the information as mentioned in the video is from recollections made decades after the battles fought.
Nixon wasn’t in Easy Co. long so it isn’t surprising that no one had a lot to say about his actions since he wasn’t fighting directly alongside them. Furthermore being an Officer in S2/S3 again as mentioned by the creator it sets up abit of a “Dean to student” relationship. So there isn’t going to be fond memories being brought up like there would be about the men of easy about each other.
Regardless of this though, Winters made statements that praise him, while it is 110% a possibility that he said these out of pity to a friend, there is a even greater(imo) possibility that Winters made these comments based on his own experiences.
There may not be much in the way of evidence, of Nixon leading men into battle, but there is no reason to not believe that he and winters may of had conversations and Nixon offering tactical advice prior to engagements and maneuvers and supported not only winters but others in any other way he could. He showed bravery by running that map to the beaches and making three combat jumps, I believe he did his best to advise based off the intelligence he had at hand. Specifically on the point of the three jumps, yes winters said in the show and maybe even in real life that he was probably the only one to have completed three combat jumps. Is this true? No, there were nineteen men from the division, but so what? 19 out of approximately 17,000 (Counting original men from 06/44 and replacements) is still 0.111% of the entire division and should be something to be proud of regardless. Aren’t we getting close to taking shots at Nixon for stuff said that couldn’t even be attributed to be his fault, it feels like he is starting to split hairs.
As others have already mentioned certain members of Easy Co, have made disparaging comments or stated opinions about others within the company that maybe were not their friends, with those comments and or opinions being wrong or over exaggerated. So there is no reason to not suspect that they wouldn’t or couldn’t make statements regarding officers that were within the Battalion and or Regiment but not within the company.
At the end of the day Nixon wasn’t a saint, he had many problems, but to lambast him when he was doing his job simply because it wasn’t the same job as a riflemen or because someone felt he hadn’t earned the right to make his own opinions is wrong.
EDIT: Added another sentence that I meant to add but hit the add button first
I don't have a bias against any of them. I have watched the series for the past 20 years and decided to properly research the company. I don't take anything from veterans interviews unless it cross checks with what was said at the time. Also my main beef was Winters putting Nixon above most of his other men. To call him the best combat officer he had seen meant putting him above Spiers for example. A ridiculous notion in my opinion.
These guys were all about propping up each others reputations.
One thing about being an officer is you typically don’t get that close camaraderie you’d get as an enlisted man. Officers are rivals and often deeply competitive. You’ll make a few friends but also some bitter enemies. It can be rather lonely and alienating, especially for an early 20-something straight out of university.
Some of the best Soldiers I served with would probably be considered Alcoholics these days. Good times!!
I think I relate to Nixon more than the others because of all the faults. I feel like that’s a lot of the reason why he’s included- I think the beauty of their story is that they represent a group of normal lads with faults who sacrificed their youth for the liberation of Europe. I also think that Winters’ friendship with Nixon says a lot about Winters’ character and the way he deals with Nixon in the series is like a masterclass on soft leadership skills
I can only speak for my basic training as I was Air Force and never served in Squads, Platoons, Companies, but in basic we were a platoon of 80, I barely knew any of the guys in 1,2, or 3 squad. All you really knew were your squad mates even though we went everywhere as a platoon. 43 years later i can remember almost everyone in my squad but hardly anyone else in the platoon, now multiply this times 4 to get the whole company, you sure as heck didn't see any other platoons to socialize or work together.
"Without Capt. Nixon we may have lost WW II"
Reference: Autobiography of Lewis Nixon
Battalions or larger units had a CPT or MAJ, what job (S2 intell?) or what he did all day no one knew. Why did Col Sink keep him around? With Nixon's IVY league smarts he was a good report writer...which reduced Sink's daily paperwork . CPT Nixon could mix with & observe the 506 company grade officers. He was sent as an "observer" on his last combat jump, In BofB episode Winters was writing an after action report & Nixon advised simplicity. He did his job.
Despite your disclaimer, your video comes off as a hit piece to discredit a man who served during WW2. A good S2 is invaluable to a battalion, alcoholic or not. Plenty of soldiers were functioning alcoholics.
Thanks for watching, and the feedback.
It’s interesting how different people view criticism. I didn’t see it as a hit piece but as an honest attempt to see the guy from different perspectives. My beloved father is like you: he would see this as a slight!
@celiacresswell6909 Absolutely, I just feel that the perspective was just a bit biased, and a little disrespectful to the man who served, despite his flaws, that's all. Everyone is entitled to their opinions! I thank you for yours, as well.
Have watched the series a dozen times. And Googled all soldiers since (and I’m a Jersey guy, so the Nixon arc resonates). But before all that, I loved in the series how two seemingly different officers re approach, discipline, background, etc. figured their sh*t out.
It doesn't matter where u served ...The Army..The Navy..The Air corps...or The Marine corps they were all heros
You might want to ad coast guard :)
@@michalsoukup1021 God I am so sorry...The Coast Guard too....they seen alot of action on DDay and in the DDays in the Pacific..True warriors
@@davidmcdonald6804 and they also served on convoy escorts
@@michalsoukup1021 ..that's right buddy
RE: 0:06 "...perfectly good airplane"
Conversation between me and my worried mother at my graduation of Airborne School:
Son, why would you sign up to jump out of a perfectly good airplane?
Mom, there is no such thing as a PERFECTLY good military or civilian airplane.
You're providing good background and supplemental information. I've enjoyed these two reports on Ronald Speirs and Lewis Nixon.
You bring up a good point about stories being told with bias - favoring some individuals and vilifying others. I believe you researched to present the truth as best you could uncover it - and I appreciate that.
A previous respondent said something to the effect that we cannot judge the individuals who weathered the hardship of the war. I agree. Speirs may have committed a war crime. Nixon may have been alcoholic and removed from the action. We all regret the shameful things we and others have done.
I'll end with this: growing up and into early adulthood, I'd hear my parents say they did the best they could. From my point of view, I differed in my opinion. I could see errors and attitudes.
Then, as I got older and could see my own history of bad choices, missed opportunities, operating under the influence of fear - I moderated my opinion of my parents and others who said they did the best that they could do. I tend to be hard on myself; still, I understand that operating in this World is a challenge for us all. None of us are perfect and most of us strive to make good decisions and act in good faith under the circumstances.
Thank you for that comment.
Such interest in these guys and with that comes an appetite to know more about them and for an honest assessment - I don't think this is in anyway disrespectful. They are all heroes and even heroes have idiosyncrasies. Thanks for all the effort you put into your postings and sharing your research. Please keep going!
Thank you. There is plenty more to come.
The hard work that was put into these videos is applauded. But sometimes we just need our heroes to stay the way we remember them from the miniseries.
Fascinating account. It sounds to me as if you you got it right.
Of course Winters was kind to him, he was his best friend. And we all know the show and book were way wrong on more than a few people. So you act like you need to destroy the real man to debunk a Hollywood fantasy
I'm hardly destroying him.
A lot of officers S1, S2, S3, S4,and S6 are staff sections hovered between HQ and the companies in various functions.
They usually were captains who were great to be around and likable. Some were new lieutenant's from OCS who were put in HQ for the clerical exercise as they probably were very good at it.
Usually they did not qualify very well with their HQ tank platoon at gunnery but we loved their effort and gave them more 120mm rounds to fire as they were trying to do their best.
@6:32 "grazed by a (enemy) bullet" = Purple Heart
Going from Battalion S-2, to another Battalion S-3 is not a demotion. It's a shift in staff position. Most Soldiers would consider Operations to be a better area to serve in. That's where ALL the planning is, or where the planning from higher, is implemented. You also need to reword "he would have been killed, an idiot" to something less disrespectful, such as "died foolishly, or needlessly." I served in support of the combat troops, in Iraq, commanding a medical battalion. While I was not a front line commander, and never fired my weapon, I, and all 350+ members of my subordinate units, did our duty. Some of my people sustained minor wounds from indirect fire (homemade mortars). Some of my behavioral health Soldiers were murdered by a disgruntled Soldier. Some physicians in Mosul, on Christmas Day, were killed by indirect fire. You should be very careful in how you word things. From the series, we know that Winters didn't fire his weapon, after that crossing attack. Yes. He was often on the line, leading his men. But, we all have our roles. If LTC Moore, the Dental Corps officer/periodontist, and his merry band of medics, and Medical Service Corps officers is leading the combat charge, the war effort is in real trouble.
Its seems during WW2 if you went from battalion to regiment it was a promotion and vice versa. Yeah I cant change wording the wording now but it was certainly reckless.
Webster and Nixon were from richer families, Ivy League educated and probably the more complex of individuals which resulted in Hollywood featuring them more often as well as Winters relationship with Nixon.
Webster narrated episode 8, The Last Patrol and did a terrific job. The angle of him returning after 4 months of being in the hospital was an excellent angle that gave the average viewer some insight into how one is treated upon entering a battle hardened company. I believe Hanks and Spielberg were more interested in getting the bigger picture across to the viewers.
Websters book is one of the best pieces written by Easy company men and I have read most books about Easy. His thoughtful insights and keen observations, which I believe Ambrose wrote is comparable to Hemingway’s.
Webster was always late, last in line and was intrested more in his own endeavors as opposed to the Company’s , Yes. However I believe that without Websters written words which was penned in the late 50’s as opposed to Ambrose writing and interviewing in the 1990’s that we have a more realistic glimpse into the daily life of a combat infantry unit.
As for Nixon, both of which are some of my favorite characters’…maybe you are right, maybe I should give it up, right here on the front of the allied advance.’
Drinking?
No, hiding it in your footlocker for Christ sake. I’m a captain …’
CHEERS
I'm about to do a video on Webster vs the last patrol. He was treated pretty terribly in that episode compared to what's in his own memoirs.
Your videos are excellent and well researched. My question is are you aware of any records such as aircraft manifests or morning reports which indicate that Nixon actually jumped with the 17th on Varsity? I'm not disputing whether he did or didn't just curious to see which regiment he jumped with. I'm thinking that the 513th may have had observers from other units since they were using the C-46 commando for the first time and the method of jumping was different from the C-47 as paratroops were able to jump from both sides of the fuselage. Keep up the good work!
Thank you for your comment.
I have tried to find that information but so far no good. Apparently General Taylor asked Nixon to make the jump in order to observe the 17th's intelligence staff before and after the jump. If I had a stab id say he was with regimental HQ. I don't know much about the 17th to be honest.
My personal opinion the author director of this video is full of crap, I have read multiple books about the 506 and easy written by the actual members if the unit and none have ever said that they didn't feel that he was not a good soldier and like any person they all had their likes and dislikes of people.i simply feel that for what ever reason the author here is just having a burr up his butt..Nixon had many foughts but cowardice and unjustified being called part of Easy is just crazy he did everything that everyone else did it's easy for someone to sit on the side years later and bash him...
Thanks for the feedback.
With this information I believe Nixon was well represented in the series. Nothing here surprised me. Even while watching the show when it is clear that some things are perhaps a little romanticized, it's also clear that the character Nixon is a difficult person with serious problems but also some good traits.
That's a good balanced take.
Sometimes screenwriters have to feature minor characters in order to shed light on the perplexity of war, and the varying mental effects individual soldiers experienced.
Bolstering Nixon in Band of Brothers also helped in further developing the on screen Richard Winters character.
He was also the device for exposition, popping up to summarize what just happened and how it mattered and how the war was going, etc.
I’m enjoying the content and always thought Winters covered for Nixon a lot but I know you do things for friends sometimes that you can’t explain, one person I didn’t understand and wondered what you may have found about Lt.shames, he is mentioned in the series a little, when Winters is trying to find a replacement for Lt. Dyke,But shames did his own videos on you tube and always seems to have a bad attitude about winters, and the series in general,wondered what you thought of him and maybe he felt mis represented, great channel….jim
.????
Thanks. Yes Ill be doing videos on Shames and Peacock in the future.
Listening to your first bit here... I wish the HBO series had included shifty powers more from listening to the interviews later on with alot members of easy he seemed like maybe the best on the battle field soldier in easy and he has just small parts.
Ill be posting a video on Shifty tomorrow.
A lot of these stories are kinda sad.
As far as Nixon getting too much attention, I think part of the issue is the actor playing the part. He hit a tone that was very different than other characters. It caught the troubled man in Nixon. He did an excellent job and when he was on screen, he got the attention. There was nothing forced. As for being Winter’s best friend, Winters never had to pose for Nixon, he could relax and do his job. And sometimes two people just like each other better. That’s just how friendship works.
I don think Winters was enough of a force in the series where as Nixon was a much bigger presence than he would have been IRL. Most of the enlisted men probably never saw the guy.
Ambrose needs to be taken with a shovel of salt. I stopped reading his works.
No matter what, truth is everything; you cannot talk of anything history unless it is truth.
Yup, unless you’ve been there done that, no position to judge. I guess no matter the situation, people are gonna get along or not, but professionals will work together to get the job done regardless.
It's normal in life
There are people that like/love us
And there are people that don't
People have different characters
Jake McNiece (one of the Filthy 13) made FOUR combat jumps during the war, not just Overlord and Market-Garden, but also in Varsity and jumped into Bastogne as a pathfinder during the siege of Bastogne.