After watching episode seven of the Band of Brothers, I feel that the show actually depicts the real effects of war. Firstly, it shows the emotional effects it has on the soldiers. For example, when Lieutanent Buck Compton saw two other soldiers, who were his friends, being seriously wounded after a series of artillery barrage, he became mentally unstable. And furthermore, before this incident, he was a good combat leader and experienced but because of the horrors of war he had seen, he was traumatized especially when it was his friends who were injured or killed. This part shows how war actually affects a person's state of mind. Another example for this is when a soldier tried to dig a foxhole with his bare hands after an artillery barrage, even until his hands were bleeding. This showed that soldiers would loose their state of mind and do things that a normal human being would not do, and this is how a real war would affect a soldier. Secondly, the show also show the hardship the soldiers has to endure. For example, in the battle of Foy, many soldiers were being shot down and in the end, soldiers were also killed by snipers. And before that, during the artillery barrage, a soldier's leg was blown off and this shows the cruelty of war. From other readings, it says that easy company fought in cold weather under German artillery fire without winter clothing and with limited rations and ammunition. In the battle of Foy, it was snowing, with the soldiers wearing a rather thin layer of clothing and they were shivering from the cold. This shows that they have to fight in extreme conditions, showing the hardships these soldiers have to go through during a war. And they were continuously subjected to artillery firing. Hence, this two points shows that Band of Brothers does not romantisize the story of easy company.
However, some parts of Band of Brothers does romantisize war in general. As there were a few parts in episode 7 of Band of Brothers, “Breaking Point”, that might not happen in a real war. The first one, which is also the most eye-catching part, was when Lieutanent Speirs ran towards German soldiers to get in contact with another company. He was not shot down and the Germans did little to resist his “advance”. This would not be really possible in a real war as the enemy would usually shoot at an enemy at first sight. Another part was during the artillery barrage before the battle of Foy. During the barrage, the show showed little casualties, even though two soldiers received serious injuries. Furthermore, even though the soldiers received serious injuries, in a real war, the soldiers would have probably been killed in a real war as the artillery bomb shell exploded right in front of them, which in a real war, would have been fatal. Even though it shows the cruelty of war, it hides more of it then show it. Another part is when the soldiers also joked during the bombings. For example, when a soldier was pinned down in his foxhole after the first bombings, he joked that he “overdid his foxholes”. This would not really happen in a real war as the soldiers would be focused in fighting the war, caring more for their own lives than to joke with others. Hence, some parts of the Band of Brothers romantisizes war in general.
Overall, the Band of Brothers does romantisize war in general. Even though it depicts some effects of war, it still hides the real effects and most of the effects of a war.
When The History Channel's broadcasted Band of Brothers on-air and it was sponsored by the US Army, it was to show people not only how the American soldiers fought in a war and their experiences, but also to show how a war affects us. I feel that this is significant as this broadcasting is sponsored by the US army, suggesting that the US army wants to spread the message of how a war looks like and maybe, to let other people know how the Americans had became victorious in the previous war.
