MAY 12, 2023
On Sunday evening at 9:00pm, during the fall of 2001, your Elevator Guy was prepared mentally and spiritually, to be moved to tears with each episode of “Band of Brothers,” an HBO Epic Mini-Series, which was based on historian Stephen E. Ambrose’s 1992 non-fiction book “Band of Brothers.” Ironically, the first episode began on September 9th, which, if you haven’t forgotten, was just two days before 9/11/01. Like many Americans at the time, my emotions were running high and the need to understand was keen as to “What are we fighting for? and “Why we fight.”
This series tells the story of Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army, from jump training in the United States through its participation in Europe, starting from the D-Day landings in June of 1944 until the fall of Germany in May of 1945. Based on interviews, journals, and letters, this 10-part series chronicles the experiences of young men who knew extraordinary bravery and extraordinary fear. It is heartening because it defies cynicism and reveals the realities of courage, compassion, and brotherhood as real men in a horrendous war experienced suffering and sacrifice daily. If you are at all interested in manhood, brotherhood, leadership, and love for one another, here are a few poignant quotes from the series.
- “In thinking back on the days of Easy Company, I’m treasuring my remark to a grandson who asked, “Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?” “No,” I answered, “but I served in a company of heroes.” Mike Rooney
- “They hadn’t come here to fear. They hadn’t come here to die. They had come to win.” Harry F. Welsh
- “You had to be a little awed that you were part of a thing that was so much greater than you.” Gordon Carson
- “No war can be won without young men dying. Those things which are precious are saved only by sacrifice.” Stephen E. Ambrose
- “Winters prayed the whole way over, prayed to live through it, prayed that he wouldn’t fail.” Captain Richard Winters, Easy Company
This ordinary group of young men found combat to be ugliness, destruction, and hated it. Anything was better than the blood and carnage, the grime and filth, the impossible demands on the body….anything that is, except letting down their buddies. They found that in war, men who loved life, would give their lives for their brothers. In combat, they also found the closest brotherhood they ever knew. They discovered selflessness and sacrifice. They found they could love the other guy in their foxhole more than themselves.
As you reflect on this Elevator Guy remark today, keep in mind the fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers, that fought so valiantly to allow us all the freedoms we often take for granted today. Just part of our country’s long heritage of self-sacrifice esprit de corps, and comradery that is missing in our society and organizations today.
What are you fighting for? We all need to be warriors and fight for something. Why not make it noble and honorable by fighting for others? Fight for those religious freedoms that began the soul of our nation. Fight for what is right and not for what man tells you is right. God is in charge, so why not fight the good fight for HIM. You just might change what you are fighting for in life.
Elevator Guy
Quote for the Day; “Nobody can hurt me without my permission.” Mahatma Gandhi