Albert Blithe - The WW2/Korean War Hero Killed Off By Hanks & Spielberg In Band of Brothers

The WW2 series Band of Brothers is a cult classic but there was at least one terrible piece of misinformation stated at the end of episode 3 - 'Carentan'.

A lot of this information was taken from the Normandy 1944 website who either interviewed or used a transcript from Albert Blithes Son, Gordon.

Band of Brothers Piano Music by Noud Van Harskamp (Michael Kamen)

[War_And_Truth]

I mention in this video that Blithe served with the 82nd airborne in Korea where he in fact he served with the 187th Airborne (under the command of Ronald Speirs)

[swankles]

Thanks for giving Albert Blithe the respect he was due 😊

[ronbutler]

Don't take your history from movies. Don't get your physics from Roadrunner cartoons.

[michaelst]

it's well known in Hollywood: "Never let the TRUTH get in the way of a good story".

[christopherlarsen]

I served in four US Infantry regiments, and two combat theaters. I managed to keep in touch with a small handful of buddies from three of the regiments, but never heard from anyone from my fourth regiment. After more than 20 years, I happened across a 10-year-old military article about a good friend from that last regiment. I found his contact information and reached out. He thought it was a hoax - they all thought I was dead! A Soldier had died with a very similar name, but they'd assumed it was me and of course never attempted to contact a man they thought was deceased. You should have seen the face of an old corporal who worked for me as a junior leader in my platoon. He was retiring as a Command Sergeant Major after 30 years of service. I walked into his retirement ceremony and he shouted across the room - "I thought you were DEAD!" The point is, sometimes the information gets mixed up and lost.

[ColinH]

Thank you for setting the record straight on a brave man.

[edmundgonzalez]

We took the Stephen Ambrose Band of Brothers tour in July 2019. Our tour historian was Chris Anderson and a guide was George Luz Jr. Chris was asked by Ambrose to be one of the creators of his BoB tour. George is, well you know... They used as many of the vets as possible to retrace their steps from Taccoa though the end of the war for the tour even having them travel to the actual sites to ensure the accuracy of the tour. As such, Chris became close friends with Winters as well as many of the remaining Easy Company veterans. One of Chris's repeated lines was, 'Yeah, it didn't happen that way'. As per Chris (who would have heard it from the surviving members), Blithe's wound was so bad that nobody thought he could have survived. Likely exaggeration but one person said that it looked like you could have put your fist in the hole. Was also stated that he never attended any of the reunions, so it was just assumed he died. He said that it wasn't till after the series came out that Blithe's family came out and corrected the record.
Anyway that's the way I heard it. This does seems to be very common throughout the war (probably all wars). Also happened with Ed Tipper after he was hit by the mortar/artillery round in Carentan (episode 3). Nobody thought he could survive that and his friends were sure he died. So they were happy to meet up with him at the reunions. Like others here have said this wasn't a documentary but it is one hell of a series. There is a really good Dick Winters interview on YouTube where he praises Blithe.

[danweyant]

He went and fought in ANOTHER war? After multiple purple hearts!? No Bone Spurs on THAT guy.

[b.snider]

Thanks for airing this fault in the series. This hero deserves the utmost respect and valor one can receive!

[USNveteran]

When my father in law finally opened up to me it was about 1995, 50 years after the end of WWII. He was in his 70's and had a hard time remembering (justifiable after that much time) but was able to and eventually told me several of his stories from his time in the Navy in WWII. I feel truly fortunate to have heard some of his stories as well as my brothers father in law who was a Marine in WWII. We miss you Brownie & Norm. FLY NAVY!!!

[Glen.Danielsen]

Bette Davis: “I don’t take the movies seriously, and anyone who does is in for a headache.”

[MrJal]

Because as great as the book was, Ambrose had a mancrush on Dick Winters, and was intellectually lazy and dishonest regarding soldiers like Blithe, Nixon (Who wasnt well liked by his comrades) and Sobel. He built up Nixon, Winters' best friend, and did hatchet jobs on Blithe and Sobel. DK Webster got a short shrift also...

If you dont believe me, look up critiques on some of Ambrose work, to include BoB. He really was a hack.

[loudini]

The German Fallschirmjager (paratroopers) would not have worn edelweiss on their uniforms. The Gebirgsjager (German Mountain division) wore a patch that was an image of edelweiss on their uniforms.

[littleguy]

Imagine going to the reunions and years later your buddy tells Ambrose a completely wrong version of your death.

[glenndower]

There is a Dick Winters interview about Blithe. I found out from that interview that Blithe eventually received a Bronze Star and a Silver Star for his actions on Korea in addition to his Purple Heart for his actions in Europe. I had no idea.

[michaelhayden]

As I understand it it the Blythe family attempted a number of times to have these errors corrected but with out any success.

[HoldTheLine]

Very nice to clear up and clarify his story.
It’s sad the DVD pack doesn’t have this info.

[lelandnanny]

The photo of Richard Winters and Damian Walshe Howling is incorrect. That is Damian Lewis an English actor.

[MrEsMysteriesMagicks]

Not surprised that Ambrose got it wrong. He was a lazy historian who almost never researched his facts. His books are renowned for their inaccuracies and falsehoods.

[andym]

Spielberg. When he was asked why he didn't portray or mention any Brits in 'Saving Private Ryan' he said " There were no Brits at Omaha". He was wrong about that too.