a history of violence

September 02, 2010, 9:12pm

Band of Brothers: Part 3, Carentan (2001)

Goodbye tumblr, I am off to my painting lab!

September 02, 2010, 12:24pm

Nobody did the Thousand Yard Stare better than Blithe.

September 01, 2010, 6:23pm

Second Lieutenant Thomas A. Peacock

Band of Brothers: Part 7, The Breaking Point (2001)

August 30, 2010, 8:47pm

Gordon brushed snow from his weapon and the ammo box adjacent to the gun, telling his assistant, Pvt. Stephen Grodzki, to look sharp, pay attention to detail. A shot from a German riflemen rang out. The bullet hit Gordon in the left shoulder and exited from the right shoulder. It had brushed his spinal column; he was paralyzed from the neck down.

He slid to the bottom of his foxhole. “The canteen cup followed me and the hot liquid spilled in my lap. I can see the stream rising upward to this very day.”

Chapter 12: The Breaking Point
Band of Brothers, Stephen E. Ambrose

August 23, 2010, 9:24pm

 In 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The US fleet was crippled. Ten hours later, across the Pacific, they attacked the Philippines, clearing the way for an overwhelming occupation of the islands. US forces, including 10,000 Americans and 60,000 Filipinos pulled back to the Bataan peninsula. Without a Navy to rescue them, with their backs to the sea, they were trapped.

Despite promises to the contrary, President Roosevelt and his military high command, decided to focus first on Europe, and on stopping Hitler. This strategy effectively seals the fate of the Philippines and the men trapped on Bataan. Under orders, and against his wishes, General MacArthur escapes to Australia, vowing to return. After four months of fighting without supplies, starving American and Filipino troops surrender to the Japanese Imperial army. It is the largest single defeat in the history of the American military.

Unequipped to house or feed 70,000 prisoners of war, the Japanese take the weaken soldiers on a brutal sixty miles forced march. Men who fall out of line are bayoneted or shot. 15,000 perish on what would become known as the Bataan Death March. The surviving POWs are herded into various camps: O’Donnell, Cabantuan, and Palawan. The Japanese guards view surrender as a disgrace, and treat them viciously. Thousands die from disease, starvation, and abuse.

By 1944 however, the tide of battle changes. With each new victory American forces advance on Japan. With each new defeat the Japanese army becomes more desperate. Fueled by years of propaganda, they believe that Americans will show no mercy. The Government in Tokyo encourages these fears, convincing its people that they must prepare to defend their country to the death.

On August 1st, 1944, the Tokyo War Ministry releases a memo, dictating the Japanese army’s policies towards prisoners of war. It reads: It is the aim not to allow the escape of a single one. To annihilate them all, and not leave any traces.

The Great Raid (2005)

August 23, 2010, 1:34pm

“Walter’s face was ashen and his eyes closed,” Lipton recalled. “He looked more dead than alive.” In the extreme cold, it seemed to Lipton that the plasma was flowing too slowly, so he took the bottle from Roe and put it under his arm inside his clothes to warm it up.

Chapter 12: The Breaking Point
Band of Brothers, Stephen E. Ambrose

August 23, 2010, 1:04am

Come here, Tip. You gotta sit down. Come on. Ah, Jesus…you hang in there, buddy. We’re gonna get you fixed up, all right?

Band of Brothers: Part 3, Carentan (2001)

August 21, 2010, 6:32pm