THE SCREAMING EAGLES AKA THE 101st AIRBORNE AND A FEW OTHER UNITS IN MOVIES, TELEVISION, BOOKS AND GAMES AND AN EARLY LOOK AT CALL OF DUTY WHICH LOOKS LIKE A GREAT FPS! This is my favorite unit in WWII or since for that matter. I guess it goes back to a trip up to 12th Street NE to the movies in Washington D.C. with my grandma in 1944 or 1945. I was 8 years old and after the movies (there were two movies at a showing then known as double features with cartoons, newsreels and maybe a serial like Batman or Don Winslow of the Navy-to be continued next week and they cost 9 cents admission- unbelievable now eh? when it's a $ 20 bill even for a matinee with popcorn and a drink) anyway my grandma bought me a booklet which had paper cutouts of the 101st Airborne paratroopers. Wow, the Screaming Eagles with those great shoulder patches and the tough as nails troopers of WWII! They were my heroes. We didn't have any sort of modern figures then. Paper dolls were the best we had. Metal toy soldiers were almost unknown. Did Britains precede WWII? Anybody know? Why do the 101st Screaming Eagles have more mystique even today than the 82nd All America Division who were more experienced and had more drops? I think it's McAuliffe's reply to the German envoy "NUTS" and the legend of the Battered (Battling) Bastards of Bastogne. The 82nd had just as much or more claim to fame but somehow never quite got the credit they richly deserved. Perhaps Jim Gavin just didn't have the flare of Maxwell Taylor (who served under Gavin with the 82nd prior to D-Day) and McAuliffe. 'Tis a puzzlement! However, I just finished a good book on the 101st titled "101st Airborne The Screaming Eagles At Normandy" by Mark Bando who specializes in the 101st and the 2nd Armored Division. I have his "Breakout at Normandy: the 2nd Armored Division in the Land of the Dead" (also recommended). He points out in the 101 st book on p. 141 that "two-thirds of the 6,600 paratroopers who jumped into France wearing the All-America patch were also new to combat" so perhaps the experience factor is not so great as I surmised. There are other books with much more detail but those are for the really Hard Core folks! Lots of great stuff coming out now for the 60th anniversary of D-Day. There have been some really good movies about the 101st. The first one I ever saw was "Battleground" which is available in the original B&W or Colorized if you can find it. An excellent film about the Battered Bastards of Bastogne with a superb cast. Lots of actors you will see in other films. Van Johnson leads a great ensemble cast featuring James Whitmore, John Hodiak, Don Taylor, Ricardo Montalban, a very young Richard Jaeckel (boy is he in a lot of movies), George Murphy (future Senator from California setting the stage for Ronny), James Arness (star of Gunsmoke on TV and the original Thing Monster in the original "The Thing From Another World" movie circa 1950 which scared the &%A$ out of me when I was in the eighth grade) in a bit role -see if you can spot him and the buxom Denise Darcel as the lone female. Va Va Voom for those of us who like full figured women. These men appear to be from the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment of the 101st if you look and listen carefully at the beginning of the film. Then there is of course "The Longest Day" which I have in B&W and in Color. I really prefer the color version but then I'm not a purist. Every summer I have to argue with my fellow cinema nut Bob Ceci at our condo in Oscoda Michigan that Colorized is better but he never gives up the battle! The 101st only has a small but good part in that one. Next came "Saving Private Ryan"! Wow, what a great Classic! You not only get some Screaming Eagles but they are amalgamated with a squad of 2nd Rangers who then take on a kampfgruppe of the 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich"! I wondered where they got the beautiful Tiger tanks. The extra features on the Band of Brothers DVDs tell us the answer. It turns out it/they are mounted on T-34 chassis and are the same vehicles used as Tigers in "Band of Brothers" and in the movie "Kelly's Heroes" with Clint Eastwood and a cast of great folks, Don Rickles, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland etc. Another great movie in my book! Private Ryan is perhaps the best WWII movie ever made so far with the possible exception of "Cross of Iron" based on the superb book by Willi Heinrich. The book is very hard to find but I just found a copy in Florida at Haslam Books in St. Petersberg. Great book store! ! Worth a visit if you go to St. Pete. The other book by Willi "Crack of Doom" which I have is very graphic and I don't think could be made into a movie (too many really gruesome things such as hangings by piano wire by Czech partisans) but who knows with today's standards! This great movie (Cross of Iron) by Sam Peckinpah was made in 1976 and is available on DVD. BUY IT!!!! James Coburn leads a German Recon Platoon in the Kuban bridgehead in late 1943 after Kursk. These troops are the remnants of the German push into the Caucasus in 1942 and as usual Adolf insists on holding the ground. The cast includes James Mason, David Warner, Maximilian Schell and a host of European unknown actors plus a little T and A. The movie was made in Hungary which explains the absolutely gorgeous T-34/85s which were the standard tank in the Hungarian army at the time and are authentic! Weapons, uniforms, and all the other details are perfect as far as I can tell. I really look for the details because so many films are so bogus. I'm not sure about the Russian planes but they look like LA-7s, Would be happy to hear from anyone if they know better. What can I say about BAND OF BROTHERS that you have not already heard or seen? I have the DVD boxed collector edition (wonderful) and the book by Stephen E. Ambrose. Both are worth the price! World War II magazine has a special collector's edition on Band of Brothers just out. It is worth buying as well as their special editions for the 60th anniversary of Normandy! If you want more detail then get George Koskimaki's trilogy. These are "D-Day', "Hell's Highway" and "Bastogne". I found it slow reading but if you want more detail you can't beat them. Consider buying Ambrose's book "Citizen Soldiers". It is an eye opener. I never knew we had so many casualties. Those krauts were tough opponents. Call of Duty I have been playing a great WWII computer game for most of the winter. It is "CALL OF DUTY" It is the best FPS (First Person Shooter) game I have ever played. You must have a good, up to date, 3-D video card for this game! I really don't usually like FPS games because at age 66 I don't have the digital skill that the kids have. My six year old grandson can do as well or better but doesn't have the guts to keep trying that I do. Tough game. You will get killed often but resurrect quite well. This game is a lot of fun if you don't get frustrated easily. Lots of weapons and scenarios! All of them are good. Some are super! You as Private Martin (FPS) start out in training camp at Camp Toccoa as a Private in the 101st Airborne Screaming Eagles. CURAHEE! This is worth doing. I still have trouble with demolition charges. You have to get out of Dodge fast after setting them which I find difficult at times! After the training camp which is excellent-pay attention, the briefing is well done. Then we are off to Normandy as a Pathfinder. Great fun but beware the Germans are not pushovers. Fortunately, you can start again from the last save which may be a while ago. You set up a beacon for your brothers to use as a landing point. They come in and you join with them to defend the Landing Zone. You and your ad hoc squad then advance into Ste. Mere Eglise which must be cleared with the destruction of three Flak Panzer 38ts. All this is done before dawn. Lots of great fighting with your M-1 carbine or a Garand which I prefer to switch to early on and a Thompson for close work plus a 1911 45 pistol which I have so far never used. You also have some grenades which come in handy. Come morning you must defend Ste. Mere Eglise from a fierce counterattack by German Fallshirmjagers supported by artillery and armor. Pick up a Fallshirmjagergewehr-42 in exchange for your M-1 as soon as possible and ammo when you see it. This is a great scoped machine gun which can be used single shot as a great sniper weapon or in short bursts. You must get to the church to get Panzerfausts to knock out two or three kraut tanks. Get one in exchange for your Thompson. You must return to the church each time to get another Panzerfaust. Next you have to kill the German mortar positions which is a tough sniper mission. They are well protected by MG-42s. There are no radios available so you take a wild car ride 6 kms to HQ to get reinforcements. Your Gewehr 42 is again very useful used as a sniper weapon. Brecourt Manor is next. This is the mission to knock out the guns which here are six 88s instead of the four 105s seen in this attack portrayed so well in "Band of Brothers" episode 2. Lots of fun and difficult. Your Gewhr 42 (found in a bunker with the first documents) once again is very useful. Discard your Thompson when it gets a bit low on ammo and pick up an MP40 for which you can pick up lots of ammo from dead Germans. Continue to the manor house, take and defend it. You are now selected as part of a special OSS squad and parachute into Austria to rescue two RAF officers who have important information about the Eder Dam (which you will assault in the British missions). I usually don't care much for this type of mission. There are too many of these in FPS games for my taste. This is an exception. You must assault a Chateau where they are being held. Beware! There are lots of Krauts and they are pretty good. Tons of fighting here and lots of fun. Be sure to pick up an MP40 soon and keep it as there is plenty of ammo from fallen Germans. Great scenario but a disappointment awaits you. The rescue of Captain Price ( who will be seen later) is accomplished but the Germans have moved Major Ingram to a prison camp. Damn! Now you have to pull him out of a prison camp with lots of guards but once again you have your squad to help. The problem here is you and your guys must break in, rescue the major and get out in ten minutes flat. Wow, is this hard to do. You must get the layout of the camp down cold and move quickly and efficiently. I had a lot of trouble with this one because I'm not real fast playing these games. Finally managed it after many tries!!! That's all there is folks for the 101st. Now you become Sgt.Evans of the British 6th Airborne Division arriving by glider at Pegasus Bridge. There are two scenarios here and they are both great. The first is the taking of the bridge over the Orne Canal. The second is holding the bridge against fierce counterattacks by the Germans who throw everything at you. Infantry, tanks, artillery and they keep coming. These are difficult but great fun. You must use your weapons and German weapons too. I still am not very good with the MG-42. You next join Captain Price's squad and parachute into the Eder Dam to knock out the AA guns so the RAF can skip bomb the Dam. The rest of the Brit missions are tough and a little boring. The wild truck ride to the airfield and the airfield escape are fun but I think disabling the Tirpitz is boring albeit tough and a bit redundant after the chateau scenario with the 101st. The bad news is you have to go through the Tirpitz scenario. The good news is you then go on to the Absolutely Great stuff in Russia!!! This is awesome! You are Alexei Ivanovich Voronin a conscript from the Urals who is being sent into Stalingrad. This starts as a scenario right out of "Enemy At The Gates". You are on a barge crossing the Volga to Stalingrad. The Germans are strafing and bombing with Stukas et al. Be sure to crouch or you are dead! Getting through the deadly fire and into the city is very difficult!! Good Luck! The next mission continues through Red Square and the Train Station in Stalingrad. The Rat War as the Germans called it. Next you go through the sewers and on to Pavlov's House (very difficult-you must map the house to survive) and the Tank Factory. But you're still not out of the Rattenkrieg and it's on to the Tank Factory Railyard. All this fighting in Stalingrad is great stuff and very challenging even at Greenhorn level. This is awesome simulation at its' best. You will die many times Comrade! Finally we arrive at mine and my grandson's favorite scenarios. We are drafted to become the commander of a T-34/85 in 1944 or early 1945. This is great fun for a tank commander and gunner. You can do both but my grandson at age 5 likes to be the gunner. He does well but we still get killed often. There are no health kits for tanks. These are two short scenarios (a country and a town fight) and these are great beer and pretzels battles. Beware, the Kraut tanks are not always the same or in the same places. There are three final missions. One for each ally. The first is the 101st again. We must penetrate a forest area in Belgium and capture documents which locate V-2 sites. This is fun and then we pass on to the Brits who go in to destroy the V-2 rocket sites, another good sweet scenario. Then we have the Crowning Glory! The last battle is for Berlin and culminates in the capture of the Reichstag with the Russkies on the roof with the flag. I recommend highly the Brady Games Official Strategy Guide which helped me a lot especially in the regular and hardened campaigns which are very tough!!!! Best wishes to all! Back to MWAN # 131 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2004 Legio X This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com