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“He’s not a bad leader because he makes bad decisions,” explains First Sergeant C. Carwood Lipton in Band of Brothers. “He’s a bad leader because he makes no decisions” (( Hanks, Tom, and Steven Spielberg, creators. Band of Brothers. HBO Enterprises, 2001. )). Those words, narrated over a bleak winter scene of broken trees, set the stage for one of the most realistic, complex episodes the series has to offer.
During the Battle of the Bulge in WWII, the stakes couldn’t have been higher. The Allied forces fought in the forests of Belgium toward the German border. The temperature hovered around 0 degrees Fahrenheit. If there was a time good leadership was essential, it was then. And yet, when the American Easy Company needed their First Lieutenant most, he was nowhere to be found. This story, grippingly retold in the seventh episode of the HBO classic Band of Brothers, recounted a real event that cost dozens of men their lives.
Although the entire series is arguably a historical fiction masterpiece, with its gritty and realistic portrayal of an airborne company active on the western front during WWII, it is the episode “The Breaking Point,” written by Graham Yost, that has transcended the world of entertainment and made a mark on the modern American military. Every year, the Air Force shows recruits “The Breaking Point” to demonstrate the importance of effective leadership and the dangers of incompetent authority. Three particular turning points highlight key moments of leadership — whether bad or good — that define the future for soldiers and nations alike.
Loose Luger
In the first third of “The Breaking Point,” Band of Brothers shows Corporal Donald Hoobler kill a German SS officer and take his gun — a Luger Pistol. Hoobler, who has wanted a Luger since Normandy, shows off his bounty to fellow soldiers. During his demonstration, Hoobler accidentally shoots himself in the leg and bleeds out within minutes. Their commanding officer, First Lieutenant Norman Dike, is nowhere to be found. Lieutenant Lipton, the narrator of the episode and a lower-ranking officer, reports Hoobler’s death up the chain of command. When his Captain, Winters, asks about why Lipton is delivering the news instead of Dike, Lipton covers for him. Both men know Dike is not fit to lead, and neither can do anything about it.
Captain Winters, in charge of the regiment, recognizes that he has limited leadership options. Every day, more officers suffer injuries, mental breakdowns, or death. Of the men he has left, Dike is not only well-connected but the only choice. As for Lipton, as a subordinate of both Winters and Dike, his one option is to do the best he can with what he has. Although Dike’s absence is not directly to blame for Hoobler’s death, his lack of leadership clearly promoted a dangerously casual atmosphere among the men. While it may seem obvious that an incompetent commander could be disastrous in the heat of battle, the episode clarifies that the presence of a leader is needed even when the ammunition is not.
Cowardice In The Conifers
While attempting to clear out the woods near Foy, Belgium, Easy Company gets bombarded. The Germans shelled the woods heavily, killing men as they huddle in their fox holes. Lieutenant Dike, terrified and inept, runs from the attack with a flimsy excuse and leaves Lipton in charge. Again, Lipton covers for him. And again, the leader’s absence takes its toll.
“Fear is poison in combat… It’s destructive, and it’s contagious.”
– Lieutenant Lipton (( Hanks, Tom and Steven Spielberg, creators. Band of Brothers. HBO Enterprises, 2001. )).
The men know their leader is afraid. As they draw closer and closer to the major battle that will meet them when they attempt to take Foy from the Germans, that fear expands. Another officer, one trusted by the men, suffers a nervous breakdown. Captain Winters is again faced with no options but to leave Dike in his position. Lipton, desperate, finally voices his concern. Winters listens. But again, both men know there is nothing to be done.
“Lieutenant Dike is an empty uniform, Captain… Tomorrow’s going to be the real deal, and he’s going to have to lead those men. He’s going to have to make decisions, sir, and I got to tell you, I think he’s going to get a lot of those men killed.”
– Lieutenant Lipton (( Hanks, Tom and Steven Spielberg, creators. Band of Brothers. HBO Enterprises, 2001. )).
A Finale In Foy
At last, the time comes for Easy Company to liberate Foy from the German occupation. Winters gives Dike his orders, and the incompetent commander marches his men into battle. At first, it seems as if all might go according to plan. But then, in the middle of an open field under heavy German fire, Dike freezes. Lipton shouts at him to keep moving, but he is unable to convince him to continue the attack. Instead, Dike insists that they are only to provide suppression fire.
“We’re going to be kind of alone out there, Lieutenant.”
– A soldier from Band of Brothers (( Hanks, Tom and Steven Spielberg, creators. Band of Brothers. HBO Enterprises, 2001. )).
Dike refuses to listen. The soldier is gunned down. Winters, watching from the woods, realizes that unless he wants to lose the entire company, he must change leadership. He calls on an unknown commander from a different company, Lieutenant Speirs, to take over. Together, Speirs and Lipton manage to work together with the soldiers and take the town. After the battle, while the men recuperate in a convent, Lipton tells Speirs how grateful he is that the men finally have a leader they can trust. Speirs reminds him that the men had a leader all along — Lipton.
Band of Brothers, as a series, exudes a haunting quality rare in TV. Perhaps it is because the show is based on true events. Perhaps it is the sepia tones and the understated score. Or, as is so evident in “Breaking Point,” perhaps it is because the weight of each decision, each mistake, plays out in excruciating detail on screen. Human weakness — and human strength — are laid bare by the battlefields. With soldiers in faded green fatigues battling through mud and snow and mortar shells, those scenes relentlessly remind viewers of the stakes. Real men inspired those scenes. And now, in turn, Band of Brothers inspires real men to fight, to persevere, and to lead.