This episode and the next one are filmed inside massive hangars, indoors. 300,000lbs of shredded paper and plastic pellets are used to replicate snow. They brought in real trees, and used foam ones rigged with explosives to simulate artillery strikes. The actors were sweating so much they needed to wipe their faces between takes. Renee and Augusta were real persons, helping the wounded during the siege, though there are no records of Doc Roe meeting Renee. She was killed during the bombardment, trying to evacuate wounded soldiers. She had been saving a silk parachute to make a dress, and men from the 101st brought her body back to her family wrapped in that parachute. Guarnere was looking for a joint called Lulu's last episode and now he's got an infection, had too much fun there ;) Winters kept shaving to uphold morale among his men, if they saw him still taking the time to shave, theyd think that the situation possibly couldn't be that bad.. Gordon, who was paralyzed, eventually regained mobility in his limbs, though he would suffer severe back pain the rest of his life. People would come hug him or pat him on the back, causing him great pain, but he'd always make a point to not let it show. And, i like to think that Doc Roe using Renee's scarf to bandage Babe's hand signifies Renee's last act of healing from beyond. But, more pragmatically, it shows the need for the men to not dwell on whats done, and focus on what's happening now.

Renée Lemaire was in Bastogne visiting her parents for Christmas when the attack happened. She was killed pulling soldiers out of the building. The guys from the 101st wrapped her in a parachute and brought her to her parents. Auguste Chewiy was the Congolese nurse. She was blown through a wall, but survived. She died in 2015. They were called “The Angels of Bastogne”. There was no record of Eugene Roe ever meeting Renée, but the screenwriters wanted their story to be told too.

Niiiiice!! Even waiting on this! You’re getting into the meat of the show now. 6-9 are definitely the climax of the series!!

Buck Compton was the one who got the letter from his wife showing it to Guarnere.

Great reaction as always guys. Like you said this is a heavy episode. And to follow Eugene the medic throughout gives this episode a really somber and different perspective. Doesn’t matter whether you are a soldier a nurse or a medic. They are all just doing the best they can in incredibly trying circumstances. I’m loving being able to rewatch this series with you guys.

According to History Professor Jared Frederick, the character of the nurse, Renée, may have been inspired by the real life character Renée Lemaire, Lemaire was from the Bastogne area, her parents owned a hardware store there, throughout much of the war, prior to this moment, she had been a nurse in Brussels, where she helped take care of the wounded. She just happened to be going home to see her parents in Bastogne for Christmas 1944, and little could she have realized that this battle would erupt in her front yard. He further states there's no evidence to suggest that she interacted with Doc Roe. Renée did lose her life during German bombing of Bastogne, but she was not in the Church basement, she was actually in a store basement that wasn't too far away. A building had caught fire, and she was taking part in an effort to evacuate men who had taken refuge in that building, an aid station in the basement of the Sarma Store. She was able to pull six men out of the fire and when she went back in to get a seventh, she lost her life. She was 30 years old. Her body was later delivered to her parents wrapped in a white parachute. As for how they filmed that, most of it was done on a soundstage. I don't know if they kept it cold or not.

While most medics were simply assigned to the position, a number of them requested the assignment because of personal or religious beliefs against killing. The job allowed them to serve their country without taking human life; the opposite, in fact. The story of one of these medics, Hacksaw Ridge, was made into a great but very gory film; its worth viewing.

I was a Navy Hospital Corpsman (Medic) in Vietnam (3 Tours). I had 4months of basic medical training and two months of combat medical training when I was assigned to the Marines. The army medical training is similar. They don't just say you're a medic. There are not enough men that volunteer to be a medic. Tests are taken while you are in training. If your test shows an aptitude for medicine, then they ask you to volunteer or just send you to school to be a medic. If you are not good at it they send you back to infantry. Most medics that have been in combat can do the job as well as or better than some doctors or nurses. According to the Geneva Conventions medics are not to carry offensive weapons. I never carried a weapon. During times not in combat the medic is supposed give first aid lessons to his whole platoon frequently. So, anyone can take over basic first aid if the medic is killed. They can carry a pistol for their own protection and the protection of the one they are working on. Those two medics in the same fox hole should never be close to each other during combat (That’s one of the first things you learn). One of my tours in Vietnam I was on a ship on the Co Chien River in the Mekong Delta. Me and another corpsman were the only medical personnel on board. Being the only medical person onboard I did everything medical. If you were on a ship or with the Marines, you were called Doc. We were taught that during combat conditions we were to be on opposite ends of the ship. The 2 corpsmen we replaced were together during a fire fight and they both got killed. You never remember all the ones that you have treated but you never forget the ones you can’t save.

"There's a lot of stuff and it's heading this way" Well, it has arrived. Imagine being the only one on the battlefield trying to endlessly save lives. While everyone else is doing their best to take them. I dated a nurse once and it takes a special soul to do this, let alone in a war zone. Renée Lemaire is based on an actual person known as "The Angel of Bastogne" Currahee ♠

Great reaction!!

The Battle of the Bulge was an important milestone in the final months of WW2, it got its name from the shape that was formed by the German assault, Operation Market Garden had failed to be the hoped-for deathblow, but the Allies were nonetheless still confident that the German war machine was on its last legs in the West. Hitler had other ideas.... He had some grand scheme to launch a surprise counter-attack that would drive all the way to the coast, causing a logistical and diplomatic split between the Americans and the British. Unclear how much of that was a pipedream, but the early hours and days were very successful. Here's a short, short, overview of the whole campaign: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/esCdg7Bq2JfRhKc.html Here's a more detailed overview of the whole campaign: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/f82FaLODyJ_LnKs.html Here's the Bastogne chapter of a full series from the always-excellent The Operations Room: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/adKPjJOA1rSuinU.html And here's their full series: kzfaq.info/sun/PLErys4h2oiuzlPyPJIhIRqHIXVer3sdts