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Band of Brothers: Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101s Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest by Stephen E. Ambrose

It’s Memorial Day this weekend and if you haven’t read Band of Brothers by Stephen E. Ambrose make it the next book on your list (even if you’ve watched the HBO series). I could write 2,000 words on why it belongs in the pantheon of books on men, war, US history, history in general, leadership, friendship, and on and on… But I won’t. Honestly, the back cover description of the book itself still gives me goose bumps. Here it is:

…They came together, citizen soldiers, in the summer of 1942, drawn to Airborne by the $50 monthly bonus and a desire to be better than the other guy. And at its peak — in Holland and the Ardennes — Easy Company was as good a rifle company as any in the world.

From the rigorous training in Georgia in 1942 to the disbanding in 1945, Stephen E. Ambrose tells the story of this remarkable company. In combat, the reward for a job well done is the next tough assignment, and as they advanced through Europe, the men of Easy kept getting the tough assignments.

They parachuted into France early D-Day morning and knocked out a battery of four 105 mm cannon looking down Utah Beach; they parachuted into Holland during the Arnhem campaign; they were the Battered Bastards of the Bastion of Bastogne, brought in to hold the line, although surrounded, in the Battle of the Bulge; and then they spearheaded the counteroffensive. Finally, they captured Hitler’s Bavarian outpost, his Eagle’s Nest at Berchtesgaden. (read that paragraph again… the same group of guys did all of this… it’s unreal)…

They were rough-and-ready guys, battered by the Depression, mistrustful and suspicious. They drank too much French wine, looted too many German cameras and watches, and fought too often with other GIs. But in training and combat they learned selflessness and found the closest brotherhood they ever knew. They discovered that in war, men who loved life would give their lives for them.

This is the story of the men who fought, of the martinet they hated who trained them well, and of the captain they loved who led them. E Company was a company of men who went hungry, froze, and died for each other, a company that took 150 percent casualties, a company where the Purple Heart was not a medal — it was a badge of office…

I mean, come on… If that doesn’t make you want to read the book, I don’t know what will. After you read the book, you’re going to go through a mild obsession with the men of Easy Company and Major Dick Winters.

You’ll definitely devour the Band of Brothers special on HBO again, were Damian Lewis gives the most understated, unbelievable performance as Winters.

But then, you’ll want more… So here are a few pieces I’ve come across over the years to help you get your fix:

This ArtofManliness.com piece on Major Dick Winters is a must: Life Advice From Major Dick Winters

His obituary in the New York Times is damn good too: Winter’s NYT Obituary

There is a full interview/doc with the men of Easy Company available on YouTube here.

You might also like this book by Sergeant Don Malarky, who you’ll know well after reading Band of Brothers. His book is called Easy Company Soldier. His book focuses a little more on the battles, but adds some more details to several scenes and situations readers become familiar with in BoB.

And of course, you kind of have to read Beyond Band of Brothers, which are the war memoirs of the aforementioned Dick Winters. Though not as compelling a read as Band of Brothers, Winters is a really thoughtful, really smart guy, and this book tells BoB in his own words. It provides new details and some revealing looks into his mindset at several stages of the war.

And this article, explaining the vital and genius strategy at the Crossroads Battle is worth taking a look at, even if you’re not a military strategy buff: Crossroads Battle Map

Take a moment to reflect and honor those who served on Memorial Day.

Every Memorial Day millions of sophisticated meatheads collectively complete the Murph Challenge, named after legendary Navy SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy.

The workout is:

1 Mile Run

100 Pull-Ups

200 Push-Ups

300 Air Squats

1 Mile Run

Murphy himself did this with a weighted vest (incredible), but many don’t.

Unless you’re a regular CrossFitter or Hyrox guy, this workout is a grind no matter how you slice it up. The way that I’ve had success with it is to do the one-mile run easy… Then do sets of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 air-squats. Early on I’ll take 30 seconds between. Then I’ll take a minute. Then two or three haha. Twenty rounds of that and you’re done. Oh wait. You’re not. You still have your final mile, which you can run if you’re really committed to going for time, or you can jog/walk as a warm-down. Up to you.

Either way, that’s my strategy. Divide and conquer. Slowly but surely. RIP Murph.

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I’m the Editor-in-Chief and I write a column every Tuesday called The Manologue. This week, I wrote about how I have always wanted to be the kind of guy who works on classic cars in his garage, even though I know squat about cars and have a squat rack in my garage instead (see what I did there?). To give myself a little glimpse into what it’s like, I took a field trip to an amazing classic/vintage car garage and museum. If you like awesome cars, you will love this column.

PRE-ORDERS are HUGE when it comes to launching a book. It gives book buyers and the media a sense of the level of anticipation and excitement for a book… Especially a debut thriller…

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I appreciate you reading Books & Biceps every week. This book is going to be our moment. Our time to show the publishing world that we want these books. We want Bear Brawl.

Jon Finkel is the award-winning author of Macho Man: The Untamed, Unbelievable Life of Randy Savage, 1996: A Biography, Hoops Heist, The Life of Dad, Jocks In Chief, The Athlete, Heart Over Height, “Mean” Joe Greene and more. His books have been endorsed by everyone from Mark Cuban, John Cena and Tony Dungy to Spike Lee, Kevin Durant and Chef Robert Irvine. He has written for GQ, Men’s Health, Yahoo! Sports, The New York Times and has appeared on CBS: This Morning, Good Morning Texas, Good Morning Chicago, and hundreds of radio shows, podcasts and streams. Jon was recently profiled in The New Yorker about the awesome community he’s built around his Books & Biceps newsletter. They describe him as “a gym rat’s Reese Witherspoon”. Reply to this email for any media requests.

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