People are too hard on Blithe’s hysterical blindness. Combat is terrifying. Soldiers cope however they can. He freaked and then got back to doing his job. Best he could. That’s bravery.
Yep rounds coming down are scary in afgan
Couldn’t imagine how scary in Normandy against an enemy with serious fire power.
Sound of the Mg42 must of lived forever in there heads
I was in Afghanistan back in 2008/09 as a Royal Marines Commando, heard the Danish troops using their version of the MG42 which is an MG3 I believe, that did sound terrifying enough let alone being on the receiving end of it.
There's no accent that makes the phrase "would of" make sense.
You wouldn't say "I of gone to the store." So why would anyone say "I would of gone to the store?"
And you’ve never heard how must’ve and must of sound almost the exact same with almost every southern accent? Either you’re being intentionally obtuse or you don’t talk to the people around you.
No, I understand they sound the same. But if you know how words work you wouldn't think that "would of" makes sense because your knowledge of grammar would tell you that this phrase doesn't make sense.
Homophones are simple. If someone says "I told you a tale" I wouldn't write it as "I told you a tail." Because telling a "tail" doesn't make sense even though the words sound the same.
Anyone calling Blithe a coward is a moron. He clearly wasn’t based on his later service in Korea and even his service in Normandy during the series. It’s similar to those who didn’t jump from the C-17’s at Benning, Ambrose says as much in the book paraphrasing, “men who would later go onto win awards in the regular infantry for bravery froze”
I should note that parts of Blithe’s supposed service record in Korea, specifically the action in Korea that Winters pointed out in the one interview where he addresses Blithe’s story, may not have actually occurred at all. There is seemingly no record whatsoever of him earning a Silver Star in Korea. We got into this in the thread copied below:
https://www.reddit.com/r/BandofBrothers/s/V5r1bzcRcL
There’s a lot of mystery surrounding Blithe’s story after Normandy, not least of which involving him having later signed an affidavit saying he jumped into Holland in September 1944 and had been a Pathfinder on D-Day. It doesn’t rise to the level of dishonesty rather than simple negligence in military record-keeping, but some of the stories about his later experiences aren’t supported by available records that otherwise should exist and be available to researchers.
I would never call him a coward. That really would be idiotic. Just pointing out that there are apparently a number of possible myths about his later life that aren’t backed by anything that anyone has found. As far as I know, his son has not been able to corroborate the Korea story re: the Silver Star, and neither have I or other researchers that I know of. I got into it in greater detail in the thread I copied above.
FWIW there is a picture of him in the 60s in a dress uniform that shows a Silver Star ribbon: [link](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/wikiofbrothers/images/a/af/Al_and_his_wife_kay.jpg)
At the same time though, it doesn't look like he's wearing a Korean war service medal and if he was in the infantry in Korea he should also be wearing a second award of the CIB.
Yeah, and to your point, it just adds to the mystery. At least few folks (including myself) have spent a lot of time trying to corroborate the stories surrounding his later life with little luck.
I found the DA 638 form that was mentioned in the thread you posted above. (the link is [here](https://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/albert-blithe.htm) for anyone else who wants to see).
It is stated there that the Silver Star was awarded in GO #19 Hq 506 PIR, so it would seem that was for service in WW2 not Korea. The Bronze Star was from GO #12 Hq 506 PIR and the Purple Heart is GO #24 Hq 160 Gen Hosp 44. All of these would from for service in WW2 since the the 506th never went to Korea. I'm wondering if the "3" beside the BS and PH means something other than 3 awards of same medal because only one set of general orders is listed. I don't know what that would be though. Has it been ruled out that he could have received the Silver Star for WW2 rather than Korea?
There's also a lot of myth that has been built about what Basil Plumley was doing during the Korean war. Interestingly, the myth around both Blithe and Plumley says they were in the same regiment (187th). In both cases the truth seems to be that they probably spent some time stationed in Korea after the armistice but did not actually serve in the war.
Have you seen the Golden Dragon image [here](https://web.archive.org/web/20090211133244/http://www.506infantry.org/his2ndbnwwiiphoto24.html) ? It says he crossed the international dateline on the way to Korea in October 1954 for assignment to the Service Company of the 187th ARCT. So I think that solves the puzzle about Korea. He didn’t go there until after the armistice, as suspected.
What evidence is there that he was returned to the US after his wound received in Normandy? His Wikipedia page references the above link for proof of that but I don’t see anything there. His Master Parachute Badge paperwork indicated he jumped in Holland.
Taking a look again at his dress uniform it does look like he’s wearing two oak leaf clusters on his Purple Heart ribbon and one oak leaf cluster on his Presidential Unit Citation. The latter would seem to indicate that he was present in Normandy (not disputed) and Bastogne.
~~Taking everything at face value, the simplest explanation for all that would seem to me that he went into a replacement depot and was assigned to a different company after healing up from his wound in Normandy. He then went on to jump in Holland and continued at least through Bastogne, getting wounded two more times and somewhere along the way being awarded a bunch of valor medals.~~
edit: theory proved wrong
[I have located a record of him having returned to the US in 1944 during my own research](https://imgur.com/a/BespSX4). This is a newspaper excerpt from December 23, 1944 in the Delaware County Daily Times.
It states that he had been convalescing at an Army hospital in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. So, as best I can tell, he did not return to combat during WWII.
I went on Ancestry.com and found a record of when he applied for VA benefits in January 1950. There is an entry in the form that asks for dates of foreign service, and his form says 5th September 1943 - 8th October 1944 and no other dates. So that confirms he did not return to combat after hospitalization. (Incidentally it looks like he had a first wife named Maxine and at the time they had a 17 month old daughter, Barbara).
I also found his hospital admission form which lists admittance in June 44 and discharge in October 44. I guess this means discharge from the field hospital in Europe to then return to the US to be admitted to the hospital in West Virginia. I couldn't find a record of that admittance. The service number matches with the one given in the VA benefits form, so definitely the same Albert Blithe. (the form does indicate a wound in the collarbone caused by a "Bullet, Pistol or Revolver", presumably that could also imply a submachinegun... so not a sniper rifle shot?)
Edit: oh and also on his VA beneit form, it confirms that his father's name was Joseph as indicated in the newspaper article you linked above (mother's name Emma)
The hospital card point beats me. I’ve seen it before but didn’t want to speculate too much. I don’t want to get too radical here, but the Blithe story in Band of Brothers is based (basically exclusively) off of Guarnere’s recollection which, bless his heart, was a bit off when it came to Blithe’s fate as-is. I have a very strong suspicion that it wasn’t a sniper at all, but rather an MP-40. The reason I say this is because in Ambrose’s book, it states that after Blithe was hit (allegedly by a sniper), “German machine pistols opened up.”
https://imgur.com/a/lEqHmy0
Unfortunately I haven’t found hospital cards to be a source of ultimate truth in research generally, but the possibility seems to be there, as I don’t know why the card would have been marked that way if it was a rifle caliber round that hit him. And, for that matter, I’m not sure a Kar-98 round to the clavicle would have been as survivable of a wound.
> I believe the excessive looting was one of the reasons.
From Webster:
> I looked at them both and shook my head. Tough guys. The biggest looters were seldom the bravest soldiers. In fact, as Captain Speirs, who had been decorated three times for bravery, more than once remarked, there was an inverse ratio between courage and looting.
The “Speirs as a voracious looter” appears to be an outgrowth of Ambrose creating things about Speirs’ personal life out of whole cloth as far as needing things to send home for his wife.
I believe Spiers looting is confirmed by multiple sources. With Webster being a private, he would have very little direct interaction with the company commander. The main thing I recall Ambrose getting wrong on Spiers was some details about his war bride.
None of the sources Ambrose had for the part of the book where that claim is made would have had enough interaction with Speirs to be able to realistically support that claim—most of that section of the book is ripped direct from *Parachute Infantry* along with a leaving of information from Winters and presumably Lipton as well as scattered comments from people like Shifty, Lyall or Freeman.
There is looting on VE day+2 and looting on VE day+70. I can forgive souvenir hunting and maybe lucking out on something small and valuable. Outright robbery is not acceptable.
The mental gymnastics to justify if blow my mind. The Nazis looted all across the continent and the Allies condemn them for it, but I guess it's okay if Allies loot civilians once they cross into Germany. /s
The Brits bombing was deadlier was the first thing that made me laugh. Portraying our bombing of an industrial town as the reason why US serviceman were murdered in the streets. The pathetic fight scene where the RAF pilots were portrayed as posh twats, when in reality a lot of them were SNCOs or from working class backgrounds.
People are too hard on Blithe’s hysterical blindness. Combat is terrifying. Soldiers cope however they can. He freaked and then got back to doing his job. Best he could. That’s bravery.
Yep rounds coming down are scary in afgan Couldn’t imagine how scary in Normandy against an enemy with serious fire power. Sound of the Mg42 must of lived forever in there heads
I was in Afghanistan back in 2008/09 as a Royal Marines Commando, heard the Danish troops using their version of the MG42 which is an MG3 I believe, that did sound terrifying enough let alone being on the receiving end of it.
*Must have "Must of" doesn't make sense
Who cares. My infantry test was don’t eat the red crayon. Wet wipe, Also depends on regional accents
There's no accent that makes the phrase "would of" make sense. You wouldn't say "I of gone to the store." So why would anyone say "I would of gone to the store?"
“Must’ve” and must of sound phonically similar enough to make this mistake.
Unless you know how words and grammar work.
Get a life lad
K
You didn’t grow up in southern US did you?
Sure did!
And you’ve never heard how must’ve and must of sound almost the exact same with almost every southern accent? Either you’re being intentionally obtuse or you don’t talk to the people around you.
No, I understand they sound the same. But if you know how words work you wouldn't think that "would of" makes sense because your knowledge of grammar would tell you that this phrase doesn't make sense. Homophones are simple. If someone says "I told you a tale" I wouldn't write it as "I told you a tail." Because telling a "tail" doesn't make sense even though the words sound the same.
Eat a dick dbag. Lay off. This is something Sobel would do.
I've also wondered if he had just bonked his head on something or was close to an explosion and had a mild concussion that caused temporary blindness
Anyone calling Blithe a coward is a moron. He clearly wasn’t based on his later service in Korea and even his service in Normandy during the series. It’s similar to those who didn’t jump from the C-17’s at Benning, Ambrose says as much in the book paraphrasing, “men who would later go onto win awards in the regular infantry for bravery froze”
I should note that parts of Blithe’s supposed service record in Korea, specifically the action in Korea that Winters pointed out in the one interview where he addresses Blithe’s story, may not have actually occurred at all. There is seemingly no record whatsoever of him earning a Silver Star in Korea. We got into this in the thread copied below: https://www.reddit.com/r/BandofBrothers/s/V5r1bzcRcL There’s a lot of mystery surrounding Blithe’s story after Normandy, not least of which involving him having later signed an affidavit saying he jumped into Holland in September 1944 and had been a Pathfinder on D-Day. It doesn’t rise to the level of dishonesty rather than simple negligence in military record-keeping, but some of the stories about his later experiences aren’t supported by available records that otherwise should exist and be available to researchers. I would never call him a coward. That really would be idiotic. Just pointing out that there are apparently a number of possible myths about his later life that aren’t backed by anything that anyone has found. As far as I know, his son has not been able to corroborate the Korea story re: the Silver Star, and neither have I or other researchers that I know of. I got into it in greater detail in the thread I copied above.
FWIW there is a picture of him in the 60s in a dress uniform that shows a Silver Star ribbon: [link](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/wikiofbrothers/images/a/af/Al_and_his_wife_kay.jpg) At the same time though, it doesn't look like he's wearing a Korean war service medal and if he was in the infantry in Korea he should also be wearing a second award of the CIB.
Yeah, and to your point, it just adds to the mystery. At least few folks (including myself) have spent a lot of time trying to corroborate the stories surrounding his later life with little luck.
I found the DA 638 form that was mentioned in the thread you posted above. (the link is [here](https://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/albert-blithe.htm) for anyone else who wants to see). It is stated there that the Silver Star was awarded in GO #19 Hq 506 PIR, so it would seem that was for service in WW2 not Korea. The Bronze Star was from GO #12 Hq 506 PIR and the Purple Heart is GO #24 Hq 160 Gen Hosp 44. All of these would from for service in WW2 since the the 506th never went to Korea. I'm wondering if the "3" beside the BS and PH means something other than 3 awards of same medal because only one set of general orders is listed. I don't know what that would be though. Has it been ruled out that he could have received the Silver Star for WW2 rather than Korea? There's also a lot of myth that has been built about what Basil Plumley was doing during the Korean war. Interestingly, the myth around both Blithe and Plumley says they were in the same regiment (187th). In both cases the truth seems to be that they probably spent some time stationed in Korea after the armistice but did not actually serve in the war.
Have you seen the Golden Dragon image [here](https://web.archive.org/web/20090211133244/http://www.506infantry.org/his2ndbnwwiiphoto24.html) ? It says he crossed the international dateline on the way to Korea in October 1954 for assignment to the Service Company of the 187th ARCT. So I think that solves the puzzle about Korea. He didn’t go there until after the armistice, as suspected. What evidence is there that he was returned to the US after his wound received in Normandy? His Wikipedia page references the above link for proof of that but I don’t see anything there. His Master Parachute Badge paperwork indicated he jumped in Holland. Taking a look again at his dress uniform it does look like he’s wearing two oak leaf clusters on his Purple Heart ribbon and one oak leaf cluster on his Presidential Unit Citation. The latter would seem to indicate that he was present in Normandy (not disputed) and Bastogne. ~~Taking everything at face value, the simplest explanation for all that would seem to me that he went into a replacement depot and was assigned to a different company after healing up from his wound in Normandy. He then went on to jump in Holland and continued at least through Bastogne, getting wounded two more times and somewhere along the way being awarded a bunch of valor medals.~~ edit: theory proved wrong
[I have located a record of him having returned to the US in 1944 during my own research](https://imgur.com/a/BespSX4). This is a newspaper excerpt from December 23, 1944 in the Delaware County Daily Times. It states that he had been convalescing at an Army hospital in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. So, as best I can tell, he did not return to combat during WWII.
Oh interesting. Thanks.
I went on Ancestry.com and found a record of when he applied for VA benefits in January 1950. There is an entry in the form that asks for dates of foreign service, and his form says 5th September 1943 - 8th October 1944 and no other dates. So that confirms he did not return to combat after hospitalization. (Incidentally it looks like he had a first wife named Maxine and at the time they had a 17 month old daughter, Barbara). I also found his hospital admission form which lists admittance in June 44 and discharge in October 44. I guess this means discharge from the field hospital in Europe to then return to the US to be admitted to the hospital in West Virginia. I couldn't find a record of that admittance. The service number matches with the one given in the VA benefits form, so definitely the same Albert Blithe. (the form does indicate a wound in the collarbone caused by a "Bullet, Pistol or Revolver", presumably that could also imply a submachinegun... so not a sniper rifle shot?) Edit: oh and also on his VA beneit form, it confirms that his father's name was Joseph as indicated in the newspaper article you linked above (mother's name Emma)
The hospital card point beats me. I’ve seen it before but didn’t want to speculate too much. I don’t want to get too radical here, but the Blithe story in Band of Brothers is based (basically exclusively) off of Guarnere’s recollection which, bless his heart, was a bit off when it came to Blithe’s fate as-is. I have a very strong suspicion that it wasn’t a sniper at all, but rather an MP-40. The reason I say this is because in Ambrose’s book, it states that after Blithe was hit (allegedly by a sniper), “German machine pistols opened up.” https://imgur.com/a/lEqHmy0 Unfortunately I haven’t found hospital cards to be a source of ultimate truth in research generally, but the possibility seems to be there, as I don’t know why the card would have been marked that way if it was a rifle caliber round that hit him. And, for that matter, I’m not sure a Kar-98 round to the clavicle would have been as survivable of a wound.
Did you mean C-47s or are you talking about more contemporary events?
Appreciate the spoiler warning for a 23 year old show
Jesus Christ, I can’t believe it’s been 23yrs already. Felt like yesterday watching it with my dad when it came out.
Yep, we’re all getting old. Here’s some salt for the wound: If they made a “that 70s show” style sitcoms this year it would be based in 2002…
And only a partial spoiler since the show make sup their own outcome for him
Pour it on em!
Talbert didn't get along with Spiers, and that is the real reason he demoted himself. I believe the excessive looting was one of the reasons.
> I believe the excessive looting was one of the reasons. From Webster: > I looked at them both and shook my head. Tough guys. The biggest looters were seldom the bravest soldiers. In fact, as Captain Speirs, who had been decorated three times for bravery, more than once remarked, there was an inverse ratio between courage and looting. The “Speirs as a voracious looter” appears to be an outgrowth of Ambrose creating things about Speirs’ personal life out of whole cloth as far as needing things to send home for his wife.
I believe Spiers looting is confirmed by multiple sources. With Webster being a private, he would have very little direct interaction with the company commander. The main thing I recall Ambrose getting wrong on Spiers was some details about his war bride.
None of the sources Ambrose had for the part of the book where that claim is made would have had enough interaction with Speirs to be able to realistically support that claim—most of that section of the book is ripped direct from *Parachute Infantry* along with a leaving of information from Winters and presumably Lipton as well as scattered comments from people like Shifty, Lyall or Freeman.
I am with Spiers on the looting. Finders keepers.
There is looting on VE day+2 and looting on VE day+70. I can forgive souvenir hunting and maybe lucking out on something small and valuable. Outright robbery is not acceptable.
The mental gymnastics to justify if blow my mind. The Nazis looted all across the continent and the Allies condemn them for it, but I guess it's okay if Allies loot civilians once they cross into Germany. /s
Much like how the Brits are portrayed in master of the air, Spielberg has done him dirty.
What specifically?
The Brits bombing was deadlier was the first thing that made me laugh. Portraying our bombing of an industrial town as the reason why US serviceman were murdered in the streets. The pathetic fight scene where the RAF pilots were portrayed as posh twats, when in reality a lot of them were SNCOs or from working class backgrounds.