By Admin (Admin) (C629501-A - 24.21.234.167) on Wednesday, June 27, 2001 - 11:34 pm:| By Admin (Admin) (C629501-A - 24.21.234.167) on Wednesday, June 27, 2001 - 11:34 pm: |
‘Band of Brothers’
Grandfather among those depicted
in HBO series
By TENA JAMISON LEE
Staff Writer
June 20, 2001
Fifty-seven years ago this month, Michael Edwards’ grandfather helped save the world.
Edwards, 21, just returned recently from a once-in-a-lifetime trip where he both paid homage to his grandfather, a World War II veteran, and received the royal treatment himself.
The 1998 graduate of Hendersonville High School was flown to Paris, France, June 2-8 with his grandmother, Myrtle Roe, for the premiere of a HBO miniseries, “Band of Brothers,” based on the 1992 Stephen Ambrose book. His grandfather, Eugene Roe, is immortalized in the film that chronicles Roe’s unit, the E Company of the 101st Airborne Division’s 506th Regiment in World War II.
Roe, a medic paratrooper during the war, died in 1999 from liver and lung cancer.
The premiere of the miniseries, which is produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, marked the 57th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy in which E Company figured prominently.
“HBO spared no expense,” enthused Edwards who said the production company spent $120 million on the miniseries which included about $10 million in travel expenses for veterans and their guests. His all-expense-paid trip included several five-course meals, a room at the Ambassador Hotel in Paris, two nights at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, and tours of Versailles and the Monet Gardens. Ten other family members accompanied Edwards and his grandmother with discounted rates.
“We were treated like royalty,” said Edwards. “I didn’t deserve it, but the men who were there certainly deserved everything they got.”
The highlight for the MTSU student came on June 6 when his grandfather and his comrades were honored amidst the ghosts of a once-bloodied Utah beach.
“When I saw the beach, it was very emotional. I pictured blood-stained sand and water,” Edwards recalled. “The reason my generation will never have to fight for our freedom is because of what these guys did.”
Roe was 18 in 1942 when he was drafted out of high school. He joined the 101st Airborne, not for the prestige, his grandson noted, but rather to get the $50 extra a month.
Edwards pointed out the dangers of being a medic paratrooper, noting that while soldiers are shooting from the semi-protection of fox holes, it is the medics who must dart into the fox holes to rescue them.
“I told him if I was forced to do what he did, I don’t think I could do it. I asked him why or how he did it,” Edwards recalled. “He said, ‘Your generation has never seen a situation where your freedom has been in jeopardy.’ He said that if I was in that situation I would’ve done the same thing. He was saying it was no big deal, that he didn’t have a choice, it was just something that had to be done.”
Edwards recalls his grandfather recounting how his unit flew from England to France early June 6. At around 1:30 a.m., they were the first ones to arrive amid terrible weather. “He told me it was all screwed up – it didn’t go according to plan.”
Only about 60 percent of the company survived the jump.
After viewing a two-hour montage of the miniseries, Edwards is anxious to see more, particularly episode six in which Roe figures prominently.
The miniseries begins in 1942 with the company’s rigorous training in Georgia, chronicles how they parachuted into France behind enemy lines early on D-day morning and climaxes with their daring capture of Hitler’s mountain chalet, the Eagle’s Nest retreat at Berchtesgaden, Bavaria.
A young British actor, Shane Taylor, portrays Roe.
Edwards admits his excitement is tempered by his grandfather not being able to share in the excitement.
“I wish he could’ve seen all this,” he said. “He would’ve been proud.”
The miniseries is scheduled to air on HBO beginning Sept. 9.
But for Edwards, the fall can’t get here soon enough.
“I can’t wait until September,” he sighed. “It’s too far away.”
‘He was there when he was needed’
“The medics were the most popular, respected and appreciated men in the company. Their weapons were first-aid kits; their place on the line was wherever a man called out that he was wounded. Lieutenant Foley had special praise for Pvt. Eugene Roe. ‘He was there when he was needed, and how he got ‘there’ you often wondered. He never received recognition for his bravery, his heroic servicing of the wounded. I recommended him for a Silver Star after a devastating firefight when his exploits were typically outstanding. Maybe I didn’t use the proper words and phrases, perhaps Lieutenant Dike didn’t approve, or somewhere along the line it was cast aside. I don’t know. I never knew except that if any man who struggled in the snow and the cold, in the many attacks through the open and through the woods, ever deserved such a medal, it was our medic, Gene Roe.’”
– “Band of Brothers” by Stephen Ambrose, Page 184
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