By Chris Langlois (Chrisdfw) on Monday, September 03, 2001 - 09:33 pm:| By Chris Langlois (Chrisdfw) on Monday, September 03, 2001 - 09:33 pm: |
Eugene Roe’s ‘Band of Brothers’
By Angie McMorris Cornett
September 2, 2001
“And I’m proud to be an American where at least I know I’m free. I won’t forget the men who died who gave their life for me.”
How many Americans truly understand the meaning of the words to that song? The loved ones of Eugene Roe do. Roe was a medic in the E. Company of the 101st Airborne Division’s 506th Regiment in World War II. His unit was known as the Screaming Eagles, an elite class of men who saw the first utilization of paratroopers in the war.
On Sunday, Sept. 9, the world can watch as actor Shane Taylor portrays the late Eugene Roe, a Denham Springs native, in the ten-part HBO miniseries, Band of Brothers. It will air two shows back to back from 8-10 p.m. with hour-long episodes debuting at same time on subsequent Sundays.
Actor Tom Hanks and director Steven Spielberg serve as executive producers. The series is based on Stephen E. Ambrose’s nonfiction bestseller about Roe’s unit. For more information log on to www.tircuit.com a site developed by Roe’s grandsons, Derek Tircuit and Christopher Langlois.
The site houses photos of Roe in service, his family, scenes from the series premiere, and more.
After writing books on World War II and on Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ambrose desired to write about the actual men who were in the trenches. He knew that our country was losing these heroes and that the time to act was now. He enlisted the help of Roe’s commander, Dick Winters. They made a pact that if Winters would contact the survivors, Ambrose would write the book. Ambrose wanted to write about Company E because many of those men had trained together in Georgia at a State Guard training camp and Civilian Conservation Corps site. In addition, they had gone through the battles and eventually came home together.
Dr. Ambrose met extensively with many of the men. Some willingly spoke of the horrors of the war where others kept much in. Their actual accounts can be found in both the book and in the mini-series. While at the June 6 premiere in France, Roe’s daughter, Maxine Tircuit, approached Ambrose to sign her copy of the book. He asked her name and she wondered why he didn’t respond.
She replied, “I am the daughter of, Eugene Roe in the movie.
Ambrose replied, “Honey, I know who your father is." Later, Maxine read the autograph in her book, “To Maxine Roe, the daughter of a very brave man.”
Maxine and her husband Al were two of the 12 family members who attended the eight-day tour and premiere. After France, Tircuit and husband went on to the production studio in England to see the uncut version of Episode 6 which is entirely about the medics and it features Roe’s character.
The family recalls the close of the premiere when actor Tom Hanks stood before the applauding audience and gave an emotional speech about how the applause was not for himself, for Steven Spielberg, or for HBO, but that it was for the families who sat on the first row in that theatre that night and the applause was for the men who had risked their lives for their country.
“Not a dry eye was in the place,” replied Tircuit.
“The men were just like brothers,” said Myrtle Roe, wife of Eugene Roe. “That’s where it came from, A Band of Brothers.” While at the premiere, Maxine thanked another medic for being such a good friend to her father. The gentleman looked at her and said, ‘Sweetheart, We were much more than friends, we were brothers.”
“It had to be the most horrible thing, we can’t even imagine,” said Tircuit. “Dad was involved in the Battle of Bastogne. Easy Company won that battle. D company went in and they were decimated. If they had not won the battle, things would be very different now.”
Tircuit recalled an instance when she was e-mailing the Band of Brothers website one day and received an entry.
“It was the most wonderful e-mail that I had ever received,” she gleamed. The sender of the message told how he had heard of Mr. Roe and thought of him as such a hero. It ended, “Look forward to seeing you in Paris. My name is Shane Taylor. I play the medic, Eugene Roe, in Band of Brothers.”
Maxine admitted that right then her eyes filled with tears and her heart melted. Without yet meeting the man that was to immortalize her father on screen, he had earned a part of her heart that her father still and will always inhabit.
At the premiere Maxine heard someone say something about a medic. She got up and asked if he was Shane Taylor. When the man replied yes and learned who she was they both wept and hugged one another.
To play the role of medic Eugene Roe, Taylor talked with family members.
“He wanted to know his height, hobbies, stories, anything that we could tell him,” Myrtle Roe, Eugene’s wife. An actor and former soldier put the actors through rigorous training. He had said that putting green people out there really didn’t allow them to know how it felt. The simulated training aired on HBO while showing the making of the movie.
Another particular instance was recalled when the family members toured Omaha Beach. They were asked to survey the calm of the beach that day and to gaze upon the beauty of the white sands. Next, they were asked to try to imagine that same place covered with dead bodies and the sand stained with blood. Tircuit stopped to collect herself and to wipe a tear from her eye.
“God watched over daddy there for he was required to play God,” she said. “The soldiers would zone out from lack of sleep, food, proper clothing, and frostbite. At times, dad would have to survey the severity and place men at the back of the line. But he couldn’t send them all — someone had to stay up front to fight.”
Producer, David Leland, told family members that he had heard how brave Roe was and what he did for the men. He wanted to show how hard it was as a man to become attached and friendly to people because so many were killed. Mr. Roe once explained how he was talking to Babe Heffrin, soldier. Babe asked Roe why everybody else called him Babe but he called him Heffrin. In one scene they jumped in a foxhole together. Roe said, “Boy that was close wasn’t it Babe?” Heffrin replied, “Gene, you just called me Babe.” For a fleeting moment Roe let himself be human and to develop that closeness with a soldier. Lt. Foley said that he didn’t know how Mr. Roe was always where he was. He had recommended him for a silver star but he never got it. Foley was amazed at how Roe didn’t get killed.
“Medics were most popular, respected and appreciated men in the company. Their weapons were first aid kits; their place on the line was whenever a man called out when he was wounded.” said Foley.
He had special praise for private Eugene Roe. “He was there when he was needed and how he got there you often wondered. He never received recognition for his bravery. For 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 and 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 and the many attacks in the open and through the woods ever deserved such a medal, it was our medic, Eugene Roe."
Often, soldiers would complain for various reasons and aspirins would be given and they would go on about their business. In addition to aspirin, Roe kept syringes and morphine in his boots. Roe once shared the story about a soldier, Bill Garnier, who had lost his leg. While his leg was hanging off he told Roe to just cut it off instead of sending him to the hospital. He was sent anyway but they didn’t save it. He had already been wounded and sent to the hospital in England.
He was going to be sent stateside but escaped from hospital and got on a transport and got right back on front line. Another had the top of his head shot off. Pawpaw put sulfur in it and bandaged him up. He sent him to the hospital and they put a plate in there. The book speaks of other instances where Roe saved many lives.
An excerpt from the book read, “These men trained, fought, died and stayed in the war until they came home. Some 136 men had gone in and only 48 came out. “48 members of Easy Company had given their lives for their country. More than 100 had been wounded, many of them severely, some twice, a few three times, one four times. Most had suffered stress, often severe. All had given what they had regarded as the best years of their life to the war. They were trained killers, accustomed to carnage and quick violent reactions. Few of them had any college education before the war. The only skill they possessed was that of combat infantry.”
Tune in with the rest of America Sunday, Sept. 9 and meet Eugene Roe and other brave soldiers who fought for the red, white, and blue. Immerse yourselves in the lives of the men who persevered in the face of death and destruction. Watch as the ten part series unfolds the stories of the lives of our true American heroes.