Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest

by Stephen E. Ambrose

There was only one thing wrong. Brewer was in front, with his map case at his side, his binoculars hanging around his neck, obviously an officer. Worse, he was well over 6 feet tall. Gordon thought he looked like a field marshal on parade. He was a perfect target. Winters shouted over his radio, “Get back. Drop back. Drop back!” but Brewer could not hear him. He kept moving ahead. Every man in the company, every man in battalion, could see what was sure to happen. A shot rang out. A sniper had fired from one of the houses. Brewer went down “like a tree felled by an expert lumberman.” He had been shot in the throat just below the jaw line. Gordon and a couple of other enlisted men ran over to him, even though their orders were to keep moving and leave any wounded for the medics. They looked down at Brewer, bleeding profusely from his wound. “Aw, hell, forget him,” someone said. “He’s gone, he’s gonna die.” They moved on, leaving Brewer lying there. He heard it all, and never forgot it, and never let the men forget it when he recovered and rejoined the company.