War has played a key role in the history of the United States, from the nation's founding

right down to the present. War made the U.S. independent, kept it together, increased its

size, and established it as a global superpower. Understanding America's wars is essential for understanding American history.

Welcome to Key Battles of American History,

a podcast in which we discuss American history through the lens of the most important battles of America's wars.

Here is your host, James Early.

Thank you. host, James Early.

Hello and welcome back to Key Battles of American History.

In this episode, Sean and I will continue our series of in-depth discussions of the epic award-winning 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers.

Today, we're going to break down episode three, Karen Tan, for you.

Sean, this is an intense episode.

This is exciting.

You're ready for this?

Mm-hmm.

Let's do it.

Let's do it.

Let's jump right into it.

So, very interesting opening.

It's June 8, 1944, and the episode opens with

Private Albert Blythe, who we haven't been introduced to before, and he's alone in a field

staring into the sky. It's a very peaceful scene you wouldn't think he was in the middle of a war zone.

Well, three members of Easy Company, including Shifty Power, Smoky Gordon, and Floyd Talbert, find him.

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