Band of Brothers/ Currahee

[I_Cassini]

After watching and being totally captivated by Band of Brothers, I decided to make a visit to Currahee last year and thought I would share some of my pictures with you. Currahee is about an hour north from where I live. There is a museum dedicated to all those who have passed through Camp Toccoa as well as an annual 10K race to do the infamous "3 up- 3 down".


The first is a shot inside the museum of the Aldbourne Stables. These were some of the original stables Easy Co stayed in while in England. The museum had them dismantled, transported, and reassembled here.



Next is an internal shot.



While dismantling the stable they found letters from Bull's mom shoved between the planks. They were able to reassemble the letters.



Here is a shot of some of the guys in Easy Co. Don Malarkey is in the center.





The trail is one of the toughest runs. Basically you are running up a 3 mile mountain. Some of the trail is fairly washed out and at the top you arent really running it anymore- at least I wasnt. Many military folks come to run this historic trail- some guys wearing full packs- they for sure werent running it- some were running as units. Its a pretty emotional event - as you are running you sort of run with the presence of those who have run it before you.


Here's a shot of one of the groups coming in. The crowd is cheering them as they finish.




Here I am coming in.




Later on I will share a bit about the best part of the day- hearing the old-timers talk about being present at D-day.

[Howard]

You're in great shape Cass!

I'm totally a sucker for all things WWI and II. Looking forward to the old-timer stories.

[BillyG]

Malarkey. You're Private Bullshit.

Awesome. jealous.

[Timothy225]

Very cool, Cass! Thanks for sharing, and I agree with Howard, you look great (jealous as I should start jogging myself).

Also can't wait to read the stories, too! Love that period of time - both my grandfathers served (one was an engineer on a sub, the other a Marine in the Pacific), and they had some harrowing stories to share.

[Nathan]

SO FUCKING COOL!!!!!!!!

[I_Cassini]

Thanks guys! I wish I had more of the details of the stories they told.



After the race there were a couple of guys from the 101st airborne G company. It struck me as I was standing next to them listening to their stories " How many more years till no one was left who had been there to tell those stories?" These guys had been 18 -20 when D-day happened.




We were all sort of crowded around them straining to hear their quiet voices speak of being present on D-Day. The man below is sharing and tearing up at the loss of his buddies. He was jumping out of the planes with his buddies onto Normandy beach. He said he watched as some of his buddies drowned as they landed in the water and could not get untangled from the parachutes.




The most amazing part to me was watching the young guys with the older ones. These old guys were frail to say the least. And the young military guys looked to be 18-20 years old. I wasnt sure if they were going to blow the old guys off or if they would want to hear them. But most of the folks crowded around these older guys were the younger ones. They were rapt with attention. One of the most poignant things I heard was the older one tell about honor- they might not all get a chance to serve on a battlefield of war but even harder was the honor that could be lived out each day, wherever you were, in the life that you led.

[Timothy225]

Beautiful commentary and great pics, Cass. MOAR!

Also, very, very good to see that the younger folk were paying close, respectful attention to their elders. Would that were the case everywhere else.

[Nathan]

So awesome.