Band of Brothers Dog Tags Unearthed 78 Years Later
Band of Brothers became a hugely important story that was told in books and a TV series, and now dog tags from two of the real-life members have been found.
This article is more than 2 years old
Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks joined forces to create a mini-series that covered one of the most pivotal moments in American history, WWII. Specifically, the series covered the Band of Brothers, which revolved around Easy Company, which was a group of men that battled with one another all the way through D-Day and into the final days of Hitler’s life. The story of this group of soldiers was made famous by author Stephen E. Ambrose, then turned into one of the most captivating shows on HBO. The story has been told many times throughout the decades by soldiers who lived through this time, and now there is some more good news in terms of Easy Company’s historical importance. Dog tags from two of the members of the company have been discovered in the UK. They have been unearthed 78 years after the events of WWII took place.
The finding of these dog tags will now be part of a documentary by filmmaker Dan Snow. This new documentary will be called Uncovering the Band of Brothers. The dog tags belonged to Richard A. Blake and Carl Fenstermaker and had been dug up in the area where Dick Winters’ Easy Company had been stationed in Europe. The lives of these men were dramatized by the HBO series, but they had lived through some pure terror and miraculous moments in their attempt to rid the world of the terrible stranglehold that the Nazi regime had on Europe. Richard Osgood is the archaeologist who found the dog tags initially, along with a group of veterans from Nightingale and Aldbourne Heritage Centre, with support from Breaking Ground Heritage.
Band of Brothers came out in 2001 and saw Damian Lewis portray Richard “Dick” Winters and David Schwimmer portray Captain Herbert Sobel. It has been over 70 years since the true-life events of WWII took place and over 20 years since the series was released. Finding these dog tags is massive in terms of reminding everyone of the historical importance and sacrifice that these men performed in their line of duty.
This will be the second historical documentary that Dan Snow will helm. His team had recently discovered the long-lost endurance ship that belonged to Sir Ernest Shackleton, an explorer who braved the city waters of the Antarctic in the early 1900s. This huge find happened near Antarctica and had been filmed for a documentary on National Geographic. The film was directed by BAFTA-nominee Natalie Hewit. Now Snow is going to helm the findings of items that are directly related to the Band of Brothers. This new documentary will be airing on History Hit, which is owned by Little Dot Studios.
Band of Brothers became a historically important series due to the magnitude of the book that preceded it. It had even produced a follow-up series that followed the events of Pearl Harbor, called The Pacific. It has also been announced that Spielberg and Hanks are working on a sequel to Band of Brothers called Masters of the Air, for AppleTV+. We are happy that both those men who died in battle can see their belongings returned to their families.
