I don't know how many of you collect DVD's, but I have a few of my own. When the Lord of the Rings came out I purchased all three movies because I liked it so much.

Before that I owned only Gladiator (which is my all time favorite movie!). This past Christmas my daughter gave me the HBO series "Band Of Brothers" (purchased with MY money, of course!) which I had rented this past year at Block Buster. For those who are not familiar with it, it is the story, factually true but fictionalized for dramatic purposes, of one Company in the 101st Airborne division that parachuted over Normandy and was involved in EVERY major front in WWII.

Easy Company was composed of about 140 men and suffered some of the most grievous casualties of any other company. It was the 101st Airborne, and Easy Company in particular, which withstood the German onslaught at the battle of the Bulge, was also the leading force in the invasion and liberation of Holland, was one of the first into Germany, finally capturing Hitler's personal retreat, The Eagle's Nest, deep in the Austrian Alps.

The series is a character ensemble which follows the men from training camp in Georgia, then to England, and finally in the war itself.

Many of the same men portrayed in the film still, as of the filming, get together for occasional reunions. All of the men say that there is a special bond they feel with each other which is hard to explain. But if you watch this excellent series, and witness the trials and tragedy of combat, you just can't help but begin to understand this bond.

Perhaps it is only something a guy can appreciate because i KNOW that soem of the ladies would not even consider watching a war movie, much less one that graphically portrays combat. For those people perhaps they can rent just the last disc (there are six of them) that contains interviews with the actual men the film portrays and hear them describe the events they lived through.

Even though they are in their late 70's and 80's it is amazing to see them weep when speaking of buddies who died 60 years before, and the love and respect they feel for each other.

In some respects I can understand. After all, here we are in 2006 and we are STILL talking about our shared past in "you know what"! Will we still feel the same in another 30 years as these men do? Who really knows for sure. We all shared in something that changed our lives, as did the men of Easy Company, but THEY served a larger purpose and payed a greater price. Would that we could say the same about ourselves!

The Grouch HIGHLY recommends this one!