- Winters writes a report on the challenge of an unexpected resistance to a German attack, and is haunted by his conscience after shooting a teenage German SS soldier.
- Captain Winters leads Easy Company in an attack on what they thought was a machine gun nest but turns out to 2 Companies of German SS who also have artillery support. The attack is successful in that they virtually wipe out the enemy but they do suffer many casualties. He soon finds himself promoted as the 2nd Battalion's Executive Officer and while he has concern about leaving Easy Company, he knows they are in good hands with Lt. Moose Heyliger. In the aftermath of the disastrous Operation Market Garden, Easy Company is assigned to assist a large group of British paras who are trapped behind enemy lines. Later, with Christmas approaching, the men suddenly find all passes canceled and they are quickly moved to Bastogne to help defend the city from the German offensive. The company is now led by Lt. Norman Dike, for whom the men have little respect.—garykmcd
- In this episode directed by Tom Hanks, Lieutenant Winters leads a contingent on a risky mission over a Dutch dike. Meanwhile, Easy is left in the hands of Lieutenant "Moose" Heyliger, who undertakes a rescue mission in the besieged town of Arnhem.
- Winters leads a risky mission on a Dutch dike, resulting in a resounding victory, for which he is promoted to battalion executive officer. Dissatisfied with his new, largely administrative job, Winters grows concerned about the leadership of the three companies he now commands.
- The episode opens with Winters' memory of shooting a young SS officer (possibly a teenager) in combat, an incident that has had a psychological effect on the Lieutenant. The story returns to the present day, with Easy Company stationed in Schoonderlogt, Holland on October, 17, 1944. Winters (Damian Lewis) and Nixon (Ron Livingston) report to battalion HQ where a new operation is being planned, Operation Pegasus. In this operation, Easy Company will rescue members of Britain's Red Devils group who were trapped behind enemy lines after the failure of Operation Market Garden. The Dutch resistance is harboring 140 of the Red Devils from Germans and the Easy Company mission is to rescue them. Colonel Sink (Dale Dye) also stringently requests that Winters finish an overdue report on a battle involving Easy Company on October 5th. This includes the list of supplies that the British left behind enemy lines during the failed operation in Holland.
Winters begins to recount the battle on October 5th, which took place at an unidentified crossroads in Holland. Winters takes a small squad of men to investigate the area after one of Easy Company's men is brought in with serious injuries from a grenade. The squad finds a small detachment of German troops firing at an unseen target. Winters mounts an attack and even kills several enemy soldiers with the element of surprise, but his squad becomes pinned down by the enemy, who have the advantage of better cover. After waiting until morning and weighing their options, Winters decides the only choice is to charge the machine gun nest. He races ahead of the squad (He told the squad to attack upon seeing red smoke, but the smoke grenade thrown by Winters doesn't go off immediately, and so the platoon is delayed in following Winters) and shoots the first soldier he sees, the same teenager that haunts his conscience. The remainder of his squad arrives moments later and discover they've surprised a platoon of SS troops, some of whom are Polish. Easy Company also discover that another company has joined the SS soldiers, however, they are able to overpower them with artillery support from behind their lines. The prisoners are taken back to HQ by Liebgott after Winters confiscates his ammunition, save one round, to prevent Liebgott from unnecessarily shooting any prisoners.
During the clean-up phase, Col. Sink reports that the SS officers defeated by Easy Company were likely planning a major assault on battalion headquarters a few miles from the intersection. Winters is also promoted to Major and is made Col. Strayer's (Phil McKee) executive officer. The promotion also means that Winters will no longer command Easy Company in battle as he has a desk job.
But shortly after the company's first mission in Operation Pegasus (the rescue of the British Red Devils), their new Commanding Officer Moose Heyliger is shot by friendly fire in a freak accident. The rescue goes off without a hitch. Later, on October 31st, Heyliger is shot down as he approaches a check point and is late to identify himself. Heyliger survives but will take a long time to recover. The new Commanding Officer is Lieutenant Dike, who is a replacement with no combat experience.
Easy company members are given a short leave. Even Winters goes to Paris but is still haunted by the memory of the SS teen he killed. He returns to Easy Company, in Mourmelon Le Grand, France. On 10th Dec 1944, Easy company is called up almost immediately to report to the small Belgian crossroads town of Bastogne (& roads lead in and 7 roads lead out of the town; they are to defend the area against the lighting attack of the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge. Winters asks Dike to prepare for a siege. He asks Dike to canvas for K-rations, ammunition, and winter clothing, whatever he can get his hands on. Easy Company encounters fellow Army troops, wounded and exhausted from the strike, retreating from the area and collect whatever supplies they can from the returning soldiers. They are told they will be surrounded, without enough ammunition, food, or winter clothing. The episode ends with them walking into the woods.
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