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Posted on 08/12/2005 10:34:36 PM PDT by snippy_about_it
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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 COMBAT! was TV's longest running WWII drama, honoring the frontline U.S. infantryman. On ABC from 1962 through 1967, Combat! starred Vic Morrow as Sergeant Saunders and Rick Jason as Lieutenant Hanley. Background:  About Combat! by Jo Davidsmeyer BROADCAST HISTORY Combat! premiered on ABC in October 1962 and was broadcast for five seasons. TV's longest-running World War II drama, "Combat!" aired 152 hour-long episodes. The first four seasons were produced in black and white, with the final season (25 episodes) filmed in color. The show enjoyed great success in its first run; it was often among the top-ten network shows. Combat! also had world-wide distribution, popular in Spanish-speaking countries and the Far East. Since its cancellation in 1967, Combat! has been in continuous syndication. "Combat!" currently airs on Encore's Action Channel and in many local markets, including Los Angeles where it is broadcast in both English and Spanish. It is one of the most popular syndicated shows in Japan. DESCRIPTION "Combat!" is a realistic, mud-splattered World War II drama that presents intimate character studies of men at war. It was the only American television show to feature the frontline infantryman. THE STORY "Combat!" follows the fighting men of King Company's second platoon as they battle their way across Europe from the beaches of Normandy. Second platoon (King Two) is commanded by Lt. Hanley. The action often centers around first squad, lead by Sergeant Saunders. The first season episodes show a progression of events that trace the history of the Normandy campaign. Events of season one cover D-Day, Falaise, the assassination attempt on Hitler, and the battle around Avranche. Season Two starts with the battle of Chalons. All the action in season two takes place after the liberation of Paris. Any attempt at tracing historical events in a straight timeline collapses in season two. Season three has a winter episode, " Silver Service," that deals with events similar to the Battle of the Bulge, but action after this episode returns to pre-Bulge events. Season three has another episode about the Falais Pocket, which was summer of '44. Though the Allied campaign in Europe lasted less than ten months, Combat! lasted five years and the squad never fought their way out of France. Combat! presents an unvarnished view of men in armed conflict. This was not a series that glorified war, but it was a tribute to the civilian soldier, the average G.I. who fought (and died) on the front lines of Europe. Combat! never dealt with the big picture; it showed war in microcosm and always put a face to the devastation and slaughter. In Combat! war is a furnace that either consumes and destroys a man, or tempers him like hardened steel. Combat!, at its best, shows men struggling to find and keep their moral center in the midst of a world torn apart by war. ABOUT THE MAIN CHARACTERS SERGEANT SAUNDERS  Saunders is a buck sergeant in the infantry. By D-Day, he is a battle-hardened veteran with experience in North Africa and Italy. At some time in his military career he was busted back to the rank of private (at least once), but he had his stripes again when he waded ashore at Omaha Beach. He's a "tough-as-nails" leader, described in the show's press releases as "strong but sympathetic." He demands the best from everyone--anyone who gives less earns his ire and, sometimes, his contempt. Yet he often considers the death of men under his command his own personal failure. Like the men he leads, he's not a professional soldier. Saunders has a mother and little sister (Louise, "The Brat") waiting for him at home. One brother is a Marine in the Pacific. Some time after D-Day his younger brother, Chris, left school and joined the army. Saunders may have a kid brother named Joey; in the episode " Survival," Saunders discusses Joey's death in a delirium, so it is uncertain whether Joey is real. In different episodes, he has claimed to be both from Cleveland and from Illinois. To his family, Saunders is known as "Chip". To his men he is "Saunders,""Sarge," or, most often, "THE Sarge," the man they look up to and depend on for their survival. Saunders is five foot, eleven inches tall. This blond, blue-eyed Mid-Westerner is a man of few words, with a fierce loyalty to his men and to his lieutenant. He wears a distinctive camouflage helmet and carries both a Tommy gun and a Colt .45 sidearm. LIEUTENANT GIL HANLEY  Hanley commands King Company's second platoon. He was a tech sergeant when he lead his men ashore on D-Day. Since he has no campaign ribbons before D-Day, the action at Omaha Beach was probably his first time under fire. Soon after D-Day he received a battlefield commission, obtaining the rank of 2nd lieutenant. When he and Saunders were sergeants together, they were friendly rivals for the attentions of women. Hanley's promotion has put a professional distance between Hanley and Saunders. Hanley depends on Saunders; the whole company knows that Saunders is Hanley's right hand man. Six-foot, four inches tall, with dark hair, green eyes and sophisticated good looks, Hanley appears to be a ladies man. He has a bright smile and an easy-going manner — but don't cross him, there's steel behind the smile. He is usually armed with a carbine, bayonet, and Colt .45. Hanley is a college graduate. His college roommate was a French exchange student who hosted Hanley for a vacation in his home in France after graduation. During the war, Hanley learns that his roommate had been killed by the Gestapo; working behind enemy lines, Hanley helps his roommate's family escape to Switzerland (episode "The Quiet Warrior"). This is the only background on Hanley ever given in the show. We know nothing about his family (or even if he has family) or his pre-war life. Follow the rest of this fine website here if you like.   PFC Paul ("Caje") LeMay is the dark-haired Cajun from New Orleans who usually acts as the platoon's French translator. He moves with the lithe grace and agility of an athlete. He often is tasked to scout ahead and to take the point while on patrol. He is five-foot ten inches tall with hazel eyes, slight and wiry. Caje is gregarious and friendly. He is possibly a bit of a philanderer: he's received three "Dear John" letters while in Normandy.  At six-foot, six inches tall, Littlejohn is the gentle giant of Company K. Kind-hearted and friendly, Littlejohn finds some good in everyone he meets. Though he seems a hayseed, he's perceptive about people and is hard to con. This Nebraska farmboy is everyone's friend, except Kirby's (though even their antagonism fades after second season). His closest association is with Billy Nelson. The two are inseparable buddies. He and Billy both landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day, though they were at that time not in Saunders' squad.  DOC (seasons 2 through 5)...The squad's second medic is a man of action who does not always meekly accept his non-combatant role ("Bridgehead", "The Hostages"). He speaks with a southern drawl and claims in one episode to be from Arkansas. (Though this is likely from his accent, this statement was made in a situation where Doc was lying about everything, so personal data from the episode "The Hostages" is suspect.) Five-foot, eleven inches tall, this PFC has light brown hair and blue eyes. Before being drafted, he was a clerk in a grocery store. He wanted to be trained as an army cook so he would have a good trade after the war, but the army made him a medic. He drinks, has been seen to smoke only once in the show, and doesn't gamble. He has an easy-going southern charm and good foxhole-side manner.  The All-American boy-next-door, Billy is Littlejohn's side-kick and the youngest member of the squad. He has a charming, boyish grin, a beautiful face, and is rather gullible. The squad uses his helmet to make coffee in and to boil the occasional chicken. If going by the book, this private is not a good soldier, always getting things wrong and mis-handling his equipment. But in the field he's a man you can count on to watch your back. He is short, with light brown hair and blue eyes.  The Cast (all five seasons): Vic Morrow as Sgt. "Chip" Saunders Rick Jason as Lt. Gil Hanley Jack Hogan as William G. Kirby Pierre Jalbert as Caje Dick Peabody as Littlejohn Other Regulars: Shecky Greene as Braddock ... Season 1 Steven Rogers as Doc ... Season 1 Conlan Carter as Doc ... Seasons 2 through 5 Tom Lowell as Billy Nelson ... Seasons 1 and 2 William Bryant as McCall ... Season 5      |
Good morning everyone
It is so far.....but
THE MAGNETIC FIELD OF THE EARTH IS FADING.....FAST!
That's right we're all GONNA DIE!.....and it's all George Bushs fault.
You can't teach it in school. Too many forbidden words in it:
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved homes and the war's desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: "In God is our trust." And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
free dixie,sw
I haven't see the color season yet. We'll see.
No need to be sorry.
For me it is interesting to see how the show was presented in the 60's vs. how it would be presented today. Some shows are lame others aren't. Purely entertainment value and a way to unwind/escape after a long day. :-)
Lots of hits, lots of good books, too.
We didn't know it was on the History channel. We heard the entire 5 seasons would be on cd and decided to go that route. We have the first three so far and we are currently watching the second season. It's true some of the acting is really bad, equipment and tactics unrealistic but still fun and so different from today's tv.
Good morning Aeronaut.
LOL. At least they let you watch the show. I guess there was an attempt to make a movie and Bruce Willis wanted to play Sgt. Saunders but it fell through. Darn.
Bump back atcha!
Don't remember "The Lieutenant". Heck, I didn't remember Combat!. I'm really enjoying it now.
At the time it was airing I was 9 and when I grew up we were only allowed 1 hour a week of viewing time.
LOL. Hey, remember when you actually had to get up from your seat to change the channel or adjust the sound?
O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O thus be it ever when free-men shall stand
Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust!”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Pretty. Good morning feather.
And global warming must be true, it's going to be in the 90's today! Help!
!!!!!
He wanted to join the army after 9/11 but was told he was too old.
I appreciate his desire to do something for this country.
Gotta get back to work.
To all our military men and women past and present, military family members, and to our allies who stand beside us
Thank You!
I hope everyone's having a grand Saturday! *HUGZ*
Love your lil pot of violas, ms. feather!
My violas have pooed out for the summer but should start coming back soon for fall blooming.
"At the time it was airing I was 9 and when I grew up we were only allowed 1 hour a week of viewing time."
You have made a very fortunate choice in parents. :-)
TV trains the viewer to believe lies.
I do have real hostility here. I think that 90% of the damage done to this country in the last 50 years has been done by television. I don't think an hour a week hurts much, if any, though, if the hour is divided up into ten or more separate intervals.
TV is like a recent Cool Web Search trojan variant. Sinks in deep, hard to get out, and you can't be sure that all of it is gone. But instead of being in your PC it is in your mind.
I think the NFL is so popular because there are no hidden agendas, no lies involved. Just a game.
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