"Band of Brothers, Episode 5": Leading Alone

Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's acclaimed series "Band of Brothers" retells the heroics of Easy Company during World War II.

After the success of the Normandy invasion, Easy Company is deep in enemy territory. They spend a cold night hunkered down in a low trough, recuperating from a skirmish with the Germans the night before. Hours earlier, a scout patrol reports of a high-powered artillery gun positioned on well-defended high-ground. Captain Ralph Winters (Damian Lewis) gathers his men and leads a stealth assault on the German position.

The surprise attack initially goes well, but they soon find they are outnumbered. They take cover and burrow in for a frigid night of waiting.

When dawn breaks, Winters gets a better view of their position. Comparing that to his battlefield map, he realizes their predicament. They're in a ditch, already outflanked by the Germans, and would be overrun "as soon as they figured it out."

One soldier asks how many Germans they're up against, and Winters dryly answers, "It could be a whole battalion, as far as I know." When his second-in-command asks what they should do, he says, "We've got no choice."

Dividing his 30 men in three groups of ten, he presents their assault plan. Ten will head up the dike; ten will follow him up the middle; and ten will move to the flank.

It is brave, bold, and daring. It's their only hope; they take the fight to the Germans.

With final orders of "fix bayonets" and "wait for the signal of the red smoke," Winters jumps out of the ditch, pulls the pin, hurls his can of red smoke into the field in front of them, and begins his lonely sprint across the open terrain.

For 30 seconds, Winters is the solitary figure on the battlefield, dashing towards the enemy, with his men following orders to wait until smoke billows, masking their movement as they advance.

Gasping for air and drumming with adrenaline, Winters sprints up the final rise of the hill and finds himself facing a full battalion of Nazi infantry - alone. He pauses for a split-second and then fires the first round, waiting for the rest of his men to meet him in the battle.

And meet him, they do. Surprising two German battalions, this small band of men overpowers the enemy position.

Being a leader most often means going first. Often, it also means going alone.

Elapsed time: Measured from the beginning of the opening credit, this scene begins at 00:17:55 and ends at 00:19:18.

Content: "Band of Brothers" is not rated; there are graphic battle scenes.

Band of Brothers (HBO, 2002), written by Erik Jendresen, directed by Tom Hanks; submitted by Winn Collier, Seneca, South Carolina