Then, did Ronald Speirs really run through Foy?
reel. He became the E Company commander during an attack on Foy, Belgium which occurred during the Battle of the Bulge. He replaced an inept commander. For those who have watched the series but not read the book: he did indeed run through enemy fire and a mess of German soldiers to coordinate the attack.
One may also ask, what band of brothers got wrong? A serious WWII history buff could point out dozens of small mistakes in Band of Brothers like the inaccuracies of a German Jagdpanther at Bloody Gulch, the wearing of the 101st Screaming Eagle patch during the Battle of the Bulge, or the anachronistic headset worn by a C-47 pilot taking off from England.
Correspondingly, did Speirs really kill prisoners?
Winters stated that Speirs was alleged on one occasion to have killed six German prisoners of war with a Thompson submachine gun and that the battalion leadership must have been aware of the allegations, but chose to ignore the charges because of the pressing need to retain qualified combat leaders.
What happened to Ronald Speirs?
He subsequently became governor of Berlin's Spandau Prison in 1958, but returned to the US Army and was on a mission to the Royal Lao Army in 1962. He retired from the Army in 1964 as a Lieutenant Colonel and stayed with his family in California. Speirs died in Montana on 11 April 2007.
