know, i'm not a jokester and i'm only telling the truth and that's what i'm here for. but they should have had more little details in the movie to at least -- making people laugh that's in the audience, in their parlor, i don't care where the tv is, in the kitchen, because i remember one scene that actually happened with me and my platoon. we were in the shed and putting on material to jump with, grenades, machine guns, ammo, .30s, whatever was required, and one of the guys come up, he had two vandaleers of ammo and he'd say, bill, i got two vandaleers of ammo here, what to you want me to do?

he said, give them to heffron. he walks over and gives them to me. i throw them over me. another guy comes. he says, i have two grenades, bill, what do you want me to do with them? bill said, give them to heffron. i got the two grenades. i pin them right here. another guy come up and he had two grenades. so bill -- i know, give them to heffron. i say, yeah, give me them. i put one here, one there. another guy comes up, he has a small box, i don't know what's in there. he said, bill, what am i going to do with this? and i shout, give it to heffron. he walked over and he goes to

give it to me and bill said, wait a minute, hold that a minute. the reason i'm telling you this story, these gentlemen here, these two fine guys here on the end, the actors, great guys. you got to be with them to know. but anyhow, that's why i'm telling you this story. which makes me look a little bit short, as he mentioned, short. so i said, wait a minute. bill said, no, you, come on, come over here. i'm going to talk to you. i said, what is it, bill? you're giving me everything in the platoon to jump with. he said, we're jumping in holland, ain't we? i said yeah. okay.

what's that got to do with me? he said let me tell you something. how much do you weigh, 138 pounds. how tall are you? 5'4" 1/2. i said because i am 5'4" 1/2. and he said he's 4'5". i said i got nothing to do with that. and he said, yeah, well, you know, he said, look, let me tell you guys what this is all about. babe, you're 138 pounds, you're 5'4" 1/2. let me tell you something. i asked you if we're jumping in holland and i said yes, i know. we're going to jump in holland. and he said god damn it, and he may have cursed, but i don't want to curse, he said let me

tell you something. you son of a bitch, we're jumping in holland. the reason you got that, we don't want to go looking for you in spain. and i wanted to fight -- i did [ applause ] >> see, the movies don't have that. and i got a little bit irritated over the whole thing. >> thanks for not swearing. al, there's an interesting story about you and lieutenant brewer. there's a scene when you're outside where lieutenant brewer is out ahead of the column and michael's character said, doesn't he make a fine target. something about look at general patton. brewer gets hit. you go to his aid as a medic. could you finish that story? it has a little bit of human to

it. >> i'm right back to "e" company again. because initially i was with "e" company as an infantry man. and we were in holland situation and they were calling for a medic up front. and we were this light woods and i said there medics up in front. so i went up, i said what's the problem up here? and they pointed over a little ditch they were down in, they're pointing out in the field and there was a fellow lying in the middle of that field between four houses and the woods. and they had fallen back, "e" company had fallen back when the german opened up on them. yeah, i understand brewer was out there waving like he was charging like an old western,

you know? so i went out there and it was quiet. no sense crawling out there. i'd been hurt on the jump anyway. and i was down there and i looked at him. he looked like death warmed over. so i -- i told him i was there and i would take care of him. and i had plasma and finally got a vein that was -- i could get some plasma into. and then i had the -- i was holding the bottle up there. meanwhile the medic that was supposed to be there came out and the german opened up on us again, and he got clipped on the heel so he took off to the rest of "e" company. and i heard a crack and i thought, oh, boy, they broke the bottle after all that trouble. you're not thinking about what's actually going on. you know, just the problem they've created for you. in my best bedside manner, i said lieutenant, are you still alive? [ laughter ] and i finished his sentence because i said if you're done, i think i better leave.

he was croaking through the net here's croaked out that, no, but he didn't know why he was still alive. and i said, well, i'll stay with you. well, the dutch people came -- three of my guys, three of the "e" company came out there to help, they got shot. so there are now more of us who are wounded. and the dutch guys came out from the houses. those dutch had guts, i tell you. they came out. they had a ladder with them and they put brewer on the ladder. they take him to where the houses are with the german upstairs. oh, my patient's going the wrong way. and meanwhile i got kicked like a mule when i got hit a couple times. and my leg wouldn't do anything but stay like this. but there was a ditch going right to the houses. they wanted to take my boot off

because they thought they were going to help me. but it was right above the boot and so gave myself a shot of morphine so i wouldn't go into shock. and meanwhile one of the dutchmen picked up brewer's gun and he had it to where it would fire 30 shots, he it a double thing there, and it would fire 30 shots like an automatic weapon. and he was firing all 30 shots went out. and he threw it down. and anyway, we get back to the house and there are four of us now in there. and i was getting a little nauseous and the place was immaculate. i couldn't speak dutch. the woman was in there. when i was getting to the house, some woman three houses down, there were four in a row, the end one was hollering -- i knew what that meant, dead, someone's

dead. there wasn't anything i could do for that person. it wasn't until just recently that i realized that maybe some person was shot by the german when he fired off that way or fired by us when we came through again. you know. but it's haunted me ever since. things like that do bother for a long time, don't they? and i warned her that i was going to throw up, you know, she came with a bowl and everything. being considerate. we got out to the crossroads there. we were right on the edge. and the other one led back to the town we came through when we topped in. we were arguing there. i wanted to go back. there was a doctor and couple other dutchmen. what settled it, a platoon of germans came from behind the houses, a little bit farther out. they start firing at us. they took off. they had a double decker or something, little cart. they put the guys down there. they were running down the road. i couldn't run, so i dove into a german type round foxhole.

two dutchmen pulled me out, put me on a wheelbarrow. they were going with one on each handle running down the road. germans figured we weren't worth the trouble so they stopped. but it's interesting what happens when you're in a situation like that. >> thank you, al. >> babe, before we take some questions, i know you have one story that you always like to share about the dutch. and about a little old woman -- >> oh, yeah. >> that one. >> yeah, i like to tell that one. >> go ahead. and then we'll open it up to questions. >> this is very serious. this is very serious because it's -- a woman's involved in it. it's not dirty, it just has to be told. we were the first platoon in the second platoon of easy company. we were the first squad.

joe tooey's squad. i was machine gunner. and they said, bill, wild bill said, put your gun here, point it to the secondary road up there, it's the only road they can come in. okay, bill. oh, i should tell you i didn't end up in spain either. [ laughter ] but i pointed the gun toward the secondary road, and there was three dutch underground guys. and they were really good. they were there. unlike the french, the dutch were there. that's true. [ applause ] but anyhow, to get back to that -- glad i interjected about the french. but these three underground guys asked lieutenant conklin, who

had just passed away, he was 90. and they asked him, could you permit us, there's a horse and wagon coming up this road. it's got eight german soldiers on it, four on each side. and they have an artillery piece they're pulling in back of the wagon. would you give us permission to take it out? and conklin said, let me tell you, i've been under these people for five years. you got the opinion to do it, you go ahead and do it. kill them all. so we all agreed. anyhow, these dutchmen get in the doorways and they let them have it. they had automatic weapons. and the germans were flying over

the wagon like this, backwards. and one of them was about 6'2", 6'3", whatever, blond hair, blue eye, regular airman looking. he had been hit in the shoulder. and he, one of our men brought him up, said we're going to take him for questioning then we'll take him to the medic. we didn't care either way. and anyhow, a little old dutch lady, she, really, she wasn't wide enough to bless herself. she was about 83 years old. she was older than us, we were 18. she asked the german soldier, where did it hurt? the german soldier, he said, here, there, oh, oh. she had a handbag.

and she whoppled him with the handbag. and he said, ahh! ahh! and we were sitting there, we were happy. beat the hell out of him. and still hurting. she hit him again with the handbag. nobody's feeling sorry for the poor kraut. i say poor kraut. he had more money in his pocket i guess than we did. but anyhow, she went at him again and here comes the underground. and they pick her up. they say, mama, mama, come, come. and they take her away.

and we said, what did you do that for? gee, she deserved to do it. said, well, we had to take him away, we want him for questioning. and she had a brick in the handbag. now, that poor little old lady that we felt sorry for, she put a brick in her handbag. she beat the hell out of him. and we all gave her a nice round of applause. we thought the world of that. that was real -- really, it was one of the finest scenes i ever remember about war. >> al, go ahead. >> i have a tiny vignette here to tell you about. when we first came in to zon, the dutch people all came out in their finery, they're waving their flags. firing started down the street. they all disappeared. i stepped back in the doorway and a hand came out. i know it was a woman's hand. i'm not that dumb. a hand came out with a spoon and cherries in it, fed me the cherries and went back.

and the firing stopped and i took off down the street. i never did see who it was. to this day, i would like to see who it was and thank them. [ applause ] >> sounds like the first drive-through. we'd like to take an opportunity now to take some questions from the audience. i know a lot of you, yeah, obviously have a lot of questions. we have scott up there, the handsome gentleman up there as a microphone, and we'll start right over there. and you just -- the handsome gentleman here, mr. george jr. whose father was featured prominently in "band of brothers." george's father was the funny guy in "band of brothers" who kept everybody loose during really tough times and george is just like his dad. he has quite the sense of humor. well, we like to say that as a disclaimer. we have the first question up

there. go ahead, sir. >> i'm jim from wakefield. last february 2011, there was an e-mail came around about shifty. and not being on it in 2009. by major general chuck yeager. chuck was my boss during the war and i went to dinner april 9th last year, had 140 guests. and i made everybody aware of "band of brothers." >> thank you very much. >> we should mention shifty powers was a gentleman, he's talking about, the expert rifleman, sharpshooter in easy company and featured throughout the series. i believe he was the only one features in every episode? is that true? >> a couple guys were. >> what do i know? >> good answer. >> al? >> shifty powers i think was the guy when we first went on the firing range that i bet him a candy bar he couldn't hit the bull's eye. eight candy bars later, he hit

every bull's-eye and i didn't lose anymore because i didn't have anymore. and that was shifty. i didn't realize who i was dealing with. >> shifty powers was certainly one of the most well-known band of brothers. question right here. >> hi, my name is joe blansfield. i have a question for al. we chatted a little bit earlier outside from one medic to another. i'm just curious, did you choose to be a medic or did the army choose you to be a medic? >> the army chose to ask me. >> and what additional training did you get in preparation for what you are about to -- >> i had good training. i was a boy scout. [ applause ] and my -- the fellow that started about the same time i did at tacoa also had boy scout training. basically that's what we had. we had a little bit of training. but not very much. not what they have today. it's wonderful today. by the way this fellow brewer

that we were talking about, he ended up singing in the choir and everything, so he was okay. >> that's great. >> but we didn't have anything. but we used our heads and our hands and whatever good sense if we had any. >> over here, brian? >> my question is for mr. tipper. i was wondering if you can speak a little bit more about your experiences right after? >> my hearing is not real good. >> he would like to know about your experiences right after carentan. >> it was my last effort in the war. i was hit in carentan. and we did something that i think probably only the paratroopers could have done. we had a battalion of 800 men. went single file all night long to the south of carentan and got ready for an attack that morning. single file.

one person make a mistake, and the whole thing was gone. we did it. and 800 men made that trip. we got set up in a place where the germans had no expectation of any attack at all. and we attacked and we had them outgunned and we were moving them back. things were looking pretty good. the actually -- i was wounded. we were inexperienced but suddenly we realized maybe this was a little too easy. we were at a crossroads, a three-way crossroads. there were houses. if we moved forward a little bit, the houses would be behind us. somebody thought, maybe germans are in those houses. in the movies, you check the house for snipers or people, german enemy, you pull a grenade and throw it in.

i didn't have any grenades. we just had to kick the doors in without a grenade, but we did it. and the first house i came to, i kicked that door in and went in and there was nobody in the house at all. so i went out to look in the back, there was a backyard stone fence about six or seven feet high. nobody i could see. and there was, i think, an outhouse connected to the house. i thought maybe there's somebody in there and i called them to come out with their hands up and nobody answered. so i put a couple of shots into that outhouse for good luck. and thought, well, this -- i went back out and hollered. i went upstairs but nobody was upstairs. came back down. i yelled across the street to the guy that was covering, this house is clear. and a little bit later, we waited and waited for a few minutes. suddenly, i had this tremendous impact. i didn't feel any pain, didn't hear any noise i don't think. tremendous impact had knocked me back.

the training i had was so good that i didn't drop my rifle. i still held my rifle up. and i thought, well, it's a german, he tossed a grenade, he's coming in. i was ready to take care of him. nothing happened, nothing happened. and so i went across the street and he yelled, hey, and i came to the door and he came running over and told me it was mortar shell. so it was not anybody throwing a grenade at him. and that was really the end of my war in carentan. the situation was the germans, they were retreating, they had set up almost a measured distance and they knew we would be coming up to that cross roads. and they were a little bit more experienced probably than we

were, but we still -- i was out of the war, but "e" company still took carentan that day. >> thank you. i just want to say good luck to carrie. to the crowd, his daughter is running the boston marathon this monday. so best of luck. >> everybody knows. >> you have a question, george, or somebody else has a question? got it. >> i have a question. >> this is for you, izzy. >> as an outfit survivor, what quality or qualities do you think were needed that enabled you to survive that terrible experience? what qualities in your life or your experience there enabled you to survive that horrible experience? >> did you hear that?

what qualities that you had in your life made you be able to survive being in auschwitz and survive the other camps you were in. was it something internal? was it youth? what was it? >> thank you. >> i don't think that you need any special quality. you needed a little luck and help. and i was fortunate enough to get help from people in different camps that i know. keep in mind i come from a family my father, my mother and we were five brothers. my mother used to say she has a basketball team, five boys. in 1942, in a town in the middle

of the night without any prior warning, s.s. troopers came into the ghetto with barking dogs and flying rifle bots, and ordered all the entire jewish population out to assemble in the center of the town. over there, selection took place. the germans selected those who in their opinion were capable of performing slave labor. they needed workers to work in their industries because the young men and women were in the military. that day was the darkest day of my life which is still with me today. because during the selection, i and two of my brothers were

selected to one column, say, on the left side. my parents and my 7-year-old brother were selected on the other side of the column. i was never away from my parents. i was never away from my family. and i didn't want to be separate this time either. and so i sneaked back over to the column where my parents were. and i said to myself whatever happens to the members of my family, let it happen to me, too. we're going together wherever we have to go. my father at that time realized what has taken place here and he said to me and to two of my brothers, children, go back over there. save yourself. and if you survive, remember to carry on with jewish life and jewish tradition.

those were the last words that i hear from my father. they took them away. they were taken to a concentration death camp and they were gassed and cremated there the same day. i and two of my brothers were sent to another camp in that city where there was a factory, and we were assigned to work in various places. my first job was to be assigned by the community council, there was a jewish community council. so you had to go there and register in order to get a ration card. the only way you could get the ration card is if you were assigned to work. i was assigned by the community council to work in the gestapo. i'm sure that you all know what

the gestapo is. don't think for a minute that i was a gestapo agent. i was doing labor work. i had to come in the morning, shine the officers' boots, clean and do other various work. i was mistreated. i was beaten. and i went back to the community council crying and said i can't work there. please send me to another, to another place of work. which they did. and they sent me to ammunition factory. remember that when the war broke out and the germans came into poland where i was living with my family, i was 14 years old. at the age of 14, i was declared a slave, condemned to death for the only crime i have committed because i was born to jewish parents.

for that, i had no right to live. in 1942 at that time i was in that camp working in the ammunition factory. the conditions in that camp were so bad that people could not stay very long. in the winter of 1942, just a few months after we arrived in the camp, due to the conditions of bed, food, unreasonable, unusable facilities for water and toilet and so forth, an epidemic of typhoid broke out. then the germans took one of the barracks, barrack five, and made this a quarantine and put all