BY BRUCE GREEN
OPINION —
I’m rewatching “Band of Brothers,” the WW2 series based on the book by Stephen Ambrose and created by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks not long after they worked together on “Saving Private Ryan.” The series focuses on Easy Company, a parachute infantry regiment that is attached to the 101st Airborne Division.
Ambrose interviewed surviving members of Easy Company for his book and each episode of “Band of Brothers” usually focuses on one member of the regiment. In the sixth episode, that member is Eugene Roe, who serves as a medic. His story is told during the Siege of Bastogne, which was part of what is known today as The Battle of the Bulge.
Easy Company is in the edge of the forest outside Bastogne, Belgium. Their assignment is to “hold the line” and prevent the Germans from advancing into Bastogne. It is winter and they have very little food, ammunition, winter clothing and what Eugene Roe is most concerned with — medical supplies. During the episode, we see him going from foxhole to foxhole to gather whatever the men have in their first aid kits. Then there is a mortar attack, and we see Roe go into action as he bandages the wounds and spirits of those injured.
He helps in the transport of a badly wounded soldier to a makeshift aid station set up in a church on the outskirts of the city. There he meets a nurse who is able to provide him with some additional supplies. Her name is Renee, and she is French. Since Roe is French Cajun and speaks French, they form an immediate connection. They meet on two other occasions and have a single moment alone, sitting outside the church after they’ve lost a patient.
Roe: You’re a good nurse.
Renee: No, I never want to treat a wounded man again. I’d rather work in a butcher’s shop.
Roe: But your touch calms people. That’s a gift from God.
Renee: No, it’s not a gift. God would never give such a painful thing.
And with that, she’s summoned back into action.
After another bombing attack, Roe transports another wounded soldier, but when he gets to the makeshift aid station, it’s been reduced to rubble. As he looks over it, he finds only the light blue scarf that Renee wore. He folds the scarf up neatly and puts it in his pocket.
Later we find him in a foxhole with a soldier whose hand is bleeding profusely. As Roe searches through his bag and then his pockets, he has no more bandages — only the light blue scarf. He looks at it longingly for a moment before tearing it in two to use for a bandage.
I read somewhere where someone said this drove home the point about the scarcity of medical supplies, and it certainly did that. But it did more than that. Roe honored his friend Renee by giving up his only token and remembrance of her, just as she had given herself up in caring for others. The way to honor her wasn’t by selfishly clinging to her scarf — it was by using it treat the wounds of others.
All this makes me wonder how we will honor the One who was wounded for our transgressions. Will we fold Him up and tuck Him away in our pocket for safe keeping in our holy huddles and cloisters, or will we put Him into circulation for the world?
She was a good nurse.
Find more of Bruce’s writings at his website: a-taste-of-grace-with-bruce-green.
