Military historian uncovers 'Band of Brothers' falsehood

Washington, July 5 (ANI): A military historian has denied that Easy Company of the 101st Airborne Division was the first to enter Adolf Hitler's Berchtesgaden mountain retreat near the end of World War II.

Dr. John C. McManus insists that in 1992 book "Band of Brothers", Stephen E. Ambrose incorrectly attributed Berchtesgaden's capture to another Army unit: Easy Company of the 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.

He said that it was actually 7th Infantry Regiment that first took Berchtesgaden.

"Ambrose just made the mistake of taking the Easy Company guys at face value and not corroborating their stories with actual unit records," writes McManus in his new book "American Courage, American Carnage: 7th Infantry Chronicles: The 7th Infantry Regiment's Combat Experience, 1812 Through World War II."

McManus said that his intent was not to impugn Ambrose's reputation as a historian.

"I have great respect for Stephen Ambrose's work and was definitely influenced by him," he said.

"We all make mistakes, and I just wanted to help set the record straight," he added.

The 7th Infantry has been involved in some of the America's most pivotal and memorable battles.

McManus's new book is a prequel to the first instalment in the 7th Infantry Chronicles series, published in June 2008 under the title "The 7th Infantry Regiment: Combat in an Age of Terror, the Korean War through the Present."

It covered the regiment's involvement in battles from the Korean War through Iraq. (ANI)