Band of Brothers: Why does medic need scissors (spoiler!)

[Sample_the_Dog]

Wait, missed Q78’s comment on the finger. Never post on lunch hour… makes you rush and you miss stuff. Cheers, StD

[Gatopescado]

Maybe I’m not as dumb as I think I am.

(Think hard about that for a second! )

[Skywatcher]

@Sample_the_Dog

So what was the significance of that first scene where his finger bleeds, then? We never did come up with another idea why that was in there.

Could be that he’s diabetic.

[Petey]

I looked in the book’s index and Roe is only on 3 pages. I think you can assume most of him is either made up or is a “composite” of medics’ experiences. The main mention of him is in the Bastogne chapter:

The medics were the most popular, respected, and appreciated men in the company. Their weapons were first-aid kits, their place on the line was wherever a man called out that he was wounded. Lieutenant Foley had special praise for Pvt. Eugene Roe. “He was there when he was need, and how he got ‘there’ you often wondered. He never received recognition for his bravery, his heroic servicing of the wounded. I recommended him for a Silver Star after a devastating firefight when his exploits were typically outstanding. Maybe I didn’t use the proper words and phrases, perhaps Lieutenant Dike didn’t approve, or somewhere along the line it was cast aside. I don’t know. I never knew except that if any man who struggled in the snow and the cold, in the many attacks through the open and through the woods, ever deserved a medal, it was our medic, Gene Roe.”

[Morgyn]

@Petey

I looked in the book’s index and Roe is only on 3 pages. I think you can assume most of him is either made up or is a “composite” of medics’ experiences. The main mention of him is in the Bastogne chapter:

Why would you assume that? He’s a real guy, and he died in 1998. His kids and grandkids created a web site about him and his experiences in WWII, and there’s pretty extensive information on all the other men in E company there, too.

[Petey]

@Morgyn

Why would you assume that? He’s a real guy, and he died in 1998. His kids and grandkids created a web site about him and his experiences in WWII, and there’s pretty extensive information on all the other men in E company there, too.

Perhaps I overstated. Of course they could have done other research about him that isn’t in the book. I just thought the episode was designed to show a typical medic’s action instead of specificly Roe. Any speculation about him being a junkie based on the actions in the film have no relation to reality. The site you listed has a link from an historian. Link
It states that while the nurses were based on real people, it’s doubtful that Roe would have met them.