Noah Halili - Soldiers and their connection to the Flow

In the American Camino Chapter 6, Dr. Redick describes how flow is a merging of both action and

awareness, where the person will be unable to describe their experience without the use of memory.

Specifically on page 240, he describes a recount of his own hiking experience and the many aspects of

his surroundings that he remembered. He takes care to describe the beauty of nature that surrounds him

in the memory including the colors, sounds, and creatures. Furthermore, each piece of his memory is

detailed and he describes how, in the moment, he did not consider these details.

Later on, the book explains flow as a feeling that happens when a person moves beyond their surroundings spatially. In a sense, this is similar to the idea of an athlete who “gets in the zone” as we discussed in class. Eventually, the chapter covers things that contribute to someone entering the flow. The cause that stands out to me is the challenge of, in this case, the long hike being traveled. Additionally, it mentions how the duration of entering the flow becomes difficult when the person only has a short amount of time. Instead, long journeys will result in the person, as the book puts it, “shaking off the village” and separating their mind from their body. 

When reading through this chapter, I could not help but recall recent shows that I watched with descriptions of the flow. The particular scenes that entered my mind were from sequences in Band of Brothers. For those who may not know, Band of Brothers follows the operations of Easy Company throughout WWII. In the series, there are three instances that I felt related to the idea of the flow. Firstly, an event in episode 4 where Sergeant Randleman kills a German soldier in front of a civilian. Secondly, a scene in episode 5, Crossroads, where Lieutenant Richard Winters charges a company of German soldiers. Finally, a moment in episode 7 when 1st Sergeant Lipton experiences the flow during a German shelling.

In the first example, Sergeant Randleman finds himself trapped behind enemy lines alone and wounded. He chooses to hide inside a barn and eventually encounters a father and his daughter. When the father first finds Randleman, his immediate instinct is to pin him against the wall and threaten him with a knife. Until he sees the young girl, the sergeant is driven purely by instinct and seems almost inhuman. In a sense, he has zoned out and buried his human side in order to ensure his own survival. It is only when he sees the fear in the daughter’s eyes that he snaps out of the flow and relaxes. The two civilians ultimately provide some medical help to Randleman, however as he begins to move them out of the barn, a German soldier enters. The three of them hide and Sergeant Randleman retrieves his rifle. In the end, Randleman fights the soldier using his rifle and bayonet. Once again, he enters a flow-like state where he buries his own humanity to ensure his safety. When he kills the soldier, he makes eye contact with the daughter who is fearfully watching. In this moment, there is a pause between the two that feels long despite only lasting a few seconds. Randleman seems wild and completely other than himself. In the case of this event, the flow acts as a way for Sergeant Randleman to separate his morals from his bodily actions. I believe that this is a type of flow even though it relates more to survival instinct than peaceful meditation.

The second example with Lieutenant Winters involves a similar moment where he zones out and makes time appear to slow. In this instance, Winters is leading a charge of Easy Company men towards a German company across a field. When he begins the charge, he ends up a distance ahead of the rest of the troops as he orders them to wait for a smoke grenade to trigger before joining him. The series shows this attack with almost no audio and focuses primarily on Lieutenant Winters. With each step, Winters’ heartbeat and breathing intensifies as he approaches the German soldiers. When he eventually reaches the enemy holdout, he locks eyes with a young soldier and freezes for a moment before firing his rifle and beginning the fight. Once again, this entire sequence showcases Winters entering the flow and separating his mind from his body. He acts purely on instinct and the way the scene is portrayed further supports this separation of body and mind. Later on in the episode, Winters recalls this particular battle and recounts the charge specifically. This action relates to the memory element of the flow described by Dr. Redick. As he recalls the battle, he begins to become more aware of the details that surrounded him such as the fact that the first soldier he killed was a young boy, likely in his late teens or early twenties. His recollection of his actions provide him with a different perspective on the battle as he begins to piece together everything he did and everything that the war has resulted in. This unawareness in the moment and impact of memories act as a direct example of the flow described in chapter 6 of the American Camino book.

Lastly in episode 7, there is a moment where Sergeant Lipton enters the flow during a German bombardment. This particular scene from Band of Brothers is the best example of the flow in the series. During an artillery shelling, the soldiers of Easy Company all hide in foxholes in the forest in the hopes of avoiding being hit. During the first of many bombardments, Lipton begins to monologue over the explosions stating: “For some reason, at that moment, in that half-finished foxhole, all I could think about was the 4th of July when I was a kid. I loved to make my own firecrackers, cherry bombs, lady fingers. I loved to blow up dirt clods and pop bottles and the like. Looked forward to it all year long. What I saw that day was the most awesome and terrifying display of firepower I’d ever seen in my life” (Band of Brothers). In this moment, Lipton is shown laughing during the attack and almost seeming to enjoy it. His monologue is his own memory of the event and what made him laugh at the time. This case ties into the influence of challenge and duration in the flow. At this point in the story, Sergeant Lipton has been serving in WWII for nearly seven months in some of the deadliest battles in history. Throughout this time, he had witnessed numerous friends be killed and even more wounded, including himself. With the impossible obstacles Lipton encountered alongside Easy Company, he was able to slip into the flow during this event. In the case of the duration, Lipton does not spend an extensive amount of time in the flow based on the portrayal in the show. However, the immense amount of time spent in combat gives Lipton more reason to enter into the flow. By this point, Sergeant Lipton is a veteran of Easy Company and has encountered numerous challenges over his seven months of service. These things combined ultimately lead to Lipton entering the flow and finding a moment of peace in an otherwise chaotic environment.