Tom Hanks recalls launching Band of Brothers two days before 9/11

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"We thought it quite possible that the broadcast of the series would be put on hold indefinitely, as it seemed WWIII had just broken out," says Hanks of his acclaimed HBO World War II limited series that premiered 20 years ago, on Sept. 9, 2001. "Perhaps, the series would then be too simplistic, too jingoistic. We halted for two weeks, then continued, providing a sobering tonic, I think. America was again facing a long, unknowable struggle against an enemy that has been, unquestioningly, working for the dark side of humanity.  The Nazis and the Japanese empire fought for dark reasons – of race, theology, of a domination of a status quo based on divisions by caste. Where are we now, 20 years later? As Harry Truman said: 'It is easier to remove tyrants and destroy concentration camps than it is to kill the ideas which gave them birth and strength.'"

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