During the Clone Wars and the Galactic Civil war, many members of Anakin Skywalker's 501st
legion wrote journals about the battles and events that they took part in.
One Clone Trooper from the 501st who managed to escape from the destruction of Death Star
documented his heartbreaking experience on the day.
So, I’m going to break down exactly how this Clone Trooper of the 501st legion felt
after many of his brothers were killed by the Rebels, aboard the Death Star.
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The 501st Journal was a book of journal entries written by retired members of the 501st Legion.
Each entry recorded the most famous battles of the 501st Legion, and explained the feelings
of individual Clone Troopers throughout their life on the battlefield.
The journal contained pages all the way from the first battle of geonosis at the beginning
of the Clone Wars, to the Battle of Endor at the end of Imperial rule of the galaxy,
showing how the 501st Legion was quickly transitioned into Darth Vader’s personal Clone legion.
The journal entry that I’m about to play for you comes directly from a member of Darth
Vader’s 501st, who survived the Battle of Yavin and watched many of his brothers die
aboard the Death Star.
The journal shows us just how painful the war has been for many of the Clones who continued
on into the imperial era, and how the Galactic Civil war was nothing like the Clone Wars.
So, here it is:
When the Death Star was destroyed, about half of the 501st Legion was still in the hangar
getting to their ships.
Of those who made it out, another third were caught in the explosion.
I'd fought with some of those men for over twenty years.
Afterwards, those of us that survived hooked up with a nearby Imperial fleet making a retaliatory
strike on the Rebel's base on Yavin IV.
It wasn't the best thought out plan, but we were cut off from our leaders, tired, and
operating on instinct.
If not for our training, we probably would've never gotten past their orbital defenses."
"And so the battle over Yavin came to an end.
I'm told we destroyed hundreds of Rebel ships that day.
Even if it had been thousands, it wouldn't have made up for the Death Star."
So the journal entry right there shockingly confirms that about half of the 501st legion
were still on board the Death Star when it was destroyed by Luke Skywalker and the Rebels.
Many Clones were in the process of preparing their ships to take on the Rebel fleet, but
unfortunately they never made it out of the hangar before it was too late.
The Clone Trooper who wrote this journal entry is heartbroken at the loss because he had
fought with these men for over 20 years, going all the way back to the Clone Wars, under
General Anakin Skywalker.
Let me know down in the comments below if you can forgive the 501st legion for joining
Darth Vader, under his personal command, after the creation of the Empire.
After the attack, the surviving troopers were completely shocked, but knew that they had
to take their revenge on the Rebels, by attacking their base on Yavin IV.
Unfortunately, they were not able to come up with a well-thought out plan because they
had lost communication with their leaders and were tired from the previous battle.
Because of this, the Clones of the 501st simply had to attack based on instinct.
Their incredibly difficult training on Kamino gave them the knowledge and skills necessary
to get past the defences of the base, but they were not able to do much damage and simply
were forced to retreat.
Many members of the 501st who survived both the Clone wars and the galactic civil war,
called this event, the darkest day in the history of their legion because of the shocking
amount of loss and destruction inflicted on their brothers.
But let me know if you want to see more 501st journal entries covered on the channel!
Thanks so much for watching, Remember to subscribe for more awesome Star Wars lore content.
Cheers guys, hope to see you in the next one.