[Steppes] Fwd: Band of Brothers Hero

[Sue Rogers]

This came across another list I am on, and I thought it fitting to pass along.

Thanks to all who serve.

Suzanna, herbalist

Sue Rogers
suzannaherbalist at earthlink.net















> Subject: Band of Brothers Hero
> One of the "Band of Brothers" soldiers died on June 17, 2009.
>
>
>      We're hearing a lot today about big splashy memorial services.
>
>      I want a nationwide memorial service for Darrell "Shifty" Powers.
>
>      Shifty volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy
> Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st
> Airborne
> Infantry. If you've seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the History Channel,
> you
> know Shifty. His character appears in all 10 episodes, and Shifty himself
> is
> interviewed in several of them.
>
>      I met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport several years ago. I didn't
> know who he was at the time. I just saw an elderly gentleman having
> trouble
> reading his ticket. I offered to help, assured him that he was at the
> right
> gate, and noticed the "Screaming Eagle", the symbol of the 101st Airborne,
> on his hat.
>
>      Making conversation, I asked him if he'd been in the 101st Airborne
> or
> if his son was serving. He said quietly that he had been in the 101st. I
> thanked him for his service, then asked him when he served, and how many
> jumps he made.
>
>      Quietly and humbly, he said "Well, I guess I signed up in 1941 or so,
> and was in until sometime in 1945 . . . " at which point my heart skipped.
>
>      At that point, again, very humbly, he said "I made the 5 training
> jumps at Toccoa, and then jumped into Normandy . . . . do you know where
> Normandy is?" At this point my heart stopped.
>
>      I told him yes, I know exactly where Normandy was, and I know what
> D-Day was. At that point he said "I also made a second jump into Holland,
> into Arnhem." I was standing with a genuine war hero . . . . and then I
> realized that it was June, just after the anniversary of D-Day.
>
>      I asked Shifty if he was on his way back from France, and he said
> "Yes. And it's real sad because these days so few of the guys are left,
> and
> those that are, lots of them can't make the trip." My heart was in my
> throat
> and I didn't know what to say.
>
>      I helped Shifty get onto the plane and then realized he was back in
> Coach, while I was in First Class. I sent the flight attendant back to get
> him and said that I wanted to switch seats. When Shifty came forward, I
> got
> up out of the seat and told him I wanted him to have it, that I'd take his
> in coach.
>
>      He said "No, son, you enjoy that seat. Just knowing that there are
> still some who remember what we did and still care is enough to make an
> old
> man very happy." His eyes were filling up as he said it. And mine are
> brimming up now as I write this.
>
>      Shifty died on June 17 after fighting cancer.
>
>      There was no parade.
>
>      No big event in Staples Center.
>
>      No wall to wall back to back 24x7 news coverage.
>
>      No weeping fans on television.
>
>      And that's not right.
>
>      Let's give Shifty his own Memorial Service, online, in our own quiet
> way. Please forward this email to everyone you know. Especially to the
> veterans.
>
>      Rest in peace, Shifty.
>
>      "A nation without heroes is nothing."
>      Roberto Clemente
>

 


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