Posted on 12/05/2021 7:03:31 AM PST by DFG
Retired Colonel Edward Shames, the last surviving officer from the legendary Easy Company of World War II paratroopers whose exploits were featured in the award-winning miniseries Band of Brothers, died at age 99 on Friday.
Shames died 'peacefully at home,' according to an obituary posted by the Holloman-Brown Funeral Home & Crematory.
Born to Jewish parents, Shames forged his mother's signature to enlist in the Army in 1942 at just 19, and was one of the officers in charge of the famed Easy Company, part of the US Army's 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.
The book Band of Brothers - chronicling the bravery of Easy Company, or the Screaming Eagles - was written by Stephen Ambrose in 1992.
Shames's death leaves 97-year-old Bradford Freeman as the last surviving member of Easy Company. Freeman, who enlisted and was a mortarman, was a consultant for the Band of Brothers HBO miniseries created by Tom Hanks and Stephen Spielberg in 2001.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Curious - Why would he need his mother's signature at age 19? If he didn't enlist, he would have been drafted.
That HE didn’t do to them what they did is a testament.
RIP, solder. You earned it.
Sobel is something of a tragic character. He was in some ways a victim of his own insecurity and pettiness. Stephen Ambrose credits Sobel with toughening up Easy Company, even if only in their hatred and disdain for him. Ambrose’s evaluation is based on the opinion of the men of Easy Company themselves. Sobel was a tough SOB, he trained as hard as the men he commanded, but he lack the personality traits of a good leader, especially a combat leader. Nevertheless, he made real contributions to the war effort, it is too easy to at this distant remove to denigrate him for his failings.
Sobel jumped into Normandy as part of regimental headquarters S-4, earning a Combat Infantryman Badge.
From wikipedia:
In 1970, Sobel shot himself in the head with a small-caliber pistol in an attempted suicide.[10] The bullet entered his left temple, passed behind his eyes, and exited the other side of his head. Both of his optic nerves were severed by the shot, leaving him blind.[10] Soon afterward, he began living at a VA assisted-living facility in Waukegan, Illinois. He died there of malnutrition on 30 September 1987.[10][11] No memorial services were held for him.[10]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Sobel
It was fortunate that they had Winters, who proved to have all of the leadership traits that Sobel lacked.
Hail and farewell, mighty hero.
The day the war started, I was five, heard Roosevelt on the radio say We Are At War...told my parents. That war took up my childhood in a NYC suburb, where we of course had Jewish neighbors. My younger friends have no clue how difficult it was, how many families had gold and/or silver stars in their windows, and how we celebrated when it was finally over.
Still brings me to tears.
Any fool who promotes women in combat infantry should watch Band of Brothers and The Pacific.
a non violent fragging
When I was a kid for some reason I struck up a friendship with an old man on my street named John.
He fought in WWI and told me stories about riding in the 40 and 8 train cars.
They would fit 40 men and 8 horses.
I salute COL Shames! God blessed us with brave men. Let us live like it.
And/or read the series of short histories of the Pacific War that the Marines commissioned.
It doesn’t take any reading to know the Jews are not the center of evil in the world. It only takes an IQ above room temp.
Born to Jewish parents, Shames forged his mother’s signature to enlist in the Army in 1942 at just 19, and was one of the officers in charge of the famed Easy Company, part of the US Army’s 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.
Our youngest grand kid just turned 20, and most of the time he is very mature for his age. Yet, it is extremely hard to picture him doing what those young men did in WWII. He did text a message to a younger BIL Vet and I, thanking us for our service this past Veterans’s Day.
That BIL spent his 19th year of life in Nam with the big Red One. After they left Travis AFB in California and went to SFO, he was spit at/on in SFO.
The pilot on his plane back to OHare, radio called this young man’s older brother to bring a paper bag filled with civilian clothes and tennis shoes to the airport an notify United Security that he was there with the change of clothes. After the plane landed and most people were off the plane. One of the stews took the bag to our returning soldier. He changed clothes and left his travel uniform and army shoes in the paper bag then on the floor under his seat. United sent his other gear to his parents’s home.
The pilot, co pilot and other United Guys escorted my BIL and other returning soldiers off the plane and into the luggage area.
His 6’4” bro, was hoping that someone would challenge him and a cousin, a combat marine, who went with him to pick up his bro.
Apparently, the Chicago mayor sent both uniformed cops and those in civilian clothes to protect our returning service men. They were in the luggage area and exits. That ended any protests while the B$ was still going on at SFO.
Decades later this BIL donated his army dress blue uniform to the local history library, and they are on display. The uniform was still in his big olive green bag,stored in his Dad’s garage.
I'm old enough to remember WW1 Veterans from the parades that used to go through my hometown growing up. I was marching with the Boy Scouts so they were either in front of or in back of us and then we'd go to the VFW for spaghetti dinners with them. At the time, there were still millions of WW2 veterans still around including many of my uncles)
Now the WW2 veterans too are almost gone. We lost Bob Dole as well today.
RIP.
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