'Babe' Heffron, 90, hero of 'Band of Brothers'

Edward J. "Babe" Heffron, 90, the former Easy Company private whose World War II experiences were chronicled in the cable TV miniseries Band of Brothers, died Sunday, Dec. 1, at Kennedy Hospital in Stratford.

Mr. Heffron served as a machine gunner with the Second Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division from 1941 to 1945.

He fought in some of the major conflicts of the European Theater - Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands and the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium - and used his stories as fodder for a memoir.

The 2007 work, Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends: Two WWII Paratroopers from the Original Band of Brothers Tell Their Story, was written with longtime friend William Guarnere and journalist Robyn Post.

Post said Mr. Heffron made a point to go to schools, teaching children that the war was not a joke or fairy tale seen on TV, but an actual historical event with serious worldwide implications.

"He shared what he saw and experienced so that they could get a sense that this really happened," Post said. Mr. Heffron also wanted to honor his war buddies who never came home, and make sure that people never forgot their sacrifice.

Mr. Heffron's heroics were also chronicled by historian Stephen Ambrose in his book Band of Brothers, and Mr. Heffron's character was portrayed by actor Robin Laing in the TV miniseries produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg in 2001.

Mr. Heffron appeared as himself at the end of episode 10, describing Easy Company; he also had a cameo part in episode four.

A South Philadelphia native, he had to drop out of South Philadelphia High School during the Great Depression to support his family. He enlisted in August 1941.

At parachute jump school, he and two buddies vowed that if any were to die in battle, the others would make sure his personal effects were delivered to the family.

One buddy, J.D. Henderson, was wounded, but returned to the States safely. But Mr. Heffron's best friend, John T. "Johnny" Julian, was killed in a foxhole by German fire on Jan. 1, 1945. His death so upset Mr. Heffron that it was 12 years before he could carry out the pledge and approach Julian's family.

Mr. Heffron helped liberate the Kaufering concentration camp in Landsberg, Germany, and he aided the Allies who seized Adolf Hitler's Eagle's Nest (Kehlsteinhaus). For his valor, he received a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.

After the war, Mr. Heffron went to work for Publicker Industries in the firm's whiskey distillery on South Delaware Avenue in Philadelphia. In 1966, Publicker moved to Linfield, Montgomery County, but Mr. Heffron chose not to go. He checked cargo on the Delaware River waterfront for the next 27 years and retired at age 70.

Surviving are his wife, the former Dolores Moffitt, and a daughter, Patricia Zavrel.

What's he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin;
If we are mark'd to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more methinks would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

I hope you will indulge me if I post this graphic - my Uncle was in the 26th "Yankee" Division in France, 1944. He was also a South Philly boy and worked at Publicker's after the war until his retirement. I think about him often and cannot go over the Walt Whitman Bridge without casting a glance to the north.

BAND OF BROTHERS

WORLD WAR II

Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division "Screaming Eagles"
June 7, 1944 at Ste.Marie du Mont, France

"THIS DAY IS CALL'D the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say, "To-morrow is Saint Crispian."
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say, "These wounds I had on Crispin's day."

KOREA

Marines of the "Chosin Few", 1st Marine Division
Chosin Reservoir, Korea, December 1950

"OLD MEN FORGET; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words,
Harry the King, Bedford, and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered."

VIETNAM

FMF Corpsman D. R. Howe treats the wounds of Pfc. D. A. Crum, USMC
"H" Company, 2nd Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment, during Operation Hue City.

"WE FEW, WE HAPPY FEW, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."

AFGHANISTAN

Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division in action, Afghanistan, 2011

OUR NATIONAL MEMORIALS
October 2013

"ONCE MORE unto the breach, dear friends, once more,
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility;
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let it pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it
As fearfully as does a galled rock
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean."

(Henry V, Act IV, Scene iii)

THE STRUGGLE AGAINST TYRANNY GOES ON,
AS IT HAS FROM TIMES IMMEMORIAL.
THE BAND OF BROTHERS
STILL STANDS FAST IN THE BREACH!

THEY HAVE OUR SIX!

Honor Them For Their Service And Sacrifice!

Genuflectimus non ad principem sed ad Principem Pacis!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.