Wartime Stories, Letters & Poetry #18

{s:TopicNav|Darrell "Shifty" Powers (1923-2009).|ForumNew.T1289|ForumNew.T0961|ForumNew.T0526|ForumNew.F19|ForumNew.T0469|ForumNew.T0015|ForumNew.T0015} 
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| '''EDanaII''' <br/><br/><div class='poster-info'><img src='/public/Attachments/ForumNew.MainPage/EDanaII.jpg' /></div><br/>7/21/2009 8:56:55 PM 
| My sister sent me this email that has been circulating recently through the 'Net. I definitely thought it worth sharing:<br/> <blockquote>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.<br/> <br/> 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.<br/> <br/> 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.<br/> <br/> 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. <br/> <br/> 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.<br/> <br/> 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.   (At 'Operation Market Garden' in September of 1944, arrogant, swaggering fool and limey bastard Field Marshall Montgomery got 7000 men killed in one weekend by ignoring the Dutch underground's warning not to come to the Rhine Bridge in Arnhem because the Second SS Panzer Division had hunkered down in the forest.)  Failed Operation Market Garden put the 2000 surviving allied soldiers in Nazi prison camps, and later became a book and movie called 'One Bridge Too Far'.  I wish I could piss on Montgomery's grave!<br/> <br/> 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.<br/> <br/> 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.<br/> <br/> 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.<br/> <br/> 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. <br/> <br/> 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. <br/> <br/> Rest in peace, Shifty.   May God Bless and keep you always.  Thank you for giving America your youth. </blockquote> <br/><br/><a href='/p2769.ashx'><img class='ForumMaxImgWidth' src='/public/Attachments/ForumNew.MainPage/wmSig401st150p.gif' /></a><br/> <br/> 
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| '''Phoenix''' <br/><br/><div class='poster-info'><img src='/public/Attachments/ForumNew.MainPage/NoAvatar.gif' /></div><br/>7/22/2009 1:13:07 AM 
| Uuummm not sure I agree with the term "limey bastard" although the rest of the character assassination is pretty accurate, shame you couldn't skip that bit as many of us "limey bastards" find it offensive, especially in todays PC world. <br/><br/>improvise, adapt, overcome<br/> 
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| '''EDanaII''' <br/><br/><div class='poster-info'><img src='/public/Attachments/ForumNew.MainPage/EDanaII.jpg' /></div><br/>7/23/2009 8:10:03 PM 
| I didn't take his statement to be an indictment against the British people, just his anger at one man in particular. Personally, given what the man risked to help keep Europe free, I think I'll give him the benefit of the doubt...<br/> <br/> Ed. <br/><br/><a href='/p2769.ashx'><img class='ForumMaxImgWidth' src='/public/Attachments/ForumNew.MainPage/wmSig401st150p.gif' /></a><br/> <br/> 
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| '''Phoenix''' <br/><br/><div class='poster-info'><img src='/public/Attachments/ForumNew.MainPage/NoAvatar.gif' /></div><br/>7/24/2009 1:34:05 AM 
| Fair point Ed, I got confused with the brackets and took it as the guy reporting the meeting making the comment, seems to me there is a lot of anger from a lot of lower ranks toward higher commanders on all sides, as ever was and will be I suppose. <br/><br/>improvise, adapt, overcome<br/> 
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