GUNSLINGER's blog: "HEROES"

One of the "Band of Brothers" soldiers died on June 17, 2009.
 Harvey Shackelford
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