Edward Shames, last surviving officer of the WWII Band of Brothers, dies aged 99
Retired Colonel Edward Shames, the last surviving officer from the legendary Easy Company of World War II paratroopers whose exploits had been featured in the award-winning miniseries Band of Brothers, died at age 99 on Friday.
Shames died ‘peacefully at residence,’ based on an obituary posted by the Holloman-Brown Funeral Home & Crematory.
Born to Jewish dad and mom, Shames cast his mom’s signature to enlist in the Army in 1942 at simply 19, and was one of the officers in cost of the famed Easy Company, half of the US Army’s 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, a hundred and first Airborne Division.
The e book Band of Brothers – chronicling the bravery of Easy Company, or the Screaming Eagles – was written by Stephen Ambrose in 1992.
Shames’s loss of life leaves 97-year-old Bradford Freeman as the last surviving member of Easy Company. Freeman, who enlisted and was a mortarman, was a guide for the Band of Brothers HBO miniseries created by Tom Hanks and Stephen Spielberg in 2001.
Edward Shames (pictured) cast his mom’s signature to enlist in the Army in 1942 at simply 19 years outdated, and was one of the famed members of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, a hundred and first Airborne Division, resulting in its chronicling in the e book Band of Brothers in 1992
Edward Shames (pictured in 2019) died ‘peacefully at residence,’ based on an obituary posted by the Holloman-Brown Funeral Home & Crematory
Nine years after Band of Brothers was written by Stephen Ambrose, the e book was made into an HBO miniseries, created by Tom Hanks and Stephen Spielberg. Shames was performed by actor Joseph May (pictured)
In 2012, Shames described the grueling coaching he underwent in Georgia earlier than he was first despatched out into fight.
‘A 25-mile march for us was identical to a Sunday stroll,’ he stated.
‘We needed to stroll 10 to 12 miles to get to our coaching space at Toccoa after which practice all day and stroll again 10 or 12 miles again to camp day-after-day.’
Shames’s first day on lively obligation as a member of the Easy Company concerned him parachuting into Normandy as half of the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944.
Pictured are the members of the Easy Company, who impressed the HBO miniseries ‘Band of Brothers’
Edward Shames is pictured right here with one other member of the Easy Company
Ed Shames, left, is pictured right here with Paula Abdul in 2015 on the anniversary of D-Day
‘You may hear the shrapnel hitting towards the facet of the airplane and once we jumped out, you might hear the bullets coming via the parachutes,’ Shames recounted.
He went on to struggle in Operation Pegasus, Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge – and have become one of the first American troopers to assist liberate Dachau focus camp.
After Germany’s give up in 1945, Shames raided Hitler’s ‘Eagle’s (*99*),’ used primarily to entertain visiting dignitaries, together with the relaxation of Easy Company. There, he swiped bottled of cognac that had been labeled ‘for the Fuhrer’s use solely,’ which he used to toast his oldest son’s bar mitzvah.
After Germany’s give up in 1945, Shames (pictured) raided Hitler’s ‘Eagle’s (*99*),’ used primarily to entertain visiting dignitaries, together with the Easy Company
Shames retired as a colonel after working for the National Security Agency for Middle East Affairs and the Army reserve.
He and his spouse, Ida, had been married for 73 years and traveled the world collectively earlier than she finally handed away. The pair are survived by their sons Douglas and Steven, their 4 grandchildren and 12 nice grandchildren.
Services for Shames will likely be held in Norfolk, Virginia, at Forest Lawn Cemetery on Sunday morning.
Edward Shames, middle, hugs Ed McClung, middle left, each members of the World War II Army Company E of the 506th Regiment of the a hundred and first Airborne, with veterans Jack Foley, left, Joe Lesniewski, proper, and Shifty Powers, far proper, at the Library of Congress in Washington, on July 16, 2003
