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E Company, 506th Infantry Regiment (United States)

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E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne
Active1942-1945
CountryUnited States of America
BranchUnited States Army
TypeInfantry Company
RoleAirborne
Size139 soldiers listed, but "162 soldiers and officers" is said in part 7 of Band of Brothers
Nickname(s)"Easy Company"
Motto(s)"Currahee"
MarchBlood on the Risers
EngagementsWorld War II: Battle of Normandy, Battle of Carentan, Operation Market Garden, Battle of the Bulge
Commanders
Colonel of
the Regiment		Colonel Robert Sink
Notable
commanders		Captain Herbert Sobel,
First Lieutenant Thomas Meehan,
Major Richard Winters,
First Lieutenant Frederick Heyliger,
First Lieutenant Norman Dike,
Captain Ronald Speirs

Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment is one of the most well-known companies in the United States Army. Through many various leaders, and different battles throughout World War II, Easy Company has made its mark in history. Easy Company is publicized by books and even an HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers”, which is based on the book Band of Brothers by Historian Stephen Ambrose.

History

The 506th PIR was an experimental Airborne Regiment created in 1942 at Camp Toccoa Georgia. Easy Company missions were to be dropped from a C-47 Transport Airplane over various hostile territories. The units would parachute from the aircraft, and regroup once they had landed. The purpose of an experimental parachute regiment was to gain tactical advantage over the enemy; also as a fast access to wherever the unit needed to be mobilized.

The training for Easy Company was not an easy task. Besides attending the standard Airborne school, the unit had to perform battle drills and excruciating amounts of physical training. One of the more famous exercises performed physical training was the running of Currahee. Currahee was a large, steep hill, up which the men of Easy Company had to run on a regular basis.

Also as part of their physical training, the members of Easy Company performed formation runs. Formation runs are formed into three-four column running groups. The purpose of this training was to first push the soldiers to their limits, and also to teach them how to work together as a team.

Missions/Operations

Operation Overlord (D-Day)

Operation Overlord is the most known Allied Forces invasion during World War Two. The mission of Easy Company was to be deployed from an airbase located in England, and be dropped over the area of Normandy, France. From there, their mission was to destroy German positions so that the Allied beach-front invasion could take place with a limited amount of Allied casualties. The troops were dropped into France at the early hours of the morning on June 6th, 1944. This was to keep the deployment unnoticed to the Germans, and to keep the airplanes safe from anti-aircraft fire. Their mission was to spearhead the invasion of the beaches of Normandy.

Arnhem, Holland

Easy Company was assigned to support the British forces in Arnhem, by defending the roads so that the British armoured Divisions could successfully move into Arnhem and force a crossing over the major Rhine Bridge in that city. The battle of the British forces to keep control of the Arnhem occurred during September 1944.The story of the ill-fated Market Garden operation is told in the book and movie A Bridge Too Far. The battle ended with the surrender of British troops to the German Army. The immediate cause of the British defeat was the presence of powerful SS Armoured units in the immediate vicinity of Arnhem, however the underlying cause was the flawed assumption upon which Market Garden was based. The valour of the British and Polish paratroopers in holding on as long as they did was remarkable but ultimately the plan was flawed. As described in A Bridge Too Far, the plan of capturing a single road and bridges and then shuttling armoured units along it from Belgium to the Rhine was impossible to achieve. The logistical and tactical problems of attacking Arnhem from Nijmegen with armoured forces were actually a pre-war Dutch Staff College major assessment task. The one solution that students would be guaranteed to fail if they proposed it, was the plan Montgomery chose to use. The Dutch understood all too well that many stretches of the main road were (and are) causeways across marshes and a well sited mine or anti-tank gun could clog the road for hours. Later, the Canadian Army regained control over the city.

Ardennes Forest and Bastogne, Belgium

During the months of December 1944 to January 1945, Easy Company and the rest of the 101st Airborne Division fought in Belgium in a battle known as the Battle of the Bulge. The 101st was in France in December when the Germans launched their offensive in the Ardennes. They were met head on by retreating battle-shocked men into and through Belgium. They were told to hold the vital cross-roads at Bastogne and werer soon encircled by the Germans. The soldiers had to make do without winter clothing and with limited rations and ammunition. Easy Company fought for many months in the cold weather, constantly coming under German artillery fire. The Allied Forces successfully turned the offensive around, and from this mission, Easy Company and the rest of the 506th PIR moved into Germany. To this day no person in the 101st has ever said that they needed to be "rescued" (as General Patton said when he rolled into Bastogne with his tanks).

Occupation duties

Towards the end of the war, Easy Company was assigned to the occupation duty in Germany, specifically to Berchtesgaden, which was home to Adolf Hitler’s famous Eagle’s Nest. Following Berchtesgaden, Easy Company moved in to Austria for occupational duties. The company mostly attended to various patrols, awaited for the end of the war.

Easy Company and the rest of the 506th PIR, was disbanded in November 1945, and was reactivated in 1954, as a training unit.

Members

Higher Authorities

Commanding Officers

Richard Winters in 2004.
In order of Commanding Easy.

Other Officers

  • First Lieutenant Robert Brewer
  • First Lieutenant Lynn "Buck" Compton
  • First Lieutenant Jack Foley
  • First Lieutenant Roy Gates
  • First Lieutenant George Lavenson (d. July 1944)
  • First Lieutenant Henry Jones
  • First Lieutenant Sterling Horner
  • First Lieutenant Robert I. Matthews (d. 6 June 1944)
  • First Lieutenant Thomas Peacock
  • First Lieutenant John Pisancin
  • First Lieutenant Robert Rousch
  • First Lieutenant Raymond G. Schmitz (d. 22 September 1944)
  • First Lieutenant Edward Shames
  • First Lieutenant J.B. Stokes
  • First Lieutenant Harry Welsh
  • Second Lieutenant James L. Diel (1922 - 19 September 1944)
  • Second Lieutenant C. Carwood "Lip" Lipton (January 30, 1920 - December 16, 2001)
  • Second Lieutenant Clarence Hester (first XO in 1942 toccoa)

Members

Don Malarkey with US soldiers in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait (September 2008).
Forrest Guth, Clancy Lyall and Amos “Buck” Taylor in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait (September 2008).
In order of ranking, if ranking the same, alphabetical using last name.
  • First Sergeant William S. Evans (d. 6 June 1944)
  • Technical Sergeant Donald Malarkey
  • Staff Sergeant Charles "Chuck" Grant
  • Staff Sergeant William "Wild Bill" Guarnere
  • Staff Sergeant John Martin
  • Staff Sergeant Darrell "Shifty" Powers
  • Staff Sergeant Murray B. Roberts (d. 6 June 1944)
  • Staff Sergeant Floyd M. "Tab" Talbert
  • Staff Sergeant Joseph Toye
  • Sergeant James "Moe" Alley Jr.
  • Sergeant Leo Boyle
  • Sergeant Gordon Carson
  • Sergeant Burton "Pat" Christenson
  • Sergeant Forrest "Goodie" Guth
  • Sergeant Herman E. Hanson
  • Sergeant Walter L. "Black Jack" Hendrix
  • Sergeant William F. Kiehn (1921 - 10 February 1945)
  • Sergeant Warren H. "Skip" Muck (d. 10 January 1945)
  • Sergeant Elmer L. Murray Jr (1921 - 6 June 1944)
  • Sergeant Richard E. Owen (d. 6 June 1944)
  • Sergeant Robert Rader
  • Sergeant Denver "Bull" Randleman
  • Sergeant Carl N. Riggs (1920 - 6 June 1944)
  • Sergeant Paul Rogers
  • Sergeant Wayne "Skinny" Sisk (1922-1999)
  • Sergeant Roderick Strohl
  • Sergeant Amos "Buck" Taylor
  • Technician Fourth Class George Luz
  • Technician Fourth Class Frank Perconte
  • Technician Fourth Class Carl C. Sawosko (24 November 1920 - 13 January 1945)
  • Technician Fourth Class Benjamin J. Stoney (1921 - 6 June 1944)
  • Corporal William Dukeman Jr. (3 September 1922 - 5 October 1944)
  • Corporal Walter M. "Smokey" Gordon
  • Corporal "A.P." Herron (d. 13 January 1945)
  • Corporal Donald Hoobler (d. January 1945)
  • Corporal Earl "One Lung" McClung
  • Corporal Francis "Frank" J. Mellet (d. 13 January 1945)
  • Technician Fifth Class Herman F. Collins (12 July 1924 - 6 June 1944)
  • Technician Fifth Class Joseph D. Liebgott
  • Technician Fifth Class Eugene "Doc" Roe
  • Technician Fifth Class Jerry A. Wentzel (d. 6 June 1944)
  • Technician Fifth Class Ralph Hansel Wimer (5 July 1921 - 6 June 1944)
  • Private First Class Robert Van Klinken (1919 - 20 September 1944)
  • Private First Class Alex Penkala (d. 10 January 1945)
  • Private First Class Edward Tipper (b. 3 August 1921)
  • Private First Class David Kenyon Webster (2 June 1922 - 9 September 1961)
  • Private First Class Hank Zimmerman (b. 26 March 1925)
  • Private Albert Blithe (25 June 1923 - 17 December 1967)
  • Private Maxwell Clark (b. 22 June 1922)
  • Private Roy Cobb
  • Private Rudolph Dittrich
  • Private Joseph Dominguez
  • Private George Elliot (d. 6 June 1944)
  • Private Bradford Freeman
  • Private Antonio "Tony" Garcia
  • Private Everett J. Gray (d. 8 June 1944)
  • Private Terrence C. Harris (d. 18 June 1944)
  • Private Lester "Leo" Hashey
  • Private Harold G. Hayes (d. December 1944)
  • Private Edward "Babe" Heffron
  • Private Richard J. Hughes (d. 9 January 1945)
  • Private Eugene E. Jackson (d. 15 February 1945)
  • Private John A. Janovec (d. May 1945)
  • Private Ed Joint (b. 18 February 1923)
  • Private Joseph M. Jordan (d. 6 June 1944)
  • Private John T. Julian (d. 1 January 1945)
  • Private Paul E. "Frenchy" Lamoureux
  • Private Joseph A. Lesniewski (b. 29 August 1920)
  • Private Clarence "Clancy" Lyall (b. 14 October 1925)
  • Private William T. McGonigal Jr (d. 6 June 1944)
  • Private Vernon J. Menze (10 September 1924 - 20 September 1944)
  • Private William S. Metzler (1922 - June 1944)
  • Private James W. Miller (1923 - 20 September 1944)
  • Private John N. Miller (d. 6 June 1944)
  • Private Alton More
  • Private Sergio G. Moya (1921 - 6 June 1944)
  • Private Patrick H. Neill (1926 - 13 January 1945)
  • Private Ernest I. Oats (1921 - 6 June 1944)
  • Private Patrick S. O’Keefe (03 April 1926 - 08 February 2003)
  • Private Cleveland Petty
  • Private John Plesha
  • Private Joseph Ramirez
  • Private John E. Shindell (1925 - 13 January 1945)
  • Private Gerald B. Snider (d. 6 June 1944)
  • Private Frank Soboleski (b. 18 June 1925)
  • Private Ralph Spina
  • Private Elmer I. Telstad (d. 6 June 1944)
  • Private Herb Suerth
  • Private Allen Vest
  • Private Thomas W. Warren (d. 6 June 1944)
  • Private Kenneth J. Webb (d. 13 January 1945)
  • Private Harold D. Webb (d. 13 January 1945)
  • Private William "Bill" Wingett
  • Private Robert "Popeye" Wynn

See also

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