Shifty

[joroas]

Just found this on FB by Chuck Yeager and posted by Larry Elmore:

"Shifty" By Chuck Yeager

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 is, 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 who 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 Jan. l7 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.

Chuck Yeager, Maj. General [ret.]

P.S. I think that it is amazing how the "media" chooses our "heroes" these days...

Elvis, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston & the like.



"SHIFTY" - an incredible American hero.
Please do me a favor and pass this on so that untold thousands can read it.
We owe no less to our REAL Heroes.

[Plynkes]

I'm a little confused. Why has this come up now? Shifty Powers died a few years ago, didn't he? Well I suppose that doesn't matter really, as it is a good story.

Except...

Authorship of the above-quoted piece, which describes an encounter with Darrell Powers at a Philadelphia airport, is often attributed to "retired Major General Chuck Yeager", but a representative of the Chuck Yeager Foundation told us that General Yeager had nothing to do with it.

[joroas]

As I said, it was posted on FB today, so I assumed that it was a reasonably current story....... 

[Hauptgefreiter]

"Never trust quotes from the Internet!"
Abraham Lincoln, 1871

 

[Galland]

There are many cool stories on the internet, but why post it here? :-P

[Onebigriver]

"Never trust quotes from the Internet!"
Abraham Lincoln, 1871

 

 

[MajorTalon]

There are many cool stories on the internet, but why post it here? :-P

Because "Shifty" was a member of the Band of Brothers, and is relevant to the WW2 board.

[Kane]

MajorTalon,

I think every single soldier that fought during any war, was part of a band of brothers.

I admire all those brave men and women alot for their courage and self-sacrifice, but I agree with Galland. I don't think this has a place here, because it doesn't really have anything to do with the hobby.

[Cypher226]

Kane, I think MajorTalon was referring to the fact that Shifty's unit was the subject of Stephen Ambrose's book (and the series) of the same name, Band of Brothers.
It is noted by many writers and historians that the airborne had a particularly strong esprit de corps, hence the title.

[Legion1963]

...... it doesn't really have anything to do with the hobby......

Like Hell it does!

[Legion1963]

Long time ago i lived for a number of years right in the center of Arnhem and every year the city was full of elderly gentlemen with primarily red barets wondering around and having a drink ort a meal in one of the pubs. Being a friendly and social sort of person i quickly found myself helping them find shops, understand the public transport or do some translation for them. The men, some of them with family were mostly English but there were also others like Canadiens and Americans.
Usually we did not talk much about what happened back in '44 but instead we talked about life in general and telling a lot of jokes. But sometimes one them approached me and asked if i knew why they were here (some of them i met year after year). When i acknowlegde and told that i was very well aware of what they did and why, most of the time they just smilled.

[MajorTalon]

MajorTalon,

I think every single soldier that fought during any war, was part of a band of brothers.

I admire all those brave men and women alot for their courage and self-sacrifice, but I agree with Galland. I don't think this has a place here, because it doesn't really have anything to do with the hobby.

Reading about the men and women that made history what it is isn't part of the hobby?

How so? Because there is no talk of models being painted? Because discussions on conversion are not taking place?

[Kane]

Kane, I think MajorTalon was referring to the fact that Shifty's unit was the subject of Stephen Ambrose's book (and the series) of the same name, Band of Brothers.
It is noted by many writers and historians that the airborne had a particularly strong esprit de corps, hence the title.

I know. Read the book a couple of dozen times and about yearly watch the series. I just wanted to point out that all soldiers in WW II were part of such a band, on some level.

I would like to apologize if I offended anybody. And yes, I do agree that it's the foundation of the hobby. I have great admiration for all those men. I'm playing the 101st, 506th, 2nd battalion because of BoB.

[FramFramson]

That seemed a bit off anyway, sadly. Chuck Yaeger was a WWII vet himself - with a stellar combat record - and is/was exactly one month older than Shifty Powers. So the idea of Shifty treating Yaeger as a younger man was a little absurd.

Interestingly, Yaeger and I share the same birthday, though obviously not the same birthdate (I ain't that old!).

[Landsknecht]

Charles Durning passed away earlier this week.  He was a veteran of Omaha Beach and a great actor.