Easy Company, 2nd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, the "Screaming Eagles". Colourised by Paul Reynolds.
The World War II accomplishments of E Company, of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, are perhaps most famously portrayed in the Steven Spielberg-produced miniseries Band of Brothers.
The 506th, which is part of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division, was established in 1942 at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, and underwent extensive training under strict rules and regulations. The most physically challenging part of their training was the regular running of Currahee, a 1,735 ft (529 m) steep hill.
The hill itself became an unofficial symbol of the entire regiment, which adopted the nickname “Currahee,” and E Company also adopted the Cherokee word as its motto―We stand alone together.
Major Richard Winters Captain Lewis Nixon & Lieutenant Harry Welsh Austria 1945
While the “E” stands for “Easy,” these men were anything but, jumping into Normandy behind enemy lines as part of the 2nd Battalion hours before the invasion.
During Operation Overlord, E Company was part of the airborne invading force which was to secure the rear and provide cover until the Omaha and Utah beachheads were linked.
Among their most famous endeavors was taking and holding the town of Carentan―a crucial strategic point, without which the outcome of the Allied invasion could have taken a different turn.
General Anthony Clement “Nuts” McAuliffe
After the liberation of France, E Company was sent to assist the British forces around Eindhoven, as part of Operation Market Garden.
In late October 1944, they would play a key role in evacuating over 100 British soldiers who were trapped behind German lines near the village of Renkum, close to the town of Arnhem.
Richard Winters in Holland, October 1944
Their next stop was the winter offensive in December 1944 and January 1945 in Belgium. The men from Easy Company took part in the famous Battle of the Bulge, and fought under horrible winter conditions, suffering from a general lack of supplies and ammunition.
Some of their more notable actions from this period involved taking control of the Bois Jacques woods area, and the frustrating attack on the town of Foy, where they dealt with fierce resistance as well as the breakdown of the chain of command.
Easy Company near Foy
However, Foy was eventually captured from the enemy, as the German line in Bastogne fell apart. The figurative gates of Germany were finally open.
As the war was nearing its end, the company was assigned to occupation duties which included guarding Berchtesgaden, better known as Adolf Hitler’s famous Eagle’s Nest. E Company’s contribution to the fight was rewarded with patrol duties in mostly safe areas during the last few months of the war.
Although the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment is still in service as a training unit of the U.S. Army, the direct lineage of E Company is today inactive.
More photos
Richard Winters and Harry Welsh
Popeye Wynn and Hank Zimmerman
Burr Smith was killed by a direct mortar hit along with PENKALA near FOY
Joe LesniewskiHerbert M. Sobel Sr.
Staff Sergeant Myron N. “Mike” Ranney
Robert “Popeye” Wynn
George Luz and ‘Babe’ Heffron
David Webster
David Kenyon Webster
Floyd Talbert, unidentified soldier, Paul Rogers and Forrest Guth
Richard Winters (facing the camera in the back) teaching his soldiers to pack their parachutes. Skip Muck is the man on the right looking at the camera.
Richard Winters and Harry Welsh
William DukemanPat Christenson, Denver ‘Bull’ Randleman and Bill Dukeman
Joe Toye and Don Malarkey
Easy Company
Don Malarkey, Joe Toye and Skip Muck
Donald Hoobler
William J. “Wild Bill“ Guarnere
Joe LiebgottEarl McClung
Floyd TalbertEarl ‘One Lung’ McClungDon Malarkey and Floyd Talbert
Captain Richard D. Winters and Captain Lewis Nixon
Easy Company members Joe Liebgott, Eugene Roe and Burton Christenson in Eindhoven, 1944.
101st Airborne Medic Eugene Roe, a member of Easy Company, Band of brothers.
Carwood Lipton
Frank Perconte
Left to right: Forrest Guth, Floyd Talbert, John Eubanks, unknown, Francis Mellet on D-Day
George Luz (1921-1998) Fought in Normandy, the Netherlands, and the Battle of Bulge. Luz is credited with keeping Easy Company morale up with his humor in dire times.
Easy Company’s David Kenyon Webster, author of “Parachute Infantry – An American Paratrooper’s Memoir of D-Day and the Fall of the Third Reich”
Forrest Guth and Floyd Talbert with locals on D-day morning
Albert Blithe at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, in 1942.
Eugene Roe
Forrest Guth (1921 2009) One of the original 140 men who trained under Sobel at Camp Toccoa. Guth had the ability to repair and modify weapons. For instance he could make an M-1 rifle fully automatic. He became the armorer for his comrades. Guth’s uniform was also unique Guth sewed many extra pockets on it. Guth fought in D-Day, the Netherlands, and the Battle of Bulge.
William ‘Wild Bill’ Guarnere
Colonel Robert Frederick Sink
Don Malarkey, left, with Burr Smith in Austria near war’s end.
Technical Sergeant Donald Malarkey
Major Richard Winters.
Staff Sergeant Darrell Powers
Private First Class Edward Heffron
Richard Winters at the end of training
Gordon Carson and Frank Perconte, Easy Company, 101st Airborne
Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe and his staff gathered inside Bastogne’s Heintz Barracks for Christmas dinner December 25th, 1944. This military barracks served as the Division Main Command Post during the siege of Bastogne, Belgium during World War II.
