Monday, March 10, 2014

Bill Guarnere "Wild Bill", Rest in PEACE

Bill with his lifelong friend Babe Heffron. While this photo appears to be set in the snowy Ardennes forest, it was actually taken in front of the Valor Studios office in central Pennsylvania when Bill and Babe came to visit for a print signing.

 “Wild Bill” Guarnere just passed away at the age of 90. He was one of the Band of Brothers, the 101st Airborne who trained in Toccoa, Georgia, and as a paratrooper, was one of the first ones in Europe just before the D-Day landings.  (That's Wild Bill on the left in the photo above). If you are not able to view the video below, let me just say that this was from 2008 and he and some of his "brothers" from his army days were going over to see the troops in Iraq. He also talks about a book...and it is "Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends" and it is written by Bill Guarnere and Babe Heffron.  Mr. Heffron died in December of 2013 and now, Wild Bill is gone.

  CURRAHEE!  That was the motto that the men used, it is an Indian word which means "Stand Alone", which is just what the paratroopers did, as they parachuted into enemy lines just before the men stormed the beaches in Normandy...the army camp where they trained in Toccoa was in the shadow of a mountain and it is the lone high spot in that region, thus its name, "Mt. Currahee".

All respect and honor to Wild Bill, his very good friend, Babe Heffron and to all the Band of Brothers.

16 comments:

  1. You are such an advocate for our vets, Kay! Thank you! My first husband was a Screaming Eagle, and so very proud of that! I hope that you are having a great start to your week!

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    1. It's hard for me to put into words the deep respect that I feel for those who served in World War II. I spoke with so many of these men when they would come into the travel agency to arrange their reunions. They were all the same, kidding, teasing and just a pleasure to be around. They all told me that the real heroes were their buddies who didn't make it back. I adored talking with them all. Wild Bill and Babe just remind me of them so much, all the men that I spoke with over the years.

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  2. There soon won't be any men or women left from that generation. All the more precious is it to preserve their memories.

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    1. All the more precious...I so agree with you.

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  3. Thanks for sharing this, Kay. Those men were true heroes.

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    1. Oh Les, I truly think so! I am so surprised at the people who are so admired these days when we have TRUE heroes we could shine a light upon!

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  4. We lose a treasure with every veteran who passes away. Thank you for keeping them fresh in our memories.

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    1. Just recently, when I did a post about Dick Winters, I had video on there of Wild Bill speaking about Dick Winters. THEN, that made me watch more videos of Wild Bill that I so much enjoyed listening to...and now, he has passed away. A treasure, indeed.

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  5. When I was a little girl (born in '45) all the men in my world, relatives, neighbors, teachers, had been in WWII and talked about it a lot. They didn't talk of details of what they had done, but it was such a recent memory for everyone. It is difficult to realize how long ago that was, how few of these men are even with us anymore. I appreciate your postings on this subject.

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    1. Thank you, Kristi. I just wish that more could have been done for the World War II vets, the Memorial in D.C. took so long, that many of the vets had passed away by the time it was finished.

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  6. "cough" the first to land in Europe were the British gliders. "cough"
    Great men though!

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    1. The men in Toccoa adopted the motto, Currahee and I am telling you the meaning of the word and why they used it.

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  7. Wonderful story...wonderful men...

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  8. Oh my goodness, Kay, I am dying over that video. He is SO precious. And he's such a hero. I'm so sad to hear he's passed away. Thanks so much for sharing!

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    1. I know, Audrey, don't you just wish you could have been around these two guys, they would have had me laughing all over the place! Heroes indeed, they might not have said so, but we can say it. xx

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