They were a band of brothers, and 71 years ago on June 6, 1944, in the night time darkness, hours before the landing of the greatest invasion force in history, they parachuted behind enemy lines.
Bradford Freeman lives in Caledonia and enjoys working in his summer garden, but 71 years ago he and the other members of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), 101st Airborne Division were moving through the gardens of Normandy seeking to neutralize some of the German resistance to the Allied D-Day landing.
A genial unassuming man, Freeman is not the picture of one whose war time exploits became part of a best selling book by Stephen Ambrose and an award winning television mini-series, “A Band of Brothers.”
This weekend also marks another anniversary, the 240th anniversary of the formation of the United States Army in 1775. At the beginning of the American Revolution the Second Continental Congress realized that the New England militia and minutemen who had gathered outside of Boston after the fighting at Lexington and Concord needed assistance.
In response on June 14, 1775, congress authorized the creation of the Continental Army. It was to be composed of the militiamen around Boston and ten companies of riflemen from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. On June 15, 1775, Congress named George Washington commander-in-Chief of the new American Army.
That first U.S. Army was composed of everyday citizens who put service to their new country ahead of self. That same tradition of selfless service was found in the American soldiers, sailors and airmen of World War II and in the present day American military.
Putting service before self is exemplified by the almost unreal story of Bradford Freeman and Easy Company’s “Band of Brothers.”
Freeman is a living history book of the World War II European Theater during and after the Normandy Assault. He recalls the addresses by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and by General Dwight Eisenhower to the troops on June 5th, the day before the D-Day landing. And that’s just the beginning of his experiences as a soldier in the famed Easy Company.
His stories can range from recollections of giving candy to children in newly liberated towns to more recently meeting Prince Charles of Great Britain. When asked about the small metal clickers/crickets used as a signaling device during the D-Day airborne assault, Freeman pulled out one attached to his keys. Space here will not allow me to do justice to his story but just a review of the action he was involved in is amazing.
The night before the D-Day Landing they parachuted behind enemy lines to knock out German artillery aimed at what would soon be the Utah Beach landing. In the night time confusion they were dropped and landed several miles from their planned drop zone. That turned out to be a blessing as the Germans were expecting an airborne assault to land in the planned drop zone and had set a trap. Easy Company with other units successfully destroyed the German artillery emplacements threatening Utah Beach.
In September 1944, Easy Company participated in a second combat jump during Operation Market Garden. That joint British, American and Allied operation was the subject of the book and the movie “A Bridge Too Far.” In late December they helped hold off the German attack at Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge. They saw first hand German death camps and labor camps with their untold horror. Then as the war ended the company was the first Allied unit to enter Hitler’s famed mountain retreat, the “Eagle’s Nest.”
The story of Easy Company is an amazing one and when you hear Bradford Freeman tell it you are left in awe. It’s no wonder Stephen Ambrose chose to write A Band of Brothers. Their selfless service makes it clear why to all veterans and to those currently serving in the Military we owe a debt of gratitude that can never be fully repaid.
And to the United States Army: Happy birthday!
Rufus Ward is a Columbus native a local historian. E-mail your questions about local history to Rufus at [email protected].
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