This hero died with barely anyone's notice.

[DCP]

RIP……………

59429


And think of the media circus, flags at half staff, and all the things that were said of Whitney Houston when she died.

This hero died with barely anyone's notice.



"Shifty" By Chuck Yeager


Shifty volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served withEasy

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, 2012 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, on line, 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.


5942959430

[Smitty's Retired]

You may have a typo there. Darrell "Shifty" Powers died in 2009. Yes, a true hero, and his death did not have a lot of Major Media Fan Fair. Our local station did a pretty good job of reporting and listing all his accomplishment and awards.

He was awarded many medals and decorations including :
Bronze Star with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster,
Presidential Unit Citation with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster,
Good Conduct Medal,
American Defense Service Medal,
American Campaign Medal,
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 3 service stars and arrow device,
World War II Victory Medal,
Army of Occupation Medal,
Croix de guerre with palm,
French Liberation Medal,
Belgian World War II Service Medal,
Combat Infantryman Badge,
Parachutist Badge with 2 jump stars.

[drklynoon]

It is good to remember men like Staff Sergeant Powers. His death in 2009 has been memorialized by this message. Quiet people who do not clamor for attention but instead dutifully serve their fellow people should not be taken for granted.

[smoked turkey]

Shifty rest in peace. The world is a better place because of folks like him.

[DCP]

This came from a Chief of Police and he was wrong
I let someone eles tell him LOL



You may have a typo there. Darrell "Shifty" Powers died in 2009. Yes, a true hero, and his death did not have a lot of Major Media Fan Fair. Our local station did a pretty good job of reporting and listing all his accomplishment and awards.

He was awarded many medals and decorations including :
Bronze Star with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster,
Presidential Unit Citation with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster,
Good Conduct Medal,
American Defense Service Medal,
American Campaign Medal,
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 3 service stars and arrow device,
World War II Victory Medal,
Army of Occupation Medal,
Croix de guerre with palm,
French Liberation Medal,
Belgian World War II Service Medal,
Combat Infantryman Badge,
Parachutist Badge with 2 jump stars.

[bayjoe]

Rest in peace Shifty, we owe you so much.

[Bullshop]

No greater love has any man than to lay down his life for a friend, God bless you Sir! May you feel the loving embrace of our Lord!
A coward dies a thousand deaths but the brave just one. God bless Shifty!

[square butte]

Currahee Shifty.

[Charlie Two Tracks]

My uncle was in the 101st. Normandy. Silver Star, Purple Heart. I never got to meet him. He had a stroke when I was very little and spent 20 years in a hospital far from where we lived. Wish I could have met him.

[Charlie Two Tracks]

My uncle was in the 101st. Normandy. Silver Star, Purple Heart. I never got to meet him. He had a stroke when I was very little and spent 20 years in a hospital far from where we lived. Wish I could have met him. I do have his DD214

[1616s16]

we thank you for all you did to keep us free

[Gliden07]

Posted to my Facebook page!! Great story, and sad at the same time!! I agree with you people like this are being replaced with manufactured Heroes. Another thing that frosts me is how much importance is placed on professional sports and sporting events!! Many of these "Pro" athletes are nothing more than over paid thugs!! How society can revere people like this over true Heroes like Shifty is beyond me!!

[Ben]

If guys like Shifty had not done their jobs the way they did, I'd have been in an elementary school in the early 50's wearing Nazi arm bands and black shirts.

Thanks for your commitment Shifty ! !

Ben

[DLCTEX]

I lost an uncle at Normandy, Omaha Beach. RIP Shifty and Uncle Lindsey.

[MtGun44]

All true and accurate, and I am a huge Easy Company fan. I have been to many of the places they
jumped and fought. I have stood next to the remains of their foxholes in Boise Jacques outside of
Bastogne where they headed out to Foy.

The only sticky wicket with this is that I tend to doubt it was written by Yeager, who is about the same
age as Shifty and would not have too likely been the author - it seems to have been written by a much
younger person. Of course, anyone Yeager and Powers age would know what D-Day and Normandy were,
this line of discussion would only make sense with a much younger person.

Hate being so skeptical but I have been fooled too many times by this sort of stuff on the web.

My bet is that it is all correct except somebody changed the author.

Bill

[drklynoon]

Bill I believe it was a younger reporter that originally wrote this. I read about it after Staff Sergeant powers passed. However, I believe it was reported on NBC to be Major General Yeagar.

[ElDorado]

Let me apologize up front if anyone takes offense at this post, because I’m not trying to offend anyone, nor am I trying to accuse anyone of anything, especially members of this fine forum. I’m not trying to single anyone out or chastise anyone. This is just my own stupid opinion.

Here is a similar post from 2009, with a different date of death.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?58037-Shifty-Powers-Easy-Co-2-506th-PIR

I can’t understand why people feel it’s appropriate to make up stories like this to attempt to boost the world’s appreciation of someone like Shifty Powers. His actual deeds during WWII are far more impressive than these fantastic conversations. The danger of printing these “accounts” is that it associates Mr. Powers name with fiction being advertised as truth, and the actual things he accomplished may become questioned by people who have no other reference to him except for the “Internet BS” that they’ve read about him in the past. If you really want to memorialize Shifty Powers and his compatriots, read the researched works or eyewitness accounts:

“Band of Brothers” by Stephen Ambrose
“We Who Are Alive and Remain” by Marcus Brotherton
“Parachute Infantry” by David Kenyon Webster

There are many more, but just reading a couple of these books will give you far more insight into the type of men these were, and you will gain a more accurate picture of the interactions of these people and their dispositions than the HBO series could ever provide, and they’re certainly better than viral e-mails of questionable origin.

[hithard]

Thanks to all that have served, Sad that some are still finding out about this loss to our nation.

One question,

Register your assault weapon?

What would Shifty do.....

[DCP]

Let me apologize up front if anyone takes offense at this post, because I’m not trying to offend anyone, nor am I trying to accuse anyone of anything, especially members of this fine forum. I’m not trying to single anyone out or chastise anyone. This is just my own stupid opinion.

Why didnt you read post 2,3, and 5

Apparently you never made a mistake

Please take a cill pill


Let me apologize up front if anyone takes offense at this post, because I’m not trying to offend anyone, nor am I trying to accuse anyone of anything, especially members of this fine forum. I’m not trying to single anyone out or chastise anyone. This is just my own stupid opinion.

Here is a similar post from 2009, with a different date of death.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?58037-Shifty-Powers-Easy-Co-2-506th-PIR

I can’t understand why people feel it’s appropriate to make up stories like this to attempt to boost the world’s appreciation of someone like Shifty Powers. His actual deeds during WWII are far more impressive than these fantastic conversations. The danger of printing these “accounts” is that it associates Mr. Powers name with fiction being advertised as truth, and the actual things he accomplished may become questioned by people who have no other reference to him except for the “Internet BS” that they’ve read about him in the past. If you really want to memorialize Shifty Powers and his compatriots, read the researched works or eyewitness accounts:

“Band of Brothers” by Stephen Ambrose
“We Who Are Alive and Remain” by Marcus Brotherton
“Parachute Infantry” by David Kenyon Webster

There are many more, but just reading a couple of these books will give you far more insight into the type of men these were, and you will gain a more accurate picture of the interactions of these people and their dispositions than the HBO series could ever provide, and they’re certainly better than viral e-mails of questionable origin.

[WILCO]

Shifty rest in peace. The world is a better place because of folks like him.

Indeed. Thanks for bringing this forward.

[1Shirt]

Hollywood remembers movie stars, Politicians remember politicians, and the media remembers journilists, but real people remember people like Shifty, because they are real people. There will always be more real people than the phonies who pontificate their own.
1Shirt!

[Le Loup Solitaire]

The reason that Men Of Honor and their deeds and sacrifices go unnoticed and do not receive the tribute due them is that the media in this country is too busy, preoccupied and dedicated to entertaining the mindless with the daily blizzard of "diaper dump" devoted to Idol, The Kardashians, professional athletes acting like delinquents and criminals, sordid murders and child abuse. The MSN homepage is little more than a cesspool. So people who have given it all for their country, rarely if ever, are recognized for what they have done. Many thanks to those here who have paid tribute to this great man for all that he did. LLS

[merlin101]

Thanks to all that have served, Sad that some are still finding out about this loss to our nation.

One question,

Register your assault weapon?

What would Shifty do.....

I got a good idea!

[Moonie]

I watch every time BoB comes on, and I own the DVD boxed set. Had an Uncle that was 101'st in Korea, I didn't know until after he passed.

[reg293]

Good me are hard to find and even harder when we lose them.