Easy Company formed in Georgia in 1942 with 140 volunteers as part of an experimental offensive formation: infantrymen who would fall from the sky behind enemy lines, striking through combat's third dimension to provide a heavy ground force with a position of advantage.
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In the early hours of June 6, 1944, the men of Easy Company filled sticks 66 through 73 into Normandy.
Once inserted, they captured Carentan and held it against withering German counterattacks.
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Three months later, Easy Company jumped into the Netherlands and marched into Eindhoven. For one month, they saw some of the ETO's heaviest fighting, often vs German tank units. In a daring rescue operation, they evacuated 138 British paratroopers trapped outside Arnhem
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In December, 1944, the men entered the Battle of the Bulge by truck & rail. Surrounded, ill-equipped, outgunned near the town of Foy, the paratroopers once again held their position, this time in some of the most unforgiving conditions ever faced by the American Soldier
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By war's end, Easy Company had seen some of the most violent combat of the European Theater.
In the 1990s, with the Stephen Ambrose book and the subsequent HBO show, Easy Company came to represent the WWII Soldier to the Nation.
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Easy Company was a once in a life-time group of men who saved the future of the Free World.
With the death of Edward Shames, Easy Company is now all gone.
It's up to us to preserve and find meaning in their legacy.
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