[Groop] From Larryl, remembering a True Hero

Larry Steller mrgrooism at yahoo.com
Fri Jul 24 07:17:26 PDT 2009


I want to add that I almost nevr forward anything, but this deserves to go around the world a million times. RIP Darrel "Shifty" Powers, and your extended Band of Brothers in the military who fought and continue to fight for our freedom.

-Larry "mrgrooism" Steller, Master Mendicant 

"I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity." Edgar Allan Poe 

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                               Subject: A 
                              memorial service, you are invited 
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                               
                              
                              
                              
                               
                              
                              
                              
                               
                              
                              
                              
                              
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                 
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                We're hearing a lot 
                                today about big splashy memorial 
                                services.

I want a nationwide memorial 
                                service for Darrell "Shifty" Powers. 
                                

Shifty volunteered 
                                for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy 
                                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 was, 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 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 June 17 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, online, in our own quiet way. Please 
                                forward this email to everyone you know. 
                                Especially to the veterans.

Rest in 
                                peace, Shifty.

"A nation without 
                                heroes is nothing."
Roberto 
                                Clemente 
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                              
                               
                              
                                
                              
                              
                              
                               
                              
                              
                              
                          
                            
                              
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                              
                              
                         
                        
                        
                        
                
                


                
                
                
                
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