Easy Company Soldier (29 page)
Read Easy Company Soldier Online
Authors: Don Malarkey
Better, I've since learned, to turn into those waves and dive. So on that day in 2004 when I visited the cemetery where Skip is buried, I looked at that white marble cross and that nameâSgt. Warren H. Muckâand thought of the kid who swam the Niagara. The march to Atlanta. The smile. I knelt, placed flowers at the base of that cross. Prayed. All the
things I'd done before when I'd come to see his grave. Only this time I did something different, long overdue, and hard but freeing.
I cried sixty years' worth of tears.
After the HBO
Band of Brothers
series premiered in 2001, I began receiving invitations to speak at various business and educational meetings. On one occasion, a police academy training conference asked me to present my experiences in a leadership-training format. I was a bit taken aback, but thought it could be done. I contacted Vance Day, a good friend of mine and a local attorney, who had worked as a history teacher. I figured that he was familiar with putting together something along the lines of what the conference wanted. I was right. Vance jumped right into it and we created an ever-evolving presentation called
Frontline Leadership.
We presented it first at the police academy conference, and we began getting calls from other police, firefighter,
and military organizations.
Frontline Leadership
was adapted into various formats to fit different needs: after-dinner presentation, ninety-minute, four-hour, and eight-hour versions. Vance put together a course syllabus for those organizations needing class credit. Pretty soon we were giving the presentation three to four times a month. It was kind of a “Mutt and Jeff” show. Vance would run video clips and give the leadership theory side of the presentation. I would share stories from my Easy Company and life experiences that exemplified the points we were making. The two of us have a great deal of fun together, and the audiences enjoy it.
Since that initial event we have given the presentation, in one form or another, dozens of times. Vance and I have traveled Europe and North America together, lectured at the United States Military Academy at West Point, the Lazard Lecture Series, Focus on the Family's National Family Policy Conference, the Heritage Foundation, the Family Research Council, in addition to various military bases and numerous organizations and educational institutions. Not a bad run. In May of 2005 we were asked to give
Frontline Leadership
on Capitol Hill for members of Congress, followed by a presentation to senior staff at the White House. Buck Compton joined us for Washington, D.C., events and on several other occasions. Bill Guarnere even joined on a trip to New York City to give a presentation.
I feel humbled by the attention, even a bit embarrassed. But then I remember that I owe it to the guys who did not return. It's as if I am keeping faith with them. Somehow, as I tell of their courage, trauma, and accomplishments, I am helping to establish a legacy of leadership for future generations. So many Americans have done so much that we might enjoy this liberty that we, and other nations, possess.
Frontline
Leadership
brings home that point. It reminds people that we have such a rich heritage of sacrifice that not only demands our reverence, but calls us to leave a legacy. We are Americansâwe lead and are looked to as leaders in the fight for liberty. We dare not shirk this responsibility.
Don Malarkey:
Thanks to the following people for helping me tell my story: Col. Mike Poell, Col. Terry Williams, James Lebold, Dale Shank, Jerry Sullivan, Leonard Tong, Jane Wiles, Bernice Franetovich DuLong (whose stage name was Bernice Franette), Terry Muir, Paul Isley, Tamil Edsall, Bill Van Dusen, Henry Yoshiki, Dan McNally, Tim Serean, John Hill, Tom Hill, Neil Everett Morfit, Lisa Penner, Sharon Keudell, Dr. David and Mary Kay Foster, and last, but not least, to all my grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
A special thanks to one of my truest and closest friends, Vance Day. Although half my age, he is like a brother to me, always encouraging, stretching, and challenging me. He's
helped me to work through the pain I've buried since the war. Without Vance's tenacious prodding, this book would not have been written.
Bob Welch:
Thanks to those who edited the original manuscript: Ann Petersen, Ron Palmer, Pat Gariepy, and Sally Welch. To those who put pieces into the puzzle of who Don is: his daughters, Marianne McNally, Martha Serean, and Sharon Hill; Rod Bain, who served with Don in Easy Company; Pete Toye, son of Joe Toye; Eileen O'Hara, niece of Skip Muck; Bernice Franetovich DuLong, Don's former girlfriend; and Richard Speight Jr., who played Skip Muck in the HBO miniseries,
Band of Brothers.
To Don's son, Michael, for his assistance. To Vance Day, who not only helped edit, but served as a wonderful liaison between Don and me. And, finally, to Don himself, who began this project as my subject but wound up as my friend and a man I admire greatly.
A
acrophobia, Malarkey's
Aldbourne (England)
Alley, James
Ambrose, Stephen
American casualties
at Battle of the Bulge
on D-day
Easy Company at D-day and after
in Holland
last rites to
surviving brother sent home
Anet, Bobby
Animal House
(movie)
Antwerp
Ardennes Forest
Army Air Corps, Malarkey's pilot-training exam for
Arnheim (Holland)
Mad Colonel of (Dobey)
“Arnheim Annie,”
Astor, John Jacob
Astoria (Oregon)
description of
ferries commandeered at
Malarkey's boyhood in
Astoria Fishermen
Astoria Regatta
Astor Street (Astoria)
Atlanta (Georgia), battalion's forced march to
atomic bomb
Bain, Rod
in Battle of the Bulge
later contact between Malarkey and
Band of Brothers
(Ambrose)
Band of Brothers
(HBO miniseries)
“band of brothers,”
basketball
Bastogne
101st surrounded at
Malarkey at
“NUTS” answer to Germans at
Battle of the Bulge
American retreat at
clear skies and air drops at
Malmédy massacre
See also
Bastogne
Bay, Jack
Beaufort tank busters
Belke, Frederick
Bellino, Salvatore
Berchtesgaden
Bernat, Edward
Beyond Band of Brothers
(Winters)
Bizory
Bloser, Robert
Bois Jacques (“Jack's Woods”)
Bomba the Jungle Boy
bow and arrow
Boyle, Leo
Brecourt Manor
Brewer, Bob
Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, Malarkey's
Brown, Eugene
in Battle of the Bulge
Burgess, Thomas
C-47 transport
Caesar, Julius
Camp Mackall (North Carolina)
Carentan
Carson, Gordie
Causeways One and Two
Centralia (Washington)
Champagne Bowl
Chattahoochee National Forest
Cherbourg
Chilton Foliat (England)
Chi Psi fraternity
Christmas 1944
Churchill, Winston
Clatsop County, Malarkey as commissioner of
Clatsop Spit
College Side Inn
Collins, Herman
Columbia River
mining of
salmon in
Commercial Avenue (Astoria)
Commercial Street (Astoria)
Compton, Lynn “Buck,”
in Battle of the Bulge
in D-day and after
in Holland
later contact between Malarkey and
later false evaluation of
at Mourmelon-le-Grand
Cotenin Peninsula
Cow Creek Valley
Coxcomb Hill (Astoria)
Cudlitz, Michael
Currahee, Mount
Dallas
Davenport, Richard
Day, Laraine
Day, Vance
D-day
American loss of howitzers on
French help on
Malarkey meets Portland German on
passwords and “crickets” on
preparations and takeoff for
Sherman tanks on
D-Day Museum (Utah Beach)
Depression, the
Dewey, Thomas
Dickerson, Bill
Dike, Norman, Jr.
in Battle of the Bulge
Distinguished Service Cross
Maloney's
Winters'
Dobey, O.
Dormagen
Dorsey, Tommy
Douve River
draft, the
Driel (Holland)
“drumming out” ceremony
Dukeman, William
DuLong, Bernice
Franetovich.
See also
Franetovich, Bernice
Eagle's Nest, Hitler's
Eckert, Cecil (uncle)
82nd Airborne Division
Eindhoven (Holland)
Malarkey's postwar collapse at
Eisenhower, Dwight
D-day message of
D-day postponed by
election of 1944
11th Armored Division
Elliott, George
England
afternoon closing of pubs in
506th Parachute Regiment in
food and weather in
return to, after D-day
See also
Aldbourne; London
Eugene (Oregon)
Evans, Williams
Evening Astorian Budget,
Fairbanks, Douglas
Fayetteville (North Carolina)
FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation)
1st Airborne Division (British)
1st General Hospital
501st Parachute Regiment
502nd Parachute Regiment
504th Parachute Regiment
505th Parachute Regiment
506th Parachute Regiment
battle cry of
chaplain of.
See
Maloney, John
on D-day
jump
preparations for
Easy Company of (E Company) artillery observation
attacked near Carentan
in Battle of the Bulge
days on front line
demonstration jump by
description of
in Germany
in Holland
inactivation
Malarkey assigned to
memorial service
photographs
Polish gun crew
possible mutiny by
Presidential Citations of
rescue in Holland
return to England after D-day
reunions
Sobel dismissed as commander
unclaimed laundry
forced march to Atlanta by
organization of
parachute training of
possible Japanese deployment of
POW Interrogation Team
Presidential Citation of
trip to Europe by
washout rate of
507th Parachute Regiment
forest fire
Fort Benning (Georgia)
Malarkey at
Fort Bragg (North Carolina)
Fort Campbell (Kentucky)
Fort Clatsop
Fort Dix (NewJersey)
Fort Lewis (Washington)
4th Infantry Division
Foy
American capture of
Franetovich, Bernice
letters to
Malarkey's plan to marry
other names of
singing career of
Franetovich, Louie
Franette, Bernice.
See also
Franetovich, Bernice Freeman, Bradford
Frontline Leadership
(presentation by Malarkey)
Gamma Phi Beta sorority
German language
German prisoners
at Battle of the Bulge
on D-day
in Holland
killing of
after Battle of the Bulge
Germany
Easy Company in
Malarkey's prewar reading about
occupation of
surrender of (V-E day)
Glaser, Einar
gliders, in Holland drop
Goodman, Benny
Gordon, Walter, Jr.
later contact between Malarkey and
Goring, Hermann
Grant, Cary
Grant, Chuck
later contact between Malarkey and
Graves Registration
Graveyard of the Pacific
Gray, Everett
Greenham Common Airbase
Grimes, Scott
Gronnell, Ben
Guarnere, Bill
in Battle of the Bulge
on D-day
with gals in house in England
in Holland
later contact between Malarkey and
leg lost by
at Mourmelon-le-Grand
Guth, Forrest
Haguenau
Hale, Earl
in Battle of the Bulge
Hall, George
Hansen, Herman “Hack,”
Harris, Terrence “Salty,”
Hayashi, Tom
hedgerows, definition of
Heffron, Babe
in Battle of the Bulge
Malarkey's later contact with
Hell's Corner (Holland)
Hell's Highway (Holland)
Helmond (Holland)
Henley, William Ernest, “Invictus,”
Heyliger, Fred “Moose,”
Hitler, Adolf
Hitler Youth
Hogan, Joe
Holland
Easy Company in
the “Island” in
underground of
Homores
Hoobler, Don
in Battle of the Bulge
Horton, Oliver
Howell, William
Hughes, Private
Humperdinck, Engelbert
101st Airborne Division
on D-day
Patton's estimate of
Presidential Citation of
surrounded at Bastogne
See also specific units
Ilwaco (Washington)
Jackson, Eugene
death of
Jack's Woods (Bois Jacques)
Jacobson, Louie
James, Harry
Japan
continuing war with
surrender of
Japanese forced march
Japanese in World War II America
Jim Crow Sands
Johanson, Wally
Joint, Ed
Jones, Hank
Kaprun (Austria)
Kelly, John
Kelly, Oney
Kiehn, Bill
Kipling, Rudyard, “Gunga Din,”
Lacy, Hugh
Landsberg concentration camp
Lee, William C
Le Grand Chemin (France)
Leonard, Robert
LePard, Donald
Lesniewski, Joseph
Lewis and Clark
Liberty Grill
Librament
Liebgott, Joe
in Battle of the Bulge
Liège, hospital at
life insurance
Lipton, Carwood
in Battle of the Bulge
Littlecote (England)
London (England)
furlough to
V-2 bombs on
weekend passes to
Lost Lake (Lost Lake Creek)
Lovell Auto (company)
Lowery, Dewitt
Luxembourg
Luxembourg American Cemetery, Muck's grave at
Luz, George
Lyme Bay
Lynn, Vera
Ml rifle
McAuliffe, Anthony C. “Tony,”
Christmas 1944 message of
“NUTS” answer to Germans by
McCreary, Thomas
McGrath, Patrick
machine guns, German
McLung, Earl
Malarkey, Bob (brother)
Malarkey, Bob (uncle)
Malarkey, Daniel (grandfather)
Malarkey, Don army training of
accident at Camp Mackall
first jumps
maneuvers
in Battle of the Bulge
Bastogne
helmet damaged in raid
whether to shoot foot
wraps feet in burlap
birth of
boyhood of
busboy
forest fire
interest in Germany
milk delivery
salmon seining
Bronze Star and cluster of
children of
on D-day
preparations and jump
discharge from army of
drafted into the army
in England
dart champion
Eisenhower-Churchill review
hospital stay
in house with gals
return after D-day
fear of falling by
Frontline Leadership
presentation by
gambling winnings in Mourmelon
in Germany
in Holland
hospitalization of
Irishness of
later alcoholism of
later career of
musical interests of
number of combat days of
Purple Heart refused by
as sergeant
wounded German killed by
Malarkey, Edith (grandmother)
death of
Malarkey, Gerald (uncle)
Malarkey, Helen (mother)
death of
Malarkey, Irene Moore (wife)
death of
Malarkey's dating of
marriage of
Malarkey, John (brother)
Malarkey, Leo “Tick” (father)
death of
Malarkey, Marilyn “Molly” (sister)
Malarkey, Michael (son)
Malmédy massacre
Maloney john
marbles
Marche
Marine Corps, Malarkey's exam for
Martin, John
Marylhurst College
Meehan, Thomas B.
Megler (Washington)
Melchior, Lauritz
Melo, Joachim
Miller, Glenn
Miller, James
Miller, Johnny
Mills Brothers
Mills College
Milton, John, “On His Blindness,”
Mr. Lucky
(movie)
Moder River
Monarch Forge and Machine Works
Montag, Joe
Montgomery, Bernard
Moone, Don
later contact between Malarkey and
More, Alton
mortars
motorcycle and sidecar smuggled to England
Mount Hood, Malarkey's desperate drive to
Mourmelon-le-Grand
Moya, Sergio
Muck, Warren H. “Skip,”
in Battle of the Bulge
death
grave in Luxembourg of
in Holland
at Mourmelon-le-Grand
in movie
Nashville
Nehalem River
Netherlands.
See
Holland
New York City, Malarkey in
Niagara River
Nijmegen (Holland)
Niland, Bob
Niland, Edward
Niland, Fritz
Niland, Preston
Nixon, Lewis
Nolan, Michael
Noville
American capture of
Nuenen (Holland)
“NUTS” answer to Germans at Bastogne
Oglethorpe University
Omaha Beach
Operation Market Garden
Operation Pegasus
Opheusden (Holland)
Oregonian, The
(newspaper)
Orth, Ralph
Ourthe River
Out of the Night,
Owen, Richard
P-47 fighter plane
P-51 fighter plane
Easy Company strafed by
Palace Pub (London)
Parachute School (Fort Benning)
paratroopers
acrophobia among
“drumming out” ceremony of
Malarkey's decision to join
pay of
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