"Shifty" By Chuck
Yeager
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 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.
|