bookworm

"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 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.    Chuck Yeager, Maj. General [ret.]  P.S.  I think that it is amazing how the "media" chooses our "heroes" these days... Michael Jackson & the like!   "SHIFTY" - an incredible American hero SHIFTY DIED JAN 17, 2011..........May God rest his soul. Please do me a favor and pass this on so that untold thousands can read it. We owe no less to our REAL heroes.     *****   this is an amazing email i received. it brought tears to my eyes and really made me think about life, death, and true heros. i was asked to pass on shifty's memory and honor it and this is how i hope i will. every one who visits this site should know shifty's story and pass it one. like the message says, we owe it to him and all the other amazing solderers of America. i did not wright this massage nor wish to take credit for it. i'm simply passing on a story that should be told. i ask that you email this to everyone everywhere and anyone anywhere.   amen, shifty. *****