Edward Shames, last ‘Band of Brothers’ officer, dies at 99

The last surviving officer and oldest surviving member of the “Band of Brothers” has died.

Col. Edward D. Shames, a World War II veteran who was the last surviving officer of “Easy Company,” the U.S. Army unit that inspired the HBO miniseries and book “Band of Brothers,” has died. He was 99.

Shames’ Easy Company, made famous in the book and miniseries “Band of Brothers,” fought in some of WWII’s most important battles, including Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge.

Shames was a first lieutenant in the miniseries portrayed by Joseph May.

While the heroics of Shames and the Easy Company are now legendary, Shames said that few paratroopers felt brave on D-Day as they prepared to jump from G-47s onto the shores of Normandy.

“Anyone who said they were not scared or nervous was either an idiot or lying,” said Shames, who was the guest speaker at a 2018 Veterans Day breakfast. In the photo above, Shames (center) posed with military veterans Robert Davies (left) and CJ McKenna at the event.

Though Shames had the misfortune of parachuting into Carentan, a town heavily defended by Axis forces, he demonstrated the leadership and survival skills that would quickly earn him a battlefield commission to second lieutenant.

“If you work hard and if you want something bad enough, then you can get it,” said Shames. “I wasn’t the best, but I worked hard. I was a good soldier.”

Shames and his men fought from France into the Netherlands and Belgium and eventually into Germany, where they were the first to reach Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest in Bavaria. Along the way, they liberated concentration camps.

In September 1942, Shames joined the Army, volunteering for the paratroopers and he was sent to Toccoa, Georgia for training.

He started as a private for Item Company, Third Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and was promoted to Operations Sergeant in England.

Prior to the paratroopers making their jump into Normandy, he built the sand tables the Airborne unit used in planning the airdrop into Normandy.

Shames made his first combat jump into Normandy on D-Day as part of Operation Overlord. On 13 June 1944 he was promoted to Second Lieutenant, although the formal commission was completed in England.

He was the first NCO in the Third Battalion to receive a battlefield commission in Normandy before he was transferred to Easy Company and took charge of its third platoon.

Shames fought with Easy Company in Operation Market Garden and volunteered for Operation Pegasus led by Lt. Frederick “Moose” Heyliger.

He was wounded once in his left leg during campaigns and fought in the Battle of the Bulge at Bastogne.

In Foy, Shames was ordered, along with Sgt. Paul Rogers, by Lt. Dike to knock out a German tank with a bazooka.

According to Band of Brothers, Capt. Winters opined that Shames wouldn’t make a good leader, commenting “…he’s seen too many war movies…” and “…thinks that he has to yell all the time”.

Sgt. Malarkey also casually commented that it would be nice if Shames left with Dike.

Although he did shout and yell, he was considered a good officer. Herbert Suerth, who also served in Shames’ platoon, thought he could make a good leader, but it was Speirs who would eventually command Easy Company following Dike.

Shames fought through to Germany and helped liberate imprisoned European Jews in a concentration camp in Landsberg, Germany.

Shames was deeply affected because of his partially-Jewish heritage.

After World War II, he served in the Army Reserve and retired as a colonel.

Shames’ death leaves Private First Class Bradford Freeman, who celebrated his 97th birthday in September 2021 and was a mortarman in Easy Company played in the miniseries by James Farmer, as the last surviving enlisted man from the unit.

Members of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, along with Columbus Air Force Base, and local leaders presented Freeman with a coin commemorating the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley.

An obituary posted by the Holomon-Brown Funeral Home & Crematory said Shames, of Norfolk, Virginia, died peacefully at his home on Friday.

A graveside service will be held today at Forest Lawn Cemetery, at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021, with Cantor David Proser officiating.

Shames was involved in some of the most important battles of World War II. During the war, he was a member of the historic “Easy” Company, 2nd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, 

“He made his first combat jump into Normandy on D-Day as part of Operation Overlord. He volunteered for Operation Pegasus and then fought with Easy Company in Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne,” according to the obituary.

Shames was the first member of the 101st to enter Dachau concentration camp, just days after its liberation.

“When Germany surrendered, Ed and his men of Easy Company entered Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest where Ed managed to acquire a few bottles of cognac, a label indicating they were ‘for the Fuhrer’s use only.’ Later, he would use the cognac to toast his oldest son’s Bar Mitzvah,” the obituary said.

After the war, Shames worked for the National Security Agency as an expert on Middle East affairs. He also served in the U.S. Army Reserve Division and later retired as a colonel.

Easy Company was the subject of Stephen Ambrose’s 1992 book, “Band of Brothers,” upon which the HBO miniseries was based. The 2001 miniseries, created by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, followed Easy Company from its training in Georgia in 1942 all the way to the war’s end in 1945. Shames was portrayed by British actor Joseph May.

Shames is survived by his sons Douglas and Steven, four grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in his honor may be sent to Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758516, Topeka, Kansas 66675-8516 and the American Veterans Center, 1100 N. Glebe Rd., Suite 910, Arlington, VA 22201.

Online condolences may be offered to the family at http://www.hollomon-brown.com.