[DeTomaso] NPC "Shifty" By Chuck Yeager

[Kirk Evans]

      "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!