Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends Author: | Language: English | ISBN:
B000WBZ80E | Format: PDF
Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends Description
Tom Hanks wrote the introduction to this rousing story of two inseparable friends and soldiers portrayed in the HBO miniseries
Band of Brothers.
William "Wild Bill" Guarnere and Edward "Babe" Heffron were among the first paratroopers of the U.S. Army - members of an elite unit of the 101st Airborne Division called Easy Company. Arguably the bravest, most efficient, physically fit, and tight-knit group of soldiers the Army has ever produced, the unit was called upon for every high-risk operation of the war, including D-Day, Operation Market Garden in Holland, the Battle of the Bulge, and the capture of Hitler's Eagle's Nest in Berchtesgaden.
Both fought side-by-side until Guarnere lost his leg in the Battle of the Bulge and was sent home. Heffron went on to liberate concentration camps and rake Hitler's Eagle's Nest hideout. United by their experience, the two reconnected at the war's end and have been the best of friends ever since. Their story is a tribute to the lasting bond forged between comrades in arms - and to all those who fought for freedom.
- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 10 hours and 28 minutes
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Unabridged
- Publisher: Tantor Audio
- Audible.com Release Date: September 20, 2007
- Whispersync for Voice: Ready
- Language: English
- ASIN: B000WBZ80E
For true Band of Brothers fans, "Wild Bill" Guarnere and "Babe" Heffron need no introduction. Although the foreword by actor Tom Hanks is a sincere and fitting tribute (both men think very highly of Hanks), it was not necessary to help promote this wonderfully written book. Journalist Robyn Post gives us Heffron and Guarnere in the rough with South Philly colloquialisms in tact. Five years in the making, _Brothers in Battle Best of Friends_ (a more fitting title would be impossible to conjure) joins the memoirs of Dick Winters, David Kenyon Webster, Donald R. Burgett, and a host of other histories of the 101st Airborne Division in World War II.
Post brings her readers right into the men's living rooms. One gets the impression that Bill and Babe are sitting across from them in an easy chair sipping a beer, recounting their amazing experiences. Post arranges the book nicely. Though both men grew up only blocks apart in South Philly, they would not meet until Babe joined Easy Company in England after the Normandy battles. Recognizing Babe's South Philly accent (for those who ever had a friend from Philly, you know the accent) the men became fast friends. Guarnere ensured Babe was placed in Joe Toye's squad because he knew Toye would take care of "the dirty rat." Both men soldiered through Holland, the bitter cold and horrendous fighting at Bastogne where both Toye and Guarnere were horribly wounded by the same artillery round and both men lost a leg. Babe then carries the narrative to war's end, while Bill recounts his journey through recovery and the physical and mental readjustments he overcame, all the while "just happy to be alive.
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