Re: FW: Shifty

On Sat, Jul 2, 2011 at 8:26 PM, Jim Crow <cornmash008@yahoo.com> wrote:

--- On Sat, 7/2/11, Terri <terri4truth@gmail.com> wrote: From: Terri <terri4truth@gmail.com> Subject: Fwd: FW: Shifty To: "Mama" <Lfgst44@comcast.net> Date: Saturday, July 2, 2011, 6:43 AM Subject: Shifty   Perhaps you have seen this before…..           Subject: Shifty

 

If you watched the         series, "Band of Brothers", you will remember Shifty as the guy who was         the best shot in the company. He was called upon several times in the         series to take care of a German sniper or to give cover so other troops         could maneuver.                                                       IT WON'T BE LONG TILL NO ONE REMEMBERS,AND WORSE,NO ONE WILL CARE....                                                                    A real hero  God bless him.                                                                                SHIFTY DIED JAN 17, 2011..........rest in peace.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            "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. 17 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 Gen. [ret.] P.S  I think that it is amazing how the                       "media" chooses our "heroes" these                       days... Michael Jackson & the                       like!     Amen  I say  !!!!                                                                                                                          Please do me a favor                       and pass this on so that untold thousands can read                       it.....                                                                   We owe no less to our REAL HEROES......