Band Of Brothers Hero, Darrell ‘Shifty’ Powers Dies
Contributed photo
Darrell “Shifty” Powers, one of the soldiers depicted in “Band of Brothers,” passed away on Wednesday, June 17, 2009.
BY ROGER BROWN
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
“The world depended on them. They depended on each other.”
That was the tagline for “Band of Brothers” – an award-winning 2001 HBO mini-series drama on the World War II experiences of Easy Company, a U.S. Army unit that fought bravely and fiercely across Europe.
But for Bristol’s Margo Johnson – daughter of Darrell “Shifty” Powers, one of the soldiers depicted in “Band of Brothers” – two more lines could be added to describe her heroic father: “The world truly admired Darrell Powers. I absolutely adored him.”
“I loved everything about my daddy,” Johnson said. “He never bragged about what he did in the war. And for a lot of years, he never even talked much about what he did – unless someone asked him about it.
“But he truly was a hero to me,” Johnson said. “Just like he’d been to the people who know him as a soldier in a [mini-series].”
Powers, a Dickenson County native, died earlier this week at age 86 following a battle with cancer. His funeral service will be held today in Clintwood.
“He was a brave man, even to the end of his life,” Johnson said of her father. “He’s helping me be brave now, too.”
Bravery – and dignity – was a constant, running thread in the life of “Shifty” Powers, both during and after his life as an Army sharpshooter in the actual “Band of Brothers.”
During the war, he fought brutal battles against the German army across France and Belgium.
After the war, Powers served as an eloquent representative for the men he fought with: At one point during the “Band of Brothers” mini-series, he appeared on camera to talk in moving, humane fashion about his grim but necessary task during the war – killing the enemy.
And, too, Powers served as a loyal, steadfast representative for the country he fought for: from graciously meeting with a former enemy German soldier to eagerly accepting any chance to speak with modern-day members of the U.S. military.
Ivan Schwarz, a producer on the “Band of Brothers” HBO series, remembers Powers as a “kind, generous soul with a great sense of humor.”
“Shifty was an incredibly humble human being,” said Schwarz, now executive director of the Greater Cleveland Film Commission in Cleveland, Ohio.
“He was like most of the other [Easy Company] soldiers we met for the series. They were good guys who were kind of shocked that, 50 years later, people were making a big deal over them for just doing their duty.
“That’s exactly how [Powers] was, too,” Schwarz said.
Attempts were unsuccessful to reach Peter Youngblood Hills – the English actor who portrayed Powers in the “Band of Brothers” miniseries, through both HBO and his former publicity firm, Hamilton Hodell in London, England.
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Reader Reactions
I’m from Holland and I have stayed the last three month in the USA, in Allentown, PA. I’m very interested in the Band of Brothers. We in Holland owe them a lot and the reception, we give the veterans when they are visiting the former battlefields in September proves we are still thankful.
Beside the mini-series on DVD I have some books about the 101’s. I did not realize that Dick Winters lives rather close to Allentown.
When possible I went to Normandy and Arnhem to commemorate and to talk with the veterans. For me it was always a very moving occasion.
My condolences to the family.
I was in the army Signal Corps (1956 - 57) with LB Powers who was from East Tenn. Does anyone know whether he is related to Darrell Powers? And/or how to find LB?
Thanks,
Charlie Hendrix
I really enjoyed that poem. So, true.
May SGT, Powers rest in peace. I would like to add a poem which I feel appropriate. It is titles “A Soldier Died Today”
A Soldier Died Today
He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion, telling stories of the past
Of a war that he had fought in and the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies; they were heroes, every one.
And tho’ sometimes, to his neighbors, his tales became a joke,
All his Legion buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke.
But we’ll hear his tales no longer for old Bill has passed away,
And the world’s a little poorer, for a soldier died today.
He will not be mourned by many, just his children and his wife,
For he lived an ordinary and quite uneventful life.
Held a job and raised a family, quietly going his own way,
And the world won’t note his passing, though a soldier died today.
When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing and proclaim that they were great.
Papers tell their whole life stories, from the time that they were young,
But the passing of a soldier goes unnoticed and unsung.
Is the greatest contribution to the welfare of our land
A guy who breaks his promises and cons his fellow man?
Or the ordinary fellow who, in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his Country and offers up his life?
A politician’s stipend and the style in which he lives
Are sometimes disproportionate to the service that he gives.
While the ordinary soldier, who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal and perhaps, a pension small.
It’s so easy to forget them for it was so long ago,
That the old Bills of our Country went to battle, but we know
It was not the politicians, with their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom that our Country now enjoys.
Should you find yourself in danger, with your enemies at hand,
Would you want a politician with his ever-shifting stand?
Or would you prefer a soldier, who has sworn to defend
His home, his kin and Country and would fight until the end?
He was just a common soldier and his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us we may need his like again.
For when countries are in conflict, then we find the soldier’s part
Is to clean up all the troubles that the politicians start.
If we cannot do him honor while he’s here to hear the praise,
Then at least let’s give him homage at the ending of his days.
Perhaps just a simple headline in a paper that would say,
Our Country is in mourning, for a soldier died today.
Well,
They are all dead or dying off.
I only wish that the youth of this country would realize what they have been given. Given by men and women on the fields of Europe and the beaches of the Pacific. They gave their futures so that we can have ours.
Thank you WWII vets.. I will not forget.
Semper Fi,
CWO USMC
I thought everyone who reads this, especially Shifty’s family, might want to know about an email circulating around the world. I just received it today, and have attached the text below. Feel free to cut and paste it into your own email and send it to everyone you know. May God bless Shifty and everyone who has served or is serving our country.
By Joe Galloway
Subject: Memorial Service: you’re invited.
We’re hearing a lot today about big splashy memorial services.
I want a nationwide memorial service for Darrell “Shifty” Powers.
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 was, and I know what D-Day was. At that point he said “I also made a second jump into Holland , into Arnhem “ I wa s 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 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 June 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.
“A nation without heroes is nothing.“
(Roberto Clemente)
They just don’t make them like Shifty anymore. My condolences to his family. May he rest in peace.
My deepest sympathies to Mr. Powers’ family as another member of the greatest generation passes on. My dad fought in Europe from ‘42 to ‘45. These soldiers didn’t think they were doing anything special. Their humbleness, coupled with their selflessness, speaks volumes about their character. They will be missed tremendously. We are all indebted to the veterans of WWII. Thank you, Mr. Powers.
I am sadden to hear of Mr. Powers passing. He was a true “hero”. I watched the series several times and I am very thankful for men like Mr. Powers and the others in Easy Company. It is a shame that more was not made of his departure from this life. My condolences to his family and I know that they are very proud of his contribution to this world. Also my thanks to the military men and women serving today.
Hey Ms. Obama, this man makes me proud to be an American. How about you?
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