'SHIFTY' as told by Chuck Yeager

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 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 June 17, 2009 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, MajGen. [ret.]   I think that it is amazing how the "media" chooses our "hero's" these days...Michael Jackson, Ted Kennedy & the like!

Posted via email from John's posterous