Edward Heffron
Encyclopedia
Edward James Heffron is a former private
with Easy Company
, 2nd Battalion
, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment
, in the 101st Airborne Division
of the United States Army during World War II
. Heffron was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Robin Laing. Heffron wrote Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends: Two WWII Paratroopers from the Original Band of Brothers Tell Their Story with fellow veteran William "Wild Bill" Guarnere
and journalist Robyn Post in 2007.
, Pennsylvania
, the third of five children to Joseph (a prison guard) and Anne. His parents were Irish and Catholic, and the family went to Mass every Sunday and the children went to Sacred Heart Catholic School. He attended South Philadelphia High School
, but had to drop out to earn money during the Great Depression
.
He went to work at New York Shipbuilding
in Camden, New Jersey, sandblasting cruiser
s in preparation for them to be converted to escort carriers. Because of his job he had a 2B exemption from military service, but he didn't use it, since he wanted to go with his friend, Anthony Cianfrani, into the airborne. He also developed an infrequent medical condition as a teenager where his hands and fingers would curl under and lock-up causing severe pain, but he never told anybody because he wanted to keep playing football in school. Either of these would have allowed him to remain stateside, but he would not stay home when his brothers (Joseph, James, and John), friends, and neighbors were doing their duty. Heffron enlisted on November 7, 1942 in his hometown.
in the Netherlands
and the Battle of the Bulge
in Bastogne
, Belgium
. During the Battle of the Bulge he served as a machine gunner and was awarded the Bronze Star. He helped liberate the Kaufering concentration camp
in Landsberg
, Germany
, and captured Hitler's Eagle's Nest
(Kehlsteinhaus).
While at jump school Heffron made a pact with his two best friends, John T. "Johnny" Julian and J. D. Henderson, that if anything happened to one of them, the others would gather up that persons personal belongings and return them to that person's family, make sure that they call the family, and carry out any other individual requests. Henderson was wounded in Veghel
, and made it back to the U.S.
Julian became Heffron's best friend in combat. On January 1, 1945, Heffron was manning his machine gun in his foxhole when he heard Sergeant Johnny Martin yell that Julian was hit. He left his position and went to Julian, but nobody could get to him. Every time he tried to make a move for Julian the Germans opened up on him. Later, the squad that Julian was in repelled the Germans and they brought back his body, but Heffron couldn't bring himself to look at it.
From the day Julian died, Heffron always hated New Year's Day. And because of Bastogne, he doesn't like Christmas either. It took Heffron twelve years before he could bring himself to call Julian's mother.
Heffron was standing guard duty at a crossroads near Berchtesgaden
in early May, 1945, when German General Theodor Tolsdorff
, commander of the LXXXII Corps, came down the road leading 31 vehicles (much of it loaded with the General's personal property). The general told Heffron that he wished to surrender, but to an officer, not an enlisted man. That officer was Lt. Carwood Lipton
, so Heffron quit and spent the next 27 years working on the Philadelphia waterfront checking cargo and clerking.
Heffron is referred to frequently in the Stephen Ambrose
book Band of Brothers and was played by Scottish actor Robin Laing in the Tom Hanks
and Steven Spielberg
produced HBO/Dreamworks/Playtone miniseries of the same name. Heffron appears as himself at the end of episode ten, where he talks about the Company and also makes a brief cameo appearance in part four, sitting at a table in Eindhoven, waving a small flag, where Sgt. Talbert is kissing a Dutch woman.
Heffron wrote Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends: Two WWII Paratroopers from the Original Band of Brothers Tell Their Story with fellow veteran William "Wild Bill" Guarnere
and journalist Robyn Post in 2007, outlining the activities of Easy Company 1942-1945.
Private (rank)
A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
with Easy Company
E Company, 506th Infantry Regiment (United States)
Easy Company, 2nd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, the "Screaming Eagles", is one of the most well-known companies in the United States Army. Their experiences in World War II are the subject of the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers based on the book...
, 2nd Battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment
506th Parachute Infantry Regiment
The 506th Infantry Regiment is a unit assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division. During World War II, the unit was designated the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment ....
, in the 101st Airborne Division
101st Airborne Division
The 101st Airborne Division—the "Screaming Eagles"—is a U.S. Army modular light infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France, Operation Market Garden, the...
of the United States Army during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Heffron was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Robin Laing. Heffron wrote Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends: Two WWII Paratroopers from the Original Band of Brothers Tell Their Story with fellow veteran William "Wild Bill" Guarnere
William Guarnere
Staff Sergeant William J. Guarnere was a non-commissioned officer with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army during World War II. Guarnere was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Frank John Hughes...
and journalist Robyn Post in 2007.
Youth
Heffron was born in South PhiladelphiaSouth Philadelphia
South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south, and the Schuylkill River to the west.-History:...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, the third of five children to Joseph (a prison guard) and Anne. His parents were Irish and Catholic, and the family went to Mass every Sunday and the children went to Sacred Heart Catholic School. He attended South Philadelphia High School
South Philadelphia High School
South Philadelphia High School also known as Southern High is a public secondary high school located in the south section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the intersection of Broad Street and Snyder Avenue, just north of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex residential neighborhood, Marconi...
, but had to drop out to earn money during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
.
He went to work at New York Shipbuilding
New York Shipbuilding
The New York Shipbuilding Corporation was founded in 1899 and opened its first shipyard in 1900. Located in Camden, New Jersey on the east shore of the Delaware River, New York Ship built more than 500 vessels for the U.S...
in Camden, New Jersey, sandblasting cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
s in preparation for them to be converted to escort carriers. Because of his job he had a 2B exemption from military service, but he didn't use it, since he wanted to go with his friend, Anthony Cianfrani, into the airborne. He also developed an infrequent medical condition as a teenager where his hands and fingers would curl under and lock-up causing severe pain, but he never told anybody because he wanted to keep playing football in school. Either of these would have allowed him to remain stateside, but he would not stay home when his brothers (Joseph, James, and John), friends, and neighbors were doing their duty. Heffron enlisted on November 7, 1942 in his hometown.
Military service
As a member of Easy Company, he fought in several major battles, including Operation Market GardenOperation Market Garden
Operation Market Garden was an unsuccessful Allied military operation, fought in the Netherlands and Germany in the Second World War. It was the largest airborne operation up to that time....
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
in Bastogne
Bastogne
Bastogne Luxembourgish: Baaschtnech) is a Walloon municipality of Belgium located in the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes. The municipality of Bastogne includes the old communes of Longvilly, Noville, Villers-la-Bonne-Eau, and Wardin...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. During the Battle of the Bulge he served as a machine gunner and was awarded the Bronze Star. He helped liberate the Kaufering concentration camp
Kaufering concentration camp
Kaufering concentration camps were a network of subsidiary camps of the Dachau concentration camp.With the intensification of the Allied air war against German industrial and military enterprises after 1943, the German Armaments Ministry and the Schutzstaffel agreed to accelerate construction of...
in Landsberg
Landsberg am Lech
Landsberg am Lech is a town in southwest Bavaria, Germany, about 65 kilometers west of Munich and 35 kilometers south of Augsburg. It is the capital of the district of Landsberg am Lech....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and captured Hitler's Eagle's Nest
Kehlsteinhaus
The Kehlsteinhaus is a chalet-style structure erected on a subpeak of the Hoher Göll known as the Kehlstein. It was built as an extension of the Obersalzberg complex erected in the mountains above Berchtesgaden...
(Kehlsteinhaus).
While at jump school Heffron made a pact with his two best friends, John T. "Johnny" Julian and J. D. Henderson, that if anything happened to one of them, the others would gather up that persons personal belongings and return them to that person's family, make sure that they call the family, and carry out any other individual requests. Henderson was wounded in Veghel
Veghel
Veghel is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands.Since 1994 Veghel and the neighbouring village of Erp have formed a single municipality.Veghel is twinned with Goch in Germany.- Population centres :*Boerdonk*Eerde*Erp*Keldonk...
, and made it back to the U.S.
Julian became Heffron's best friend in combat. On January 1, 1945, Heffron was manning his machine gun in his foxhole when he heard Sergeant Johnny Martin yell that Julian was hit. He left his position and went to Julian, but nobody could get to him. Every time he tried to make a move for Julian the Germans opened up on him. Later, the squad that Julian was in repelled the Germans and they brought back his body, but Heffron couldn't bring himself to look at it.
From the day Julian died, Heffron always hated New Year's Day. And because of Bastogne, he doesn't like Christmas either. It took Heffron twelve years before he could bring himself to call Julian's mother.
Heffron was standing guard duty at a crossroads near Berchtesgaden
Berchtesgaden
Berchtesgaden is a municipality in the German Bavarian Alps. It is located in the south district of Berchtesgadener Land in Bavaria, near the border with Austria, some 30 km south of Salzburg and 180 km southeast of Munich...
in early May, 1945, when German General Theodor Tolsdorff
Theodor Tolsdorff
Theodor Tolsdorff was a Lieutenant General in the German Army and one of 27 recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds in the Second World War...
, commander of the LXXXII Corps, came down the road leading 31 vehicles (much of it loaded with the General's personal property). The general told Heffron that he wished to surrender, but to an officer, not an enlisted man. That officer was Lt. Carwood Lipton
Carwood Lipton
Second Lieutenant Clifford Carwood Lipton was a commissioned officer with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division during World War II. Lipton was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Donnie Wahlberg...
Later years
After the war, Heffron went to work for a whiskey distillery plant at 3223 South Delaware Avenue in Philadelphia called Publicker Industries. In 1966, after he had been there for 20 years, Publicker moved from Philadelphia to Linfield, PennsylvaniaLinfield, Pennsylvania
Linfield is an unincorporated village, part of Limerick Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is located approximately 35 miles north-west of Philadelphia, along the Schuylkill River....
, so Heffron quit and spent the next 27 years working on the Philadelphia waterfront checking cargo and clerking.
Heffron is referred to frequently in the Stephen Ambrose
Stephen Ambrose
Stephen Edward Ambrose was an American historian and biographer of U.S. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. He was a long time professor of history at the University of New Orleans and the author of many best selling volumes of American popular history...
book Band of Brothers and was played by Scottish actor Robin Laing in the Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
and Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
produced HBO/Dreamworks/Playtone miniseries of the same name. Heffron appears as himself at the end of episode ten, where he talks about the Company and also makes a brief cameo appearance in part four, sitting at a table in Eindhoven, waving a small flag, where Sgt. Talbert is kissing a Dutch woman.
Heffron wrote Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends: Two WWII Paratroopers from the Original Band of Brothers Tell Their Story with fellow veteran William "Wild Bill" Guarnere
William Guarnere
Staff Sergeant William J. Guarnere was a non-commissioned officer with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army during World War II. Guarnere was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Frank John Hughes...
and journalist Robyn Post in 2007, outlining the activities of Easy Company 1942-1945.