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The Passing of Edward Heffron.
At a time when the press noted the unfortunate passing of actor Paul Walker, the passing of Edward Heffron has gone largely unnoticed. As a member of Easy Company and an Original Band of Brother portrayed in the HBO series, Heffron fought in several major battles during WWII. While at jump school Heffron made a pact with his best friends, John T. "Johnny" Julian and William 'Wild Bill' Guarnere that if anything happened to one of them, the others would gather up that person's personal belongings and return them to that person's family, while also making sure that they contacted the family and carried out any other individual requests. Guarnere lost his leg in the Battle of the Bulge and was sent home. Julian became Heffron's best friend during the time they shared while in front-line combat. On January 1, 1945, Heffron was in his foxhole manning his machine gun when he heard Sergeant Johnny Martin cry out that Julian had been hit. He left his position and attempted to get to Julian, but enemy fire prevented any approach. Every time he tried to make a move for Julian the Germans opened fire, driving Heffron and his fellow soldiers back. Later, the squad that Julian was in repelled the Germans and brought back his body, but Heffron couldn't bring himself to look at his friend's corpse. Heffron thereafter maintained he always hated New Year's Day, with its reminder of the anniversary of his friend "Johnny" Julian's death; he also thereafter always felt a similar dislike concerning Christmas Day, with its reminder of the anniversary of his Battle of the Bulge experiences in Bastogne. It was twelve years after the war ended before Heffron could bring himself to call Julian's mother, honoring the pact he and his friends had made at jump school. Heffron and Wild Bill reconnected at the war's end and have been best friends ever since. Their story is a tribute to the lasting and was documented in the book: Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends. Posted by: Besoeker 2013-12-02 |
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