07-13-2009, 07:39
|
#1
|
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Red State
Posts: 3,774
|
Darrell "Shifty" Powers
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 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 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.
I got this from another list and thought it worthy of posting.
BMT
__________________
Don't mess with old farts...age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill! Bullshit and brilliance only come with age and experience.
|
|
BMT (RIP) is offline
|
|
|
07-13-2009, 07:49
|
#2
|
|
Guerrilla Chief
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: VA
Posts: 859
|
Thank you for posting this Sir. It's a crying shame that the public eye is so far skewed. Rest in peace Mr. Powers.
__________________
"1000 days of evasion are better than one day in captivity"
"Too many men work on parts of things. Doing a job to completion, satisfies me."- Richard Proenneke
|
|
BryanK is offline
|
|
|
07-13-2009, 08:12
|
#3
|
|
Guerrilla Chief
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: The Nam
Posts: 777
|
Thank you for posting this BMT Sir! I had goosebumps while reading it, a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes.
Rest in Peace, Shifty! Thank you for your heroism and service!
__________________
A tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny ~ Aesops Fables; The Lamb and the Wolf
Am fear nach gleidh na h-airm san t-sith, cha bhi iad aige 'n am a' chogaidh
"He that keeps not his arms in time of peace will have none in time of war" Old Gaelic
Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property... Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them. Thomas Paine
|
|
Saoirse is offline
|
|
|
07-13-2009, 08:25
|
#4
|
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: NorCal
Posts: 15,370
|
He'll be honored - and in a much higher way than the pop star crowd ever will - as a faithful citizen and veteran - honored with a military funeral and an American flag presented on behalf of a grateful nation and the rendering of Taps - and to be laid to rest amongst those who truly cared. Don't mourn for Shifty - continue to honor his memory by remembering him and those like him who, when called, exhibit that time-honored sense of duty above oneself to comrades, friends, family, community, and nation - all performed without the audience, the glitz, the $$, the fame...in other words, the trivial. I'm pretty sure SSG Powers would have wanted it that way, too.
RIP, soldier - and "AIR-BORNE!" 
Richard's $.02 
__________________
“Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of (another)… There are just some kind of men who – who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.” - To Kill A Mockingbird (Atticus Finch)
“Almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.” - Robert Heinlein
|
|
Richard is offline
|
|
|
07-13-2009, 08:49
|
#5
|
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Sneaking back and forth across the Border
Posts: 6,687
|
Rest in Peace..... You are one of the real Hero's of our nation and will be remembered by all........
|
|
SF_BHT is offline
|
|
|
07-13-2009, 08:56
|
#6
|
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Georgetown, SC
Posts: 4,204
|
SSG Powers is a true American hero. He shall be missed.
__________________
"I took a different route from most and came into Special Forces..." - Col. Nick Rowe
|
|
ZonieDiver is offline
|
|
|
07-13-2009, 09:22
|
#7
|
|
Area Commander
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Pinehurst,NC
Posts: 1,091
|
Quote:
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.
|
The heroes we choose as a nation provides the greatest insight into our collective character. You have touched on the core problem, the lack of character and the worshipping of celebrities who lack substance. My pastor says the age we live in is the age of invisible heroes. Obviously he is talking about a different war, but the principle is the same. If it were not for the efforts of a few, SSG Powers would be one of those invisible heroes who slips quietly into the night. As it is, his passing will stir up but a ripple. However, I personnaly would rather be remembered by a few with character, then by a crowd of mindless idiots.
Rest in peace SSG Powers, I for one would feel honored to have been in your band of brothers.
__________________
Let us conduct ourselves in such a fashion that all nations wish to be our friends and all fear to be our enemies. The Virtues of War - Steven Pressfield
|
|
dennisw is offline
|
|
|
07-13-2009, 10:20
|
#8
|
|
Area Commander
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 3,469
|
Blue Skies
|
|
Penn is offline
|
|
|
07-13-2009, 10:46
|
#9
|
|
Quiet Professional (RIP)
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Carriere,Ms.
Posts: 6,922
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by SF_BHT
Rest in Peace..... You are one of the real Hero's of our nation and will be remembered by all........
|
Amen,I say to that...........  A true warrior.........  It sounds like he made his "cherry jump" in Normandy,just after getting out of jump school............
Big Teddy
__________________
I believe that SF is a 'calling' - not too different from the calling missionaries I know received. I knew instantly that it was for me, and that I would do all I could to achieve it. Most others I know in SF experienced something similar. If, as you say, you HAVE searched and read, and you do not KNOW if this is the path for you --- it is not....
Zonie Diver
SF is a calling and it requires commitment and dedication that the uninitiated will never understand......
Jack Moroney
SFA M-2527, Chapter XXXVII
|
|
greenberetTFS is offline
|
|
|
07-13-2009, 11:16
|
#10
|
|
Area Commander
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 2,952
|
Rest In Peace SSG Darrell "Shifty" Powers!!
Thank you for your service!!
|
|
Red Flag 1 is offline
|
|
|
07-13-2009, 16:04
|
#11
|
|
Guerrilla
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Florida
Posts: 155
|
My small offer in memory of SSG Powers~
Sending peace and comfort to his family and friends
Hoping our collective memories can hold and honor our true heroes
Wishing SSG Powers the eternal knowledge of his impact far and near
Saturation
|
|
Saturation is offline
|
|
|
07-13-2009, 20:35
|
#12
|
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Idaho
Posts: 1,209
|
Rest in Peace, Shifty. God Bless and thank you for your service.
__________________
"It is a brave act of valor to condemn death, but where life is more terrible than death, it is then the truest valor to dare to live." -Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682)
|
|
TOMAHAWK9521 is offline
|
|
|
07-14-2009, 04:46
|
#13
|
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: 18 yrs upstate NY, 30 yrs South Florida, 20 yrs Conch Republic, now chasing G-Kids in NOVA & UK
Posts: 11,901
|
RIP Shifty, Vaya con Dios..
__________________
Go raibh tú leathuair ar Neamh sula mbeadh a fhios ag an diabhal go bhfuil tú marbh
"May you be a half hour in heaven before the devil knows you’re dead"
|
|
JJ_BPK is offline
|
|
|
07-14-2009, 05:49
|
#14
|
|
Guerrilla
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: PA
Posts: 419
|
A true Hero.... RIP Sir
__________________
Sometimes you must do dark things to get to the light. "unknown"
|
|
FMF DOC is offline
|
|
|
07-14-2009, 07:01
|
#15
|
|
BANNED USER
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 3,751
|
Do not doubt that SSG Powers will be forever honored and remembered. What he volunteered for and accomplished is memorialized in the world we have today. What the world might have become if Fascism was not confronted is unimaginable for us. Not so for SSG Powers and his comrades.
We get confused in this nation with the meaning of words sometimes. Hero and celebrity are not interchangable. Celebrities like to be referred to as heroes. Yet Heroes never use the word to describe themselves -- reserving Hero only for those who were not as fortunate to survive.
Watch Band of Brothers and say "Incredible and thank you" You will remember it forever. Watch a music video and say "Cool, what's next?"
Do not confuse awesome with entertaining.
|
|
Dozer523 is offline
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 00:51.
|
|
|
Linear Mode
