| Edward Heffron | |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Babe, or Ed |
| Born | May 16, 1923 South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service/branch | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1942-1945 |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Unit | Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | Bronze Star Purple Heart Good Conduct Medal European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal[1] |
| Relations | -Joseph (father) -Anne (mother) |
| Other work | Author |
Edward James[2] Heffron (born May 16, 1923)[3] 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.
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Heffron was born in South Philadelphia, 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.[4] He attended South Philadelphia High School, but had to drop out to earn money during the Great Depression.[5]
He went to work at New York Shipbuilding in Camden, New Jersey, sandblasting cruisers 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.[6] 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.[7][8] Heffron enlisted on November 7, 1942 in his hometown.[9]
As a member of Easy Company, he fought in several major battles, including Operation Market Garden 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).[10][11]
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.[12][13][14]
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.[15]
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.[16]
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 [17]
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, Pennsylvania, so Heffron quit and spent the next 27 years working on the Philadelphia waterfront checking cargo and clerking.[18]
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.[19]
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.[4]