Eugene Roe

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Eugene Roe
Nickname Doc Roe, Gene
Born (1921-10-17)October 17, 1921
Bayou Chene, Louisiana, United States
Died December 30, 1998(1998-12-30) (aged 77)
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States
Allegiance  United States
Service/branch United States Army
Years of service 1942-1945
Rank Technician Fourth Grade
Unit Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment,
101st Airborne Division
Battles/wars

World War II

Awards
Relations -Ed Roe (father)
-Maud Verret (mother)
-Maxine Tircuit (daughter)
Marlene Langlois (daughter)
-Eugene Jr. (son)
Other work Fisherman

Technician Fourth Grade Eugene Gilbert Roe, Sr. (October 17, 1921[2] - December 30, 1998[3]) 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.

Roe was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Shane Taylor.

Roe's life story was featured in the 2010 book A Company of Heroes: Personal Memories about the Real Band of Brothers and the Legacy They Left Us.[4]

Youth

Eugene was born in Bayou Chene, Louisiana to Ed Roe and Maud Verret.

Roe quit school during his elementary years.[5]

He was semiskilled in oilers of machinery.[5] The Roe family moved to Morgan City, Louisiana later.[6]

Eugene enlisted on December 12, 1942 in Lafayette, Louisiana.[5]

Military service

Roe was one of Easy Company's medics. While stationed in Aldbourne, Roe met his first wife Vera. Their wedding date was set to be on June 6, 1944, but Roe could not show up at the church because it was the day when he had to make his first combat jump into Normandy in the Battle of Normandy[7]

At the time Easy Company was taking Carentan, Roe was already a seasoned veteran with the wounded, and was able to patch and diagnose in a methodical way. He could tell Donald Malarkey that he had a Purple Heart wound without hardly looking up from wrapping the wound of a wounded soldier.[8]

Roe also participated in the British controlled American military operation Operation Market Garden and jumped into the Netherlands. He landed on some barbed wire and cut his calf.[9]

Roe also took part in the Battle of the Bulge at Bastogne. There supplies were low and Roe had to go from man to man to get more supplies.[10] In the extreme cold weather, he had to tuck plasma bottle into his armpits to keep it from freezing.[11]

Roe was with Easy Company for occupation duties in Germany and Austria. He was discharged on November 17, 1945[2] and arrived back in the United States 11 days later.

Later years

When the war was over in Europe, Roe married Vera in July, 1945 in England. They had a quiet yet quick wedding with a taxi driver as one of their witnesses along with someone else they did not know.[7] The couple received a set of forks and knives from Hitler's Eagle's Nest from Easy Company comrades as a wedding present. The forks and knives were later donated to the Louisiana World War II Museum's Hall of Honor at Baton Rouge.[9]

After his discharge, Roe and his wife moved to Baton Rouge and had three children[12] The couple divorced twenty seven years later, and Roe re-married five years later.[13]

Roe became a construction contractor post war.[2] He died of lung cancer on December 30, 1998 in Louisiana.

Band of Brothers and Renee Lemaire

While Roe was mentioned only three times in Stephen Ambrose's book Band of Brothers, it was said that he was a very brave and heroic medic. Roe was mentioned in the biographies of other Easy Company veterans, for example, in Clancy Lyall's biography Silver Eagle and in Donald Malarkey's Easy Company Soldier.

Roe was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Shane Taylor. Episode 6 of the miniseries, called "Bastogne'", is told from his point of view. He was portrayed as the soft spoken Cajun medic. In reality Roe was much rougher and tougher, and did not have as strong as Cajun accent as portrayed[14] In that episode, Roe's grandmother was said to be a traiteur, but it was not true.[6]

Also in "Bastogne'", Roe was shown befriending a Belgian nurse called Renee (portrayed by Lucie Jeanne) in the aid station in Bastogne. While it was unclear if Roe had met with the nurse,[15] a nurse called Renee Bernadette Emilie Lemaire was indeed working in an aid station in Bastogne at the time. Lemaire volunteered her services at the battalion aid station on 21 December 1944. She helped in tending to over 150 seriously wounded patients per day without adequate rest or food, and offered great assistance. Lemarie was killed during the Christmas Eve bombardment when a bomb made a direct hit on the aid station. She was wrapped in a parachute and buried in Bastogne by the soldiers.[16]

Medals and Decorations

 Bronze Star with one Oak Leaf Cluster
Purple Heart
 Presidential Unit Citation with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster
Good Conduct Medal
American Defense Service Medal
American Campaign Medal
Arrowhead
Bronze star
Bronze star
Bronze star
 European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 3 service stars and arrow device
World War II Victory Medal
Army of Occupation Medal
Croix de guerre with palm
French Liberation Medal
Belgian World War II Service Medal
Combat Medical Badge with a 2nd Award
Parachutist Badge with 2 jump stars

References

  1. ↑ DeAngelis, Frank. "Roe's shadowbox". Retrieved 2009-10-13. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Eugene Roe's discharge papers. (Scroll about half way down the page)
  3. ↑ Last Roll Call from Currahee website
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 WWII Army Enlistment Records: on-line NARA Archival Database
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 p.177, Marcus Brotherton, A Company of Heroes: Personal Memories about the Real Band of Brothers and the Legacy They Left Us
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 p.178, Brotherton
  8. ↑ Location 1380, Malarkey
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 p.180, Brotherton
  10. ↑ Location 2081, Malarkey
  11. ↑ Location 2090, Malarkey
  12. ↑ p.181, Brotherton
  13. ↑ p.184, ibid
  14. ↑ p. 176, Brotherton
  15. ↑ p.179, Brotherton
  16. ↑ p.234, Alexander

Bibliography

  • Ambrose, Stephen E. (1992). Band of Brothers: Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7434-6411-6. 
  • Brotherton, Marcus (2010). A Company of Heroes: Personal Memories about the Real Band of Brothers and the Legacy They Left Us. Berkley Caliber. ISBN 978-0-425-23420-4. 
  • Larry Alexander (2011). In the Footsteps of the Band of Brothers: A Return to Easy Company's Battefields with Sgt. Forrest Guth). NAL Trade. ISBN 0451233158. 
  • Sgt Don Malarkey and Bob Welch (2009). Easy Company Soldier, the Legendary Battles of a Sergeant From World War II's "Band of Brothers". St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 978-0-312-56323-3. 

External links

Military units
Characters
Other Easy Company Members
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