From Military.com:
“Bradford
Freeman, Last ‘Band of Brothers’ Survivor, Has Died”
Bradford
Freeman, the last survivor of the famed Army unit featured in the World War II
oral history book and miniseries “Band of Brothers” has died at the age of 97. Freeman
died Sunday at Baptist Memorial Hospital–Golden Triangle, according to Lowndes
Funeral Home in Columbus, Mississippi. Freeman was born in Artesia,
Mississippi, and a graveside funeral service will be held Friday in Caledonia,
Mississippi, where he lived, according to the obituary.
Freeman was an
18-year-old student at Mississippi State when he enlisted to fight in World War
II. He volunteered to become a paratrooper and became a mortarman in Company E,
506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He parachuted into
Normandy on D-Day, fought in Operation Market-Garden, and was wounded in the
Battle of the Bulge, later participating in the occupations of Berchtesgaden,
Germany, and Austria. “After the war, he returned to Caledonia and married
Willie Louise Gurley on June 29, 1947, and worked as a mail carrier for 32
years,” the obituary said.
University of
New Orleans historian Stephen E. Ambrose’s “Band of Brothers,” about “Easy
Company” and its members, was a best-seller and inspired the 2001 HBO
miniseries with the same title. The unit's last surviving officer died last
year. Freeman is survived by a sister, two daughters, four grandchildren and 10
great-grandchildren. “Our dad was always astounded that a country boy from
Mississippi was able to see so many places and meet so many interesting
people,” the obituary said.
^ Another
great Hero has died. ^
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