16-168 Garand Picture of the Day - 506th PIR Camp Tocca

[Mark in Rochester]

By the way, we had Ed Shames, 506 PIR, at work on Monday.

Bob

What is the rest of the story ?

Did not think they gave him a fair depiction in B.O.B.




Shames read about and applied for duty with the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. In August 1942, Shames was called to active duty. He was sent to Toccoa, Georgia for training, starting as a private in Item Company, 3rd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment.[1]

In England, Shames was promoted to Operations Sergeant.[2] Prior to the paratroopers making their jump on D-Day, he built the sand tables the airborne unit used in planning the airdrop into Normandy.

Shames made his first combat jump into Normandy on D-Day as part of Operation Overlord. On 13 June 1944, he received a battlefield commission to second lieutenant, although the formal commission was completed in England.[3] He was the first NCO in the Third Battalion to receive such a commission in Normandy.[4] He was transferred to Easy Company and took charge of its third platoon.

Shames fought with Easy Company in Operation Market Garden and volunteered for Operation Pegasus led by Frederick Heyliger. He was wounded once in his left leg during the campaigns. He then fought with the rest of E Company in the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne. In Foy, Shames and Paul Rogers knocked out a German tank with a bazooka.In Germany, he saw some of the concentration camps in which the Germans imprisoned Europe's Jews and was deeply affected, because he is Jewish.


Nickname(s)
"Ed"

Born
June 13, 1922 (age 93)
Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States

Allegiance
United States

Service/branch
United States Army seal United States Army

Rank
US-O6 Colonel

Service number
13117836 (enlisted)