Barnum (Shifty’s father)
Barnum Jr. “Barney,” “Junior” (Shifty’s brother)
Carrie Smith (Shifty’s great-niece)
Clay Powers “Clayfellar” (Shifty’s grandson)
Dawnyale Johnson “Dawnypoo” (Shifty’s granddaughter-in-law)
Dorothy (Shifty’s widow)
Dove “Woo” (Shifty’s granddaughter)
Franklin “Frankie” (Shifty’s brother)
Gavin Johnson (Shifty’s great-grandson)
Gaynell Sykes (Shifty’s sister)
home, difference after WWII
Jake “Jakefellar” Johnson (Shifty’s grandson)
James “Jimmy” (Shifty’s brother)
love of family
Luke “Pookus” Johnson (Shifty’s grandson)
Margo Johnson “Marjo,” “Sissybug” (Shifty’s and Dorothy’s daughter)
meals, homemade
Sandy Powers (Shifty’s daughter-in-law, rock throwing)
Wayne (Shifty’s and Dorothy’s son)
Powers, Darrell “Shifty” (personal)
appearance of
bacon and
basketball and
British people liked by
Cherokee ancestry of
cigarettes and
death of
fame of
first person (“I”) voice for story
fishing
friend to everyone
funeral
gentleman
home appreciated by
hunting
inspiration from
killing men
M1 rifle and
machinist
math and
mountain man skills of
oatmeal and
patriotism of
Pete and
picking slate
quick, clean kills
self-deprecating manner of
speech of
sports and
success, meaning of
whiskey and
young soldier’s advice from
Powers, Darrell “Shifty” (Sergeant)
Aldbourne (England)
birthday celebrations
convent in Rachamps
cooks vs. Shifty
craziness (misbehaving)
dead German soldiers
disability from U.S. Army
discharge from U.S. Army
first kill by
food (bad) in England
hair trigger on rifle
hearing skills of
hospitalization of
killing, views on
lottery to go home (Taylor’s)
money collected for visit home
motorcycle, Worcester (England)
occupation duty, Zell am See (Austria)
promotions
scouting by
serial number
sharpshooting skills
souvenirs, WWII
squad leader
SS Samaria to England
surviving the war thoughts
truck accident
water and brains of dead soldier
whorehouse in England
wounds (none) of
See also Alley, Jim “Moe” (Sergeant); Band of Brothers; Bastogne (Belgium); Camp Mourmelon (France); D-day; Easy Company; Kiehn, Bill; Lipton, Carwood (Captain); McClung, Earl “One Lung”; Operation Market-Garden (Holland); paratroopers; Rogers, Paul “Hayseed” (Sergeant); Sobel, Herbert “Black Swan” (Captain); Taylor, Amos “Buck” (Sergeant); training of paratroopers; United States of America; Winters, Dick (Major); World War II; Wynn, Robert E., Jr. “Popeye”
Powers, Darrell “Shifty” (World War II survivor)
access road and gas company
anger problems
appetite, decreasing
baptism of
bone cancer
California and
Camp Toccoa (Georgia) visit with Jake
cancer treatments
canning vegetables
career problems
chest pains
coaching sports
community, active in
confidence after war
dill pickle cravings
drinking
Easy Company reunions
explanations for war
fan mail
fear of losing control
fixing talent of
gardening
girlfriends
grocery shopping
health problems
hero
house (new), building
Little League baseball and
living-arrangement problems
macular degeneration (MD)
”Memorial Service: You’re Invited” (Pfeifer)
memories of war
motorcyclists told to leave by
pistol strapped to ankle
politics
praying
prostate cancer
reading books
religion and
restaurant business (Grill, The)
retirement from mine
”rock stars” of the military world
secure feeling of home
sleep
sniper in Saving Private Ryan
speaking engagements
Sunday School superintendent
target practice
tributes to
wrestling with war
See also Band of Brothers
POWs
American
German
praying by Shifty
Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation
prostate cancer (Shifty)
Purple Hearts
pushups
quitting paratrooper training
Rachamps (Belgium)
Rader, Robert (Staff Sergeant)
Randleman, Bull
Rangers
Ranney, Mike (Sergeant)
reconnaissance patrols, Bastogne (Belgium)
Red Baron shot down by McClung
Reims (France)
religion and Shifty
replacements
retreating from Bastogne (Belgium), American soldiers
retreat parade, Camp Mourmelon (France)
reunions, Easy Company
Rheims (France)
rifle stealing by instructors
Robinette, David
Roe, Doc
Rogers, Paul “Hayseed” (Sergeant)
banner of Hitler taken by
Bastogne (Belgium)
D-day
Emmy Awards
Foy (Belgium)
freedom, worth fighting for
Haguenau (France)
Operation Market Garden (Holland)
Shifty Powers and
Romania
Roosevelt, Franklin (President)
sand tables
Saving Private Ryan (movie)
Schmitz, Ray
Schwimmer, David
scouting skills, McClung
”Screaming Eagles.” See 101st Airborne Division
Second Battalionh PIR
Second Platoonh PIR
secure feeling of home
self-deprecating manner of Shifty
Shames, Ed (Lieutenant)
sharpshooting skills
McClung
Shifty Powers
Taylor
training of paratroopers
shoe shinning by Shifty
shooting (almost) of Kiehn by Shifty
Sink, Robert (Colonel)
Sisk, Wayne “Skinny,”
sleep after WWII
sleep deprivation, Bastogne (Belgium)
Smith, Burr
Smith, Carrie (Shifty’s great-niece)
sniper in Saving Private Ryan (Shifty)
snipers (German)
Snopes.com
Sobel, Herbert “Black Swan” (Captain)
appearance of chickenshit
controversy
court-martial attempt of Winters
David Schwimmer as
Gordon’s run to Mount Currahee
hated by men
mutiny by noncommissioned officers (NCOs)
rifle stealing during training
training of paratroopers
soldier’s advice from Shifty
South Forty (Shifty’s garden)
South Hill (Virginia)
South Korea tour
souvenirs from WWII
Spago (Hollywood, California)
speaking engagements, Shifty
Speirs, Ron (Captain)
Spielberg, Steven
sports and Shifty
squadsh PIR
SS Samaria
St. Regis Hotel (Hollywood, California)
Statue of Liberty
Ste. Mère-Église (France)
stove taken from train station by McClung
Strayer, Robert (Colonel)
Strouth, Mike
success, meaning for Shifty
Suerth, Herb
Suerth, Herb, Jr.
Sunday School superintendent (Shifty)
surrendering by Germans
Sykes, Gaynell (Shifty’s sister)
Sykes, Johnny
Talbert, Tab
tanks
American
British
German
target practice and Shifty
Taylor, Amos “Buck” (Sergeant)
Bastogne (Belgium)
Carentan (France)
D-day
Foy (Belgium)
Hell ’s Highway accident
Kiehn and
Operation Market-Garden (Holland)
sharpshooting skills
wounds of
Taylor (General) lottery to go home martial law in Germany declared by
Temple Hill Cemetery (Virginia)
10-1 rations
Third Battalionh PIR
Third Platoonh PIR
363rd Infantry
“three days of hard fighting,” D-day
Tipper, Ed
Tonawanda (New York)
tours, Band of Brothers
Toye, Joe
tracers
training of paratroopers
accidents at jump school
”ball crushers,”
battle conditions simulated at
bayonet training
bivouacs
Camp Toccoa/Toombs (Georgia)
casualties
conditions at
Draftee (mascot)
duckwalking
enlisted vs. officers
experiment in training
expert rifleman
fine-tuning skills
first day of
first jump
infiltration training
jump school
jump training
jump wings
logs for training
march from Camp Toccoa (Georgia) to Fort Benning (Georgia)
Mount Currahee
night jump training
obstacle course training
officers (respected)
packing chutes
physical training
pushups
quitting
recruits at
reserve chutes
rifle stealing by instructors
riggers
risers
running
seriousness of
sharpshooting skills
Sink and
Sobel and
towers
Winters and
Wynn and
Yankee talk at
tributes to Shifty
truck accident, Shifty
United States of America
Germans dressed as American soldiers
Great Depression
job-freezing of essential jobs
media coverage of march to Fort Benning (Georgia)
patriotism in
POWs freed, Operation Market-Garden (Holland)
retreating from Bastogne (Belgium)
similarity to Germans
tanks
See also 101st Airborne Division “Screaming Eagles”; U.S. Army; World War II
Uppottery (England)
U.S. Army
boot camp
enlisting in
experiment in training
G.I. Bill
lottery to go home (Taylor’s)
pay
points needed for discharge
See also paratroopers
U.S. Navy vs. paratroopers
USO tour
USS Alabama
USS Gambier Bay
Utah Beach
Van Klinken, Robert
Van Nuys (California)
V-E Day (Victory in Europe)
Veghel (Netherlands)
victory at Bastogne (Belgium)
Washington State
water and brains of dead soldier, Bastogne (Belgium)
weapons of Germany paratroopers
weariness of soldiers
Wellmont Regional Hospital (Bristol, Tennessee)
Welsh, Harry (Lieutenant)
We Who Are Alive and Remain (Brotherton)
whorehouse in England, McClung and Shifty
Wilhelmina Canal bridge (Holland)
Williams, Brian
Wingett, Bill
Winters, Dick (Major)
appearance of
Band of Brothers and
Bastogne (Belgium)
Berchtesgaden (Germany)
Carentan (France)
concentration camp, finding
court-martial attempt by Sobel
D-day
Emmy Awards
explanations for war
Foy (Belgium)
Haguenau (France)
health problems of
Jesus and
leadership skills of
Operation Market-Garden (Holland)
shaving during cold
Shifty’s goodbye
Sobel vs.
training paratroopers
World War I
World War II
Carentan (France)
declaration of war
draft
end of
freedom, worth fighting for
Haguenau (France)
Normandy invasion preparation
Pearl Harbor attack
V-E Day (Victory in Europe)
veterans’ fathers and W WI
See also Bastogne (Belgium); casualties and wounded; D-day; England; France; Germany; Japan; United States of America
wrestling with war
Wynn, Robert E., Jr. “Popeye”
AWOL
Bastogne (Belgium)
British pilot joke
cat thrown at waiter
childhood friend of Shifty
craziness in Paris
D-day
death of
French restaurant
Shifty Powers and
SS Samaria voyage to England
training of paratroopers
urinating on hands for warmth
wounds of
Yeager, Chuck (Major General)
YouTube
Yugoslavia
Zell am See (Austria)
Zimmerman, Hank
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marcus Brotherton is a journalist and professional writer, known internationally for his literary collaborations with high-profile public figures, humanitarians, inspirational leaders, and military personnel. He is the author of the national bestsellers We Who Are Alive and Remain and A Company of Heroes, and the coauthor of Call of Duty with Lt. Buck Compton.
Shifty as a toddler with his mother and older brother.
Shifty Powers: always a baseball fan.
Shifty as a teenager.
Unless otherwise indicated all images are courtesy of the Powers family
Practicing shooting.
Shifty in unifo
rm.
Shifty (right) and brothers Barney (the Marines, left) and Jimmy (Navy, middle).
A young Popeye Wynn.
Buck Taylor in uniform. Photo courtesy Buck Taylor.
A young Earl McClung. Photo courtesy Earl McClung.
1946 reunion in New York (L to R): Bill Guarnere, Popeye Wynn, Shifty Powers, unidentified, Babe Heffron, unidentified. The ’46 reunion included all men from the 101st, not just E Company, so the unidentified men might not be from Easy Company.
A young Dorothy Powers.
Dorothy and Shifty, newlyweds.
Family man in California. Margo Johnson is in pigtails.
Shifty with his family of origin—brothers Barney, Jimmy, Frankie, mother, and sister Gaynell.
Shifty, working man.
Shifty and Dorothy with C. Carwood Lipton.
Shifty and his daughter, Margo Johnson.
Denver reunion 1999 (L to R): Buck Taylor, Earl McClung, Shifty Powers.
Shifty showing Peter Youngblood Hills a technique for aiming a rifle.
Shifty joking around with Paul Rogers and Earl McClung. The family loves this picture of Shifty, the look of happiness on his face when palling around with his old friends.
Back at Toccoa.
Running Toccoa with grandson Jake Johnson and his wife, Dawnyale.
Shifty at Skip Muck’s grave.
Photo courtesy of Peter van de Wal, Eindhoven ( The Netherlands) website www.abandofbrothers.info
Shifty in uniform. Photo courtesy of the Coalfield Progress.
1 Mary Katherine Ham, “Remember Darrell Shifty Powers Today,” Weekly Standard, July 20, 2009, http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/07/remember_darrell_shifty_powers.asp, accessed May 24, 2010.
2 From We Who Are Alive and Remain, page 223. Luke told me that this was Dorothy’s favorite passage that Shifty had contributed to the book.
3 Original e-mail, courtesy Mark Pfeifer.
4 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/02/business/media/02tele.html, accessed May 2010.
5 http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/shiftypowers.asp, accessed May 2010.
6 Tom Gusto, “War Hero E-mail Goes Worldwide—But Who Really Wrote It?” July 16, 2009,
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=8100838.
7 http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=name&id=1277460425#!/group.php?gid=102678943567&ref=ts,accessedMay2010.
8 Unpublished notes of C. Carwood Lipton. Courtesy the family of Carwood Lipton via the family of Popeye Wynn.