Edward Shames, a retired colonel in the United States Army, the last survivor of the WWII Parachute Regiment, immortalized in the book and subsequent war television series ‘Band of Brothers’, died at the age of 99. Shames “died peacefully in his home” in the state of Virginia, according to the obituary published on Friday, the day of his death, and taken up by CNN.
The obituary recalls that Shames “participated in some of the most important battles of the war”, beginning with the landing on the beaches of Normandy, during Operation Overlord of 1944. In addition, he was the first member of his regiment’s unit, the Easy Company. , to cross the gates of the Nazi extermination camp of Dachau, shortly after his liberation. He also entered the Alpine residence of the dictator Adolf Hitler, the so-called “eagle’s nest”, where “he took a few bottles of brandy”.
After the war, Shames worked as a Middle Eastern affairs expert for the National Security Agency and participated in several documentaries on the conflict. His role in the popular Hbo series, produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, was played by actor Joseph May.